2019/2020 Archive pages

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Image credit: NASA Hubble Heritage

Welcome to Astronomy in Herefordshire.

Latest News (Archive):

News and new items of interest to Herefordshire Astronomical Society members

September 2019:

• What's Next - first meeting in the new 2019-2020 programme - Thursday 5th September 2019

Your committee has put together another exciting schedule of talks and activities for the 2019/2020 season - join us at the Kindle Centre to find out what's in store for you.

Our first meeting will be with our very own Chris Millington where he'll give us another of his entertaining and thought provoking talks. This time he's asking "What is the Milky Way?".

at the Kindle Centre Belmont Road Hereford HR2 7JE (Next to ASDA - more information here)

October 2019:

• What's Next - Monthly talk at the Kindle Centre - Thursday 3rd October 2019

Chris got us off to a super start for our 2019-2020 season of talks. Entertaining as always, so does anyone still know what the Milky Way is after Chris's talk ?

Next we are delighted to have Dr Mikako Matsuura join us to share the latest research on Supernovae. Dr Matsuura is a senior lecturer and STFC Ernest Rutherford fellowship holder at the astrophysics group of School of Physics and Astronomy at the Cardiff University. Her research focuses on dust and molecules in evolved stars, supernovae and supernova remnants, using the state-of-art instruments, including the Herschel Space Observatory, ALMA, SOFIA and VLT. Dr Matsuura has pages of published articles to her name some with quite intriguing titles ("A stubbornly large mass of cold dust ...", "... molecular inventory, chemistry, dynamics and explosive nucleosynthesis."). Have a look for yourself here. Dr Matsuura gained her degrees and doctorate in Japan at Nagoya and Tokyo universities before coming to the UK for research at Manchester University, UMIST, Queen's University Belfast, UCL and Cardiff University interspersed with 3 years as JSPS fellow at the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (anyone else jealous ?)

• Date for your Diary - Saturday 26th October - Society for the History of Astronomy

The Annual Conference and AGM of the Society for the History of Astronomy is being held in Birmingham on Saturday 26th October and runs between 9:30 am - 5 pm. The SHA President and main speaker is Dr Allan Chapman with other speakers including Dr Heather Sebire, Dr Alexandra Loske, Dr Robert Massey, Dr Melanie Vandenbrouck, Dr Louise Devoy and Prof Bill Leatherbarrow. Information about the SHA is here and information on the conference is here. It takes place in the Birmingham & Midland Institure, Margaret Street, Birmingham B3 3BS. Entrance is £10 for members and £15 for non-members. To pre-register, please email here.

November 2019:

• What's Next - Monthly talk at the Kindle Centre - Thursday 7th November 2019

The next talk, in our November meeting, will be given by Owen Brazell of The Webb Society. Owen is President, Director of the Galaxies Section, Joint Meetings Organiser and DSO Editor for The Webb Society. He is also assistant director of the British Astronomical Association's Deep Sky Section and a regular contributor to Astronomy Now. When observing, his primary interests are in the observation of planetary and diffuse nebulae - although since the acquisition of a 51cm telescope this has also moved to viewing galaxy clusters.

Have a look around The Webb Society website here and there's information about the Deep-Sky Observer (DSO) quarterly magazine here.

December 2019:

• What's Next - Monthly talk at the Kindle Centre - Thursday 5th December 2019

The next talk, in our December meeting, will be given by Dr Chris Baddiley, one of the founder members of Worcester Astronomical Society and a committee member on the BAA's Commission for Dark Skies. Chris is a national authority on light pollution and in this talk will look at how lighting design affects our dark skies. You find out more about Chris here and about the Commission for Dark Skies here.

January 2020:

News and items of interest to Herefordshire Astronomical Society members

• What's Next - Monthly talk at the Kindle Centre - Thursday 2nd January 2020

Happy New Year!

Our first activity of 2020 is the Annual General Meeting followed by two talks from members of our HAS.

The AGM shouldn't take too long and will cover:

1. A private statement

2. Chairman's statement on the previous years activities

3. Report of the Treasurer

4. Appointment of Committee - Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer, Web Manager, Membership Secretary, Observing Secretary and finally a committee member without portfolio

5. Comments from membership, if required, about future wishes/events etc

This will be followed by two (much more interesting!) talks given by HAS members:

1. This will be followed by two (much more interesting!) talks given by HAS members:

2. Francis M will outline his new observatory build

• What's Next - Monthly observing session - Thursday 23rd January 2020 - CANCELLED

Happy New Year!

The Annual General Meeting was duly held at our January meeting with appointments made to all committee positions with the only change being the Member without portfolio agreeing to become the Membership Secretary. The AGM was followed by a couple of marvellous talks by HAS members on building a run-off observatory and the 2019 Chilean total solar eclipse.

Our next event is the monthly observing session. We had planned for this to be a Star Party with MESC, however planning for this event has not progressed so we will hold a regular observing session at Fownhope.

As always, look out for emails from Mark to advise what the weather looks like and whether the session is going ahead as planned.

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

Latest update from Mark:

"Despite having clear skies for the last 4 days it appears that we will be clouded out on both Thursday and Friday. I regret that I have no alternative but to cancel these events as I cannot see any improvements forthcoming."

February 2020:

News and items of interest to Herefordshire Astronomical Society members

• What's Next - Monthly talk at the Kindle Centre - Thursday 2nd January 2020

Our next society activity is the monthly talk at the Kindle Centre. We are delighted to have Andy Green come and talk to us about the Hubble Space Telescope.

Does this make you feel old? It's the 30th anniversary of the Hubble Space Telescope's launch this year? The HST was launched by the shuttle Discovery (STS-31) on 24 April 1990.

Andy has been actively involved in astronomy and space for over 43 years becoming interested in astronomy and space aged 7. He has visited several space agencies and their facilities at NASA and ESA, met many astronauts and cosmonauts including most of the men who have walked on the moon including the late Neil Armstrong. Andy was in America with media credentials to cover both [sic.] final refits of the Hubble Space Telescope at NASA for Spaceflight magazine - missions of STS-125 and STS-135. So we welcome Andy to tell us the story of the Hubble Space Telescope.

• What's Next - Society visit to Hanwell and Oxford - Friday 28th-29th February 2020

Our next event is the trip to Hanwell Community Observatory and Oxford at the weekend 28th-29th February.

Paul has organised an exciting couple of days for us. On Friday we visit Hanwell Castle and the Hanwell Community Observatory with Paul providing a detailed map on where to park and the route to the telescope area. We're advised to take tough footwear as the path is rather muddy and a strong torch to help keep to the path and not get lost in the dark! Christopher Archer will be our volunteer guide for the late afternoon and the evening assisted by three of his colleagues – we all hope for good weather but if not they have a plan B?

Then on Saturday we're off to Oxford where we have a guided tour with Dr Lee Macdonald around the History of Science Museum in Broad Street. In the afternoon Christopher Archer joins us again and takes us on a tour around Oxford - wet weather gear advised? .

March 2020:

News and items of interest to Herefordshire Astronomical Society members

• What's Next - Monthly talk at the Kindle Centre - Thursday 5th March 2020

Our next society activity is the monthly talk at the Kindle Centre. We are delighted to have Chris Millington, HAS member, join us to bust some of the jargon we encounter in the strange world of astronomy that we all like to visit:

• What's Next - Monthly observing session - Thursday 19th March 2020

Our next society activity will be the monthly observing session at Fownhope Recreation Field or Bartestree Village Hall. As always, look out for emails from Mark and Chris giving details of where and when we'll be meeting and any last minute alterations.

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

April 2020:

News and items of interest to Herefordshire Astronomical Society members

• What's Next - March observing session and April meeting CANCELLED due to Corona virus COVID 19

A message from our Chairman:

Following the advice from the Government the committee has discussed the position on future meetings and observing sessions.

It is with regret that the next meeting on the 2nd April has been cancelled. In addition the observing nights for this Thursday and Saturday have also been cancelled.

Hopefully, things will improve for us to resume our monthly meetings - I will continue to send out the monthly sky guides.

Take care of yourself and stay healthy

• What's Next - Virtual Talk - Thursday 30th April - Steve Tonkin "Pseudoastronomy"

We are very excited to announce our first Virtual Talk for the Herefordshire Astronomical Society!

While we are in Covid-19 lockdown, we've been looking at how we can continue to bring you interesting information and talks on Astronomy.

Chris has done a brilliant job searching around for how we can do this and approaching potential speakers willing to deliver Virtual Talks for us.

We are delighted that Steve Tonkin has agreed to give us our first talk. This talk is deliberately light hearted and we hope it will inform and entertain you in these otherwise rather worrying and oppressive days.

Hollow Moon and Flat Earth

Steve is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and is the author of many articles and several books on practical aspects of astronomy. He is a STEM ambassador with a special brief for astronomy, and has a monthly column in BBC Sky at Night Magazine, for which he also writes equipment and book reviews. Steve also runs The Binocular Sky, a website devoted to the use of binoculars for astronomy (more here).

We are using the Zoom video conferencing app to deliver this talk to you. We will send you an email with a web link which will take you to the Zoom conference session for the talk. Zoom works even better if you download the Zoom app to your PC, tablet or phone. If you've not used Zoom before, we've got some information here.

If you are not on our emailing list and do not currently receive emails from us, please contact Mark or Chris to be added to our mailing list - their contact details are here.

May 2020:

News and items of interest to Herefordshire Astronomical Society members

• What's Next - Virtual Talk - Thursday 28th May - Gerard Gilligan - 12th Annual Webb Lecture

After the success of our first Virtual Talk with Steve Tonkin, we are delighted that Gerard Gilligan is able to join us by Zoom to give our 12th Annual Webb lecture.

Gerard is a long standing member of the Liverpool Astronomical Society where he's served as Secretary Chair. He lives in Liverpool and works at Liverpool University, School of Life Sciences. Gerard first became interested in the great science of Astronomy when he was 8 years old - following the Apollo 8 mission around the Moon. He has many interests within astronomy but particularly in the history of Astronomy, both locally and nationally. Gerard is a founder member of the Society for the History of Astronomy and has served as SHA membership secretary and was elected Chairman in 2018.

For our 12th Annual Webb lecture, Gerard is going to tell us the story of William Lassell.

William Lassell has been described by several historians of astronomy as a “Grand Amateur” and many of them did exist in 19th century Britain. These wealthy Victorian gentlemen and several ladies used their own independent means to pursue a passion for the science of astronomy. Lassell, born in 1799 in the Lancashire town of Bolton, became an accomplished astronomical observer, designer and builder of large telescopes.

However his passion for astronomy was paid for indirectly by the beer thirsty workers, seafarer’s and the local residents of the growing maritime port of Liverpool. It was from this great Victorian city that after 1825, as a local brewer, Lassell financed his great telescopes and observatories. He extended our knowledge of our outer solar system, the giant gas planets and their satellites, plus mapping many deep sky objects.

We are using the Zoom video conferencing app to deliver this talk to you. We will send you an email with a web link which will take you to the Zoom conference session for the talk. Zoom works even better if you download the Zoom app to your PC, tablet or phone. If you've not used Zoom before, we've got some information here.

If you are not on our emailing list and do not currently receive emails from us, please contact Mark or Chris to be added to our mailing list - their contact details are here.

Next Meeting:

at the Kindle Centre Belmont Road Hereford HR2 7JE (Next to ASDA - more information here)

June 2020:

News and items of interest to Herefordshire Astronomical Society members

• What's Next - Monday 22nd June - An introduction to variable star astronomy and cataclysmic variables

Our many thanks to Gerard Gilligan who gave our second Virtual Talk - the 12th Annual Webb lecture telling us the story of William Lassell. Gerard's talk was recorded and he has allowed us to share the recording with members who were unable to attend in (virtual) person - here.

The next monthly talk will be given by Jeremy Shears. Jeremy is Director of the BAA Variable Star Section and a keen observer of variable stars from his observatory in Cheshire. He frequently collaborates with professional astronomers on research into cataclysmic variables. Jeremy was BAA President from 2015-17 and is currently the Association's Papers Secretary. By day he is Chief Scientist at Shell, focusing on the transition to new energy systems.

July 2020:

• What's Next - Virtual Meeting - Thursday 9th July 2020

Many thanks to Jeremy Shears for his talk on variable stars and cataclysmic variables. We recorded the Zoom talk and if you missed it you can view it on YouTube here.

We hope to hold further Virtual Meetings for members to chat and share problems and experience on anything astronomical. As before, we'll be using the Zoom video conferencing app for this. We will send you an email with a web link which will take you to the Zoom conference session for the talk. If you've not used Zoom before, we've got some information here.

If you are not on our emailing list and do not currently receive emails from us, please contact Mark or Chris to be added to our mailing list - their contact details are here.

On the 9th, Rob and Martin will share some thoughts and experiences around astro imaging. Rob's got some photos taken at our Fownhope observing site and addresses the puzzle "The Horsehead....Often discussed but seldom seen....but why?". Martin's responding to a couple of queries from our last informal meeting - "what's the magnification" and "focusing". Do join us to share your experiences or challenges to see if anyone else has managed to solve them!

• What's Next - Talk - Thursday 23rd July 2020 - Cold Dark Matter

• Our next talk is given by Julian Onions, Nottingham University Astronomy Department.

Cold dark matter - is it cold, is it dark and is it matter? We hear a lot about dark matter in astronomy. Some people

consider it a fudge. In this talk we'll go through the evidence for dark matter and the history of it, and answer the questions in the title.

We are using the Zoom video conferencing app to deliver this talk to you. We will send you an email with a web link which will take you to the Zoom conference session for the talk. Zoom works even better if you download the Zoom app to your PC, tablet or phone. If you've not used Zoom before, we've got some information here.

If you are not on our emailing list and do not currently receive emails from us, please contact Mark or Chris to be added to our mailing list - their contact details are here.

August 2020:

• What's Next - Virtual Meeting - Thursday 13th August 2020

• Many thanks to Julian Onions for his talk on Cold Dark Matter. We recorded the Zoom talk and if you missed it you can view it on on our YouTube channel here.

We are holding another Virtual Meeting for members in August. This month we have our very own Mark Chamberlain (Chairman and Observing Secretary) presenting to us and sharing lots of tips and tricks on how to plan and successfully observe ... and set us some observing challenges!

As before, we'll be using the Zoom video conferencing app for this. We will send you an email with a web link which will take you to the Zoom conference session for the talk. Zoom works even better if you download the Zoom app to your PC, tablet or phone. If you've not used Zoom before, we've got some information here.

If you are not on our emailing list and do not currently receive emails from us, please contact Mark or Chris to be added to our mailing list - their contact details are here.

• What's Next - Talk - Thursday 27th August 2020 - Venus: Forgotten Planet?

• We are delighted to welcome Keith Moseley back to give our next virtual talk. With all the activity this month launching three missions to Mars, Keith will remind us that we have a closer planetary neighbour - still with hidden mysteries.

• Keith Moseley is the retired Head of Physics from Monmouth School and a former associate lecturer for the Open University and Cardiff Department of Lifelong Learning. Most recently he has worked on the Erasmus+ ‘Online Observatory’ project, school educational materials and as an assistant editor for the magazine Popular Astronomy.

• We are using the Zoom video conferencing app to deliver this talk to you. We will send you an email with a web link which will take you to the Zoom conference session for the talk. Zoom works even better if you download the Zoom app to your PC, tablet or phone. If you've not used Zoom before, we've got some information here.

If you are not on our emailing list and do not currently receive emails from us, please contact Mark or Chris to be added to our mailing list - their contact details are here.

• Observing Highlights

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

• Look outside - Comet NEOWISE !

• There is a spectacular comet around at the moment that's visible to the naked eye. For us in the northern hemisphere, it's the brightest comet since Hale-Bopp 23 years ago. Well worth getting outside to look at when it's dark. Designated C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) it was only found in March looking at observations made using the orbiting Near Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE) satellite.

• Francis has taken some more lovely photos of the comet - here's the latest, a close up showing the two tails. The slightly blue ion tail (following the magnetic field lines created by the solar wind) below the white dust tail (trailing behind in the path of the comet):

• Here's another lovely photo - this one is the comet much as you might see it with your naked eye:

• Society trip to Hanwell Community Observatory and Oxford

Another marvellous society trip organised by Paul. Here are some piccies taken by Francis and Martin. On Friday we visited Hanwell Community Observatory where we were given a tour by Chris Archer of the quite remarkable and historic telescopes before we retreated to Hanwell Castle's Coach House where Chris had laid out many more historic books, manuscripts and equipment for us to peruse. Rounded off by a visit for some grub at the aptly named "Moon & Sixpence" in Hanwell village.

The following day we headed off to Oxford where we met Dr Lee Macdonald who gave us a private behind the scenes tour of Oxford's History of Science Museum. What a privilege - ranging from a small blackboard with Albert Einstein's chalked equations written in Einstein's own hand on 16th May 1931 while giving a series of three lectures on his theory of relativity; to Islamic astrolabes beautifully engraved in brass dating from 9th and 10th centuries; to an ancient specimen closely examining an original first edition of the first printed astronomy book and a first edition of our very own Rev T W Webb's "Celestial Objects for Common Telescopes:

In the afternoon we were joined by Chris again who took us on a walking tour around Oxford's many many astronomically linked historical sites. Thanks Paul - another excellent society trip enjoyed by all.

Meetings:

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.

• Thursday 28th May - Gerard Gilligan - 12th Annual Webb Lecture - William Lassell

• Monday 22nd June - Jeremy Shears - An introduction to variable star astronomy and cataclysmic variables

• Thursday 23rd July - Julian Onions - Cold Dark Matter

Our next meetings:

Observing Session:

We start our observing sessions in October and after the clocks change we'll be able to start the sessions a bit earlier - look out for emails from Mark with timings and details.

We plan to continue to use the Fownhope Recreation Field site and are also exploring a location in Bartestree for our observing evenings.

So come and talk to new or more experienced society members - hopefully have a look through some telescopes and binoculars at the night sky. Share your thoughts, pick up some observing tips and recommendations, discuss your astronomical problems and projects, bring your own equipment for advice on how best to use it. We may change the observing meeting to another evening if the weather forecast indicates it would be better. Members can bring their own refreshments although we don't expect to have access to The Pavilion if we need cover (there's always The Greenman or The New Inn if needs must!). Look out for the latest news on this website and we'll email out any change to arrangements to members.

Star Party:

Our next event is the Star Party at Madley Environmental Study Centre (MESC).

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 and the Herschel Museum in Bath.

This session we are planning a visit to the Hanwell Community Observatory just outside Banbury and the following day we have a guided tour around Oxford. This will require an overnight stay - details and recommended accommodation to be advised.

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

Click link below for view of UK sky:

Met Office Satellite image. UK Visible Light.