Download ISSUE 45 September 2011 - Bristol Astronomical Society

ISSUE 45
September 2011
THE MAGAZINE OF THE BRISTOL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
In this Issue
ARTICLES
Fly me to the Moon!
The Sun shines out in Glory.
OBSERVATION REPORTS
Tyntesfield Star Party 22/09/11
Saturday 1st October
Observing in South Africa
Draconids from Turkey
REVIEWS
How I Killed Pluto
GALLERY
Jupiter
Comet Garradd
M31
Building the 18" housing
Look at what you are missing
IN THIS ISSUE
ECLIPSE NO. 45
From the Editor
September 2011
The Magazine of the
Bristol Astronomical Society
2
Articles
Fly me to the Moon! - Bob Holder
3
The Sun shines out in Glory on everything I see - John Meacham 5
Editor: Mike Cowles
© 2011 Bristol Astronomical Society
and Individual Contributors
Observing Reports
Tyntesfield Star Party 22/09/11 - Fiona Lambert
6
Opinions expressed in Eclipse do
not necessarily represent those of
the Bristol Astronomical Society.
Readers are advised that neither the
Bristol Astronomical Society or it’s
members cannot be held responsible
for the accuracy of the descriptive
statements or for the quality of the
goods advertised in this magazine.
Saturday 1st October - Peter Jones
6
Observing in South Africa - Nigel Wakefield
7
Draconids from Turkey - Eddie Carpenter
7
If you have any comments to make
or you would like to contribute to
future editions of this magazine
please contact:
Jupiter - John Bishop
9
Comet Garradd - Eddie Carpenter
10
Comet Garradd - Eddie Carpenter
11
M31 - Bob Holder
11
Images of building the 18" housing - Various
12
Programme of Meetings
14
Mike Cowles
[email protected]
Reviews
How I Killed Pluto - Mike Brown - Roger Steer
8
Gallery
FROM THE EDITOR
In this months’ issue we have an article from Bob Holder on how he got into Astro-Imaging.
We have a book review of Mike Brown’s ‘How I killed Pluto’ from Roger Steer. There are a number of observing
reports including one from ex-member Nigel Wakefield on observing in South Africa.
In the galley section we have a couple of drawings of Comet Garradd from Eddie Carpenter plus a lovely image of
M31 from Bob Holder. There are also a number of pictures taken of the work at Failand to build a permanent
home for the society’s 18 inch telescope.
There are a number of pictures taken by the workers building the new housing for the society’s 18 inch telescope.
Hopefully in the next issue we will have a full write up of the project.
As ever I need more material to be able to keep this magazine going so please consider contributing something, it
can be an article, a book review, a story, an observing report, a drawing or image, or a puzzle, in fact anything with
an astronomical connection.
Mike Cowles
Eclipse 45 - September 2011
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Fly me to the Moon
Fly me to the Moon!
Bob Holder writes about his lunar photography, and how to combine it with his other passion...aviation.
It all began with aviation, or more specifically, air shows. I began photographing with an old Praktica MTL5 fitted with a 50mm lens, and recorded, it seemed, every aircraft in the static park. Then, in my late teens, I started
working for a large aerospace organisation, and was soon able to upgrade my cameras, choosing four Canon
T90’s and a bag full of lenses, ranging from 18mm to 300mm (extended to 420mm with a 1.4x converter). A series of lucky breaks then lead to me being able to photograph for a number of well known aviation and photographic magazines, as well as the odd newspaper, which in turn enabled me to get almost unlimited press access
to aircraft, and this is where my interest in astronomy began. Initially, it began with aircraft at sunset, but then, as
I was able to walk the ramp late into the evenings, the stars and the moon began to get my attention...and I was
hooked. Anyhow, that’s enough about me, now on to the technical stuff...
In general, there are three types of ways to obtain this kind of image. Simplest of all is the one-shot approach. No
trickery required, just lots of patience, coupled to a willingness to find a suitable location. A busy airport is perhaps best, since it will provide ample opportunities for you to find the perfect spot, in relation to getting both aircraft and moon in the same shot. Local to us here in Bristol, is our own international airport, where not only is the
airport quite busy (lots of Ryanair and Easyjet), but when aircraft approach the airport over the south of the city
to runway 27, they can sometimes transit the rising moon. I missed such an opportunity on two occasions, but did
succeed on another. If you are imaging during the daytime, then it is possible to get such images through a conventional zoom lens, or a lens with a long focal length. Before buying a telescope, I used a superb Tamron
300mm f2.8 lens (extended to 420mm with a 1.4x converter), and this I loaded with ‘slow’ Kodachrome 64 colour slide film, ideal for a clear sunny day. In today’s digital world however, it is quite possible to purchase a reasonably priced zoom lens, going right up to around 500mm, more than ample for just such a shot. If however you
are planning to image the aircraft from a long way off, then you are almost certainly going to need a telescope,
and whilst I have yet to achieve this in daylight, I have done so during the night hours. Search on the net however, and it is possible to find some superb images taken by others of airliners cruising at altitude, transiting the
moon, with many of the very best long range images usually being taken with dobsonian telescopes. Be prepared
for disappointments though. I have waited several hours to catch such moments. What I normally do is to spend a
couple of hours of daylight trying to capture a moon and plane image, and if it looks as though nothing is going
to happen, then I simply revert back to ordinary astro imaging once darkness falls. Perhaps browse the internet
for inspiration (airliners.net).
The second type of image, with which you can exercise a little more control, is where a double exposure is used.
This is mainly of use to those of you who still use a conventional 35mm SLR camera. Because the camera is
loaded with 35mm film, the results are of course far more unpredictable than if one were to use a DSLR, and it is
more costly too, not least because when I was using just such a camera, I would use a whole roll of film in order
to obtain a reasonable quantity of double exposures. What I would initially do is to carefully load my camera with
a roll of good quality 35mm colour slide film, remembering to write down the amount of times I would advance
the film by cocking the shutter. I would then photograph a number of subjects, be they photographed in the daytime or night time, and I would make a note of these, detailing where I should like to place the moon. Upon completion of the roll, I would then rewind it back into it’s can, as you would normally, but remembering to leave a
piece of film just about protruding from the can, in order to enable the film to be re-loaded. I would then re-load
the film, remembering to advance the film to the same point as I had previously used, whereby I would then be
ready for the second and final set of exposures. What length of lens or telescope will depend on your initial set of
images, and just where you would place the moon would depend on the kind of composition that you had in mind
for a given frame. Another thing to consider is the exposure. I recommend that all the lunar images are taken at
night, but those moons being added to a daytime image, can be exposed at an increase of half an ‘f’ stop, in order
not to make the moon look over exposed in the final image. More control there may be than the single shot approach, but it is however a lot more tedious, and less predictable exposure wise. But the results can be most satisfying.
In case you are thinking that there must be an easier way to do this, what with us being in the digital age, then yes
Eclipse 45 - September 2011
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Fly me to the Moon
there is. But as a purist, it’s not a method that I feel comfortable doing, as it simply involves pulling up an image
of the moon in Photoshop (or any other half decent imaging software) on your computer, and copying and pasting
a picture of an aeroplane on it. For the purposes of this article, I have only done it the once, and I would only go
as far as to say it was a little fun, but not particularly satisfying. For one thing, they look suspiciously perfect
from one perspective, yet flawed when looked at from another, which is usually due to the fact that the light on
the aircraft does not quite correspond with the conditions under which the moon was photographed.
Which ever of the above methods you prefer, I hope that this small article will encourage you to get imaging in a
slightly different way. What I have written about merely touches on the possibilities, with aviation being just one
particular subject that could be included in astro imaging. And what is more, most of us have already done it!
Yes....how many of us have ‘binned’ an image of a deep sky object, only for the final image to be ruined by a
passing jetliner! Sure, I would prefer an image to include the ISS, but I’ve a long way to go before I can achieve
such an image....unless that is, I simply resort to copy and pasting!
Eclipse 45 - September 2011
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The Sun shines out in Glory on everything I see.
The Sun shines out in Glory on everything I see .
Hamlet , Prince of Denmark , talks with Polonius thus ;
Hamlet “Do you see yonder cloud that’s almost in shape of a camel ?”
Polonius “Tis like a camel indeed.”
Hamlet
“Methinks it is like a weasel ”
Polonius “It is backed like a weasel”
Hamlet
“Or like a whale ?”
Polonius “Very like a whale.”
Things are sometimes different from what we expect !
The story goes that a woman, smartly dressed, was going up the stairs to a preview at an abstract art exhibition.
On reaching the entrance at the top, she saw a picture and did not like it at all. She called the curator at once.
When he came he said to her, “Oh, madam, that’s a mirror.”
A friend said to me recently that he was at what is known as the Observatory, just above the Clifton side of the
Suspension Bridge. Now this is not an observatory in the sense of an astronomical observatory, but it does deal
with light and light direct or reflected is our connection with the cosmos above. The device is called a camera
obscura and when you look down on the series of mirrors you see a projected image of the impressive landscape
below and all round .
The camera obscura is much older than photography, but what exactly is it ?
It is basically a darkened chamber in which the real image of a view is seen through a lens and focussed onto a
mirror, or in this example at Clifton a series of mirrors covering the view around the clock. The Camera Obscura
has been in use in Europe for at least 400 years and it is thought that the great 17th century artist Jan Vermeer of
Delft used a type of camera obscura. Also the 18th century Venetian artist Canaletto used it and this was purely
for correcting perspective in drawing. Artists down the ages have been notoriously secretive about their working
methods and still are today so that it is difficult to prove whether optics have been used, despite modern scientific
tests on paintings such as X-ray examination by art historians looking for the underlying drawing.
You may say at this point, using optics like a camera obscura or the similar device, the Camera Lucida, is just
like tracing a photograph; not quite, in fact not at all.
If a photograph is used by an artist, not simply as a reference with sketches, the image will actually be different
from that seen with our natural optics, the eyes. There is a problem of perception. With a photograph we have
only one eye seeing whereas with our two eyes we can see slightly more to left and right giving us a stereoscopic
view. But there is more. As our eye moves across the surface of a painting, each area of the painting is at a different time, it was done at a different moment. You look at a photograph and it is the same time at the top left hand
corner as it is at the bottom right hand and this causes a static appearance to the image.
David Hockney, the contemporary British artist, has studied this effect carefully, (see his book “Secret
Knowledge, the lost Techniques of the Old Masters”). He says, “The hand moving through time reflects the eye
moving through time and life moving through time. The evidence of the hand is our time. The hand takes time to
move and we can sense this”. He goes on to say that optics don’t make marks - they only produce an image, a
means of measurement. The artist is still responsible for the conception and it requires great skill to overcome the
problems to render and fix that image in paint .
I have a full size print of a remarkable painting by the Netherlands artist Jan van Eyck (1385-1441), the Marriage
of Giovanni Arnolfini and Giovanna Cenami. The original is in the National Art Gallery in London. I really like
this picture because not only is it very beautifully painted but it is also an amazing representation of the meaning
of marriage.
Between Giovanni and his new wife, on the wall behind them is a convex circular mirror. In that mirror, between
the reversed figures of the couple stand two figures, one of them thought to be the artist. We have heard a lot recently about a great marriage, Van Eyck has virtually immortalised this marriage in his astonishing record painted in 1434, 577 years ago and it has not faded away !
Above the heads of the two and hanging from the ceiling is a chandelier, a very clever piece of painting for such
a foreshortened object. The chandelier is seen head on an effect you would expect in a mirror lens, which must
be level with the object you are painting .
Eclipse 45 - September 2011
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The Sun shines out in Glory on everything I see.
Just another point, symbolism is an important part to understanding this astounding work, the little dog in the
foreground for example symbolises fidelity. But in the chandelier only one candle burns, symbol of the all seeing
wisdom of the Creator.
At Clifton, we look above and beyond to the distant hills of Wales and a line by the Rev Eli Jenkins comes to
mind, “ O -- please to keep Thy lovely eye on all creatures born to die”. (Dylan Thomas, Welsh poet , “ Under
Milk Wood”) .
John Meacham.
Observing Reports
Tyntesfield Star Party 22/09/11
Many thanks to everyone that came along to help last night. We had five telescopes and two sets of binoculars on
tripods.
It started off clear and clouded over as the night progressed. There were enough breaks in the cloud, however, to
see some nice objects.
We looked at Albireo, Mizar, ring nebula, wild duck cluster and Jupiter. 36 people turned up and all seemed very
happy.
Many thanks to John Willis, Toby Lumber, Peter Jones, Mark Stuart, John Bishop, Chris Lee, Neil Robson, Mel
Rigby, Tricia Brown, Mike Cowles, Emma Fredericks and Ryan Parle (I hope I haven't left anyone off there).
We did wait to watch the crashing UARS satellite, which I'm sure looked impressive, were it not for the clouds
just in the wrong place!
Fiona Lambert Failand Viewing notes October 1st
7:50pm - opening in time for Mike to get 4 day old moon before it set. Chris started with demo of filters on his 8
inch to enhance M27 Dumbbell planetary nebula in Vulpecula leading to interesting discussion about the death of
stars including our own sun. 4 visitors had turned up promptly at 8:00pm with 14 more arriving within the hour.
Both Mike and Chris took the visitors on laser guided tours of the key Autumn constellations and finding Albireo
in Cygnus took us back to the telescopes to look at the double "more closely". Then, in quick succession we
viewed The Coathanger in Vulpecula and M13 - the great city of stars - in Hercules. Jupiter rose and attracted
great interest - and Chris showed us Galileo's view of Jupiter by using the finder on the 8 inch. Only then could
the visitors see the full image and compare their sightings of Jupiter's moons. To encourage those with visitors
binoculars, viewing the Pleiades showed that "low power" can sometimes be the best option, revealing more
overall structure. During the evening Mike had to nip off for a short while so Alison took over on Cyril.
As the "seeing" improved around 10:00pm both telescopes moved onto M57 the Ring nebula and also M31 the
Andromeda galaxy.
The visitors reported that they very much enjoyed the evening and one young visitor said she could have stayed
all night. A London visitor said it was all very cosy in the Dome with Mike and Cyril - and where at one point the
discussion inevitably included the subject of aliens. The session ended around 11:15pm.
Peter Jones
Eclipse 45 - September 2011
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Observing Reports
Artesia, Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa
Observing notes for August/September 2011
A star in the constellation of LUPUS exploded as a Nova on the 8th August 2011. Unfortunately, I knew nothing
about this until a good friend in the U.K. emailed me on the 16th about a bright Nova in that part of the sky. I immediately went to the AAVSO ( American Association of Variable Star Observers ) web site for more information. The next couple of clear nights I attempted to locate it with binoculars but it was not bright enough for
even 80mm binoculars. The third clear night, the 19th, I dragged my 16” telescope out and found the Nova without
too much trouble at mag 11.4. Since then I have followed it every clear night. My estimates of it's magnitude are
as follows:
Aug 21st, 11.2: 22nd, 11.1: 24th, 11.1: 25th, 10.7: 29th, 10.8: Sept 1st, 11.0: 2nd, 11.1: 4th, 11.0: 5th, 10.8: 6th
11.2/11.3: 8th, 11.3.
I have also tried to view the comets that were visible during the month but sky conditions were not favourable
until 24th August when I managed to spot C/2009 P1 Garradd. At first I mistook M71 ( in Sagitta ) as the comet
but a check on it's position quickly confirmed my error. Remarkably the comet was almost identical in size, magnitude and appearance to M71. This does not tally with other estimates of the comet being as bright as 7th magnitude, I made it 8-9 mag. In my 15 x 50 IS binoculars it was just a featureless fuzz but the 16” revealed a brighter
nucleus. I didn't see any sign of a tail but photographs clearly show one. I have followed it as it passed M71 and
the Coathanger asterism, until it was washed out by moonlight. The last view was on the 6th September as the
moon was 8 days old and the moonlight was swamping the outer coma of the comet. I failed to locate it on the 7th.
I will have to wait now until the moon passes full and rises after sunset giving me a short time of dark sky.
I have not seen C/2010 X1 Elenin, despite trying and the latest news is that it is fading and probably breaking up.
It might not survive perihelion.
Nigel Wakefield
The Draconid Meteor shower form Turkey
Explorers Tour with John Mason to Turkey
Tuesday Oct.4th-11th
We flew out from Heathrow to Istanbul - an evening arrival meant we saw the main sites well illuminated. A tour
of the old city next day ended with an overnight train journey to Ankara and then onto Goreme by coach.
Various visits to archaeological sites, short hikes and a hot air balloon trip in the Cappodocia region brought us up
to Saturday with the prospect of a storm of Draconid meteors.
A remote site was found in the hills but the onslaught of meteors did not materialise-thanks to the large moon and
the fact that the radiant was not high. The few amateur astronomers in the party were not too disappointed as we
knew about the allowance which had to be made for the moon and the low radiant.
We had hoped to see more though. My total came to about 20 for the evening-perhaps some were missed during a
change of observing site. More archaeological sites followed before the trip back to Heathrow.
Looking back on the whole week-if I knew of the outcome before hand, would I have gone-certainly YES.
Eddie Carpenter
Eclipse 45 - September 2011
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Book Review
How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming
Mike Brown
Spiegel & Brown
ISBN 978-0385-53108-5
eBook 978-0-385-53109-2
Early this year I had a significant birthday, and a dear friend, who knows my views on the status of Pluto, gave
me a book on the subject. Being that sort of person, and holding the opposing view to mine, she gave me a book
that supported her view. Expecting two long ‘plane flights in the summer, I put the book aside to entertain me
over some of the 14h in the air and about the same in the terminals.
Mike Brown is professor of planetary astronomy at Caltech. In a prolific career, he and his team have discovered
many trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs), notably Quaoar (Kwawar), Sedna, Haumea, Makemake and Eris, the only
known TNO more massive than Pluto.
In his entertaining book, Brown explains the process of searching for these faint and slow-moving objects. By
the nature of things, the further these objects are from the Sun, the slower they move. This makes their discovery
much harder, and when they are found, the determination of the orbit even more difficult. Because images are
always being made of the sky, and these days are often available online, it is possible to check historical records
of the area in question, and maybe get positions over a longer timescale. This is an important topic in Brown’s
account, because another worker may have discovered his use of these records, found the object he was looking
for and snatched the discovery from him. This seems likely, as the access logs show someone, using this person’s computer, ‘mirroring’ Brown’s access. In the end, the ‘discoverer’ got his name on the record, but the IAU
gave Brown naming rights – Haumea.
Brown gives a compelling case for his assertion that Pluto should not be classed as a planet, but the first of a vast
group of trans-Neptunian objects. This argument was very convincing and almost won me round, but for these
reasons:
In my view, the term ‘Planet’ is a term in common usage. When scientists wish to define things, they use words
that are usually ‘special’ and unique to that subject. We all know what a fruit is. Rhubarb is a fruit, cucumbers
are not. Technically, the opposite is the case, so ‘Fruit’ is too vague a name for accurate use. Botanists use their
own words – Drupe – Cherry type fruit, and so on. Galaxies, Nebulae and Molecular Clouds have no definition,
and there seems no need. We all know what a planet is, without being told that we are wrong, by those who have
appropriated and redefined it.
Brown nearly convinced me, until he went into detail about why he held his view. He tells us how biologists
‘classify’ organisms in different ways: Shorebirds, Birds of mountains, etc. Birds of Prey, Seed-Eating Birds,
etc. This is totally untrue. That is exactly what is NOT done. All organisms are classified, but the classification
is not done on pragmatic, temporarily convenient criteria. This is merely ‘sorting’ and ‘grouping’. Classification
is done on another criterion – Evolution. The result of this is that organisms are named according to strict rules
of biological relationship. This not only determines how they are divided up, but even the precise order in which
they are listed. His preferred planetary classification does not address this sort of issue at all. Brown also cites
Eclipse 45 - September 2011
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Book Review
the case of an hypothetical alien visitor, new to our solar system, born in its space-craft en-route. This visitor, he
says would not know the term ‘Planet’ or its concept, and would devise its own system. It would see rocky
worlds and gaseous worlds but would ignore the dust and debris-like worlds as insignificant. This again shows
Brown’s rather ‘geeky’ outlook (read what he has to say about child development!). Yes, our alien might be born
in space, but its education will come from a cultural base. Its ancestors will have come from a solar system, and
it will bring that cultural baggage with it. It will see our system through the lens of its culture, and draw its own
conclusions, which may, or may not, be the same as ours.
My main argument is that Brown’s preferred system does not further our knowledge. Mercury and Mars have
some similarities, but Mercury is smaller than two of the Jovian moons. Venus and Earth are often termed
‘twins’, yet their differences are far more than skin (or atmosphere) deep. Venus has, debatably, no tectonics.
Tectonics are the most important features of Earth development. We have a moon. Our moon was not captured,
nor was it formed in the same area of space. The Earth and Moon are the reassembled wreckage of a collision of
2 worlds. You might think that this is a unique event, but it is mirrored in the TNO Haumea system. The large
asteroid Ceres is a re-mineralized body with much in common with the inner planets. Under the present system it
is classed as a ‘dwarf’ planet (and it is stated that it is specifically not a ‘Planet’). Jupiter and Saturn are similar,
but not identical. Uranus and Neptune are similar to each other, but different to their larger neighbours. Pluto is
another dwarf planet, but totally different to Ceres. This nomenclature tells us nothing. The only thing that these
worlds have in common is their orbiting around the Sun – Their Planetary movements. They are all Planetary
bodies.
So, what is my verdict on the book? A good book, well written. A good story. Make your own mind up about
Brown’s main premise.
Roger Steer
Gallery
This image of Jupiter was taken from Redland, Bristol, at 22:30 BST by John Bishop.
Equipment used:- Meade LX200 10", SPC900 webcam +IR filter, 200 frames with 1/100s shutter, captured with
wcAstroCapture, processed with Registax 5, focused by Dr Bunsen Honeydew.
Eclipse 45 - September 2011
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Gallery
Eclipse 45 - September 2011
10
Gallery
M31
Bob Holder
Eclipse 45 - September 2011
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Building the 18" Housing
Digging the Foundations
More digging
The afternoon shift
Eclipse 45 - September 2011
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Building the 18" Housing
Foundations for the 18inch
The British workman (classic pose)
Some of the hardworking group installing the 18inch housing at our Observatory site
Eclipse 45 - September 2011
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BRISTOL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
FOUNDED 1942
Registered as a Charity No. 299649
Affiliated to the British Astronomical Association and the Federation of Astronomical Societies
For more information about the Society send a stamped addressed envelope to:
Richard Mansfield Manor Cottage Henton Wells Somerset BA51PD
e-mail: [email protected]
Visit our web site at: http://www.bristolastrosoc.org.uk or come along to one of our meetings.
PROGRAMME OF MEETINGS 2011/12
B.A.S. OFFICERS & COMMITTEE 2010/2011
All meetings are held on Friday evenings at 7.15 PM at
BRISTOL GRAMMAR SCHOOL, UNIVERSITY ROAD, BRISTOL
President:
Sir BERNARD LOVELL O.B.E., LL.D., F.R.S.
2011
Oct 14
Vice-Presidents:
Prof. MARK BIRKINSHAW MA, PhD, C Phys,
M Inst P, F.R.A.S.
GORDON E. TAYLOR F.R.A.S.
R. R. HILLIER B.Sc., Ph.D
Oct 21
OFFICERS:
Tel. / e-mail
Chairman:
Nigel Tasker
Vice-Chairman: Chris Lee
Secretary:
Mike Cowles
([email protected])
Treasurer:
Richard Mansfield
Nov 04
Nov 18
Dec 02
2012
Jan 13
Jan 20
Feb 10
Feb 24
COMMITTEE:
Janine Derry
Bill Knocker
Fiona Lambert (Librarian)
Chris Lee
Allan McCarthy
John Meacham (Director of Observations)
Ryan Parle (Observatory Director)
Roger Steer
Mar 09
Mar 23
Apr 20
May 11
JUNIOR REPS
There are no Junior Reps this year
Membership Secretary
Richard Mansfield ([email protected])
Publications Editors:
Eclipse: Mike Cowles
([email protected])
BASIL: Mike Cowles
([email protected])
May 25
Jun 08
Dr. Rodney Hillier - University of Bristol, Vice President BAS
In Praise of White Dwarfs
Callum Potter - Cotswold Astronomical Society
The Merry Dance
Michael Foulkes - British Astronomical Association
The Planet Saturn
Terry Flower- Bristol Astronomical Society
A Great 19th Century Hoax
Prof. Bill Leatherbarrow - Director BAA Lunar Section
The Moon
Andrew Lound - The Planetary Society
A Starry Night to Remember - Astronomy and the Titanic
Dr. David Boyd - President British Astronomical Association
Observing Variable Stars - A Personal Journey
AGM
Prof. Mark Birkinshaw - University of Bristol, Vice President
BAS
Multi-wavelength Images of Low-Redshift radio Galaxies
Mike Frost - Director BAA Historical Section
Jeremiah Horrocks, Samuel Foster, Nathanial Nye A Detective Story
Charlie Barclay - Marlborough College
Archeoastronomy
Dr Helen Heath - University of Bristol
Cosmic Rays
Dr David Whitehouse
The Rainbow and Astronomy
Bob Mizon MBE - Campaign for Dark Skies
10 Targets for Light-Polluted Astronomers
Dr. Marek Kukular - Royal Observatory Greenwich.
Quasars and Active Galaxies
Informal "Club Nights" will be held on the following Fridays at 7.15pm :
2011:
Sep 02, Sep 16, Sep 30, Oct 14, Oct 28, Nov 11, Nov 25,
Dec 09.
2012:
Jan 27, Feb 03, Feb 17, Mar 02, Mar 16, Mar 30, Apr 13,
Apr 27, May 04, May 18, Jun 01, Jun 15, Jun 29, Jul 14,
Jul 28, Aug 10, Aug 24, Sep 07, Sep 21.