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
(+) 4 Apr 2020 Stargazing public event - (White Waltham)
(+) 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
(+) 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
(+) 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)
Wednesday, 7th November - Furze Platt Cubs
Outreach team: Robin, Steve and Adrian
Report by Adrian
The purpose of our visit was to help the cubs towards earning their Astronomy Activity badges, and to inspire them to follow up with their own astronomy activities.
The team arrived at the Furze Platt Scout HQ building at 6.15-6.30 pm and soon had our equipment and props set up and ready. Welcome teas and coffees were provided. We were expecting at least 20 cubs so had arranged to use the rooms on both floors of the building, splitting the cubs into two groups for some of the sessions.
After introductions, Robin started the evening with a short presentation to the whole cub pack, describing things that can be seen in the night sky with the naked eye: the Moon, stars, planets, meteors etc. and in particular, what they could look out for on their forthcoming night hikes. Robin then moved on to some of the easy to identify constellations, showing the cubs the shapes of The Plough, Cassiopeia and Orion.
The cubs then split into two groups, one going downstairs for a team quiz on the planets and Solar System run by quiz-master Steve.
Steve: Having laid the Solar System planet models out along the rear of the hall, I started with a quick explanation of the relative size and distance scales. Paper and pencils were handed out to each of the cubs who were asked to put their name at the top. A total of 10 questions were set from a set of 20 or so pre-prepared by Adrian. I stuck to the simpler ones since there were quite a few younger cubs.
Cubs then marked their own papers and I was pleased to say there were a few 100% correct in each group !
Since we had some extra time with the second group I then delivered a very quick explanation of how my Newtonian (Dobsonian) telescope worked
The other group stayed upstairs, where Adrian and Robin gave a demonstration of how the Earth moves around the Sun (using an Earth globe and flashlight), and how the tilt of the Earth’s axis gives rise to the seasons. There was lively discussion about why we don’t feel the rotation of the Earth (1000 mph at the equator) or the movement of the Earth in its orbit around the Sun (67,000 mph!)
A brief Q & A about the differences between stars and planets followed and the session was concluded with a discussion of the dangers of looking at the Sun and a demonstration of how to do it safely.
The groups then swapped over and we reran the quiz and Sun-Earth sessions.
At the end of the evening, the whole cub pack reassembled and completed ‘join the dots’ quiz sheets to identify familiar constellation shapes. The leaders then closed off the evening with an energetic game for the cubs and the usual formalities. They and the helpers expressed their thanks to us for an interesting evening.
As usual, the cubs were amazingly knowledgeable and enthusiastic!
This note last modified: 8th Nov 2018 16:51.