Jay Tate, director of the Spaceguard Centre The most significant natural danger to life on Earth comes from asteroids and comets. The Spaceguard Centre is a working observatory, and the main source of information about Near Earth Objects in the UK. Jay Tate is one of the country's leading experts and will explain the structure […]

John Cook is Assistant Director (data analysis) of the BAA Solar Section, which promotes every aspect of solar astronomy and works closely with the BAA Radio Section. John will give us up to date data on magnetic activity and other phenomenon.

The invention and use of the spectroscope was important development in the history of astronomy, sometimes with the aid of gifted amateurs. The birth of astrophysics led to our present understanding of the nature of the universe. For the first time astronomers were able to directly compare our view of the distant universe with experiments […]

Dr Broomhall is from the department of physics at Warwick University, and her research focuses on solar and stellar physics, specifically helioseismology and asteroseismology.

The Leviathan of Parsonstown is the unofficial name of the Rosse six-foot telescope. This is a historic reflecting telescope of 72 in (1.8 m) aperture, which was the largest telescope in the world from 1845 until the construction of the 100-inch (2.5 m) Hooker Telescope in 1917. The Rosse six-foot telescope was built by William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse […]

An important date for your diary, and your chance to have an input into the workings of the Society.

Dr McGee is from the school of physics and astronomy at Birmingham University.  He works on galaxy formation and evolution, with particular interests in how the growth of cosmic structures affect the formation of galaxies; how gas is accreted into galaxies and the formation of the first generation of stars and black holes.

Dr Onions is an astrophysics researcher.  He will discuss what metals are to an astronomer, how do they get made, and what can they tell us about the history of the universe in terms of stars and galaxies.

In a change to the originally scheduled talk, Dr Julian Onions will return to give us his talk on the far side of the Moon. The Moon is a shy body, it only ever shows one sides of itself to the Earth. Before the space age, we had no idea what was on the far […]

A members' discussion evening.  Bring your own equipment and ideas, we will have several bases round the room covering different activities. This format is brought back by popular request! 1. Night Sky - how to navigate your way around (Steve Wootton) 2. Astro Photography the easy way, including by smartphone (Cath Adams & Doug Bickley) […]

Trevor has recently been attracting interest with his ingenious scope modifications and improvements. His talk will cover how he has modified the mounts on binoculars and a small 4 ¼ inch dobsonian with the aid of some DIY and his electronics expertise, in order to help find people who struggle to find difficult targets.

The British Astronomical Association was founded in 1890. Right from the start, the membership included talented lady astronomers. In part this was because the Royal Astronomical Society did not admit women at this time. This talk tells the stories of many of the lady pioneers of the BAA.

A look at the exploration of the Earth's closest planetary neighbour. From the time of Galileo to possible future missions.