On Saturday evening HCO welcomed our first small group of residents from Hanwell village, our next step to bringing the 30″ reflecting telescope into greater public use. The weather was kind with a clear sky overhead and the group were able to enjoy fine views of the Moon, Jupiter and the Orion Nebula, over a…

This photograph shows the HCO 30 inch telescope bathed in a gentle red glow. This comes from a series of red LED lights placed around the telescope because the naked eye is not sensitive to red light, unlike white light which damages the essential dark adaption for star gazing. It also addresses the safety of…

Hanwell Community Observatory (HCO) wants to say a huge thank you to all those who visited for the re-launch of our annual Stars and Snowdrops event. It was great to welcome back those who have waited patiently for the reopening and to meet those who had never been before. We hope that you enjoyed all…

We are in the process of rebuilding the website after a server failure caused the loss of the previous site. This may take a little time. In the meantime here is a link to information on our upcoming event Stars and Snowdrops 2026 and directions to HCO Visiting the Observatory.

To all those who have supported Hanwell Community Observatory: We are grateful to all the people who have supported HCO since we opened the grounds in 2005 for the first ‘Stars and Snowdrops’ Event. Thousands of you have come in often pretty inclement weather. Others have also attended star gazing events. We have loved meeting…