Welcome to Astronomy in Herefordshire

Latest News:

News and items of interest to Herefordshire Astronomical Society members

What's Next - Observing Night - Thursday 27th January 2022 - Lugg Meadows

Chris and Mark have been discussing a date for an observing session at the new site.

Looking at the weather forecasts we might have a clear spell on Tuesday 25th January. If this fails another possible date might be 27th.If these dates do not provide a clear spell we have until early February to pick another date so watch this space.

So if you fancy an observing session put the date in the dairy and wait for an email confirmation.

If you are not on our emailing list, please contact Mark and Chris for the latest news - contact details here.

LATEST:

Fingers crossed the forecast is looking okay for tomorrow at the new site.

Mark will start to set up just after 6pm - Astro Dark starts at 6.48pm

Come along even if you don't have a telescope or binoculars. Remember to park on the left and give enough room between cars so that telescopes can be set up.

Observing Highlights

Observing highlights for this month: Telescope House - monthly night sky guide

Click link below for view of UK sky: Met Office Satellite image. UK Visible Light.

What's Next - Meeting - Thursday 3rd February 2022 - The Great Moon Hoax

Our next meeting is a zoom talk by Dr Steve Barrett (University of Liverpool).

The basis for Steve's talk is that ... "As we all know, the Apollo moon landings of the late 1960s and early 1970s were faked by NASA. What is the 'evidence' that supports this claim and does it stand up to scientific scrutiny?"

Dr Steve Barrett is a Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Physics at the University of Liverpool. His research interests have centred around the applications of imaging and spectroscopy to fields such as nanoscience, geomaterials, biomedical imaging and infrared spectroscopy.

His interest in astronomy predates his professional career as a physicist. He has given hundreds of astronomy-related talks to astronomical societies, special interest groups and schools to an audience totalling over 20,000 people. As a result of giving these outreach talks he was awarded the Sir Patrick Moore Prize in 2019 by the British Astronomical Association.

As always, look out for emails from Mark and Chris with details of the Zoom call. If you are not on our emailing list, please contact Mark and Chris for the latest news - contact details here.

FAS - latest Newsletters and other FAS events

Other Astro Talks

Topic: Somerset Stargazers 2022 - Life in the Universerse : Are the Aliens really there?

A talk by JAMES FRADGLEY FRAS

Free On-Line meeting

Time: January 26th 07:30 PM

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88170024730?pwd=cUxTdWVpRmpkeUpHalhoTlBsTjhwZz09

The Broken Cosmic Distance Ladder by Professor Roberto Trotta

Monday, January 31, 2022 1:00 PM

gres.hm/cosmic-distance

Barnard’s Inn Hall/ Online Or watch later

Measuring distances to astronomical objects outside our Galaxy is a surprisingly hard challenge: it wasn't until 1929 that Edwin Hubble obtained proof that Andromeda is indeed a galaxy in its own right. Today, astronomers extend distance measurements in the cosmos to the edge of the visible Universe, building up a 'cosmic distance ladder' made of several rungs. This talk will explore a major conundrum of contemporary astronomy: as observations have become more precise, the distance ladder appears today to be broken.

Member's Photos

Here are some more lovely photos taken by Francis earlier in November.

Meetings:

With meetings now allowed indoors, we are delighted to be able to have a mix of virtual Zoom talks and talks back at the Kindle Centre. Our next meeting is virtual:

Our speakers at the Virtual Talks have allowed us to record and share their talks for society members to view of they missed the meetings. We've started a HAS YouTube channel here where you can visit or subscribe to and watch these talks.

To watch recordings of previous talks, they are on the "Recordings" page here.

If you missed our last talk, here's the recording:

Observing Session:

We are pleased to announce that our observing sessions are resuming in the Autumn. As always, look out for emails from Mark and Chris giving details and any last minute alterations.

If you are not on our emailing list, please contact Mark and Chris for the latest news - contact details here.

Remember that there are some great online observing guides - a good one is run by Telescope House. Look out for the monthly night sky emails from Mark and Chris.

Star Party:

We hope to hold Star Parties again this session - Covid-19 allowing. Maybe we'll be able to run one at the Madley Environmental Study Centre (MESC) again.

MESC is right next door to the Madley Satellite Earth Station - a well known Herefordshire landmark. There are some location maps and directions to the MESC web site here.

Visit:

Once or twice a year, members like to jump in cars or climb in a mini-bus and make their way to go and see something interesting outside of Herefordshire (passports not required - so far). Previous trips have been to the Spaceguard Centre, the International Astronomy Show, the National Space Centre, Jodrell Bank, the Norman Lockyer Observatory outside Sidmouth, the Herschel Museum in Bath and the Hanwell Community Observatory just outside Banbury.

Members pay for shared transport and any entrance fees as appropriate..