By all accounts, the Dark Sky event held on Saturday 10th May was a great success. Superby organised by Newbury Astro’s Light Pollution lead Val Russell, it ran all day and into the evening, featuring talks, demonstrations and a huge lineup of solar scopes taking advantage of some excellent weather. Our thanks to everyone who volunteered to help out. 

Val is always on the lookout for help in spreading the word about the issues created by Light Pollution and the value of Dark Skies to human health, ecosystems and the climate (as well as our view of the splendours of the heavens) so if you are interested, please do get in touch with her on valrussell@newburyastro.org.uk and she’ll be thrilled to hear from you. Otherwise, for more information on light pollution and why it is such an issue, do check out https://www.darkskiesmatter.org.uk/ and https://www.cpre.org.uk/what-we-care-about/nature-and-landscapes/dark-skies/

Some of the society members who helped out at last year's RAL Open Week

NAS has a thriving outreach programme as anyone who looks at the Outreach page on the website will know. For much of the year, a major focus is presentations to the likes of Scout, Cub, Brownie and Guide groups, Y3A, Air Cadets and The Parkinson's Society, enthusiastically led by George Sallit, Steve Harris and others. However, with the summer coming the focus is turning to bigger, public events like the Tadley Treacle Fair, Thatcham Fun Day and more. These events can bring hundreds of visitors to the NAS area, and can have a massive and positive impact,  spreading the joy of the night (and day) sky to thousands of people. However, they can also be a significant undertaking to ensure that the many people eager to see the Sun through a telescope for the first time (for example) can be catered for whilst allowing members time to have a break, get something to eat etc. As a result, we're always on the lookout for more volunteers to help. Many hands make light work, and you don't need loads of astronomical knowledge to make a real difference. If you can spare any time for any events on the schedule, or are just interested in how you could help, please do let George know at Outreach@newburyastro.org.uk 

This is advance notice that the BAA Radio Astronomy Section and RAL Space are hosting EUCARA on 5th – 7th September 2025 at RAL's Harwell campus in South Oxfordshire. This biannual conference has been running since 2014 but it's the first time it will have happened in the UK, and this is a great opportunity for the UK Amateur Radio Astronomy community to meet each other and our EU friends. The conference will include presentations from academic researchers, local amateurs, and students, and the key note speaker will be Professor Jocelyn Bell Burnell of the University of Oxford.

If you are interested in registering (some society members have already signed up), please head to https://eucara.org/ 

On Tuesday 18th March more than a dozen of Newbury Astro's finest headed off to Cody Observatory in Farnborough, as guests of Cody Astronomical Society. The observatory was built by the Royal Aircraft Establishment in Farnborough in 1966 as part of rocketry projects involving stellar navigation, and houses an unusual 6" (15cm) Carl Zeiss Coudé refractor telescope. It was a great evening, with clear skies allowing the use of the refractor that afforded fine views of Jupiter, but also of other scopes set up outside by members of the Cody society.

There is a full report in the latest (April) edition of Pegasus, and our thanks go both to Cody Astronomical Society for such a warm and friendly welcome but particularly to Val and Simon for organising such a great trip.