Isle of Wight

Email: Survey Officer

Astronomers

Brodie, Frederick (1823-1896), born Eastbourne – see Sussex.

Hooke,  Robert (1635-1703), born Freshwater – see County of London.

Observatories

Brodie’s Fernhill Observatory [BFO] (1880-1910s), Fernhill House, Woollen Bridge, established by Frederick Brodie. He re-moved from Uckfield in 1878, as the climate did not suit his wife, travelling for several years before settling on the Isle of Wight. The observatory was equipped with a 8-inch Cooke refractor and 3-inch transit instrument, the same ones he had at Uckfield.  The observatory building may have been transported from his last home and is shown on maps into the 20th century  well after Brodie’s death (Chambers 1890, 71-2 & fig. 64; Obit., MNRAS, 58 (1896), 131-3).

Isle of Wight Observatory [IOWO] (1998- ), Watery Lane, Newchurch, established by the Vectis Astronomical Society. The domed, brick-built observatory with meeting room houses a 12-inch Schmidt Catadioptric Telescope – replaced an 18-inch reflector, but now mounted as a Dobsonian.

Astronomy Groups

Vectis Astronomical Society (VAS) founded 1976. Members (70 – 2018) meet weekly at the society’s observatory at Watery Lane, Newchurch, Isle of Wight (PO36 0LX).