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Public
Outreach |
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Visit
to Herschel Museum, Bath
15th May 2010
19 New King
Street is the historic house from where William Herschel and his sister
Caroline
discovered the planet Uranus, using a telescope forged in his workshop.
Herschel was well known for the quality of his instruments, and at the
time was building the best instruments available. The exhibition has
been extended to include a new projection room (in the coal cellar)
where Patrick Moore gives a lucid history of the great discovery on
DVD.
Many interesting artifacts are on display in the house which has been careful restored.
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Images contributed by D Mason M Andrews and T Haymes.
International Year of Astronomy 2009
Autumn
Stargazing at Braywick Nature Centre
November 20th
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Society
Coach trip to the National Space Centre
Saturday
May 9th
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Soyuz (20th c engineering), Moon exhibit, Beam Engine
(19th c engineering)
Photos by Tim Haymes
Spring Moon Watch
at Braywick Nature Centre
Wednesday April
1st.
Left to right: Poster, Refractor, Reflector, Moon (Afocal
method) and, Introduction by Martin Andrews.
An astronomy exhibition and two talks celebrating the First Man on the Moon 40 years ago (Apollo11), were combined with a Spring Moon Watch as part of the IYA2009 events program. Advertising was "country-wide" via the IYA2009 web site, M'head Advertiser, Telegraph and Mail. The two talks were run twice for a total of 65 visitors; and 7 telescopes gave impressive close-up views of the Moon under a clear sky. Observing conditions were excellent allowing some superb detail to be seen.
Refreshments and a raffle completed another successful evening of astronomy, thanks in large part to the organising committee, and a favourable 6hr break in cloud cover.
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Left: Exploring
with Stellarium. Centre:Apollo
11 revealed. Right: The Moon tonight with Bruce Kingsley.
The Society thanks BNC for use of the room and facilities. Funding for the free-entry event was provided from the Louis Baylis (Maidenhead Advertiser) Charitable Trust - Cash for the Community Award (2008).
Photos by Vic Milford
Exhibition
and Saturday Coffee Morning
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Society members provided some additional interest at the regular Coffee Club held in The Methodist Church Hall, King Street, Maidenhead. Display boards, telescopes and other items of interest were on show. This attracted a number of folk and families with children, to come inside and find out more.
Left to right: Coffee Club with exhibition, Eclipse simulator model,
Stellarium PC, Reflecting telescope
Photos by Tim Haymes
2008
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Astronomy Night at Braywick Nature Centre October 10th |
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A successful public astronomy night was held at Braywick Nature Centre with 41 visitors attending the event (10 were children). The weather was fair and mild with a clear sky - ideal conditions.
Telescopes arrived at 7.15 and were trained on the Moon and Jupiter. Visitors heard two talks, a beginners guide to the Autumn night sky, and an informative talk on the four giant planets. At 9pm telescopes were re-directed to Uranus and Neptune, and for many, this was their first glimpse of the outermost planets in the Solar System. The display boards and projector were acquired with the generous donation from O2. |
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Old Greenwich Observatory, Saturday March 15th.
Family and friends had a great time at Greenwich, where a new science exhibit was recently opened, including a sophisticated planetarium run by Greg Smye-Rumsby. Members arrived at 1259 to see the time ball drop at 1300 Hrs. All the original exhibits are present, the most important being the meridian transit instrument and time displays, and of course the mighty 28" refractor. The day was completed by a special planetarium show and tour of the 28" dome, and some customary heavy rain !
Photos by Martin
Andrews: Group photo, and inside the Onion dome.
2007
Meteor
Night, Thursday Dec 13th.
Two talks at Braywick
Nature Centre were followed by a Geminid
meteor watch. Eight children and 30 adults attended the public event.
The weather was kind to us (again); although the viewing was cut short
by cloud at 9.45 pm. Visitor reported seeing several meteors, one person
saw five.
The evening started at 8pm with a short talk on "meteors and meteor impacts". This was followed a break and a second talk on "the sky tonight" which was illustrated by a video DVD of meteors kindly loaned to us by Andrew Elliott, a distinguished amateur who's videos have appeared on the BBC Sky at Night.
There was
also a raffle, and the main prize was a piece of genuine meteorite,
and a book. Photo: D. Herron |
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Members with their telescopes were able to point out some of the features of the December night sky: Mars, Orion Nebula, Pleiades star cluster, and comet Holmes in outburst.
'The
lives of stars and people'
Was the title of the public lecture at Maidenhead Town
hall on Saturday 30th June which was attended by about 120 people of
all ages.
Dr Diego, a professional astronomer and educator from UCL, captivated
the audience with his wide knowledge and compelling insight of the known
and unknowns of astrophysics. One questioner asked whether the Sun,
and every other object in the universe were living entities. Given the
evidence, Dr Diego believed that it was extremely unlikely, but admitted
that we have a lot to learn about the universe.
In addition to the talk, locals and astronomers took part in the raffle,
with prizes kindly donated by Oregon Scientific
(Maidenhead), Telescope House,
Aurora Books, and Dr
Chris Lintott.
A
mini exhibition titled "Maidenhead Stargazers" was on display,
which included a scale-model of Lassell’s telescope that used
to be located in what is now known as Lassell Gardens. Aurora Books
provided a book stall and sold pieces of shooting stars, otherwise known
as meteorites, that provide a tangible link between us and outer space.
Maidenhead Astronomical Society would like to thank all local businesses
that helped to promote the success
of the astronomical society's 50th Anniversary events.
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The audience and
Dr. Francisco Diego.
50th Anniversary Dinner.
Was
held on Friday 8th June at the Norden Farm centre for the arts.
The guest speaker was Dr.
Chris Lintott, co-presenter of The Sky At Night.
A great evening & a good time was had by all!
Group photo at Norden
Farm, and Dr. Chris Lintott.
500th Meeting!
Was
held on Friday 13th April and the guest speaker was Guy Hurst (Editor
of The Astronomer) with a talk entitled, "The changing face of
amateur astronomy in the last 50 years"
Left: Guy presenting Life Membership to Brian Sellwood.
Right: Members of the organising committee.
May 1st Exhibition
An exhibition was held at the Heritage Centre, King Street, Maidenhead - with the title "Maidenhead Stargazers". Photographs described the history of the Society from its formation in April 1957 to the present day.
Left: Part of the
exhibition at the Heritage Centre, Right: Outing to Greenwich in ca
1965
Also featured was the story of William Lassell and his great telescopes. A scale model of his 40" Malta reflector could be seen; a smaller version having been build on the Ray Lodge Estate (Maidenhead) in the 1870s. Other displays included star maps, the society's 6" reflector, and images of celestial objects taken my members. The exhibition was generously sponsored by Oregon Scientific.
Scouting100
We were invited to help with cub astronomy badges on May 26th. It rained, but enthusiasm was undampened !
Left: Using a planesphere.
Right: "hands on", viewing distant lights.
Total Lunar Eclipse
An eclipse of the moon was enjoyed by about 80 visitors to Braywick Nature Centre on March 3rd. Two short talks preceded the viewing of the eclipse under cloud free skies. We watched the colour of the moon change from a bright white to dull red, as it passed through the Earth's shadow.
Telescopes and binoculars (large and small) were available for a close-up look at the changing cratered scenery.
Visitors enjoy a
rare evening of uninterupted stargazing !
Updated July17, 2010
