Jodrell Bank Kielder Obsrvatory National Space Centre Royal Observatory Greenwich Roque de Los Muchachos Observatory Maunakea Observatories ASTRONOMICAL LOCATIONS Jodrell Bank, Macclesfield Jodrell Bank ~32 minutes (16 miles) by car from the Timperley Village Club £8.50 for 18-65 and £7.50 for over 65s/students (see more on the website ) Has a number of radio telescopes, including the 3rd largest steerable radio telescope: the Lovell Telescope Part of the MERLIN Array UNESCO World Heritage Site (see more on the website ) Part of the University of Manchester Hosts many events throughout the year (see more on the website ) Website: https://www.jodrellbank.net Webcam: http://www.jb.man.ac.uk/webcam/ ADAS Member Reviews Got a review to share? Contact Us! Kielder Observatory, Northumberland Kielder Obsrvatory ~3 hours and 8 minutes (167 miles) by car from the Timperley Village Club Prices vary depending on what you want to do (see more on the website ) Hosts over 700 events per year inside a nearly 580km² dark sky zone (2nd largest area of protected night sky in Europe) The observatory has no postcode, so use the What3Words reference ///tickles.path.tangling or the Google maps plus code 69JM+RM Kielder, Hexham Website: https://kielderobservatory.org ADAS Member Reviews Got a review to share? Contact Us! National Space Centre, Leicester National Space Centre ~1 hour and 52 minutes (96.3 miles) by car from the Timperley Village Club £15.50 for adults, £12.50 for over 60s and 5-16 year olds, and under 5s are free Houses one of only 3 known Soyuz spacecraft in the West A rocket tower houses the Blue Streak (nuclear strike/satellite rocket)) and Thor Able (USA 1958-1960 satellite launch rocket) rockets. Houses a large planetarium (the Sir Patrick Moore Planetarium) Website: https://spacecentre.co.uk ADAS Member Reviews Got a review to share? Contact Us! Look at ADAS' post about their visit to the National Space Centre in 2002 Click Here! Royal Observatory Greenwich, London Royal Observatory Greenwich ~3 hours and 55 minutes (214 miles) by car from the Timperley Village Club £16 for adults and £8 for children The birthplace of Greenwich Meridian, where longitude came into being (the International Prime Meridian passes through the site, along with other meridians, like the one OS maps are based on, 2.3m from the IPM, known as the Ordnance Survey Zero Meridian Founded in 1675 Home to the Observatory Time Ball, which was the first public time signal (made in 1833) Home to where time was standardised in the UK and then world-wide (Greenwich Mean Time or UTC). Houses many planetarium shows in the Peter Harrison Planetarium Houses a hyper-accurate chronometer Has a large telescope (the Altazimuth Pavilion) ADAS Member Reviews Got a review to share? Contact Us! Roque de Los Muchachos Observatory, La Palma, Spain Roque de Los Muchachos Observatory In La Palma which is an island in the Canary Islands (part of Spain) with multiple dark sky sites and beautiful skies (not to be confused with other places in the world called La Palma) Entry is free but you can get a private accredited Starlight Guide which will cost (N.B. This may be different at present due to Covid-19) Has 16 telescopes operated by people from all across the world Home to the Liverpool Telescope, operated by the University of Liverpool (you can request it to take pictures of the sky for you) Has the largest single-aperture optical telescope in the world (at present): the Gran Telescopio Canerias Started out with the Issac Newton Telescope from the Royal Greenwich Observatory, Sussex 2,396m above sea level, meaning you are above the clouds There are spectacular views when there are no clouds below Warnings: It can get quite cold There is 25% less oxygen (possibly not for those with anaemia or a serious lung/heart condition) There is nowhere to buy food so bring your own, the sun is pretty powerful so sun cream is needed It is only open to visitors in the day time Roads may be icy, so check there condition Roads bend a lot to get up to the observatory, although there is a bus Website: ​http://www.iac.es/en/observatorios-de-canarias/roque-de-los-muchachos-observatory Webcam ADAS Member Reviews Got a review to share? Contact Us! Maunakea Observatories, Hawaii, USA Maunakea Observatories On the island of Hawaii in the state of Hawaii in the USA Observatories and facilities aren't open to the public Has 13 telescopes operated by people from all across the world, including the United Kingdom Infra-Red Telescope On top of a dormant volcano It is 4,205m above sea level Warnings: It takes 2 hours to get from sea level to 4,205m, so altitude sickness is likely​ (look at the NHS page for altitude sickness for more information) There is 40% less air pressure, so you need to acclimatise Anyone in poor health should consult a doctor before visiting It is recommended that anyone with a lung/heart condition should not go up to the summit People under 13 shouldn't go since their bodies are still developing and are affected more rapidly when going to higher altitudes If planing to scuba dive, don't go up to the summit 24 hours before hand For more information, look at the Maunakea hazards booklet and the 'Visiting Maunakea ' video It is only open to visitors in the day time Only 4 wheel drive vehicles can drive to the summit beyond the visitor centre For more information on these and more, visit the website: http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/info/vis/visiting-mauna-kea/visiting-the-summit.html Websites: http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/info/vis/home.html /https://maunakeaobservatories.org​ Webcams ADAS Member Reviews Got a review to share? Contact Us! Got a different astronomical location you want to share? Contact Us!

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March April June September December MINUTES | 2012 2nd March 2012 March Members present:- Talk was by Geoff Flood entitled ‘Living and Working in Space’ A really enjoyable and informative talk and was thanked by everybody. Secretary was absent therefore no minutes from the previous meeting. The new venue,has been confirmed from April. The next meeting of ADAS will be held at Timperley Community Centre 121 Park Road Timperley at 8pm. This will be an open telescope night where members may bring their own scopes and get advice and instruction from more experienced members and share knowledge. Other events:- Wythenshawe Park Stargazers meeting Wednesday 7th March 6-9pm near to the horticultural centre in the park. Jodrell Bank imaging workshop 21st April Merseyside Astronomy group 12th May Other news and events have all been circulated by email previously but if any more information needed then please contact Geoff. Treasurers report:- We are £1300 in credit, although we have some bills to pay. AOB :- Keys for the Scout Hut need to be collected in and returned before we officially change premises. A volunteer is needed to move the metal cabinet from the Scout Hut to the Community Centre (Karin Rodgers volunteered her husband Kevin and car if needed ) - to be co-ordinated between Chris, Geoff and Kevin if needed. A reminder to those who wish to be kept on the email circulation list to make sure they give their email addresses to Geoff Flood to ensure they don’t miss out. Graham Cliff reminded everyone that it is the WWF Earth Hour on March 31st and a request was made for people to consider turning their lights off from 8.30pm – 9.30pm on this evening to support this. Chris thanked everybody for coming and the meeting was officially closed at 9.27pm 6th April 2012 April Present Chris Suddick (Chairman), Geoff Flood, Graham Cliff, Tony Aremia, Roger Thorp, Karin Rodgers, Brian Warrier, Kevin Rodgers, Eddie Bruce, Ben Gribbon, Stephen McHugh, Margaret Masterson, Michael Masterson, Norman Thurston, Geoff Walton, Peter Baugh, Ged Burbeck Total 16 Correspondence. A number of notices which have been circulated to members about various events, including Notification of Keele Observatory’s 50th birthday celebrations on 19th May and Wythenshawe Stargazers meting on TUESDAY 17th April. We were advised of the Neighbourhood Voluntary Sector Grant Scheme where grants of £200,000 are available in £50,000 lots with the suggestion that we might be able to make use of some of this money. It was decided, not to apply as we have no project in mind, however it might be worth considering in future years. Treasurer Funds are now transferred to the Barclay’s account. The FAS e-mailed to say that because we had missed the deadline for payment our subscription would be increased to £28, however Richard pointed out that the cheque had been posted prior to the deadline - we only paid £14. We were unable to have a tea/coffee break because although we had all the brewing materials there were no cups. We will have to remedy this situation. This evening was devoted to telescopes, an opportunity for more experienced members to illustrate the possibilities with somewhat more upmarket scopes and for the less experienced to get help with setting up their own scopes and learning about how best to use them. Some 6 or 8 scopes were on view from tiny portables to large heavy ones some with go-to’s others being purely DIY. A thoroughly enjoyable and, for most, profitable evening. Sadly, as might have been expected, there was a heavy layer of cloud making viewing impossible. The next meeting will be held on Friday 4th May 2012, 8:00pm at Timperley Community Centre when Graham Cliff will speak on the subject of Light Pollution. 1st June 2012 June Present Chris Suddick (Chairman), Geoff Flood, Colin Eaves, Kath Scott, Steve Holt, Peter Baugh, Christine Lavender, Tony Aremia, Stephen McHugh, Ben Gemmel, Richard Bullock, Phil Leigh, Graham Cliff, Andy Greenhow, Joshua Broomfield. Total 15 Richard Bullock spoke about what will be seen in the night sky in the coming months. The Transit of Venus, on 6th June, was discussed with illustrations of is path across the face of the Sun. To get a good view one needs to be high up because the sun will be close to the horizon. Various locations for viewing were mentioned. On July15th almost a grazing occultation with Jupiter passing close to the moon but we are too far North get the images of the Moon Mountains. Artificial satelites can be seen and the ISS will be around in the late evening. Have a look at “heavensabove”for more info. Saturn will be around for some time over the summer but Mars is moving away. August 12th is the annual visit of the Perseids when the shower of meteors will hopefully be visible. Cygnus and Lyra will be directly over head - lie on your back with your feet facing South. So there is plenty to see even if viewing conditions might not be ideal at this time of year. Richard was thanked for his talk by Chris. Items of business included: The monthly list of FAS meetings East Sussex Astronomy Festival, 5th June Transit of Venus 6th June, Windgather Rocks (03:30hrs) Dark Sky Society AGM, 16th June in Cambridge Wythenshawe Stargazers meeting, 12thJune There was a discussion about the website. The current website is now in order and looking quite good, however Ged and Chris will discuss the way forward for the future. The FAS has proposed having time on the 250 mm Telescope in Spain. Costs would depend on take up but could be as little as £13 p/a if all member societies contribute, this would give us around 6 - 7 hours scope time. We would need a free WiFi venue for members to view. It was agreed that we would show interest in principle, up to £30 - £40 p/a. The Secretary to inform the FAS of our interest. The Chairman then closed the meeting. 7th September 2012 September ADAS - MINUTES OF 48th AGM (477th Society meeting) Held on Friday 7th September 2012, at Timperley Community Centre. PRESENT Chris Suddick (Chairman), Geoff Flood, Graham Cliff, Steve Holt, Tony Aremia, Raj Goel, Peter Baugh, Stephen McHugh, Joshua Broomfield, James Brown, Eddie Bruce, Ewan Hill Norris, Phil Reilly, Richard Bullock, Geoff Walton, Phil Leigh, Andy Greenhow. APOLOGIES Brian Warrier, Graham Sinagola. APPROVAL OF 2011 AGM MINUTES The minutes of the 2011 Minutes which were circulated electronically and were approved. MATTERS ARISING There were no arising matters ELECTION OF OFFICERS The Chairman thanked the outgoing Officers for their services over the past year. The following Officers were then elected for the year 2012 -2013. Chairman: Chris Suddick Secretary Geoff Flood Treasurer Richard Bullock Speakers Secretary Peter Baugh Minutes Secretary Graham Sinagola. All the above elected unopposed CORRESPONDENCE The Federation of Astronomical Societies supplied: • FAS Society programmes for September • Public Liability Insurance - we do not have it and although enquiries regarding cost have been made it is felt that we probably do not need it. This matter will be discussed at a later meeting • Details of the FAS Annual Convention in Cambridge • Liverpool AS sent a list North West Events (all from LAS!) Geoff informed the meeting that, former member, Dave Timperley's wife recently died suddenly. a number of members asked for Dave's contact details. TREASURER'S REPORT Richard presented the Accounts (attached to hard copy) and reported that He had made a loan to the Society to tide us over the period when a large payment had to be paid to First Timperley Scouts for back rent at a time when the funds were being moved from the Yorkshire Bank to Barclays. No interest is charged on this money. We have still not arranged regular payment to G Force for the rent of the room at Timperley Community Centre. (Geoff was asked to provide Richard with contact details) Fortunately we had speakers expenses of only £10 last year compared with £90 the previous year, this was because we had a number of talks from members thus making cost savings. ADAS running costs include £20 per month for room hire plus FAS fees plus speaker expenses. Richard reported that we only had 12 paying members last year which at current rates is not really sufficient to break even on the year. In reply to a question he estimated that we would need probably 15 members to break even. It was agreed that Annual Subscriptions should remain at £20 per annum for senior members and £1 fore junior members aged 16 and under. ANY OTHER BUSINESS There was some discussion about having active astronomy. Chris stated that in the past we have visited various sites such as Teggs Nose near Macclesfield and Llyn Brennig in North Wales . Andy Greenhow, who teaches at Altrincham Girls Grammar School in Bowdon, felt that he could probably get permission to use the school grounds as a local observing point. He will make enquiries but it was felt that for a first step this might be a useful site and then see how the members feel about going further afield. Following the AGM Chris Suddick gave a talk on "The Missions to Mars" relating the efforts to man's efforts to photograph and to discover more about the red planet right up to the latest "Curiosity" pictures. There being no other business the meeting was closed. 7th December 2012 December Minutes of the 479th meeting, 7th December 2012 PRESENT Chris Suddick (Chairman), Geoff Flood, Eddie Bruce, Ewan Norris, Steve Holt, Andy Greenhow, Raj Goel, Geoff Regan (LAS), Dave Owen (LAS), Peter Baugh, Margaret Masterson, Ged Birbeck, Pat Gothard, Tony Aremia, Graham Cliff, Colin Eaves, Geoff Walton. Total 17 Chris Suddick introduced Dave Owen of Liverpool AS who was to speak on "Making a Telescope" The project went back to 1997. Someone said "let's build a telescope". They had an 18" mirror and decided to grind a 30 inch F4 lens with a 10 foot focal length - just like that! An appropriate lump of plate glass was acquired and they went to work using a Heath Robinson workshop ie a garage with bits of scaffolding , rope and a drill. The Lens was ground using a grinding wheel on the drill using pitch & Cerium Oxide as a grinding medium with a good deal of trial and error The 'scope was completed in February 1998. The next project was to grind a30inch F6 lens, this time using plate glass which is less liable to deformation. In 2005 a 20 inch F3.9 and a 20 inch mirror was produced. All the time, with experience, the team was getting more sophisticated in the measuring of shape and accuracy of the finished products. Similarly they developed an awareness of the need for proper support for the lenses. The final effort was ground to within 0.1 mm and was first used in public in 2010. Dave and Geoff were thanked by Chris for a fascinating talk. Following a break for tea, on this occasion accompanied by mince pies and iced doughnuts, there was discussion regarding the January 2013 meeting - it was decided that this would be a "Club Evening".

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September MINUTES | 2021 3rd September 2021 September Meeting number 578 held on 3rd September 2021 at 8pm At Timperley Village Club Apologies : Members Present (in person): 18 attendees Items of business : ​ 1. This was the first hybrid meeting since meeting 560 last March 2020. 2. The meeting began with the AGM a. Peter Baugh was nominated, seconded from the floor and elected as current Chair b. Chris Suddick nominated, seconded from the floor and elected as Secretary and Deputy Chair c. Richard Bullock nominated, seconded from the floor and elected as Treasurer d. Bansa Singh Hayer nominated, seconded from the floor and elected as minute taker e. Chris Lavender nominate, seconded from the floor and elected as Social Secretary f. George Abraham nominated, seconded from the floor and elected as Webmaster 3. ADAS have again managed to secure a stall at next Saturday’s Timperley Country Fair and all are welcome. The Chair is looking for volunteers to assist on the stall. 4. Maurice Rushby gave this evenings talk titled The Antikythera Mechanism? The talk has been uploaded to the ADAS website for those that would wish to see it again (well worth the view). 5. Meeting ends 9.20

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2019 2016 2015 2014 OPEN DAYS 2019 2019 News Story: https://www.messengernewspapers.co.uk/news/17945859.altrincham-astronomical-society-open-day/ 2016 2016 2015 2015 2014 2014 News Story: https://www.messengernewspapers.co.uk/news/whereyoulive/10949349.reach-for-the-stars-with-altrincham-astronomical-society/

March April June September MINUTES | 2010 5th March 2010 March Meeting held on Friday 5th March 2010 at the 1st Timperley Scout hall. Present: Graham Sinagola Tony Aremia Steve Holt Richard Bullock Chris Suddick (Chairman) Ged Birbeck Roger Livermore Speaker The Chairman introduced the speaker, Richard Bullock to speak on “The Mechanics of (Newtonian) Gravity”. Richard explained that the Greeks were probably the first people to think about gravity. Aristotle, Galileo and Newton were mentioned. The Roche limit was touched on and Richard introduced Einstein’s theories, which presented an alternative to the Newtonian view of gravity. The Chairman thanked the speaker for his very interesting talk and those present showed their appreciation. Treasurer’s Report Richard Bullock confirmed that the Society is in funds. Chairman’s Report Chris Suddick reported that it was the Committee’s view that ADAS should change its Bank to Barclays. The Yorkshire does not open on Saturdays, whereas Barclays do, and the branch network is much wider. Members unanimously agreed to the change. Chris reported that difficulties have arisen as some cheque signatories are no longer members. AOB ADAS members will be attending a meeting of the Wythenshawe Astronomy Group. Members were invited to attend a gathering at Victoria Park, Stretford to mark Earth Hour on 27 March. The date of the next meeting has been moved to 9 April There being further business the meeting closed at 9.30.pm 9th April 2010 April Meeting held on Friday 9th April 2010 PRESENT Chris Suddick (Chairman) Geoff Flood Tony Aremia Steve Holt Geoff Walton Roger Livermore Szymon Baradweg Peter Baugh Ged Birbeck The Chairman introduced The speaker for the evening, Richard Tyers. Richard’s topic was: "Herschel to Hubble - the story of Nebulae". In 1609 Galileo looking at the heavens and wondering about the complexity and variety of the night sky. He saw the nebulae of the Milky Way and tried to understand what it all meant. Over time others followed in his footsteps - Copernicus in the 18th C then Herschel (1738-1822). Herschel was an amateur astronomer and built his own telescopes some of which were quite large, resulting from these larger ‘scopes he was able to look more closely and systematically at nebulae, concluding that they were unresolved clusters of stars. In his 1784 paper “On the Construction of the Heavens” he classified nebulae into 5 different groups. He believed that the sun was part of the Milky Way. He discovered over 2500 nebulae, a great leap considering that in 1781 Messier discovered only 103. Things moved at speed and in 1865, now Sir John Herschel, counted 5709 and in 1887 J.L.E. Dreyer found 7840 - and later 9369. Astronomers did not know how far away or how big - there was no satisfactory method of measuring distance. However in 1838 the German F. W. Bessel used parallax to measure the distance of stars, other than the sun. Henrietta Leavitt identified periodic luminosity and noted that brighter stars - Cephid variables - had longer periods and the period was proportional to the brightness. Over time the measurements became more accurate Hertszprung and Russell improved matters and produced the HR diagram of luminosity v temperature and type. Harlow Shapely concluded the Milky Way was 300,000 Light Years across but measurements over time varied by a factor of 10! Hubble was also out by a factor of 2. There seemed to be some confusion about the size of the Milky Way which depended upon what was considered, at the time, to be included and whether some of the spiral galaxies were in fact part of the Milky Way. There are still plenty of things that we need to know about the Universe for instance Dark Matter, Dark Energy and it is hoped that the large Hadron Collider will reveal some answers when it gets fully up to speed. Richard took a number of questions from the audience and was thanked by Chris for his really interesting talk. Correspondence Three Astrocalendars have been received from the FAS - these were distributed amongst members. Information from the institute of Lighting Engineers with Guidance Notes for the Reduction of Light Pollution and some promotional leaflets for the Sky at Night magazine have also been received. The Treasurer was not present but it was reported that we are attempting to open an account at Barclays but some problems are arising with the form filling required. The matter is ongoing. Chris Suddick and Roger Livermore attended a meeting of the astronomy group at Wythenshawe Park. This is a group of inexperienced people who simply want to look at stars and who really need a little expert help. They meet once a month and have a limited amount of equipment. Geoff Flood and Ged Birbeck attended the Dark Hour meeting in Victoria Park, Stretford, where Graham Cliff and Christine Lavender had set up telescopes which enabled the public to look at the Moon, Mars and Saturn. The night started cloudy but cleared well later on. Unfortunately Trafford did not extinguish lights in the Borough. It is intended to repeat this event next year. A similar event is being considered to be held in Worthington Park in Sale. Graham Sinagola has been interviewed, about amateur astronomy, for a local radio station. There being no other business the Chairman closed the meeting. 4th June 2010 June Minutes of the 456th meeting on June 4th 2010 Present were :- Chris Suddick, Steve Holt, Ged Birbeck, Peter Baugh, Tony Aremia, Rachel Ormes, Stephen McHugh, Richard Bullock, Kevin Thurstan, Norman Thurstan, Colin Eaves, Szymon Baradwej. Total of 12 present. The Chairman welcomed the members and Introduced Dr Alastair Gunn as today’s speaker, with a presentation entitled “Cosmic Journey”. Dr Gunn told us he Is an astro physicist and radio astronomer who looks after the VLBI system from Jodrell Bank. He also does a lot of PR for astronomy and has put together several talks for Cunard Cruises including his Cosmic Journey. The visual journey across the universe was done on free software and is all to scale, using real astronomical data. We start with an aerial view of Jodrell Bank and are told our trip will be as close to the actual journey as possible. The view pulls back and we travel outwards through our solar system, then past other stars, nebulae, star clusters to the edge of our galaxy. As we pull out further we see our local group and see galaxy interactions, next passing through the Virgo galaxy cluster then we see how it and others come together into super clusters and on to the overall known large scale structure of the visual universe all the way to the CMB. Our return journey then retraces its path slowly back inward until we are once again hovering a few hundred meters above the Lovell radio telescope. Chris Suddick points out the problems trying to explain astronomical size & scale and how he tries to get the ideas across to groups like cubs and brownies. Alastair then discussed the creation of his presentation using free software such as Celestia. In all it took him 9 months to make and how the complex mathematics behind some of the graphics needed a large amount of computer time to plot. We then took a break. On the restart we had the treasurers report. It was decided we would not be present at this years Timperley village fair as no one wanted to take on the task. Kevin mentioned the need to make more use of the website or newsgroup site & that we needed to keep e mail addresses and phone numbers up to date. The meeting was then brought to a close. 3rd September 2010 September PRESENT Chris Suddick (Chairman), Geoff Flood, Steve Holt, Tony Aremia, Peter Baugh, Colin Eaves, Richard Bullock, Roger Livermore, Steve Leicester. Total present - 9. APOLOGIES Graham Sinagola, Geoff Walton. MINUTES Minutes of the 44th AGM were not available and thus could not be confirmed nor could arising matters be taken. The Chairman welcomed members and thanked them for their attendance. All existing Officers have agreed to remain in post and as there were no other proposals for office they were re-elected en bloc. In addition Graham Sinagola has agreed to act in a new position as “Speakers Secretary”. Thus we have: Chairman Chris Suddick Treasurer Richard Bullock Secretary Geoff Flood Minutes Secretary Graham Sinagola Speakers Secretary Graham Sinagola TREASURER Copies the accounts (attached) were circulated and Richard explained a number of points regarding them. First of all he explained that as 2 of the 3 signatories to the Yorkshire Bank account were no longer with us it has been found necessary to make some changes. An account has been opened with Barclays Bank which, unlike the Yorkshire Bank is open on Saturdays, which makes it easier for the Treasurer to transact business. Although we have completed all the paperwork we are still awaiting finalisation from Barclays – but there should be no problems! We appeared to run at a loss last year but this was due to paying the backlog on room rental. An item in the accounts “loan” is money paid out by Richard to cover payments to organisations such as the FAS (where early payment gave us a discount on membership). This money will remain outstanding until the Barclays account is operational. Room charges have still to be paid for 2010. Although they don’t appear in the accounts we have a number of pieces of equipment which have a significant nominal value. Kevin Thurstan has a list. Richard needs details of addresses and phone numbers of Trustees to comply with our charitable status. Geoff Flood and Chris Suddick were asked to supply them to him. SECRETARY A number of items have come up from the Federation of Astronomical Societies. 1. The Society need to supply a postcode for the FAS website so that ADAS can be located. Geoff will arrange this. 2. We are now covered by the FAS Public Liability Insurance Scheme, which might be important at Star Parties etc. 3. The FAS Convention will be held in Cambridge at 9:00am on 9th October 2010. A change to the constitution is proposed which involves 2 new Officers on the Executive. The next meeting of NWGAS will take place on Saturday 11th September 2010. The meeting will take place at the Pexhill Observatory, near Liverpool at 13:00 hours. We should be represented – if only to get an updated speakers list! Manchester AS will hold a meeting in the John Dalton Building of MMU at 7:30pm (e-mail if you wish to attend). Brother Dr Guy Consolmagno will speak on Trans Neptunian Objects. BBC Sky at night programme offer bonuses for promoting Sky at Night magazine subscriptions. No interest for ADAS. ANY OTHER BUSINESS It was proposed that all items of equipment be returned to the Society once a year, at the AGM, so that other members have the opportunity of seeing what is available and so that we can check on the state of the equipment. There was no other business and a break was taken for refreshments prior to a talk from Chris Suddick. MYTHOLOGY OF THE STARS There are many myths but Chris stuck to Greek & Roman mythology, pointing out that in practice they are pretty much the same as the Romans simply nicked the Greek myths and changed the names of the Gods. Starting with Uranus and Gaea through to the main Gods – which include, amongst others, Saturn Pluto Neptune and Jupiter. Then there were the Planetary Gods of Mar, Venus and Mercury You simply don’t want to know how and with whom some of these were created and who did what with whom! We heard how Gods such as Jupiter begat - by various devious means, often with his wife/sister, Io, Europa Gannymede, Callisto etc and that’s where the moons come from (allegedly). We also learned how clever Chris is, completing the Telegraph crossword with Augean stables which, of course, Hercules cleaned out by diverting a river. This was an interesting talk which mixed Ancient mythology with modern astronomy.

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January February March April May June September October December MINUTES | 2009 2nd January 2009 January Present Kevin Thurstan (Chairman), Norman Thurstan, Geoff Flood, Steve Holt, Tony Aremia, Peter Baugh, Geoff Walton, Colin Bowler, Paul Brierley, Stephen McHugh, Colin Eaves, Richard Bullock. The Evening took the form of a Quiz, which was set by Kevin, who also acted as Quiz Master. Clearly a good deal of time and effort had gone into setting the Quiz and some great photographs had been down loaded for the event. Many thanks to Kevin for his efforts which led to a thoroughly enjoyable evening. The Quiz was won by the “Paul Brierley All Stars”. Following the quiz and a break for tea the Secretary announced that he had received information from: 1. The BAA regarding their Exhibition Meeting at the Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich on 27th June 2009. 2. Liverpool AS regarding their monthly meeting on January 16th 2009. This came in the form of a poster on the International Year of Astronomy format which can be used by Astronomical Societies to promote their events. A card has been received from Marie Utton in which she says: "Thank you very much for the lovely gesture, visiting Don's grave and leaving flowers. My thanks to ADAS for the kind thoughts of you all. Some of my family were here for Don's anniversary and when we went to the cemetery and saw the flowers we were all very touched at your remembrance." The next meeting will take place at 8:00pm on Friday 6th February when Dave Ogden will give a talk on “The Meaning of Light” 6th February 2009 February Present Kevin Thurstan (Chairman), Geoff Flood, Jonathan Odom, Nick Odom, Peter Baugh, Norman Thurstan, Chris Suddick, Richard Bullock, Colin Eaves, Colin Bowler, Graham Sinagola, Paul Clark, Tony Aremia, Ged Burbeck, Anne Muldoon, John Tipping. Kevin introduced our speaker, Dave Ogden from Macclesfield AS his topic was: The Meaning of Light Dave's talk began with the thought that more than 3000 years ago man understood that the Sun had a bearing on life and that they worshipped it. Later the Egyptians worshipped Aton, the Sun God. The ancient Greeks originally believed that light came out of your eyes but later Leucippus and Democrates thought that light was particles which came into ones eyes. Euclid decided that light travelled in straight lines. Archimedes wrote a book on optics and tried to burn Roman ships using mirrors to focus the sun's rays on them. In 900 AD Ibn Al Haytham gave the first explaination of vision and made the first use of the Camera Obscura - Vermeer is thought to have used a Camera Obscura, which inverts images to aid his painting. Kepler made a Camera Obscura used in a dark room and went on explain the working of the eye. The early Egyptians possibly had telescopes, they had the capability of polishing glass. Galileo however made his own telescope in 1609. Robert Hooke, who was a wide ranging scientist and who worked with Wren and Isaac Newton amongst others made an early microscope. The refractive index of the medium through which light travels can alter the effects thus we get spectra by passing light throught a prism and we see water droplets acting as prisms to create rainbows. In nature there are many uses of light, for instance chlorophyll creates energy from light and Carbon Dioxide certain creatures glow using a photochemical process. In the 1800's Herschel showed that there was energy beyond the red end of the spectrum - Infra Red but it was Johanne Ritter who discovered Ultra Violet rays by use of Silver Nitrate. The Elctromagnetic spectrum was gradually built up after it was realised that light is an electromagnetic effect and used to identify various elements from the spectra that they emit. This of course is invaluable in identifying stars, as their emissions indicate their make up. In more recent times there has been a better understanding of light and Einstein and Planck found that light was indeed made up of particles - photons - but that they act in a wave like manner. Photons might take millions of years bouncing about and crashing into one another in the Sun but once they come to the surface they race away at around 186,000 miles per second. Galileo had long since worked out that light travels faster than sound and, of course, he was correct. Hau has been able to slow down the speed at which light travels and indeed has been able to stop it altogether at very low temperatures in in atomic condensates. There have been a variety of experiments in this area. Finally Dave concluded that light IS indeed particles ie Photons. Kevin thanked Dave and the meeting showed its appreciation. Geoff informed the meting that we have had notification that the Isle of White Star Party will be held on 26th to 30th March 2009, Also we have had notification of the Liverpool AS Conference details were passed around. There being no other business Kevin closed the meeting. 6th March 2009 March Present Kevin Thurstan, Nick Odom, Roger Livermore, Peter Baugh, Chris Suddick, Tony Aremia, Graham Sinagola, Mark Crossley, Paul Clark, Paul Brierley, Geoff Walton, Colin Eaves, Colin Bowler, Ged Birbeck + Chloe, Richard Bullock, John Tipping, Gerard Gilligan. Total 18. The meeting started a few minutes late due to electrical power problems. Kevin welcomed everyone to the meeting and introduced our speaker (Gerard Gilligan). He then started with society business due to the power problem. The first item was whether we should have a presence at the Jodrell Bank Astro Party on May 9th. Kevin said he will get in touch with them as the society no longer has a contact there and find out the situation as to tickets for people who bring a scope along. We then got the power back we went straight into the evenings talk. Gerard started by telling us that he had been researching William Lassell in 1993 after a memorial lecture by Alan Chapman in Liverpool. We were told William Lassell born on 18th June 1799 in Bolton and was educated in Bolton & Rochdale. His father was a timber merchant but died in 1810 and William moved back to Toxteth where his family came from in 1815. He served an apprenticeship as a brewer from 1815-1822, then set up as a brewer in 1824 and married Maria King in 1827. William did well as a brewer due to the growth of Liverpool, its docks and immigration. Over his life he used his money to fund three large telescopes. His first was a 9 inch reflector and was instrumental in the building of Liverpool’s first observatory on waterloo dock in 1844. Gerard explained how William Lassell was held in high regard by fellow astronomers. He was a guest of William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Ross, and helped develop polishing machines for telescope mirrors. His next telescope was a 24inch version of his original. He would give dinner parties for up to 19 people and after the meal he would take them all out to his observatory and show them the sky through eyepieces he made himself. He discovered triton, Neptune’s largest moon, only 12 days after Neptune its self was discovered and shares the discovery of Saturn’s moon Hyperion with his great competitor William Cranch Bond. William also met Queen Victoria and prince Albert on their visit to Liverpool in 1851. He went to Malta 1861-1864, shipping his telescopes with him. While there he had a 48 inch open truss telescope built & tested then shipped over to him in Malta. He also had Albert Marth working for him making observations for many of his discoveries, many to do with Saturn. In 1864 he moved back to Maidenhead bringing his telescopes. He died in 1880of a heart attack and is buried with his wife who died 2 years later. Gerard was thanked for his talk and the meeting then took a break. On re-starting Gerard took questions. After again thanking Gerard, the chairman stated that the next meeting would be on Friday 3rd of April and that the speaker would be William Stewart from South Cheshire AS with a talk on Observing Satellites. The meeting was then closed. 3rd April 2009 April Present Kevin Thurstan (Chairman), Geoff Flood, Tony Aremia, Peter Baugh, Norman Thurstan, Geoff Walton, Chris Suddick, Colin Eaves, Colin Bowler, Rosamund Tanner-Tremaine, Chris Tanner-Tremaine, Richard Bullock, Nick Odom, Jonathan Odom. William Stewart from South Cheshire AS was introduced by Kevin as our speaker for the evening. The title of his talk was: Observing Satellites There are 3 aspects to the life of a satellite, namely Launch - Orbit - Landing. How do they stay in orbit? As the earth is round they need to have sufficient energy to blast off and then get high enough so that they circle the earth and keep going round i. e. not crashing back down to earth. Satellites are always launched in an easterly direction which gives a saving of around 1000 mph in speed which has to be generated. The angle of inclination at launch depends upon the latitude of the launch site but steeper angles require bigger rockets, as of course do heavier payloads. The height at which the satellite operates and its orbit depends on the purpose to which it is to be put. . Spy satellites need not be very high but are in polar orbit to cover the earth whereas equatorial ones only cover a given area. Geostationary (26000 miles above the earth) are used for communication satellites which are very specific in the coverage that they give. The ISS operates at around 200 – 400 miles high and can be seen reflecting the light of the sun; if it went in areas of shadow it would require huge batteries to keep operating. In 1957 there was 1 satellite in orbit, Sputnik, but by 2009 there were some 13,000. There is lots of debris floating around in space everything from rocket bodies to tiny pieces, which never the less could puncture a space suit, so great care has to be taken in space. The antennae on the Hubble telescope have been pierced, thus one of the jobs astronauts have to carry out is to film the Shuttle before returning to earth to ensure that all is well. Naval Ocean Surveillance Satellites listen to signals from ships and can workout their position with great accuracy Re-entries are normally over the sea but Skylab came down over Australia – fortunately in an uninhabited area. Russian satellites frequently come down over land in relatively uninhabited areas. Weather satellites, in addition to following the weather, may be used to track launches as vapour trails from them can be easily picked up. For the future there will be increased global surveillance there will be more satellites and their uses disguised (camouflaged) for instance with an inflated balloon around them. There was no Society business discussed because of time constraints. 1st May 2009 May PRESENT Kevin Thurstan (Chairman), Geoff Flood, Roger Livermore, Peter Baugh, Steve Holt, Tony Aremia, Nick Apostocides, Fran Apostocides, Paul Brierley, Geoff Walton, Paul Clark, Colin Bowler, Colin Eaves. Kevin welcomed members and guests and introduced Phil Rogers from Chester AS. Phil spoke on the topic of: Optics in Astronomy and Space – Huygens to Hubble Phil has retired from Thales, manufacturers of lenses and is now a visiting professor at the Cranfield Institute. In 1655 Huygens who had devised a new and improved means of grinding lenses built a refracting telescope but it had to be many metres long to get a decent image and of course telescopes this long are very unstable which brings its own difficulties. The lenses were also imperfect and it wasn’t until 1758 that John Dolland came along with the achromatic lens. In the 19th century Airy produced a diffraction image of a star and Rayleigh worked on mirror accuracy. It is quite amazing that Huygens discovered that Saturn has a “flat solid” ring and a moon - Titan - in 1655, considering the equipment available to him. Newton believed that a single lens of any material would always split colours from light but blur due to chromatic aberration and this as not too bad with small lenses but double the size of the lens and you double the size of the blur. In 1758 John Dolland produced an improvement with a double lens of window glass (crown glass) and crystal which was 25 times better than a single lens. There was much experimenting with lenses and mirrors and finding the best equipment for the type of astronomy to be undertaken. Arrangements lenses and mirrors were made to cancel out interference patterns but there was usually a down side with, for instance, edge effects. Reflectors, we were told, give more problems with diffraction patterns but are better for double stars and worse for planets. In 1906 Lowell discovered the canals or canale on Mars however his interpretation may well have been due in part to an optical illusion. More recently the Hubble telescope used adaptive optics which need to be set up very accurately, 3 tests were applied to check the set up. The main test indicated that all was well but 2 subsidiary tests indicated otherwise, sadly these were believed and the field lens was set up incorrectly – by 1.3 mm and this is what caused the early problems. The later corrections have improved things enormously, as was illustrated with side by side photographs; although still not perfect it is phenomenal all the same. Adaptive optics used has unusually shaped mirrors and to reduce edge effects. Other modern telescopes include the Keck in Hawaii which has two 10m mirrors comprising of 36 segments. This instrument is in a controlled temperature environment and has a computer controlled primary mirror. The Giant Magellan Telescope has seven 8.4 m mirrors and gives images 10times sharper than Hubble. The TMT – thirty metre telescope mirror has some 950 segments some of which are manufactured in North Wales. Other modern telescopes use X-Ray optics which give remarkable images of very high energy (hot) objects Phil gave us a very entertaining and informative talk and was thanked by Kevin and the whole audience. Following the talk Kevin reported on a NWGAS meeting. They are trying to organise an imaging workshop and are looking for contributors or “lecturers”. A Star party is to be held at Jodrell Bank on Saturday 9th May 2009, several members showed interest. On June 5th there will be an open imagery meeting. BAA are having a membership drive and are offering 18months membership for the price of 1 year, forms are available from the Secretary. In the absence of the Treasurer, speakers’ expenses of £30 were paid by Kevin Thurstan. 5th June 2009 June PRESENT Kevin Thurstan (Chairman), Geoff Flood, Colin Bowler, Mark Crossley, Steve Holt, Norman Thurstan, Paul Clark, Chris Suddick, Geoff Walton, Colin Eaves, Tony Aremia, Peter Baugh, Stephen McHugh, Roger Livermore, John Tipping, Richard Bullock, Ged Birbeck. Kevin welcomed members to the meeting and congratulated Graham Sinagola who “starred” in the recent Sky at Night programme. On this occasion the evening was given over to members’ presentations of some of their images taken in recent times. Paul Clark showed some images taken with his 6inch refractor in La Palma, these were simple photographs but stacked(X10) Paul illustrated an incredible improvement that could be made by varying the contrast on the computer some others were taken using a 220mm instrument with a tracking mount. Colin Bowler had visited La Palma with Paul and showed some terrestrial shots showing the observatories, and also the general terrain. He explained that the Trade Winds bring cloud during the day but that they clear at night. Mark Crossley showed some of his highly technical photographs and explained some the tricks of the trade for instance using a Hyper Star set up and then replacing it with a camera. Photographs of M81/82 taken with a 3 minute exposure showed some activity as indicated by red colouration of hydrogen. There was a good deal of light pollution at the time and a good deal of processing was required. A Fish Eye photograph of this back garden gave a very good illustration of light pollution in the area. Kevin thanked all the contributors and also Paul and John Tipping for their help at Jodrell Bank which went down well with the general public. Another event will be held at Jodrell Bank on August 8th when there will hopefully also be a BBQ and again in December a Star Party is planned. ADAS can now be visited ont th Clubz site There was a NWGAS meeting at the end of April which Kevin attended - he has a copy of the Minutes - the Website is to be updated. NWGAS is trying to get an imaging workshop and memebers should speak to Kevin if interested. The NW group still needs an FAS representative. Mention was made of the Campaign for Dark Skies and NWGAS newsgrooups. Kevin is looking for a speaker from the Society for the November meeting - any offers will be gratefully accepted. The next meeting is the AGM which will be held on Friday 4th September. There was no other business and Kevin closed the meeting. 4th September 2009 September 9 paid-up members and 3 visitors present. The Chairman welcomed all to the meeting. Apologies for absence were heard from Norman Thurstan, Paul Brierley and Geoff Flood. Minutes of the 443rd AGM were read and accepted. Treasurer gave his report: · Room rent accounts form most of expenditure. We are now paid up on rent for all of last year and this year. · Room rent has been doubled to £20 per meeting – it was suggested we need to discuss a larger and cheaper room for future monthly meetings. · Noted that accounts are provisional, as the previous secretary still receives all correspondence. · All accounts in order Appointment of Officers: · Due to the lack of paid-up members, it was stated that decisions could not be made at this AGM – it was not quorate. The meeting thus decided to discuss issues informally. · The Chairman stated that he and the current Secretary both wished to step down. The current Treasurer stated he was willing to continue for another year · The Chairman called for nominations. No nominations or volunteers to serve were forthcoming for either Secretary or Chairman. · Chairman proposed an Extraordinary General Meeting in December to decide the future of the society. Geoff proposed this should be later, in January. December was agreed in informal discussion. The Chairman agreed to stand until that point in order to continue the society. · The Chairman noted that officers feel they have little support from the general membership – particularly the events and fundraising secretary in relation to support for the Timperley Country Fair, our main fundraising event. · The Chairman described the role of secretary in response to a request · The Chairman proposed the role of vice-secretary and vice chairman, to make the main roles less onerous. No-one was in disagreement during informal discussion. · The Chairman asked if anyone would prefer a different meeting night. No-one wanted any day in particular other than Friday night. Colin B proposed a vote when sufficient people were present, as agreement would be unlikely otherwise. · Informal discussion proceeded on the meeting room size, as it was agreed that some meetings were very busy for the current room size. A consensus was reached that the current venue was sufficient for smaller meetings only. Timperley Village Hall was suggested, but it was noted that this was also 50% (£10) more expensive, and was not feasible at the current membership rate and number. · Possibilities for more outdoor meetings were discussed. Light pollution was seen as a significant problem locally, and sites close to Timperley but away from immediate LP were suggested. Siddington was the most popular suggestion, but no consensus was reached. · Public Liability Insurance was discussed. The Treasurer stated we were not covered at present – particularly for new members, visitors, or external events. This was seen as a problem, with Jodrell Bank outreach events in particular noted as a cause for concern. · A need to stimulate group outings to local sites was discussed, following on from the previous discussion. Weather, lack of time, lack of interest and lack of access to newsgroup postings were seen as significant barriers to organisation. · However, it was noted that the newsgroup is seen as the only real means of communication within the society. The Chairman proposed that all members should supply email addresses for officers to communicate. A sheet of paper was circulated for those present to give their email addresses. · Level of subscription – it was decided (as far as is possible for an in-quorate AGM) that the present level of subscription would continue at £20 for adults, and £1 for minors. · Geoff asked for all pertinent discussions from this AGM to be distributed in the October meeting, for discussion at the EGM in December. ColinB agreed to make the meeting minutes available for the October meeting. · NWGAS – The Chairman reported that he was prevented from attending the recent meeting due to family illness, and no other member wished to attend when requested, so no representative from ADAS was present. · Geoff suggested a monthly newsletter of some form to try and inform people of events, meetings and possibilities for dark-sky observing. The Chairman stated that, as ever, it was difficult to get anyone to volunteer and commit to producing it. · Difficulties in gaining control of various areas of the ADAS website were discussed. No consensus was reached, but it was stated that several areas would be more accessible to members shortly. Ged entered the AGM at this time, and stated that he would get the current owner/webmaster to remove redundant links. · Timperley Country Fair: Ged stated that it was on September 12th, and he requested assistance at the Scout Hut the on Friday 11th September to organise and prepare. · Jodrell Bank Star Party was discussed, and the consensus of the members that had attended was that it had been a very successful and enjoyable evening. More attendance was requested for the next Jodrell event on Sat 12th December. · Ged asked for fliers which the Chairman had distributed at the previous Jodrell event to be made available for distribution at the Country Fair. · The Chairman asked for volunteers to get fliers distributed to local libraries. Geoff also agreed to update the Stockport Telescope and Binocular Centre with the new website address. ------------ Tea Break ------------ · It was suggested that groups and dark-sky observing visits should be formally organised, possibly following each monthly meeting. · Society equipment was discussed. It was suggested that all society equipment holders should bring in equipment at the next meeting so that members could see what was available. · It was agreed that further discussion and work was required on the ADAS website. · Ged asked for consideration that a binocular observation session be arranged regularly following every monthly meeting. · Ged again asked for help in organising the Timperley Country Fair, volunteers to be present at 9pm on Friday 11th September. · 21:25 the Chairman brought the meeting to a close.aid 2nd October 2009 October PRESENT Kevin Thurstan (Chairman), Geoff Flood, Nick Odom, Norman Thurstan, Steve Holt, Geoff Walton, Roger Livermore, Colin Bowler, Tony Aremia, Elaine Rutherford, Adam Rutherford, Scott Rutherford, Chris Suddick, Graham Sinagola, Peter Baugh, John Tipping. Kevin Kilburn (Speaker) Total 17. Kevin welcomed members to the meeting and introduced the speaker for the evening, Kevin Kilburn from Manchester AS, Kevin’s talk was entitled:- A NEW LOOK AT AN OLD MOON Kevin introduced himself saying that he has been observing since 1954. He has seen 2 Apollo launches and as a member of Manchester AS has for some time been imaging the moon as one of a group of people with different specialities, a group which includes Phil Masding and Mike Tyrell. Kevin uses a low tech approach. Early work used film photography but the cost of using rolls of film from which only the odd shot was worth keeping. Eventually, Kevin bought himself a digital camera, which a big improvement and then he discovered that he could take video which enabled him to stack frames and improve even more. Operating in Movie Mode he can achieve the equivalent of 100ft focal length. By this means it is possible to see craters down to a mile in diameter following stacking and cleaning up. A good deal of work has concentrated on Aristarchus, a 40mile wide crater. From the pictures produced it is now suspected that this is a live volcanic area. Although some say that the moon is “dead” several astronomers claim to have seen glowing in some areas. In 1968 Kevin contacted Patrick Moore to say that he believed that he had seen such a glow and by chance so had Patrick, contact with NASA led to them asking astronauts to look at Aristarchus and they also reported glowing. Colour on the Moon The project at Manchester AS is looking at Transient Lunar Phenomena (TLP) and stratification. Some astronomers had decided that Aristarchus is decidedly yellow, a colour plate in the Larouse Encyclopaedia of Astronomy, of a painting, shows colours all over the moon. Observation indicated that this was correct and with the help of digital photography we can show that this is correct. Kevin pointed out that once you see the colours they become obvious, the colours are best seen at the full moon of course, but contours etc. at lower light. Dark areas, which are blueish, are Titanium, brown areas Iron, Yellow Basalt etc. Thus by means of colour we can learn something of the geology of the Moon. Aristarchus is seen to be mainly blue but with a yellow rim, there is also pink and oranges to be seen. Phil Masding and Mike Tyrell have developed software known as Planet Warp which corrects shapes distorted by the curvature of the Moon and Plato, which normally appears to be elliptical now appears round - which is what pictures taken from Apollo show. Encouraged by Patrick Moore this was published in the Sky at Night magazine. Phil and Mike have also developed some software for “Colour Draping” where colour is lifted mathematically from a picture and then dropped onto a picture of the same area but taken at low illumination thus showing stratification but in the correct colour, brilliant results are achieved by this means. Multi Spectral Polarimetry. Kevin admitted to not fully understanding the maths of this technique but the results tend to speak for themselves. We have had high resolution and colour but now we can bring in Polarisation, using filters. Pictures take by this means show the texture of particles (smooth ones being different from coarse ones). The Russians have suggested using the Hubble telescope with colour and polarising filters, in this manner it should be possible to map out suitable geological areas for exploration. Sunlight is not polarised but scattered light is so using multi-spectra polarisation we get quite different images which tell us something about the structure of the surface. At a very high degree of polarisation we can see particle structure not seen by any other means. According to Umov the albedo /polarisation should give a straight line but variations from this are caused by scatter by several different particle sizes. This type of plot has been used to examine different traces left around craters following meteor strikes. Kevin finished off by talking about a white are on the moon which as yet is unexplained but which also has a magnetic field. It is thought that this might be the result of the magnetism of the meteor which crashed into the moon at that point. Kevin Thurstan thanked Kevin Kilburn for his interesting and informative talk. Following the talk there was a small amount of Society business. Kevin thanked all those who had contributed to the stall at the Timperley Country Fair, following which Tony Aremia has paid £175.30 into the bank. All the prizes in the tombola were gone very early on. Many people asked about ADAS meetings. Chris Suddick was asked if we could provide examiner(s) for the local Brownies Astronomy badge. Chris has agreed but would like some volunteers to assist. The leaflets, prepared for the Jodrell Bank Star Party, have been distributed and the Secretary agreed to put one in each of the local libraries. The next meeting, on November 6th, will be an open meeting when members can bring new images or equipment to show to members, but also those people holding pieces of Society equipment were asked to bring them in so that other members can see what is available. On Thursday 15th October Tim O’Brian from Jodrell Bank will speak to a meeting of Manchester AS at MMU starting at 7:30pm. There is no charge for this event. There being no other business the Chairman closed the meeting. 4th December 2009 December MINUTES OF THE 451st MEETING HELD ON FRIDAY 4th DECEMBER 2009 EXTRAORDINARY GENERAL MEETING PRESENT Kevin Thurstan (Chairman), Geoff Flood, Graham Sinagola, Geoff Walton, Steve Holt, Stephen Mc Hugh, John Tipping, Richard Bullock, Colin Eaves, Paul Brierley, Chris Suddick, Tony Aremia, Ged Burbeck. Total 13 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE Peter Baugh, Roger Livermore, Mark Crossley, Norman Thurstan. The meeting was called because of the lack of members who were prepared to stand for office at the AGM. Kevin opened the meeting by listing the offices to be filled, namely: Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer and Events Organiser. There was some discussion about the various positions and it was suggested that, to ease the burden, the posts could perhaps be split and the work shared. CHAIRMAN The way matters are handled at present the Chairman, not only chairs meetings but also arranges the programme. The possibility of having a “Speakers Secretary” to arrange talks was considered and under those circumstances Chris Suddick agreed to take the position of Chairman and was proposed by Kevin seconded by Geoff and elected. Chris stated that he would like to return to having more structured meetings with the minutes being read out each month, so that those without computer access are informed and could comment. Kevin reported that with one exception speakers are booked for the remainder of this ADAS year to June and he agreed to complete the programme so that an incoming Speakers Secretary would not need to begin looking for speakers until about March 2010. The position was left open for the time being. Kevin explained that speakers were found from ADAS members or from one of the lists of speakers provided by the BAA or by NWGAS. Contact is normally made via e-mail. SECRETARY Geoff Flood stated that he had some difficulty with minute taking but was prepared to continue as “General Secretary” which was approved by the meeting. Graham Sinagola agreed to become “Minutes Secretary” and was proposed by Kevin seconded by Tony and elected. TREASURER Richard Bullock has agreed to remain as Treasurer and was elected. Richard reported that a number of members have agreed to Giftaid their subscriptions on which the Society can claim the tax which the individual would have paid on that sum of money. This has rebate has not been claimed for several years so we should get a reasonable windfall from HM Customs and Revenue. Venue There was some discussion about the venue for the Society‘s meetings, some members feel that the room at the Scout hall is too small. Various options were discussed Graham mentioned the hall at Bowdon Parish church which appears to be ideal for our needs, although it would be difficult to get to for members travelling by public transport. Geoff F agreed to once more investigate Timperley Village Hall. Kevin reported that a list of Society equipment and names of those holding it is available on the Yahoo website. The question was asked, “Do we need anything else?” A laptop for use with PowerPoint presentations was agreed and Ged agreed to get prices for a decent second hand one. It was also suggested that as the mount for the Large binoculars had been sold (without agreement of the whole Society) a suitable tripod should be purchased. Paul B agreed to examine the possibilities. It was reported that we have been invited to once more participate in the Jodrell Bank Star Party on Saturday 12th December 2009.

June September October December MINUTES | 2005 3rd June 2005 June The 407th Meeting of the Altrincham and District Astronomical Society, held at Timperley Village Club on Friday 3rd June 2005 at 8pm Those present were: Paul Clark Don Utton Tony Aremia Stephen McHugh Mark Adamson Geoff Flood Colin Eaves Peter Baugh Vincent Cordron Chris Suddick Roger Livermore Geoffrey Walton Debbie Wilson Nick Dixon Alicia Dixon Kirsty Dixon David Dixon Phil Masding Ged Birbeck Colin Henshaw (Total 20) The chairman Paul Clark opened the meeting by welcoming everyone and announcing that Phil Masding would be speaking tonight about the satellite tracking software that he and Mike Tyrell have been developing. Previously they had captured ISS images by manual tracking, this was difficult and rather fraught given the rapid motion of the satellite across the sky and the narrow field of view required to observe structural details. The new software automates much of the tracking which makes for more relaxed observing sessions. He showed images obtained on 8th May using the 10" Meade LX telescope. These were then compared with what they expected to observe using a Simulator program also written by themselves. Phil noted that the Envisat also has some structure but most satellites do not. However, there is considerable (perverse) interest in imaging spy satellites whose orbital parameters are not released by the authorities but are made available by amateur astronomers from their observations. Phil and Mike were congratulated on their impressive images and their sophisticated programming skills. Following the break Paul Clark gave a sky diary. He pointed out that Jupiter's moons are frequently occulting and generating shadow transits so there is always something of interest to observe. He also pointed out that the planets Mercury and Venus have very close approach on 27th June with a separation of 8' at around 10pm. The Perseid meteor shower is due on 12th/13th August and can be impressive when the sky is clear. Colin Henshaw mentioned that gamma-Virginis is a binary which are coming to perihelion and so appear much closer together than usual. Colin also said that r- corona borealis is an interesting variable worth watching because its magnitude varies from the 14th to 6th magnitude. There was a short business session in which members were urged to support our fund raising efforts at the Gatley Fair on 4th July. There being no further business, the Chairman thanked Phil Masding again for his talk, and everyone for coming, and then closed the meeting. Chairman Secretary 2nd September 2005 September The 40th Annual General Meeting and the 408th Meeting of the Altrincham and District Astronomical Society, held at Timperley Village Club on Friday 2nd September 2005 at 8pm Those present were: Paul Clark Don Utton Tony Aremia Norman Thurstan Kevin Thurstan Geoff Flood Colin Eaves Peter Baugh Mark Crossley Chris Suddick Richard Bullock Geoffrey Walton Nick Odom Colin Bowler Nick Dixon Ged Birbeck J Coldon? (Total 17) The chairman Paul Clark opened the meeting by welcoming everyone and suggesting since the sky was clear that we mount an expedition to Gradbach immediately after the conclusion of the meeting. Because this is the AGM, business would be taken first. The Treasurer reported that we ran a deficit last year of £471 due entirely to the payment of back rent for the Observatory. On hearing this the Chairman promptly offered his unpaid subscription for last year, and Tony Aremia said that he had paid in £20 to the bank for the Timperley Fair refund. Thus the deficit was reduced to £431. Mark pointed out that members’ subscriptions just covered the Observatory and room hiring costs. Electricity cost £166, mainly in standing charges. Low user rates without standing charges are available only to residential customers. It was recommended and agreed that subscriptions should remain at £20 pa. We have yet to receive the Gift Aid tax refund on last year’s subscriptions which should be around £100. The Chairman thanked Mark for his work on maintaining the accounts, and Tony Aremia for his assistance. In the absence of the Observatory Director the Chairman said that the state of the Observatory was of some concern and that we would need to consider what should be done in the coming year. Mark Crossley, the web page master, said that it is still running and that there are pages where members can add news items etc. The Secretary acknowledged his laxity in updating the minutes on the pages. The Chairman commented that it had been a patchy year for observing with only a few successful expeditions. He then called for the election of officers. The Secretary said that he wished to stand down, and the Treasurer said that he wished to stand down next year. The following were elected unopposed Chairman Paul Clark Secretary Kevin Thurstan Treasurer & Web Master Mark Crossley Events and Obs Director Ged Birbeck The Chairman thanked the outgoing secretary for his efforts in the past. The final item of business was to have a round-up of who has what ADAS equipment Large Binoculars Paul Clark LX90 Nick Dixon 3 Eyepieces Kevin Thurstan STV imager Mark Crossley Critchley-Meade & Small Binoculars Ged Birbeck 17mm LV Eyepiece & 30mm 2” Superview Don Utton The meeting then adjourned for a coffee break. Following the break Paul Clark gave a presentation on refracting telescopes – pros, cons and characteristics. For the same sized aperture they are much more expensive than reflecting telescopes, but to offset this the image quality can be superior. 80mm short focal length telescopes are popular because they are relatively less expensive and they have a wide field of view (FOV). They are prone to chromatic abberation –the focal length varies with light wavelength. Achromat lenses reduce this but the more complex and expensive apochromat lenses are required to effectively eliminate this effect. Reflecters maintain a better quality of image away from the centre of the FOV than refractors where stellar images are no longer pin points at the edge of the FOV. The effects of chromatic abberation can be reduced by going to longer focal ratios, as was done historically in the past. This has the drawback of reducing the FOV. Paul made a final point that smaller refractors cool down more quickly than large reflectors – he thinks that his 18” Dobsonian reflector never cools down completely on a one night expedition. Following the applause for his presentation Paul suggested that all those interested adjourn to Gradbach and said that he had maps for anyone who needed them. He then closed the meeting. 7th October 2005 October The 409th Meeting of the Altrincham and District Astronomical Society, held at Timperley Village Club on Friday 7th October 2005 at 8pm Those present were: Paul Clark, Kevin Thurstan, Tony Aremia, Terry Bailey, Norman Thurstan, Geoff Flood, Graham Sinagola, Peter Baugh, Mark Crossley, Chris Suddick, Richard Bullock, Geoffrey Walton, Nick Odom, Colin Bowler, Nick Dixon, Ged Birbeck, Phil Masding, Stuart Oldbury, Roger Livermore, Mary Stewart, 1 other (Total 21) The chairman Paul Clark opened the meeting by welcoming everyone to the meeting and announcing that tonight’s speaker would be Nick Odom, who would be delivering part two of his talk on “Relativity” this time focusing on general relativity following on from his previous talk on special relativity. The Chairman also announced that Graham Sinagola had brought in a DVD of the transit of Venus on 8th June last year if anyone was interested in it. Nick Odom then started his talk on general relativity by summarising some of the points of special relativity to help as background. He stated that it took Einstein ten years from 1905 when he published his theory on special relativity before in 1915 he published his theory on general relativity. It was believed the laws of physics are the same irrespective of the speed of the observer and that the speed of light in a vacuum is constant. However Newton’s laws of gravity break down at high speed and Einstein wanted to reconcile relativity with gravity. Nick then went on to explain in more detail, how the effects of gravity must travel at the same speed as light in gravitational waves, the fact that a man falling off a roof couldn’t feel gravity led Einstein to a flash of inspiration that gravity mimics acceleration, that gravity slows down time and time runs slower for an observer on the surface of the earth than it does for a spaceman in orbit, the higher the gravity is the slower time runs. Gravity also refracts light, distorts space and that the effect of gravity is greater in general relativity as opposed to Newton’s laws. We then heard about general relativity and black holes. He finished off by explaining some of the observational conformation we have on general relativity including the perihelion of mercury, the displacement of star images during a solar eclipse, gravitational red shifting of Sirius b and radio astronomy observations of everything from the inner planets to binary pulsars and quasars. The meeting then had a break for tea. The Chairman Paul Clark then did a sky diary on the coming month concentrating mainly on the area around the constellation of Cygnus and mentioned how mars was going to be at its best over the next couple of months. In any other business the Chairman reminded us that next months talk was to be by Andrew Greenwood from Macc AS on the subject of Mars. The Secretary then reminded everyone that on the coming Friday, 14th October, the society had been invited again to Delamere Forest Park visitor Centre and would be providing several talks on astronomy, and that we still required speakers to help out, we need others to support the occasion with their presence or turning up with scopes to put on display and maybe even use if the sky was clear. Richard Bullock offered his services and said he would be able to do a talk on the moon. The meeting was then brought to a close. 2nd December 2005 December The 411th Meeting of the Altrincham and District Astronomical Society, held at Timperley Village Club on Friday 2nd December 2005 at 8pm Those present were: Paul Clark, Kevin Thurstan, Mark Crossley, Tony Aremia, Mike Tyrrell, Philip Masding, Don Utton, May Stewart, Norman Thurstan, Geoff Flood, Colin Eaves, Geoffrey Walton, Graham Sinagola, Nick Dixon, Nick Odom, Ged Birbeck, John Tipping, John Gartshore, Roger Livermore, Stuart Oldbury, Adam Oldbury (Total 21) The chairman Paul Clark opened the meeting by welcoming everyone to the meeting and announcing that tonight we would start with the club business followed by Phil Masding and Mike Tyrrell with some new software, then we would have a clips and pics quiz followed by the tea break. Finally we would have a discussion on the future of the obs site. The Business section started with the post, of which we had two pieces, one from Keele University and remittance advice from the forestry commission of £50 for our October evening at Delamere Forest Park. The Treasurer reported that subs were still trickling in. We then had an update on the Stockport sky beam and a reminder to members who wanted to object of how where and what to include in the objection. It was then the turn of Phil and Mike to show us their new software and how it turns images of mars into maps. They said that this year’s opposition of Mars has been a good one because Mars was high in the sky and there were a good number of favourable evenings to view on. They then explained how they transformed the pixels on the two dimensional picture into a set of x, y and z co-ordinates on the surface of a surface of a sphere, showing the formulae used to create latitudinal and longitudinal co-ordinates on the planet for each pixel of the original picture. They commented on the problems that arose because of the Mars’s axial tilt and position angle, which meant the latitude and longitude co-ordinates had to be transformed to compensate for this before they could finally be turned from latitude and longitude into flat map co-ordinates. They told us how they used only the central strip of many pictures to create a map of the whole planet as it made the transformation calculations simpler and that because of the Mars’s axial tilt and position angle the North Polar Region was missing from the map. The Chairman then split the room into two teams one captained by the Secretary the other by Graham Sinagola and held a quiz on various pictures, video and sound clips. The Secretary’s team won. Then we had the tea break. After the break we held a discussion on the future of the observatory site. Over the years the buildings on the site have fallen into disrepair and the observatory itself is hardly ever used these days. The main issues include: Ongoing costs. At £620 the current overheads are greater than the clubs income from members subscriptions and these costs can only rise. Maintenance. To maintain the site its self, money needs spending on new equipment, the society building and storage hut are really beyond maintenance and need replacing, the observatory roof is leaking, the telescope mount doesn’t work properly, and the telescope needs an overhaul. Security. The storage hut has again been broken into, the site can’t be made properly secure without more expenditure and it’s probably only a matter of time until the society hut is broken into and vandalised. Need. The society does need a base for our weekly and monthly meetings and to store some equipment, preferably where we can occasionally use to observe from. Comfort. At the moment to get to the obs site you have to walk across an unlit often muddy and fouled field to a cold, damp, draughty hut that has obviously seen better days. Suitability. Is the obs site still suitable for the society’s needs, At the moment we would be too embarrassed to hold a society or NWGAS meeting there and over the past few years we have had several potential members who after seeing the hut have not turned up again. The obs site its self is, at the moment, possibly holding the club back from expanding and putting its future at risk. Three options were put forward to the meeting. Do nothing. The site will just keep on decaying until it is totally beyond use for the societies needs, we would still have the same maintenance needs, the security issues would be the same and the societies costs would still continue rising well above its income. Upgrade. To upgrade we would need a large capital injection into the society of around £6000 to £7000, we would still have the maintenance needs and costs, the security issues would be the same and the societies ongoing costs would still continue rising well above its income possibly even faster. Surrender the site. The society could surrender the obs site and meeting room altogether and set up home in a more suitable single location, the Scout hut across the field from the obs has been put forward as a possible site if the costs of doing so were not prohibitive. The Scout hut has ample parking, is heated, has kitchen and toilet facilities and there is a separate car parking area to the rear suitable for observing. If we moved there we would have no maintenance, security or comfort issues and the society may be able to bring its costs more inline with its income. There was then a period of discussion on the fate of the obs site and a general consensus that we should look further into the possibility of leaving the obs site and moving to the scout hut. The Chairman, after previous talks with some of the membership, was already in discussion with Trafford Council as to where we stood with the lease on the obs site and it was decided that Stuart Oldbury would enter discussions with the committee at the Scout hut about the possibility and cost of a move there. The meeting was then brought to a close.

Siddington Tegg's Nose Country Park Gradbach Llyn Brenig STAR PARTY The Timperley Village Club is within the Greater Manchester conurbation and suffers from light pollution (limiting mag 4.5). As a result of this we make trips out into the neighbouring countryside where conditions are better. The trips tend to be arranged on an ‘ad hoc’ basis, due to uncertainties in the weather, but usually take place on the weekends either side of the new moon (these events will be posted on the "Upcoming Events " page and "Home " page). ​ Brief descriptions of the various dark sky sites, including location and typical limiting magnitude, are given below. The order is in increasing distance from the Timperley Village Club. Locations Siddington Siddington Approximately 13 miles SSE of Timperley. It is located at a wide sweeping bend on a quiet country road off the A537 between Chelford and Macclesfield. There is room to set up several telescopes. ADAS members have an arrangement with a local farmer to use his adjoining field. There are good all round horizons with the darkest sky to the South. Limiting apparent magnitude ≈ +5 What3Words ///complains.broadcast.scanner Tegg's Nose Country Park Tegg's Nose Country Park Approximately 18 miles SE of Timperley and 2 miles up in the hills east of Macclesfield. The car park has a good level tarmac surface with plenty of room for twenty or more cars. Good horizons to the East and South with noticeable light pollution to the West and North. Limiting apparent magnitude ≈ +5.7 What3Words ///directly.thankful.tacky Gradbach Gradbach Approximately 28 miles SSE of Timperley and 3 miles SE of Allgreave in the Peak District. Located on some open ground to the right of a sharp left bend in the road. Careful driving needed on the road east of Allgreave during the winter. There is plenty of room for at least half a dozen cars. Significantly darker than either Siddington or Teggs Nose with good all round horizons. Limiting apparent magnitude ≈ +6.03 What3Words ///straw.cuddled.solves Llyn Brenig Llyn Brenig Approximately 72 miles West of Timperley and 13 miles SW of Denbigh. Much further than the other sites but undoubtedly the darkest. Driving time around 1 ½ hours on good roads. Located at the end of a ~1 mile cul-de-sac near to the lake with room for a dozen or more cars. When the wind is from the North, off the Irish Sea, there are often local clouds even though it is clear elsewhere. No discernible light pollution to the South or West with a little to the North East due to Denbigh/ Liverpool/ Manchester. Limiting apparent magnitude ≈ +6.3 What3Words ///searcher.cowboys.anode There is a location of an alternative site which is higher up should it be misty by the lake. This second site is more exposed and the Denbigh lights are more in evidence. What3Words ///volume.easygoing.lofts

September October MINUTES | 2004 3rd September 2004 September The 399th Meeting and 39th AGM of the Altrincham and District Astronomical Society, held at Timperley Village Club on Friday 3rd September , 2004 at 8pm Those present were: Chris Suddick Don Utton Tony Aremia Ged Burbeck Graham Sinagola Lucy Rogers Colin Eaves Stuart Oldbury Sean Oldbury Mark Crossley John Tipping Colin Henshaw Nick Dixon Debbie Wilson Kevin Thurston Geoffrey Walton Paul Clark Roger Livermore Mary Stewart Gillian Cox Lionel Cox Chris Lavender Geoff Flood Fred Talbot Martin Leahy Daniel Leahy (Total 26) The chairman Paul Clark opened the meeting by welcoming everyone to the start of our new year and by announcing that business would be taken first, to be followed by refreshments and then a talk by Fred Talbot. Paul gave a brief summary of the year, mentioning that our local climate had not helped our observing, but despite that there had been some good sessions, with the transit of Venus the most notable event. We are still looking for funds to replace the metal shed at the Observatory. He then called for the Treasurer's Report. Mark Crossley reported that there is approximately £1900.00 in the bank, but we have £500.00 to pay in back rent for the Observatory. The increased Observatory rent and other routine costs bring our total annual outgoings to £600.00 and therefore he proposed that the annual subscription be increased to £20.00 with the junior rate of £1.00 remaining unchanged. This was agreed unanimously. Mark also said that he has now taken responsibility for the Web site. Some changes have been made including the option for contributions to be made by members by ‘blogging’. The following officers were then elected unopposed. Chairman Paul Clark Secretary Don Utton Treasurer & Webmaster Mark Crossley Events Officer & Observatory Director Ged Birbeck The Chairman then suggested that the presentations for the astronomical evening at Delamere Forest take the form 1) What’s on tonight 2) Earth/Moon or the solar system 3) Deep sky 4) Quiz. Total elapsed time between 60 and 90 minutes. He asked for volunteers and Chris Suddick, Mark Crossley and Graham Sinagola all said they could contribute. The Chairman also announced that we had been given a library of around 30 books which are available for loan by members. Following the break, Fred Talbot gave a talk on his memories of the ADAS early days. ADAS was started by a group of 14 year old boys who held their first meeting on 13th November 1964. What they lacked in equipment and facilities they more than made up in youthful enthusiasm and a lack of inhibition on what was possible. They went by bus to enjoy dark skies at summer camps in North Wales and to observe meteor showers etc. In 1968 a change in the law meant that they could sign a legal contract and so establish an observatory, finally settling on the present site on Grove Lane. A lucrative trade in honey raised funds to build an observatory and meeting hut. The sand for cement and concrete was dug from a hole in the ground on the site. Fred’s dominant memory is of enthusiasm and willingness to try their hands at anything. In many cases the experiences led on to other things, for example, in his case to TV presenting. He never expected ADAS to keep going for 40 years and hoped that it would continue for another 40 at least. The Chairman thanked Fred for his interesting reminiscences and reminded everyone that Ged Birbeck is organising a ‘do’ for 13th November to celebrate the 40th anniversary. He then gave a brief account of objects to look for in the coming months, including M15, M31 and NGC 7755 in Cassiopeia. He closed the meeting by thanking everyone for coming and asking them to give support at Timperley Country Fair on 18th September. ​ Chairman Secretary 1st October 2004 October The 400th Meeting of the Altrincham and District Astronomical Society, held at Timperley Village Club on Friday 1st October , 2004 at 8pm Those present were: Paul Clark Don Utton Tony Aremia Ged Burbeck Graham Sinagola Geoff Flood Colin Eaves Mark Crossley John Tipping Colin Henshaw Nick Dixon Kevin Thurston Geoffrey Walton Roger Livermore Mary Stewart Martin Leahy Daniel Leahy (Total 17) The chairman Paul Clark opened the meeting by welcoming everyone. He announced that the talk tonight would be given by Colin Henshaw who had agreed to step in at the last minute because the original speaker was stranded in Newcastle. This would be followed by refreshments and then business. Colin’s talk was entitled ‘Historical Supernovae’ and he started that there are two distinct types; the first is caused by the self-destruction of a white dwarf in a binary system. The second is due to the gravitational collapse of a super giant. The first type occur when the white dwarf exceeds the Chandrasekhar limit of 1.44 solar masses consequently they all have a similar magnitude, and so can be used to determine the distance of their galaxies. With Type II supernovae if the super giant mass is < > in the USA, Japan and Russia, which have enabled its time to be determined within a few seconds. Colin also pointed out that nuclear fusion reactions leading up to a supernova explosion create the heavy elements which are vital to life so that we all children of the stars. He finished by speculating on possible future candidates which included rho Cassiopeia, Rigel and Betelguese. The chairman thanked Colin for an interesting and informative talk. Following the break Paul Clark pointed out that a supernova has recently been discovered in Cepheus, near to NGC 6946, its present magnitude is 12.5 – 13.0. He also reminded everyone that a lunar eclipse will occur in the early hours of 28th October, and that in January Comet Q2 Machholz will be high in the southern sky with an expected magnitude of around 4. Under business, the minutes were taken as read and correspondence noted. The ADAS stall at the Timperley Country Fair raised £147. Everyone was urged to support our presentations at Delamere Forest on 22nd October, and Ged Birbeck reminded everyone that the 40th Anniversary Party is on 13thNovember at the Altrincham Leisure Centre. The Chairman then thanked everyone for coming and closed the meeting. ​ Chairman Secretary

EQUIPMENT This is a list of all the astronomical equipment which the society has, all of which is available for borrowing by members for their own use at home or on dark sky trips except the 14" telescope which is too large. ​ Please click a symbol to request to borrow an item of equipment from the society (N.B. Become a member to borrow the equipment) 14" Newtonian telescope on German equatorial mount. It is available for use by all members each Friday night and at other times by special arrangement. LX90 SCT . This is a computer controlled, tripod mounted, portable telescope. It is quite heavy weighing in at about 45lb with its tripod. The picture shows it set up on its tripod with the computer control handset, 8x50 finder scope and the eyepiece diagonal for comfortable viewing. ETX90 SCT . This is a small version of the LX90. It is very light and portable which means it can be set up considerably faster than than the LX90. It is also known as 'The Critchley Meade'.​ 6" Newtonian reflector on a Dobsonian mount . This is very light and portable and can be set up in seconds. No mucking about with batteries and aligning with guide stars. Plonk it on the ground or on a table and start observing. Pictured here with the society's web cam (see below). 20x100 binoculars . Also known as the 'MIA bins'. They have a mounting plate which can be placed directly onto a tripod or the parallelogram arm. There is also a heavy pedestal mount for these binoculars which is not shown in the picture. 20x60 binoculars . There is no mount for these binoculars nor any adaptor for clamping them to a tripod. If you borrow these then you will need your own clamp or have to hold them in your hands. SBIG STV . This is a digital video camera that can take pictures through the eyepiece of a telescope and record them for downloading onto a PC for subsequent processing.​ Web Cam . This is a small digital camera with an eyepiece adaptor for taking astrophotos. This needs a PC to operate and there is an extension lead with it for this purpose. Ideally you need a laptop computer to use this or you have to be quite close to your PC.

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QUICK LINKS Here are some quick links to make is easier to find various pages on this website. Some are updated regularly to give the most up-to-date content, whilst others are used to shorten URLs. Please be aware that "Most recent presentation" links to a download Name Link ADAS "Features of the Cosmos" guide https://www.astroadas.space/cosmos ADAS Facebook page https://www.astroadas.space/facebook ADAS RSS news feed https://www.astroadas.space/rss ADAS Twitter page https://www.astroadas.space/twitter ADAS YouTube page https://www.astroadas.space/youtube Download an up to date version of our calendar in iCal format (for Apple) https://www.astroadas.space/applecal Most recent event post https://www.astroadas.space/recentevent Most recent minutes https://www.astroadas.space/recentminutes Most recent news article https://www.astroadas.space/recentnews Most recent presentation https://www.astroadas.space/recentpresentation Most recent video of meeting https://www.astroadas.space/recentvideo Subscribe to our Google Calendar https://www.astroadas.space/googlecal

MEMBERSHIP Student 1 Year Subscription £1 (for those of any age in fu ll-time education) Adult 1 Year Subscription £20 Membership of ADAS gives access to all meetings and events offered by ADAS for a whole year, along with access to the society's equipment . ​ We meet on the first Friday of every month (except July and August) at 8pm, and have the odd stargazing night when the weather is good (a WhatsApp group is currently being set up to facilitate more of these events). ​ Subscriptions can be payed in cash at any point in the year, but mainly in our AGM in September (please contact our treasurer for details of how to pay by bank transfer)

Mauna Kea Roque de los Muchachs ESO Finland Sweden Svalbard Iceland Canada ESA Ground Station LIVE SKY Manua Kea Observatory Hawaii Pointing South Credit: NOIRLab/Gemini , CC BY 4.0 Roque de los Muchachos Observatory, La Palma Gran Telescopio Canarias Fish Eye Credit: © GRANTECAN S.A. European Southern Observatory, Chile Fisheye Image at Very Large Telescope Credit: ESO , CC BY 4.0 Mauna Kea Roque de los Muchachs ESO Finalnd (northern lights) Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory Credit: University College London Atmospheric Physics Laboratory Sweden (northern lights) Kiruna Esrange Optical Platform Site, Esrange, Kiruna Credit: University College London Atmospheric Physics Laboratory Sweden Finland Svalbard (northern lights) Kjell Henriksen Observatory, Breinosa, Longyearbyen Credit: University College London Atmospheric Physics Laboratory Svalbard Iceland (northern lights) Brandagil, Hrútafirði on the Hringvegur Credit: Vegagerðin Iceland Canada (northern lights) Yellowknife, AuroraMAX Credit: Canadian Space Agency Canada ESA Ground Stations New Norcia Deep Space Antenna, Australia Credit: ESA These ground stations are used by ESA to link Earth with all the space craft ESA has got in orbit at the moment, from the Rosetta mission on a comet to the Gaia mission, mapping the skies. Find out more here . ESA Ground Station Contact Us! Read our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy so you understand what will be done with your work once submitted. Got a Webcam you want to see here?

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