General Information
Tea, Coffee and lively conversation is available at the end of the evening.
Meetings take place in Beckington Baptist Church Hall and start at 7:30pm. The evening usually comprises:
- Chaiman’s Introduction (10 mins)
- Beginners’ Talk (20 mins)
- Main Talk (40mins to 1 hour)
- Tea, coffee, biscuits and chat
Main Talks Programme 2021/2022
| Date | Title | Speaker |
| 17th September | Cancelled | |
| 15th October | Cancelled | |
| 19th November | Cancelled | |
| 3rd December | Cancelled | |
| 21st January | Cancelled | |
| 18th February | Cancelled | |
| 18th March | Beginners’ Item – Back to Basics, What’s Up, News, JWST Update |
Members |
| 22nd April | Unnumber’d Sparks
Spotting Space Dust What’s Up? |
Steve Hill
Simon Holbeche Clive Humphrey |
| 20th May | Precession and Nutation
A-Z of Astronomy What’s Up? |
Steve Hill
John Ball Clive Humphrey |
| 17th June | The Moon
Early Telescopes The Summer Night Sky |
Clive Humphrey
John Ball Clive Humphrey |
Main Talks Programme 2019/2020
| Date | Title | Speaker |
| 20th September | Stumbling Around in the Dark | Robert Harvey |
| 18th October | Open Evening/Anniversary Event | |
| 15th November | The Giants and Their Children | Steve Hill |
| 6th December | Social Evening/Member Talks/Quiz/Nosh | |
| 17th January | The Herschel 400 | Jonathan Gale |
| 21st February | Asterisms: Jewels of the Starry Sky | Bob Mizon |
| 20th March | CANCELLED |
|
| 17th April | CANCELLED | |
| 15th May | CANCELLED | |
| 19th June | CANCELLED |
Main Talks Programme 2018/2019
| Date | Title | Speaker |
| 21st September | The Legacy of Apollo | Nick Howes |
| 19th October | Comets | James Fradgley |
| 16th November | Around the Universe in 40 minutes | Grant Privett |
| 7th December | Social Evening + bring and tell | |
| 18th January | The Mathematical Universe | Steve Hill |
| 15th February | Journey to the Edge of the Solar System |
Chris Starr |
| 15th March | How Old Is It? |
Stephen Tonkin |
| 26th April | Observing and Sketching the Deep Sky | Mark Radice |
| 17th May | Dark Nebulae | Owen Brazell |
| 21st June | Annual General Meeting Member Talks |
Main Talks Programme 2017/2018
| Date | Title | Speaker |
| 15th September | Binary Stars – Making Waves |
Hugh Allen |
| 20th October | Astrobiology |
Steve Hill |
| 17th November | Heavens Above |
Dick Cardy |
| 8th December | Cancelled! | |
| 19th January | Astrophysics and Compact Objects |
Mark Woodland |
| 16th February | Voyage to the Dawn of the Solar System |
Chris Starr |
| 16th March | Pole Stars of other Planets |
Bob Mizon |
| 20th April | Building the World’s Largest FM Radio Receiver to Learn about the First Galaxies | Jonathan Pritchard |
| 18th May | The Dichotomy of Mars |
Mike Witt |
| 15th June | Annual General Meeting Member Talks |
Main Talks Programme 2016/2017
| Date | Title | Speaker |
| 16th September | Four Short Talks |
James Fradgley |
| OBAFGKM, Night Vision, Laplace Resonances, Libration & Nutation | ||
| 21st October | Spectroscopy: Cracking starlight’s hidden code |
Hugh Allen |
| 18th November | An Echo of Ingenuity |
Dick Cardy |
| The Antikythera Mechanism | ||
| 2nd December | Social Evening | |
| 20th January | Tales from the Dark Side of the Universe |
Mike Witt |
| 17th February | John Herschel: A Very Victorian Scientist |
Andy Burns |
| 17th March | The Sun |
Ron Westmaas |
| 21st April | Observing the Solar System |
Mark Radice |
| 19th May | Imaging Colloquium |
Steve Hill |
| Talks discussions and demos | ||
| 16th June | Annual General Meeting Member Talks |
Main Talks Programme 2015/2016
| Date | Title | Speaker |
| 18th September | Observing in the Tropics |
Mark Radice |
| 16th October | The Planet Designated 134340 |
Mike Witt |
| 20th November | The Magic of Starlight |
Dick Cardy |
| 4th December | Social Evening | |
| 15th January | Planetary Nebulae |
Martin Griffiths |
| 19th February | Science of the Solar System – 2 |
Steve Hill |
| 18th March | Ten ways the Universe tries to kill you |
Stephen Tonkin |
| 15th April | Seven Moons |
Bob Mizon |
| 20th May | Tales from the Dark Side of the Universe |
Mike Witt |
| 17th June | Annual General Meeting Member Talks |
Main Talks Programme 2014/2015
| Date | Title | Speaker |
| 19th September | Secrets of Cosmic Light. | Will Gater |
| 17th October | An Eye to the Sky | Andy Burns |
| 21st November | A Nobleman and his House Dog | Dick Cardy |
| 5th December | Social Evening | |
| 16th January | Patterns in the Sky – Exploring and Observing Asterisms | Jonathan Gale |
| 20th February | Science of the Solar System | Steve Hill |
| 20th March | The Spark of Gumdrop |
Simon Barnes |
| 17th April | Variable Stars: What makes them tick? | James Fradgely |
| 15th May | The Greatest Scope on Earth | Nick Howes |
| 19th June | Annual General Meeting Member Talks |
Main Talks Programme 2013/2014
| Date | Title | Speaker |
| 20th September | Why this Universe? Exploring the Cosmic Landscape. | Steve Hill |
| 18th October | Project Alcock: Observing and Recording Comets | Roger Dymock |
| 15th November | Volcanoes of the Solar System | Dick Cardy |
| 6th December | Social Evening | |
| 17th January | Cancelled | |
| 21tst February | Titanic Stellar Explosions and Cosmic Dust Mysteries | Haley Gomez |
| 21st March | Ten Targets for Light-Polluted Astronomers |
Bob Mizon |
| 25th April | Imaging the Moon and Mars | Len Telford |
| 16th May | Observing the Deep Sky | Mark Radice |
| 20th June | Annual General Meeting The Cosmic Menagerie: A Ramble through the Universe |
Steve Hill. |
Main Talks Programme 2012/2013
| Date | Title | Speaker |
| 21st September | Imaging Jupiter | Damian Peach |
| 19th October | Galaxies | Steve Hill |
| 16th November | Riddles in Cosmology | Dick Cardy |
| 7th December | Social Evening | |
| 18th January | Project Alcock:
Cancelled due to bad weather
|
Roger Dymock |
| 15th February | Pheonix from the Ashes:
The Origin of the Elements
|
Prof. Mike Edmunds |
| 15th March | Lunar Observing |
Mark Radice |
| 19th April | Cosmic Telescopes | Dr. Phil Marshall |
| 17th May | Space: What’s in it for Us? | Mike Witt |
| 21st June | Annual General Meeting | |
| Members’ Talks |
Main Talks Programme 2011/2012
| Date | Title | Speaker |
| 16th September | Use the Force: Shaping the Universe | Steve Hill |
| 21st October | Sky at Night Magazine: Highlights | Graham Southorn |
| 18th November | The Most Beautiful Diagram | Dick Cardy |
| 2nd December | Social Evening | |
| 20th January | Astronomy Equipment | MC2 |
| 17th February | John Herschel | Andy Burns |
| 16th March | Meteors |
Ron Westmaas |
| 20th April | Binocular Observing | Mark Radice |
| 18th May | Highs & Lows of the Space Shuttle Era | Simon Barnes |
| 15th June | Annual General Meeting | |
| Members’ Talks |
Programme 2010/2011
| Date | Title | Speaker |
| 17th September | The Mechanics of the Solar System | Steve Hill |
| Caroline Herschel | Dick Phillips | |
| 15th October | A Slippery Slope | Sheila Hill |
| History of the Universe | Steve Hill | |
| 19th November | The Observatory at Lake Tekapo | Terry Morrow |
| The Gas Giants | Dick Cardy | |
| 3rd December | Social Evening | |
| 21st January | Cosmic Distances and Scales | Dick Cardy |
| Mysteries and the Unexplained | Mike Witt | |
| 18th February | Which Telescope for Me? | John Dolton |
| Upside-down Cloud Watching | Mike Worsley | |
| 18th March | Planetarium | Bob Mizon MBE |
| 15th April | The Velocity of Light | John Williams |
| The Cosmic Menagerie | Steve Hill | |
| 20th May | TBA | Mike Witt |
| Imaging and Observing the Sun | Nick Howes | |
| 17th June | Annual General Meeting | |
| Members’ Talks |
