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. The Policy Document for 2022-23 (pdf) is available on request (it can be found in the Members section)
(+) 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
(+) 13 Nov 2032 Transit of Mercury
(+) 7 Nov 2039 Transit of Mercury - (2nd of pair)
(+) 28 Jul 2061 Halleys 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
(+) 6 Dec 2023 Bisham Brownies - (outreach)
(+) 22 Nov 2023 Furze Platt Cubs (2nd pack) - (outreach)
(+) 21 Nov 2023 Furze Platt Cubs (1st pack) - (outreach)
(+) 10 Nov 2023 Trinity St Stephans School - (outreach)
(+) 2 Sep 2023 Cookham Regatta
(+) 19 Apr 2023 Newlands School - (outreach)
(+) 18 Mar 2023 Highfield Prep School Look to the Stars - (Public Event)
(+) 4 Mar 2023 Maidenhead Big Read - (Maidenhaed Library)
(+) 23 Feb 2023 Bourne End cubs (2nd pack) - (outreach)
(+) 22 Feb 2023 Bourne End cubs (1st pack) - (outreach)
(+) 8 Feb 2023 Western House Academy - (outreach)
(+) 18 Jan 2023 1st Cippenham Beavers - (outreach)
(+) 12 Jan 2023 6th Windsor Cubs - (outreach)
(+) 21 Nov 2022 Cookham Dean C of E School - (outreach)
(+) 12 Nov 2022 White Waltham Academy - (outreach)
(+) 8 Nov 2022 1st Maidenhead Sea Cubs (2nd visit) - (outreach)
(+) 1 Nov 2022 1st Maidenhead Sea Cubs - (outreach)
(+) 25 Oct 2022 Partial Solar Eclipse
(+) 3 Sep 2022 Cookham Regatta
(+) 15 Jun 2022 Newlands KS3 Science Club - (Outreach)
(+) 18 Mar 2022 21st Maidenhead Scouts - (outreach)
(+) 10 Mar 2022 Wargrave Cubs - (outreach)
(+) 9 Mar 2022 Wargrave Cubs - (outreach)
(+) 28 Jan 2022 Western House Academy - (Outreach)
(+) 14 Jan 2022 1st Cookham Guides - (Outreach)
(+) 9 Dec 2021 Windsor Cental Scouts 2 - (Outreach)
(+) 8 Dec 2021 Windsor Cental Scouts - (Outreach)
(+) 2 Dec 2021 Furze Platt Beavers - (Outreach)
(+) 16 Nov 2021 Cookham Beavers 2 - (Outreach)
(+) 15 Nov 2021 Cookham Beavers - (Outreach)
(+) 8 Nov 2021 Cookham Dean School - (Outreach)
(+) 4 Sep 2021 Cookham Regatta
(+) 12 Aug 2021 Perseids meteor shower - (Ockwells Park outreach)
(+) 10 Jun 2021 Solar Eclipse - (partial from UK)
(+) 4 Mar 2021 1st Maidenhead Sea Scouts - (Outreach)
(+) 27 Jan 2021 (and 28) Bourne End Cubs (Outreach)
(+) 14 Nov 2020 Public Viewing Event - (White Waltham)
(+) 9 Nov 2020 Cookham Dean Primary School (ZOOM Outreach)
(+) 4 Apr 2020 Stargazing public event - (POSTPONED)
(+) 21 Nov 2019 Central Windsor Scouts (Outreach)
(+) 11 Nov 2019 19th Maidenhead Beavers (Outreach)
(+) 11 Nov 2019 Transit of Mercury (2nd of pair)
(+) 4 Nov 2019 Cookham Dean Primary School - (Outreach)
(+) 10 Oct 2019 Holy Trinity School yr3 - (Outreach)
(+) 7 Sep 2019 Cookham Regatta
(+) 29 Aug 2019 Maidenhead Library (Outreach)
(+) 19 Aug 2019 Childrens Reading Challenge Maidenhead Library - (Outreach)
(+) 20 Jul 2019 50th Anniversary of the Moon Landing - (Maidenhead Festival)
(+) 4 Apr 2019 Newlands School (Outreach)
(+) 28 Mar 2019 Bourne End Cubs (Outreach)
(+) 14 Mar 2019 Furze Platt Beavers (Outreach)
(+) 24 Feb 2019 Furze Platt cubs (Outreach)
(+) 15 Feb 2019 13th Maidenhead Scouts (Outreach)
(+) 7 Feb 2019 Burchetts Green Infant School - (Outreach)
(+) 24 Jan 2019 Sea Scouts (Outreach)
(+) 29 Nov 2018 ALLsorts (Outreach)
(+) 18 Nov 2018 Furze Platt Cubs (Outreach)
(+) 7 Nov 2018 Furze Platt Cubs (Outreach)
(+) 5 Nov 2018 Cookham Dean Primary School (Outreach)
(+) 20 Oct 2018 Furze Platt Beavers (Outreach)
(+) 10 Oct 2018 WILLIAM LASSELL by Kenlem England (MAS) - (Maidenhead Heritage Centre)
(+) 11 Aug 2018 CANCELLED Persieds Observing - (Ockwells Park)
(+) 27 Jul 2018 Total Lunar Eclipse
(+) 30 Jun 2018 (end) Maidenhead Week - (Lassell at Heritage Center)
(+) 23 May 2018 Wycombe Abbey School (Outreach)
(+) 12 May 2018 Lassell grave clear up
(-) 11 May 2018 Lassell grave tidy up
Friday, 11th May 2018. Lassell grave tidy.
Present: Des O, Steve B, report by Steve
With permission from the Church, members of MAS cleared the leaves and loose dirt from the grave stone of William Lassell FRS, the subject of our April meeting talk. The nettles were removed, however the ivy growing over the stone was kept and moved to the sides to form a 'frame' around the stone (although it will, no doubt, grow straight back over the top).
Left: The grave site before the work was started
Right:The grave stone clearedSome weeding still remains to be done and the surface of the stone is still rather dusty, making it hard to see the lettering.
Click here for a time-lapse movie (2018-05-11_Lassell-Story6t.wmv, 38Mb). The 'full' version (with music) will be shown at the AGM, and can be downloaded from here (136Mb, 4:3 HD)
Tim's "Short History" of Lassell (prepared in 1995, in support of a Blue Plaque request for 150th anniversary of discovery of Neptune and (by Lassell) it's moon, Triton)
William Lassell F.R.A.S. F.R.S. D.C.L. (Camb) ( 1799-1880)
William Lassell was a very significant figure in 19th century science, who continued the astronomical tradition of Herschel, by designing and using large reflecting telescopes. Lassell was born in Bolton, Lancashire (1799) of relatively prosperous parents, becoming a Brewer in an established family trade of Wine Merchants. In 1821 he built and used a 7 1/2 inch Gregorian reflector and was comparing observations with a 2 3/4 inch Dolland refractor in 1822. Lassell subsequently made a substantial fortune from his Liverpool trade, and spent many thousands of pounds building three major astronomical instruments one of which was used at Ray Lodge, Maidenhead, the only remaining residence of Lassell still standing. The nearby road "Lassell Gardens" is named in his honour.
In ca 1837 he moved from the poor atmospheric conditions in central Liverpool to a rural location about 4 mile East, named "Starfield", where he began designing his first ever equatorial reflecting telescope for a 9 inch mirror. This was finally erected under an observatory dome in 1839 and was subsequently used to discover Hyperion a moon of the planet Saturn, and later Triton, the largest moon of Neptune only eighteen days after the discovery of the Planet. During the late 1850s Lassell was forced to move further a field again to escape the Liverpool urban sprawl, and he set-up a new observing residence "Bradstones". Here he erected a 24 inch aperture instrument based on the design of the successful 9 inch. The "two-foot" was moved to Malta in 1852. By 1857, Lassell's mastery at casting and figuring speculum metal mirrors enabled him to build the huge 48" which was also moved to Malta in 1861. From here Lassell observe Saturn and the southern skies.
Upon his return from Malta in 1865, Lassell set up residence at Ray Lodge, Maidenhead, were he continued to use his 24" reflector to make detailed observations of the Planets and Nubulae. During his years in Maidenhead, Lassell published his numerous observations in the journal and memoirs of the Royal Astronomical Society. The Great 48" was never rebuilt and was eventually broken up for scrap. William Lassell bequeathed over £70.000 upon his death in 1880 and is buried at St Luke's Church Yard,
Lassell's Observatory at Ray Lodge is clearly indicated in the First Ordnance Survey of 1875 (Berkshire Record Office Fiche 17/33 XXI V.15), and a map of the Ray Lodge Estate ca 1910 appears in 'The Royal Hundred of Cookham" by L.Over and C.Tyrrell. Lassell's life and career as an amateur astronomer is recorded by Allan Chapman (Wadham College, University of Oxford) in Vistas in Astronomy (Vol. 32, pp. 341-370,1988) and an obituary can be found in the Maidenhead Advertiser Oct 13, 1880.
William Lassell was elected Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society (FRAS) in 1839, Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1849, received Gold medals from the RAS and RS, and was president of the RAS in 1870-72. Cambridge University awarded him with a Doctor of Civil Law degree, yet he never held a paid job in astronomy, and may be regarded as a Grand Amateur in so far that all of his own researches were paid for out of his own pocket.
The Liverpool Astronomical Society is rebuilding the 1845 24" reflector by public and commercial sponsorship to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Lassell's discovery of Triton which occurs next year. It would be a fitting tribute to Lassell to errect a Commemorative Plaque in Maidenhead. I respectfully request that a plaque be placed near the road sign indicating Lassell Gardens which is at the entrance to the Estate as it was a century ago.
Despite Tim's appeal on behalf of MAS, the Blue Plague request was turned down.
For more on William Lassell, see his entry on the Maidenhead Heritage Centre web site.
This note last modified: 11th Jun 2019 10:25.