Reading Astronomical Society

A number of our regular helpers at public events and astroBASICS sessions attended Newbury AS’s seminar on communicating astronomy (22 Oct). Malcolm Brown made a few notes. Thanks are due to all at Newbury AS for arranging this event for their 30th Year Celebration. Teachers and general public alike can follow the links to great resources.

The Reading Astronomical Society is fortunate to have as our guest this Saturday Dr. Gretchen Benedix of the Natural History Museum. Gretchen is ‘Researcher in Meteoritics & Cosmic Mineral’ which simply means material that has arrived on Earth from space.

The easiest place to find this material is Antarctica, but not the easiest to travel to! She has a 3 minute précis on living in Antarctica on YouTube….

There will be short talks in the second half of the meeting on recent activities of our members.

Jupiter: Remember throughout the autumn and early winter we will have nightly views of this giant planet. Now is the time to get out the telescope or binoculars.

Here’s the best brief guide to observing Jupiter’s moons….

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/objects/planets/3307071.html

The evening is free to first attenders. We hope you will become a regular member of course!

Reading Astronomical Society
https://www.readingastro.org.uk

Main venue: St Peters Church Hall, Church Rd. Earley, Reading, RG6 1EY
GPS: 51.443891° -0.928940°
Meeting starts at 7.00pm.

Another year and a slightly new arrangement. Times and details below….

The Reading Astronomical Society holds the first of the season’s main meetings next Saturday, 17th September at the usual venue, and just less than a week later the AstroBASICS section hold the first of the season’s sessions for beginners and practical hobbyists. All sessions are at St. Peter’s Church Hall, Church Road, Earley, Reading, RG6 1EY.

Please note the AstroBASICS sessions are in the upstairs hall and are regretfully not accessible by wheelchair.

The speaker at the meeting of Saturday 17th will be Professor Mike Hapgood from Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. Mike’s subject will be space weather.

Space weather is the popular term for variations in the stream of energetic and electrically charged particles emanating from the sun.

We make no apologies for repeating this important subject. The sun is embarking on another few years of sunspot activity and each time this happens the human race is depending on more and more vital electronics installed for all manner of functions. It remains to be seen how our electronic infrastructure will stand up to the next big solar storm. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_storm_of_1859

The AstroBASICS session of Friday 23rd will have a talk on observing the sky. How much or how little equipment you need to consider yourself an amateur astronomer. How we report events or phenomena in the sky, and how to avoid being misquoted in the media! We have a wonderful 3 minutes of Richard and Judy which we will inflict on our guests!

Our AstroBASICS accommodation this year is so much more inviting so, for those who can stay a little longer, we are hoping to extend the evenings to extra talks and demos for when we cannot observe outside.

Venue: St. Peter’s Church Hall, Church Road, Earley, Reading, RG6 1EY
http://tinyurl.com/38qxd3w
GPS: 51.443891° -0.928940°

Main meetings start at 7.00pm. 3rd Saturday except July and August.

AstroBASICS sessions are in the upstairs rooms: Open from 7.00pm for 7.30 start. 4th Friday except July and August.

When: Friday 18th November. 19.30 ’til 21.00 or later if clear.

What: Jupiter Star Party.

Where: Thatcham Nature Discovery Centre. map

Newbury Amateur Astronomical Society are present at an evening of science devoted to the planet Jupiter

The Thatcham Nature Discovery Centre is a great venue beside a the lake and if clear the NAAS will appreciate the help of our society’s usual public star party enthusiasts. If you are just an astronomy addict or need somewhere to take the kids you are welcome as a guest of course.

More info from gerry.bond@readingastro.org.uk

The British Science Association will be organizing a small exhibition at the Thatcham Nature Discovery Centre. This will accompany an observing session at the park and provide an activity if cloudy. The dates and details will be confirmed here soon. Telescopes provided by Reading will be welcome. The evening will be dedicated to all aspects of the planet Jupiter.

Thanks are due to the Newbury Amateur Astronomical Society as the organizers.

The weather precluded the possibility of observing 25/26th March 2011 but our thanks go to our friends at Newbury for the organization. Nothing is currently planned.

Here is info on the site for future reference.

1. The 5-day local weather.

2. Camping is possible at the Golden Swan .

Thanks are due to the Newbury Astronomical Society as the organizers.

Map for Wilcot Village Hall. The Golden Swan is further south on same street.
[map w=”600″ h=”400″ z=”13″ lat=” 51.349883″ lon=” -1.797092″ marker=”yes” infowindow=”Wilcot Village Hall”]

Pointing the Way

Although it clouded over during the evening all the guests had good views of the planet Mars and other sky objects. Many thanks to the volunteers of the British Science Association for the exhibition and the tea and coffee provided and the welcome shelter from the cold.

The cloud cover helped the large attendance for the astronomy slide show in the Emmbrook Room later. As always it was the Hubble Deep-Field image that sent everyone home impressed.

Before the clouds there were several telescopes pointing at sky objects. We also had the excitement of seeing the ISS pass overhead and disappearing into the Earth’s shadow.

The evening was part of Reading Science Week 2010.