Upcoming Events

Late-night meteor watch: Geminids
Sat 13th Dec, 2025, 11pm -- late,
Sun 14th Dec, 2025, 11pm -- late,
Mon 15th Dec, 2025, 11pm -- late

On these dates, starting outside the Fountain pub in Barton Square, Ely, our chairman Alex will lead any interested parties on a watch for Geminid meteors, weather permitting. Wrap up warm!

To increase the likelihood of clear skies, and of seeing any meteors (if any there be), we are holding three consecutive nights of skywatching.

Those wanting to see the Geminids will need a reasonably clear and unobstructed Eastern and North-Eastern horizon. The meteors (if they appear at all), should already be falling by the time we start.

There may be a chance of observing the central region of the great constellation of Orion the Hunter, making its silent midnight rendezvous with the meridian. This annual event would have served undeniable notice to our prehistoric and pagan ancestors that the winter solstice was only a week or so away.

For those wanting a more generalised overview of the ins-and-outs of late-night/early-morning meteor watching, please refer to my recently revised article about the August Perseids, Tears of St. Lawrence.

Trip report! The meteoric haul on Saturday was impressive, given the forecast of total cloud cover: peaking at several a minute, bright enough that there was no possibility they were hallucinated. Mostly Geminids, but some emanating from around the celestial north pole which may have been early Ursids (named after Ursa Minor).

So perhaps you might think of joining us this evening, or when the next set of similar events occur!

Winter solstice, 21st Dec 2025

The rendezvous point for our annual solstice sunset watch will be outside the Fountain pub in Barton Square, Ely, at 3:30pm. On this day, all the inhabitants of the Earth's northern hemisphere (below the Arctic Circle) have to drag themselves through the shortest day and the longest night of the year. This annual occurrence was of supreme importance on the celestial calendar of our prehistoric pagan and early Christian ancestors: so why not come along and toast the setting of the solsticial Sun?

Astro club events hiatus

For health reasons on the part of your Chairman, club events are temporarily on hiatus; mostly we are doing observing and social events.

Bear with us, and hopefully we'll have the club on a much more secure footing in the new year.

Thank you all for your longstanding support; we will let you know in due course when the situation improves.

We would like to wish all those concerned a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

   Love Alex and Nick.