Latest News - 2011/2012 season

Thursday 3rd of May - A talk by Andy Green

** Update **

The Copeland Centre is NOT being used as a polling station so we will meet as usual at 19:30 on Thursday 3rd of May - see you there!

Thursday 5th April - Dr. Mike Leggett

Mike will be able to do his talk which was postponed from the March meeting - "The history of Astronomers from Lincolnshire from Henry Andrews to Sir Isaac Newton" - Starts, as usual, after 19:30.

Sacrewell Farm Observing Wednesday 28th March - one last viewing session!

* Update * Yet another great viewing evening - thanks to all of those who brought equipment.

We are going to try for one last bash.

Please email the web admin before the event to let us know you are arriving - it will help us be aware of the numbers.

PARK IN THE CAR PARK ON THE LEFT (unless you are bringing scope equipment), just after the barrier which will be raised at 19:30

Use THIS LINK for directions to the Farm

The "Go" or "No-Go" will be on the Home page of this site not later than 18:00 on the night - you may have to refresh your browser

Stargazing Etiquette can be seen HERE - please do read this to help you enjoy the visit.

Sacrewell Farm Observing Wednesday 21st March - Public are welcome!

*Update* A much better evening this time... great views of the planets and, for those who stayed later, Saturn was SPECTACULAR...

Members of the society will be on hand with a number of telescopes at Sacrewell Farm from 19:30 on Wednesday 21st March

Please email the web admin before the event to let us know you are arriving - it will help us be aware of the numbers.

Park in the car park on the left, just after the barrier which will be raised at 19:30

Use THIS LINK for directions to the Farm

The "Go" or "No-Go" will be on the Home page of this site not later than 18:00 on the night - you may have to refresh your browser

Stargazing Etiquette can be seen HERE - please do read this to help you enjoy the visit.

Sacrewell Farm Observing dates in March - 14th!

Well - it wasn't ideal, but at least we got a number of scopes up & running (Ian... let's just do visual next time & leave the electronics)

Many thanks to all who showed up with scopes... the views of Jupiter were fantastic (even managed to see Saturn later on through the murk!)

Please Note : 14th is for members / invitees only

Use THIS LINK for directions to the Farm

Stargazing Etiquette can be seen HERE - please do read this to help you enjoy the visit.

Thursday 1st March

Many apologies for the late cancellation of Dr. Leggett's talk - he was unable to attend due to a family issue.

Thanks to Katie for doing her Flag Fen talk - & Phil for his collimation discussion

Dr. Leggett may be re-scheduled for a later time.

Thursday 2nd February

The Thursday meeting for February is for all the new people who want to know how they should start off and what our more experienced members can offer in the way of advice. The committee members will start the ball rolling, but we will be encouraging our seasoned members to participate in the discussion. If anyone has any specific questions, then please email anyone on the contact page so we can better prepare your specific answer.

On a separate topic - a really big THANK YOU to all of you who gave up your free time and for bringing experience & equipment to the events at Flag Fen. No-one imagined for one moment that there would be a response like we got. I appreciate that the words "free" & "BBC" tend to have a dramatic effect, but those members of the public who managed to get to talk to us were very enthusiastic and curious as to what we do. The majority of the feedback from our members has been that most people had a very enjoyable time - we are trying to work with Vivacity to build on the knowledge gained so far and possibly extend our relationship further - watch this space!

Sunday 22nd January - Vivacity Stargazing event @ Flag Fen

This is Vivacity run event which is after the BBC Stargazing Live event last Monday. The Peterborough Astronomical Society members will be showing off some of their telescopes and there will be a large number of displays, some of which contain images taken by our people. If the weather is clear there will be a couple of telescopes specially equipped for Solar viewing outside during the day and if it is clear later in the evening then other telescopes will be operated by some of our expert observers who will show you around the night sky.

There will be a few talks in the Education Room, and we are planning to have a few of our members giving their experiences in starting out with a telescope, and hopefully answering questions from you. We hope to run these short talks on the hour from about 1pm, but it is subject to change depending on the numbers. The talks include, "Taking Astro Photos With A Basic Camera", "Bronze Age Astronomy  : The Nebra Sky Disk" both of which should last about 15 minutes, finishing off with some of our members chairing a session aimed at "starting out with a telescope & helping beginners with their problems"

The event will begin at 10:00am on Sunday 22nd of January and will run to approx. 7pm (Last entry will be 6pm). Vivacity will be charging their usual Flag Fen entry (Adults £5, concessions £4.50, Children/full-time students £3.75, children under 5 free. Family ticket for 2 adults & up to 3 children £13.75)

Information about the site, including how to get there, can be found here about Flag Fen.

Links to the event are :

BBC's "Things to Do" website

Vivacity's Web Site

If you want any more information, please contact the Society Chairman or Web Administrator.

Remember to wear warm clothing (especially sturdy footwear) & if you bring a torch, make it a red one if possible.

Monday 16th January - Stargazing Live event @ Flag Fen

This is a BBC Learning sponsored event to coincide with the BBC Stargazing Live events scheduled for 16th, 17th & 18th January. The Peterborough Astronomical Society members will be showing off some of their members' telescopes and there will be a large number of displays, some of which contain images taken by our members. If the weather is clear, there will be a couple of telescopes outside, operated by some of our expert observers, who will show you around the evening sky.

The event will begin at 18:00 on Monday 16th of January and will run to approx. 21:00 and is Free!

Information about the site, including how to get there, can be found here about Flag Fen.

Links to the event are :

BBC's "Things to Do" website

Vivacity's Web Site

A PDF Flyer for the event is also available - Click on this link to download it.

If you want any more information, please contact the Society Chairman or Web Administrator.

Remember to wear warm clothing (especially sturdy footwear) & if you bring a torch, make it a red one if possible.

5th January -A talk by Ralph Bell on "DSLR Astrophotography for the beginner"

Society member Ralph Bell will be giving a talk on astrophotography for the beginner using a Digital SLR camera. Talk starts after normal introductions at 19:30.

1st December - Society Christmas Party Evening

Nothing too spectacular, but bring along some nibbles (& enough for other people) and we'll try to keep you entertained. Also, there will be news of the upcoming events for January - not giving anything away just yet, so come along & find out.

3rd November - A talk by Paul Money "Images of the universe vol 4"

Our good friend Paul Money will be delivering his latest "Images of the Universe" - anyone who has not heard Paul give one of his talks should pop on down for a memorable delivery - you may never hear such an enthusiastic delivery!

6th October - A talk by Martin Hall "Observing on a cloudy night"

One of our society members, Martin Hall, will be talking about observing on a cloudy night - intriguing!

New PAS Committee

At the Peterborough Astronomical Societies AGM on the 1st September a new committee was put in place for the 2011-12 season.

The new committee is: John Mackey (Chairman), Martin Hall (Vice-Chairman), Keith Townsend (Treasurer), Sheila Thorpe (Secretary), Phil Shepherd (Web Administration) & Brenda Kilby (Member)