Laser Pens |
Maidenhead Astronomical Society may use Laser Pens as a pointer during outreach events and talks. Any such use will comply with our Laser Pen Policy, which may be downloaded from here (.pdf)
Essentially, only responsible adults pre-approved by MAS are allowed to use a laser pointer at an outreach event. Children under the age of 18 and non-approved adults are not permitted to use the laser pen at any time. Any member of the public bringing their own device (without pre-approval) is asked not to use it during one of our events (and will be asked to leave if they are not willing to comply with this request).
Future Public Events |
This page is dedicated to events promoted by Maidenhead Astronomical Society aimed at bringing an awareness and appreciation of astronomy to the general public. Almost all of the Events listed here are run by MAS (the few that are not are plainly marked)
Details of future planned events are limited to those open to the general public (Members should look in the Members Only section for details of future events not open to the public - which includes most of our local Outreach activities (schools, cubs, brownies etc)).
Future events are listed in date order, next planned first. Be aware that events can change (usually due to the weather :-) ) so please check nearer the event before making a journey
Note. MAS holds Public Liability Insurance via our membership of Federation of Astronomical Societies. Our Policy Document for 2017-18 is available as a PDF download here
(-) 11 Nov 2019 Transit of Mercury (2nd of pair)
11 November 2019: Transit of Mercury, start 12:35, mid 15:19, ends 16:015 (all times for Reading)
Like Transits of Venus, these occur in pairs, this being the second of the 2016/19 pair. Although Transits of Mercury are less rare than a transit of Venus, the next Mercury pair will not be until 2032/39 (see wikipedia).
For more on this transit, visit the time and date website
This note last modified: 27th Feb 2016 11:09.
(+) 10 Jun 2021 Solar Eclipse - (partial from UK)
(+) 25 Oct 2022 Partial Solar Eclipse
(+) 7 Mar 2025 (and 22) Major Lunar Standstill
(+) 29 Mar 2025 Partial Solar Eclipse
(+) 12 Aug 2026 Solar Eclipse
(+) 26 Jan 2028 annular Solar Eclipse
(+) 1 Jun 2030 annular Solar Eclipse
(+) 28 Jul 2061 Hallys Comet returns
(+) 23 Sep 2090 Total Solar Eclipse - (the next visible from UK)
Reports from our Outreach & Event activity |
Here you will find reports of MAS events held in the last 10 years or so (i.e. since the MAS web site effectively 'took over' from printed newsletters as the primary means of 'reporting back' to the membership). Some details have been removed to allow for public viewing
The Members Only section contains details of MAS History going back to our formation in 1957
(-) 29 Nov 2018 ALLsorts (Outreach)
Thursday, 29th November 2018 - ALLsorts adult group
Outreach team: Andy, Robin, Steve
report by Steve
Not our usual audience this time, so not our usual show ! Planned running sequence was :-
1) Telescope viewing (All) – Outside if possible (doubtful, but improving), otherwise inside
2) Songs/ Intro (Sue)
3) What’s in the night sky (Robin)
4) The Solar System (Steve)
5) Milky Way and beyond (Andy)
The Church Hall has it's own media equipment, although it took a bit before each of our laptops proved willing to play back audio via their system. A U shaped table arrangement allowed everyone to see the screen. There were about 40 people, a combination of the Maidenhead and visitors from the Windsor group.
In the event, it was clouded over and dripping with rain, so no observing although both Robin and Andy were able to focus their instruments on the car park lights opposite. As usual, there was nothing far enough away for the Dob to focus on so I did a quick show and tell about how it worked.
Robin kicked off with Stellarium scripts about finding Polaris and the southern view through the seasons.a short video of the constellations. Despite a couple of minor glitches when parts of the script ran slower than expected, this went very well.
A wheeled display-board, to which I had clamped the Sun, was then pushed in front of the main display screen. A row of tables down the center of the U allowed me to layout the model Solar System in front of the display-board for all to see. A quick show and tell of the Planets as they were laid out was followed by a short video clip about the formation of the Solar System
Andy followed up with a video of the sizes of objects in space, especially from our planet to the Sun and hyper-giant suns before moving out of our Galaxy, the local galactic group and eventually the entire Universe.
By the time we started to pack up it was drizzling with rain. When I got home it was tipping down !
This note last modified: 19th Dec 2018 00:01.