Newcastle Astronomical Society Information Sheet

Welcome 

We welcome new members to join us for a couple of meetings free of charge so that you can find out about our society and decide if it’s for you before you commit to joining up. Our paid-up member fees are detailed below and the membership year starts in September. 

Meetings 

Our meetings are usually a talk with a guest presenter, we have a programme that runs from September - May each year.  We open the doors at Summerhill Pavilion around 6:30 with the opportunity to have a chat with members and our meeting starts promptly at 7:00pm. After an opening welcome, a committee member will introduce the speaker and get the evening underway. There will be opportunities at the end of talk for questions and Tea/Coffee.  Meetings usually conclude around 9pm. During the meeting, if conditions permit, observations can be made on the green outside, with Societies or your own equipment. 

On your first visit to the society please introduce yourself to any of the committee members: 

Honorary members 

Richard Stephenson, Life President 

Brian Sydney, President

Alasdair Charles, Vice President 

Committee members

Stephen Lynn Chair 

Simon Murray Treasurer 

Michael Marchetti Secretary

Sheila Stranger Committee Member - Programme

Duncan Wise Committee Member - NNPA Liaison

Fraser Sullivan Committee Member - new and prospective member liaison

Peter Skinner Committee Member - Observing lead

Margaret McLanaghan Committee Member

Alison Gordon Committee Member

Joseph Gordon Committee Member

Workshops/observing. 

We have 3 -4 scheduled workshops per year.  Other observing/workshops are arranged at short notice as they are often weather dependent.  If you wish to be included in email notification for these please speak to Simon Murray OBSMAN@newastrosoc.co.uk , and he will add you to the circulation list and if you use Social Media we have a WhatsApp group and Facebook pages.  We also have an observing site at Blagdon where our keyholders can open the site. Don’t forget to add obsman@newastrosoc.co.uk to your safe senders so that the emails don’t go into spam/junk! 

Membership Fees (preferred method of payment is bank transfer) 

This allows you access to all of our lecture-based meetings, and attendance/participation at the workshops and any other arranged events. 

Full rate £25     Concession £15     Family £40

Reduced rates for joining mid term.

Payment to: Newcastle Astro Society 

Sort code: 40-34-16  

Account Number: 51535528  

Please include your full name as reference and send an email to Treasurer@newastrosoc.co.uk to inform us that you have made payment via bank transfer for us to keep our records up to date. For information we no longer accept cheques. You can also pay in cash at a meeting if you don’t have online facilities.