We are back at our normal venue from 3rd Sept. 2021 |
This page lists our monthly meetings. For other events open to the general public, see our Events page
Dates are set well in advance but the 'content' of the meeting is only updated (from our 'meetings database') when details are entered, so 'blank' or 'TBA' may be shown when data has not yet been entered (please be assured that the meeting will take place and a talk on (some) Subject will be delivered by (some) Speaker ! )
During the COVID-19 restrictions, all meetings are being held on-line using ZOOM. Meetings are normally held at the Church Hall (aka 'The Soltau Center') of St James-the-Less, Stubbings, Maidenhead SL6 6QW, from 7.30 (for a ZOOM link, or map and directions, see the About MAS (Where we meet) page
The Main Topic is usually delivered by an invited guest speaker. We aim to provide a diverse range of subjects linked (in some way) to Astronomy - whilst the 'Second Session' is typically delivered by one of our members. If time allows, the evening concludes with a short 'What to see this month'.
Details of a typical evening (times are approximate) :- 7.30pm. The evening starts with the Chairman delivering any important Announcements and then introducing the main speaker. 7.45pm (latest). Main Topic Speaker gets up and the lights are turned off. If you arrive after 7.45, please enter the Hall by the first door (on the right, after the entrance) and please be extra careful when finding a seat at the back of the Hall as members often setup telescopes there ! 8.45-9pm +. Coffee break during which visitors often chat with members who have set-up their telescopes at the back of the hall. If the weather is good, sometimes members will nip out for a quick look at the sky. Smoking is permitted outside the Hall, however smokers are asked to avoid any 'observers' (smoke particles always seem to get into optical equipment, no matter how well 'sealed' it may be) 9.15pm (at the latest). The 'Second Session' then runs for about 45 mins, typically ending with "What's Up !" (what to look out for in the sky this month) 10pm. We aim to clear the hall by 10pm. Post meeting Observing. If the weather is good, the Observing Organiser then leads the way to our chosen observing site, or (if the weather looks even a slight bit 'iffy) members sneak off to the local Pub instead :-)
Next meeting :
(+) 7 Jun 2024 MAS 67th AGM - (Annual General Meeting)
Meetings Archive |
The meetings archive gives an 'overview' of the Society activities over the past 10 years (see also the Events page).
Members have access to the full 'History of MAS' (including AGM minutes going back to 1957) along with full names and photos
The MAS 'year' runs from September of one year to June of the following. The end of year AGM in June elects the Committee for the following year (there are no meetings in July and August - although often members will meet informally at the local pub - which gives the new Committee time to 'get a grip' on running the Society)
The "short cuts" (in the 'title bar', at the very top of this page) will take you to the June AGM entry for the end of that MAS year
The Maidenhead Astronomical Society meetings archive (last 10 years only)
Missed a meeting, or can't remember when a topic was last covered ? Here is the archive of past MAS meetings.
Note that this list covers only our monthly meetings and AGM's. Reports on Observing and Other Events are separate pages
If notes were taken at the meeting, the date below is underlined and shown with a '(+)' = click to see the notes (if no '(+)' is shown, no notes were taken - or, more likely, the webmaster hasn't found them and posted them up yet :-) )
(+) 3 May 2024 The Exploration of Venus - (Jim House)
(+) 5 Apr 2024 The Visible Universe - (Doctor Max Whitby)
(+) 1 Mar 2024 Water in the Universe - (Prof Jonathan Tennyson)
(+) 2 Feb 2024 The Mechanics of Eclipses - (Sheridan Williams FRAS)
(+) 5 Jan 2024 Telescope Parade - (and the Parker Solar Probe by Arthur White)
(+) 1 Dec 2023 SPECIAL FEATURE Herschels Lunatick Friends - (Andrew Lound)
(+) 3 Nov 2023 Binary Pulsars Einsteins Perfect Laboratories - (Barry Kellett)
(+) 6 Oct 2023 Solar Space Weather SOHO - (Dr Eric Dunford)
(+) 1 Sep 2023 The Changing Climate of Mars - (Peter Read)
(+) 2 Jun 2023 MAS 66th AGM - (Annual General Meeting)
(+) 5 May 2023 Two talks by members - (LATE CHANGE)
(+) 31 Mar 2023 Overview of telescopes and mounts - (Dave Hayes)
(+) 3 Mar 2023 Study of our Galaxy in the Era of Gaia - (James Binney)
(+) 3 Feb 2023 The Galaxy without a dark side - (Barry Kellett)
(+) 6 Jan 2023 Telescope Parade and Workshop - (by members)
(+) 2 Dec 2022 Xmas Social Photo Comp and Quiz - (set by members)
(+) 4 Nov 2022 Exploration of Jupiter - (Dr Mike Legett)
(+) 7 Oct 2022 The Lunar 100 - (Dr Lilian Hobbs)
(+) 2 Sep 2022 InfraRed Astronomy - (Dr Eric Dunford)
(+) 10 Jun 2022 MAS 65th AGM - (NOTE 2nd Friday)
(+) 6 May 2022 Gravitational Waves - (Joshua Pooley)
(+) 1 Apr 2022 Saturn - (Michael Foulkes)
(+) 4 Mar 2022 Update on the Exploration of Mars - (Jim House)
(+) 4 Feb 2022 What Astronomy Tells Us About The Origins of Life On Earth ? - (James Hough)
(+) 7 Jan 2022 Telescope Parade and Workshop - (by Members)
(+) 3 Dec 2021 Christmas Quiz set by members - (followed by Social Evening)
(+) 5 Nov 2021 CANCELLED - (Hall closed)
(+) 1 Oct 2021 Dark Nebulae - (Owen Brazell)
(+) 3 Sep 2021 How we reached the Moon - (Jerry Stone)
(+) 4 Jun 2021 63rd AGM (ZOOM on line meeting)
(+) 7 May 2021 Milestones in Astronomy - (Rod Hine (ZOOM on line meeting))
(+) 2 Apr 2021 The Red Sun - (Lyn Smith (ZOOM on line meeting))
(+) 5 Mar 2021 Tour of the Universe - (Jane Green (ZOOM on line meeting))
(+) 5 Feb 2021 Space Vehicles - (Graham Bryant (ZOOM on line meeting))
(+) 8 Jan 2021 The Astronomer's Toolkit - (Dr Lee Anne Willson (ZOOM on line meeting))
(+) 4 Dec 2020 Xmas Quiz - (set by members (ZOOM on line meeting))
(+) 6 Nov 2020 The Monster in the Crab - (Gary Poyner (ZOOM on line meeting))
(+) 2 Oct 2020 Is there anyone out there ? - (Bob Mizon (ZOOM on line meeting))
(+) 4 Sep 2020 Two eyes are better than one - (Stephen Tonkin (ZOOM on line meeting))
(+) 5 Jun 2020 COVID19 Postponed MAS 62nd AGM
(+) 1 May 2020 COVID19 Postponed The Monster in the Crab - (Gary Poyner)
(+) 3 Apr 2020 COVID19 meeting CANCELLED
(+) 6 Mar 2020 Recent Developments in Gravity Wave Research - (Martin Dyer)
(+) 7 Feb 2020 Ask an expert Q and A panel - (By Members)
(+) 3 Jan 2020 Equipment Parade - (By members)
(+) 6 Dec 2019 Xmas Quiz and social - (By members)
(+) 1 Nov 2019 The Origin of the Solar System - (James Fradgley)
(+) 4 Oct 2019 Kew Observatory and the origins of modern solar physics - (Dr Lee Macdonald)
(+) 6 Sep 2019 History of Mars Exploration - (Jim House)
(+) Aug 2019 Summer break - (no meeting)
(+) Jul 2019 Summer break - (no meeting)
(+) 7 Jun 2019 MAS 61st AGM - (and Photo Competition prizes)
(+) 3 May 2019 13 Journeys in Space and Time - (Colin Stuart)
(-) 5 Apr 2019 Space Weather - (Dr Colin Forsyth)
Friday, 5th April 2019 - Space Weather - Dr. Colin Forsyth, NERC Independent Research Fellow, Plasma Physics group, UCL
Colin started by reminding us that plasma is the 4th state of matter. As more energy is put in, first the crystal bonds are broken laking us from solid to liquid, then the molecular bonds are broken taking us to a ga. Finally, the electrons are stripped from the nucleus taking us to a plasma. When this happens, electrons, which are at least 2000 times lighter than the nucleus (of hydrogen) will be moving 2000 times faster. For this reason, huge currents flow in a plasma.
Turning to space, we note that even 'empty' space has about one atom per cubic meter. However space in our solar system has far more since the Sun is constantly throwing out significant quantities of plasma, in what is known as the Solar Wind.
During periods of sun spot activity, magnetic eruptions on the sun's surface can throw out huge masses of plasma. Known as Coronal Mass Ejections, they follow the suns magnetic field lines outward, pulling the field with them. If the ejections interacts with the earths magnetic field, the plasma can be transferred into our field. This drives the Aurora, however the electrical currents the plasma carries can cause massive disruption to modern electronic systems.
For images of the Coronal Mass Ejections, see Solar Dynamics Observatory and the JHelioviewer, especially in the UV waveband. For a simulation of the plasma flow and the Suns magnetic field interaction with the Earths, see NASA Scientific Visualization Studio.
As the plasma gets trapped in the Earths field, it heats up, reaching 12,000 million degrees C in the Van Allan belts. Geosynchronous orbit is just within the belts, however the density is low so the direct heating effect is minimal. The electron flow causing induced currents, however, causes a geomagnetic storm which can be dangerous not only to satellites but to any long conductors on Earth, such as power lines.
Fortunately, the effects are usually transient, although sometimes poorly designed satellite computer systems, lacking auto-reboot circuits can be off-line until lack of positional adjustments leads to a power failure as their solar cells loose their alignment to the sun.
Further, the effects on Earth are usually minor, although the March 1989 Geomagnetic Storm was particularly severe and caused a nine-hour outage of Hydro-Québec's electricity transmission system. There have been more massive coronal mass ejection since, however these have missed the Earth. Even so, the March 1989 CME was taken as a 'wake up warning'. Since then, systems have been put in place to provide warnings to our vulnerable national infrastructure.
In the UK, the Met Office is responsible for space weather warnings, in USA it's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Further, space probes are being planned to study the Sun in the hopes of predicting solar weather and thus the likelihood of SME's. The European Space Agency is launching the ESA Solar Orbiter in 2020, and, in 2021, the joint SMILE mission with the Chinese.
After the break
Lesley reminded members of the Photo Competition. Closing date is 6th May - so time is running short ! The judge will be Ian Longthorne of Baylis Media.
One of the winners of the 5 individual categories will be receive (by vote at the meeting) the Susan Flinders Memorial Award.
Full details are on the web site, in the Members section.
Aditya Spectroscopy update.
Now at Edinburgh University, Aditya gave a report on a project he worked on for EUYSA, the Edinburgh University Young Scientific Research Association.
Having previously looked at the emission lines os stars, he assisted two other students in a project to look at nebula emissions. The nebula chosen was M42, the Orion Nebula.
Their goals were to address 3 questions - What is the extent of the Nebula ? What is the volume of gas enclosed ? and What elements are responsible for the emissions ?
To address the first two, they used the Strömgren sphere model.
To address the third, they needed observational data. This they planned to collect at the The Royal Observatory, Edinburgh, which is sited next door to the University. First, of course, they needed a grating - unfortunately EUYSA funds did not stretch to the fine lone grating, so they had to make do with a basic 100 line grating. Worse, the time they had been allocated on the telescope was washed out by the weather !
Fortunately, Tim H volunteered the use of his telescope and Aditya was able to obtain some good images which he showed us at the meeting.
Next the spectral emissions had to be analysed. It was at this stage that he discovered that light pollution had swamped the faint emission spectra image and the lines could not be extracted from the background noise.
Although the results were disappointing, huge practical experience had been obtained.
Alun What's Up in the sky this month (download PDF)
All our indoor Meetings are open to the public, however non-members are asked to make a contribution of £2 toward the hall hire costs (this may be collected by Fred, our Membership Secretary, at the door on arrival, or left at the 'Tea hatch' at half time).
This note last modified: 11th Jun 2019 09:21.