2020/2021 Archive pages

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Image credit: NASA Hubble Heritage

Welcome to Astronomy in Herefordshire

Latest News:

News and items of interest to Herefordshire Astronomical Society members

Our new website!

Our website has been upgraded to the New Google Sites - what do you think?

You'll see that Navigation has moved to the top of the page with quick links to the "Meetings" and "Observing" pages. All the other pages and the Archive are in the "Home v" drop down. If you want to come back to this page - just click on the "Home" link itself.

As you scroll down the page you'll see these navigation links stay at the top of the page - so you can always easily navigate around our site.

Another neat thing is that the website resizes to fit the browser and device you're using to view it on - much easier to find your way around if you're on your tablet or mobile phone.

Enjoy!

What's Next - Virtual Meeting - Thursday 10th September 2020

Thank you Keith Moseley for another marvellous talk at the end of August - Venus is no longer forgotten by HAS members!

We are holding Virtual Meeting for members in September. This month we thought it would be great to share and look at member's photos of Comet C/2020 F3 NEOWISE. There are a couple of great photos from Francis below here.

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.

Thursday 10th September 2020

7:00pm - Virtual Meeting

HAS Informal Meeting

Virtual meeting for Society members to chat and share experiences, thoughts and stories on anything under the skies.

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.

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:

Meetings:

We are just finalising the details for our talks in the new 2020/2021 session - details to follow.

Our next meeting:

Thursday 10th September 2020

7:00pm - Virtual Meeting

HAS Informal Meeting

Virtual meeting for Society members to chat and share experiences, thoughts and stories on anything under the skies.

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

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 the Bartestree Village Hall site 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.

TBC

6:30 - 9:00pm

TBC

Practical observing and advice session.

More information here.

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.

TBC

Star Party with MESC

More information 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.

TBC

Where would you like to go?

More information here.

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

September:

You missed it - Comet NEOWISE !

There was a spectacular comet around earlier in summer that was 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 was 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.

October:

What's Next - Virtual Talk - Thursday 1st October 2020 - Foamy Universe

Thank you Keith Moseley for another marvellous talk at the end of August - Venus is no longer forgotten by HAS members!

For our first talk of the new 2020/2021 session we welcome Mark Gibbons from Cotswold Astronomical Society.

If we look at a large scale, where the smallest unit is a million galaxies or so, the Universe has a distinct structure to it. Visible galaxies are distributed as if they were the filmy part of a bubbly foam; the bubbles have almost nothing inside them. Yet these galaxies are so far apart that they can have little or no influence on each other at this scale. So, why do galaxies arrange themselves in this way? This talk explores the large-scale structure of the Universe, how we know it exists, what it evolved from, and what lies in its future.

Mark Gibbons worked in the medical computer industry. He has no official astronomical qualifications as such, but his hobby is astronomy. He has been a Committee Member of the Cotswold Astronomical Society for 18 years. He has given and continues to give talks to many astronomical societies during that time.

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.

Thursday 1st October 2020

7:00pm - Virtual Talk

The Foamy Universe

Mark Gibbons, Cotswold Astronomical Society

What's Next - Virtual Meeting - Thursday 15th October 2020

Thank you Mark Gibbons for a wonderfully comprehensive journey to the edge of the visible universe ... and beyond. Fascinating and provoked lots of conversations afterwards.

Our next meeting will be an informal virtual meeting for HAS members to share photos and stories. We'll also see what to look out for in the October night skies.

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.

Thursday 15th October 2020

7:00pm - Virtual Meeting

HAS Internal Meeting

Virtual meeting for Society members to chat and share experiences, thoughts and stories on anything under the skies.

Our new website!

Our website has been upgraded to the New Google Sites - what do you think?

As you scroll down the page you'll see these navigation links stay at the top of the page - so you can always easily navigate around our site.

Another neat thing is that the website resizes to fit the browser and device you're using to view it on - much easier to find your way around if you're on your tablet or mobile phone.

Enjoy!

November:

What's Next - Virtual Talk - Thursday 5th November 2020 - Life in Hell?

For our next monthly talk, we're delighted to welcome back Christianne Wakeham who will look at the recent claims about the presence of phosphine in the cloud decks of Venus.

Christianne is an educationalist with extensive experience in Higher Education, workforce development and community-based learning as a teacher, course designer and mentor. A scientist by training, Christianne has a degree in Applied Physics and an MSc in Medical Science.

Although a physicist by training, Christianne is a currently a member of the Biomedical Science team at the University of Worcester. She is the only member of the team who is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society!

Her main research area is into the possible causes of CRGV, also known as Alabama Rot, a fatal disease affecting dogs in the UK. However, she has a wide range of interests including how life originally developed on Earth and what that that tells us about the possibilities for life in the wider cosmos.

She is also a trustee for Madley Environmental Study Centre MESC where we've had the pleasure of meeting her on our various visits and star parties at the centre.

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.

Thursday 5th November 2020

7:00pm - Virtual Meeting

Life in Hell?

Christianne Wakeham (University of Worcester)

December:

What's Next - Virtual Talk - Thursday 3rd December 2020 - Ten Ways the Universe Tries to Kill You

From gamma-ray bursts to asteroid impacts, this is an overview of cataclysmic events. This light-hearted, but scientifically robust, approach incorporates a lot of fundamental cosmological processes, from stellar evolution to galactic interaction.

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 has taught astronomy to adults and children for more than 35 years. He now spends most of his time doing astronomical outreach and is in demand as a speaker to astronomical societies throughout Britain. 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.

Thursday 3rd December 2020

7:00pm - Virtual Meeting

Ten Ways the Universe Tries to Kill You

Steve Tonkin FRAS

January 2021:

What's Next - Virtual AGM and Talk - Thursday 7th January 2021 - "East is East"

Our next meeting is the Annual General Meeting followed by a talk by our very own Chris Millington called "East is East".

Thursday 7th January 2021

7:00pm - Virtual Meeting

AGM and talk - "East is East"

Talk by Chris Millington (HAS)

February 2021:

What's Next - Virtual Meeting - Thursday 4th February 2021 - "Planetary Rovers"

For our next monthly talk we are delighted to welcome Ezzy Pearson to HAS - Ezzy is going to tell us all about Planetary Rovers.

For the last 50 years, humanity has been sending robotic emissaries to traverse their way across other worlds - from rovers on the surface of the Moon and Mars, to balloons bobbing through the skies of Venus. Ezzy takes us on a tour through the history of these mobile explorers, from the Soviet lunar rovers of the 1970s all the way through to the exciting new drones and submarines that could be yet to come.

Ezzy Pearson is the News Editor of BBC Sky at Night Magazine. Ezzy's love affair with space began in a field in Cornwall, aged 7, when she looked up at the Milky Way for the first time. Ever since, she’s been attempting to cram in every fact about the Universe she can find into her head. Her first book about the history of robotic planetary landers was published by The History Press in October last year.

Thursday 4th February 2021

7:00pm - Virtual Meeting

Planetary Rovers

Talk by Ezzy Pearson, Sky at Night Magazine

March 2021:

What's Next - Virtual Meeting - Thursday 11th March 2021 - Annual Webb Lecture

Our next monthly meeting is the Annual Webb Lecture - our 13th!

We are delighted to welcome Dr Lee MacDonald to HAS. For those lucky enough to have gone on the trip to Oxford last year, Dr Macdonald gave us a wonderful private behind the scenes tour of Oxford's History of Science Museum (you can see a couple of pictures of our trip if you scroll down our archive here).

After the closely fought battle at our last meeting to select the topic for his talk, we look forward to Dr Macdonald telling us about his research examining the archives and history of the Royal Observatory - "Greenwich Observatory in 1900: reshaping an old observatory for the twentieth century"

Thursday 11th March 2021

7:00pm - Virtual Meeting

Annual Webb Lecture

Dr Lee MacDonald, Sackler Research Fellow, Royal Museums, Greenwich

April 2021:

What's Next - Virtual Meeting - Thursday 1st April 2021 - The Science of Armageddon

Our next monthly meeting falls on the 1st April. We're delighted to welcome Jay Tate, Director of The Spaceguard Centre at Knighton.

Looking back over the talks we've had this year, I can't help but feel that Covid-19 has cast it's shadow - "Life in Hell" in November, "Ten Ways the Universe Tries to Kill You" in December. Now we have "The Science of Armageddon" in April?

Jay was a serving Army Officer for 26 years, specialising in surface to air missile systems. He served in UK, Germany and Canada, and also worked in many other countries. His activities looking at the impact hazard of Near Earth Objects were undertaken in a totally private capacity without the sanction or support of the Ministry of Defence. Jay has been raising the risk and threat posed by these objects for over twenty years. The Department of Trade and Industry decided that further study was appropriate and established a Task Force to investigate the threat with Jay making substantial contributions to the study. The subsequent report validated the hazard, and made significant recommendations for action. Implementation of these recommendations did not happen.

Jay established Spaceguard UK in January 1997, it is now the largest independent Spaceguard organisation in the world. Thanks to the efforts of Jay and the members of the organisation, the subject of Spaceguard has been publicly debated in both Houses of Parliament, and he has been a regular contributor on television and radio, also in professional and popular journals.

Jay is a member of the Board of Directors of the international Spaceguard Foundation, a consultant to the International Astronomical Union Working Group on Near Earth Objects, an associate of COSPAR, the vice-president of the Space Development Council and a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society. He is the Director of the Spaceguard Centre in mid-Wales, the co-ordinator of the Comet and Asteroid Information Network (CAIN) and leads the International Spaceguard Information Centre. The Spaceguard Centre has become a leading focus for public outreach and education.

In 2013 Jay was awarded the Europlanet Prize for Public Engagement in Planetary Science.

In recognition of his work, Asteroid 15116, discovered by the Spacewatch programme in 2000 has been named “Jaytate”.

Thursday 1st April 2021

7:00pm - Virtual Meeting

The Science of Armageddon

J R Tate FRAS, The Spaceguard Centre

May 2021:

What's Next - Virtual Meeting - Thursday 6th May 2021 - Hawkwind to Herschel

For our next monthly meeting we're delighted to welcome Pete Williamson FRAS (Shropshire AS).

Pete is a professional astronomer working freelance with varying universities and the BBC. He started doing astronomy as a youngster, aged 10 building his own 6” reflector and at the age of 12 grinding his own optics. After leaving school he followed a career as a rock musician before, at the age of 54, returning to astronomy and taking it up as a profession. He also runs Astro Radio Earth a worldwide radio station and Solarsphere astronomical and music festival. Find out more about Pete, his interests and activities on his website here.

Pete's fun talk looks back over time to see how many aspects of music and space / astronomer intertwine.

Thursday 6th May 2021

7:00pm - Virtual Meeting

Hawkwind to Herschel

Pete Williamson FRAS (Shropshire AS)

June 2021:

What's Next - Virtual Meeting - Thursday 3rd June 2021 - Here Comes the Sun

For our next monthly meeting we're delighted to welcome Keith Townsend, FRAS BAA. With the Solar Eclipse coming along on the 10th June, we thought it would be great to have someone tell us about our local star - so here comes the Sun!

Keith has owned and enjoyed a range of telescopes for many years and has been heavily involved with imaging. He recently invested in some of the latest imaging equipment and now manages to produce images he could only dream of a few years ago - when the clouds allow that is!

Keith started delivering talks back in 2011 when the Mars rover Curiosity launched for the planet in November and enjoyed the research that it entailed. This then developed into a regular series of presentations to a wide range of audiences, from astronomy societies to U3a, WI, public outreach and latterly zoom meetings to a much wider geographical area.

Keith was elected a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society in 2016 and has been a BAA member for many years.

The talk Keith will give to us is entitled ‘Here Comes the Sun’ and is a look behind the scenes at what goes on in our local star, including a brief look at the latest missions attempting to explain some of the more enigmatic aspects of solar activity.

Thursday 3rd June 2021

7:00pm - Virtual Meeting

Here comes the Sun

Keith Townsend FRAS BAA

Solar Eclipse - Thursday 10th June

At our last virtual meeting, Mark talked about the solar eclipse on Thursday 10th June.

This will be an annular solar eclipse and, unless you are camping out at the North Pole*, will be a partial eclipse as viewed from the UK. First contact for us in Hereford is 10:05 and the eclipse ends at 12:20.

If the UK Government keeps to its Covid-19 roadmap, by then groups of up to 30 people can meet outdoors (social distancing etc.). This should give us an opportunity to do a solar observing session - our first HAS observing session since ... 29th November 2019 ?

Mark will email out details of where we propose to meet nearer the time. Our current plan is to go to our Fownhope observing site. Please let Mark know if you have any solar viewing equipment that can be taken to this session e.g. h-alpha scope, Herschel wedge ? Remember to dig out your solar viewing spectacles and bring them with you.

*also across Ontario, Quebec, Greenland and the Russian Far East!

Member's Photos

We've had some more marvellous astrophotos sent in by Francis - both emission and dark nebulae:

Cygnus Veil Complex - a group of emission nebulae in Cygnus

NGCC 7822 - a young star forming complex with an emission region featuring some "elephant trunks"!

Lynds Dark Nebula 1251 - a complex nebula in the constellation Cepheus, containing dark structures and faintly glowing / reflecting dust and gas

Lynds Dark Nebula 1235 - a dark/reflection nebula in the constellation Cepheus - commonly referred to as the "Dark Shark Nebula". Francis has captured the head and fins of the shark here!

July 2021:

What's Next - Virtual Meeting - Thursday 1st July 2021 - The Appley Bridge Meteorite

For our next monthly meeting we're delighted to welcome Russell Parry to tell us about the Appley Bridge Meteorite.

Russell is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Public Health and founded a company that provides training and consultancy on food safety - winning many awards for training, exports and Entrepreneur of the Year. He's written several books on food safety and appeared on the radio and TV as a food safety expert.

So why is he coming to HAS?

Russell moved to the village of Appley Bridge in the North West of England in the early 1990’s and discovered the fascinating story of the 1914 meteorite strike on the village. He was so intrigued by the story that he decided to write a book about it and published it to coincide with the 100-year anniversary of the event. Russell has subsequently been invited to share the story in talks for astronomical societies, groups, museums and even on the liner Queen Mary 2 crossing the Atlantic.

Thursday 1st July 2021

7:00pm - Virtual Meeting

The Appley Bridge Meteorite

Russell Parry FRSPH

FAS:

The Mars Society: We’re Half Way to Mars by Igor Bobek from Croatia

On Wednesday 7th July at 19:30BST

To prepare for human missions to Mars in the not too distant future, we have to do the research and preparations here on Earth. The Mars Society is a global organization working and advocating the exploration and human colonization of Mars. Join Igor Bobek as he speaks about his work as a volunteer for The Mars Society and their YouTube channel MarsTalk.

Open to all. Tickets £3 via Eventbrite

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