Newbury Astronomical Society

Interested in astronomy and looking for meetings and events in the Newbury area?

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What's Up?

The March "What's Up" with the latest update on what to see in the skies this month is now available at the link below.....

Forthcoming Meetings

The next beginners meeting of the 2023-2024 session is the March meeting, to be held on Wednesday the 20th of March 2024 starting at 7:00pm. The topics to be covered will be the Spring Sky, and with Mercury making a welcome appearance just after sunset during the month, a guide to Observing the Inner Planets. As usual, weather permitting we'll try to do some observing in the second half of the evening.

The meeting is at the usual location of Stockcross Village Hall (Sutton Hall): RG20 8LN. (click here for a map and further details of the session's meetings).

Because of the looming April BAA WInchester weekend, the next speaker meeting of the 2023-2024 session will be held earlier than usual, on Friday 22nd March 2024 starting at 7.30pm. The speaker will be Professor Matthew Middleton of Southampton University whose talk will be Searching for Hidden Black Holes in the Milky Way

The talk will be at the usual location of The Fair Close Centre, Newtown Road, Newbury: RG14 7BH. (click here for a map and further details of the session's meetings).

If you wish to be a member of the society for this season and haven't completed your membership form yet, please complete a copy and bring it with you to the meeting.

We also offer an ICS Calendar file of all the meetings (main & beginners) of the session to add to your phone or email client:

Recent meetings:

For slides and other details from recent meetings, head to the Meeting Presentations page. Latest additions are details from Dr Tim Haymes about forthcoming occultations including one scheduled to pass over western Newbury, and the slide deck from Stephen Mullaly's recent second-half talk on Radio Astronomy.

Headlines.....

Ann Davies receives Honorary Membership at 2/2 NAS meeting

At the NAS meeting on 2nd February, NAS Chair Paul Gibson presented longstanding NAS (and BAA) member Ann Davies with an Honorary Membership in recognition of her many years of service to the society, and to Amateur Astronomy in the UK as a whole. Paul writes:


Since the Newbury Astronomical Society’s formation, some 43 years ago, Ann Davies has been a constant and major contributor to its development and organisation, both as a long standing Chair and a Committee member. Just as importantly, she has been, and remains, an extraordinary example of a friendly and most approachable source of knowledge for members to call on, be they beginners or experts. Her organisational work with and for the British Astronomical Association has also significantly enhanced the astronomical community in the UK, and reflected well on the NAS.

 

It is with great pleasure that the Society has awarded Ann the status of Honorary Member, in recognition of her contributions, at our February, 2024 Main Meeting 

Stargazing 2024 at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory

Last month, intrepid members of Newbury AS turned out en masse to support the Stargazing event at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Harwell, Oxfordshire, providing views of Saturn, Jupiter, the Moon and (until cloud threw a spanner in the works) the Orion Nebula for attendees through a host of telescopes from small SCTs to homebuilt Dobsonians to the latest robotic scopes. Despite cold temperatures, large crowds kept the observers busy over a three hour stretch and it was great to hear so many gasps of amazement and delight from young and old alike.

Last week, members again turned out at The Earth Trust at Little Wittenham, Oxfordshire for a Stargazing event in support of the charity. Unfortunately, this time the clouds did not oblige, but members gave a series of talks and feedback suggested the event went really well - there is likely to be a follow-up later this year. Our thanks to all members who helped out at both events.  

(RAL Image courtesy the STFC) )and