2014
By 2014 our membership reached 112, which was to prove our highest ever. Even though this year saw the last BBC’s Stargazing Live, the observatory continued to be popular with schools and youth organisations and public events were always busy. This year was also our 20th anniversary and it was celebrated with a cake at the April AGM and a special speaker. We took part in the Inverness Science and Technology Festival which became the forerunner of the Children’s Science Festival. Unfortunately, the mount for our telescope in the Observatory dome was becoming unreliable. We received funding from the Highland Council’s Ward Discretionary budget for a new EQ8 mount which would also allow us to begin astrophotography. We also received funding from Lifescan to pay for a new mount for the smaller telescopes at the Observatory. There were various problems in replacing the LX200R mount, including the discovery that the mount was damaged.