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! WELCOME TO THE MAS WEB SITE !

OUR NEXT PUBLIC EVENT

- Saturday 18th November -
Talks, Leonids meteor watch and Star gazing
from 7.30 to 11pm (approx) White Waltham Airfield SL6 3NJ
(home of the West London Aero Club).

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Next Meeting

  Friday, 3rd November 2017    Wonders of the Deep Sky    (Callum Potter)  

All our indoor meetings run from 7.30 to 10pm in the Church Hall, St James-the-Less, Stubbings, Maidenhead, SL6 6QW (for directions, see our About & Contact page)

Meetings are normally on the first Friday of the month, September to June. There are no indoor meetings in July or August (unless indicated)

Beginners and visitors are always welcome at our indoor meetings (you don't have to join, however a £2 contribution toward the costs of the hall hire would be most welcome !)

To contact the society between meetings, please complete the on-line General Enquiry form

If you would like to receive, by email, advanced notification of our free public events, or you would like further information about the Society please use the Enquiry form mentioned above - or just turn up at any meeting and speak to any member of the Committee.

We also have a page on the Maidenhead Arts Council web site (where you will find details of other local clubs and societies if, for some inexplicable reason, Astronomy fails to fire your imagination and seize your interest :-) )

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This seasons meetings

Friday, 1st September 2017   Gravity Waves   (a recap by Martin Dyer)	Friday, 2nd February 2018   TBA   ( )
Friday, 6th October 2017   Observing the Sun   (by MAS members)	Friday, 2nd March 2018   Jupiter and the Juno Mission   (Dr John Rogers)
Friday, 3rd November 2017   Wonders of the Deep Sky   (Callum Potter)	Friday, 6th April 2018   TBA   ( )
Friday, 1st December 2017   Xmas Quiz and Social   (Quiz Master Tim H)	Friday, 4th May 2018   TBA   ( )
Friday, 5th January 2018   Members Equipment   (Parade)	Friday, 1st June 2018   MAS 61st AGM   (and Photo Competition prizes)

(Table: http://www.maidenhead-astro.net/public/Home/index#2_bm)  

Members :- Please log-in to the Members Only section for details of our next members only Event

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Next Public Event

18 Nov 2017 PUBLIC EVENT Leonids meteor watch - (at White Waltham)

Saturday 18th November, Open to the public from 7.30 to 11pm (approx), at White Waltham Airfield (SL6 3NJ), home of the West London Aero Club.

Talks, telescopes for public observing, meteor watch and star gazing. Free entry (free parking). White Waltham has a Licensed Bar at which drinks (including Tea and Coffee) and snacks can be purchased.
Note that hot snacks (chips, jacket pots etc.) will only be available until 9.00pm This event will take place 'whatever the weather' (some of our members will bring their telescopes indoors to the bar area for an 'indoor' demo. should it actually rain) Astro Shop We will be running a 'shop' selling red-light touches, lens brushes and other relevant items. Any profits are used to finance this and similar public events (there is no entry charge, however any donations will be gratefully received) Quiz A written Quiz (free entry) aimed at younger visitors will be held during the event with a small prize for the most correct answers. Planned Talks (each will be run for about 20 mins and will be repeated on demand throughout the evening) :- 1) Meteors - what they are and when to see them 2) tba 3) tba The talks will take place in the small 'conference room' next to the bar. Free tickets will be issued on a 'first come first served basis from the shop/registration desk area) Leonids Meteor shower
The 'radiant' of the Leonids meteor shower (the point in the sky where the meteors seem to emerge from), lies in the constellation Leo.

The shower is caused as the Earth passes through the debris left by the comet Tempel-Tuttle (whihc circles the sSun once every 33 years).

You can expect to see about 20 meteors an hour during the peak, which in 2017 is expected to be the night of 17th & morning of the 18th of November.

For the most spectacular Meteor show of the year you will have to wait for the Geminids, which produces over 100 meteors per hour at its peak. This year the Geminids will be visible from 4th-16th December, with the peak will be night of Wednesday 13th / morning of Thursday the 14th. Be sure to look out for them ! Observing Looking East, Jupiter will be near the horizon - whilst it is visible you cann be sure many of our telescopes will be aimed straight at it. Galileo dicovered the Moons of Jupiter using a telescope with a lens of 20mm, so you should be able to 'spot' them even using small binoculars !




This note last modified: 3rd Oct 2017 11:00.

See our Events page for more information about all our Events

Click here for MAS Facebook page

Monday, 9 May 2016: Transit of Mercury, members of MAS gathered in Ockwells Park to show the Transit to the public. For more details, see report on Events page

WARNING: never look at the Sun through a normal telescope !!
Doing so, WILL BLIND YOU !!!

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Most recent Event Report

Details of all our planned and past activities can be found on the Events pages.
Note that Outreach events are not usually open to the public, so are reported here only AFTER the event (Members can see planned Outreach dates in the Members Only section, Activity planning pages)

21 Aug 2017 Solar Eclipse - (partial from UK)

Monday, 21 Aug 2017, 19:40 to 20:10 (sunset), a total Solar Eclipse, only partially visible (4%) from UK, and then only just before sunset. The max. 4% is at 20:04 (at London = the Moons shadow will 'travel' across the Earths surface (from west to east) at about 1,500mph, so Maidenhead to London is about 1min, and thus max. here will be at about 20:03) Report by Steve B. With the forecast of 'only' 85% cloud (so 15% chance of seeing something), I decided to 'give it a go'. I was first to arrive at the 'trig point' on the Jubilee River, Dorney (the trig. point (a concrete pillar, now missing it's plates) is here, on the hill north of Manor Farm (not the one at Dorney Court). It's a good high vantage point for Sun watching and I have no doubt we will use it again. I parked in the small car park off Lake End Rd, Dorney and took the foot path toward Windsor. I found the hill with the Trig. Point about 1km from the car park after passing the second bridge over the Jubilee River. After about 10 minutes, Tim arrived with his camera, however by now the '85%' cloud was 100% with some 'thinner' bits .. and looked to be getting worse. He, of course, had already seen the total eclipse from a live feed by NASA ! Just as we were about to quit, Percy, plus ? and Des (with his dog, Jessie ?) arrived, so we stayed until 'sunset' at about 8:10pm. All we ever saw was a faint orange/red glow through the clouds on the horizon as the sun was going down, with only the usual slow change in the brightness of the (100% clouded over) sky at dusk. Solar Eclipses occur at least once every year (often twice or even 3 times), but you have to be at the right place to see them at all (and on the 'solid red line' for totality) = in UK we are lucky to get one total eclipse every 10-100 years (the next total eclipse visible from UK mainland is Sept 23 2090) ! See MAS Eclipse page for other opportunities. The total eclipse was visible from much of the USA.
To see a total eclipse, you must be on the 'solid red line' (other areas will see only a partial eclipse)

For more details, visit the 'time and date' site
This note last modified: 31st Aug 2017 14:02.

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Twitter

For the latest news, follow us on Twitter (javascript must be enabled for the 'button' below to work). Our latest Twitter postings can be seen on the Observing page

Follow @MaidenheadAstro

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Facebook

We now have our own Facebook page !

exit to: Maidenhead Astronomical Society on Facebook

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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 pointer at an outreach event. Children under the age of 18 and non-approved adults are not be allowed 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).

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Links

Robotic Telescopes (MAS Links page)
Where we meet (MAS About page)
'Frequently Asked Questions' (FAQ, MAS Beginners page)
exit to: Maidenhead Arts Council (MADAC) MAS web page
exit to: Tim's list of Asteroid Occultation observation opportunities
exit to: European Asteroidal Occultation Network
exit to: Space Weather
exit to: Heavens-Above - times of everything passing overhead, especially ISS, satellites and Iridium flares
exit to: The Astronomer on-line - magazine for the advanced amateur
exit to: BAA (British Astronomical Association)
exit to: SPA (Society for Popular Astronomy) - especially suitable for younger stargazers !

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Benefactors and supporters

O2 (award report)
exit to Cash-for-the-community (Baylis Trust)
Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead Lottery grant
RBWM-Education Directorate
Mr B.Smith of Shottesbrooke
Mrs P.Haymes
The Telegraph newspaper
exit to Oregon Scientific
exit to Telescope house

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