THE Altrincham and District Astronomical Society celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, and the Mayor of Trafford Cllr, Dylan Butt, was invited to its open day.

The event was held at the Timperley Community Centre on Park Road, and coincided with National Astronomy Week, which runs until March 1-8.

The society had a variety of telescopes and presentation material on display for the visitors who attended.

Cllr Butt said: “Our local astronomical society has some very knowledgeable members who meet regularly and arrange visits to the Jodrell Bank telescope and invite specialists for talks.

“We were fortunate to have a sunny morning and observed in some detail the presence of huge sunspots which were reflected on to paper through a telescope.

“The youngsters showed real enthusiasm.”