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Astronomical Society of Haringey |
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MEETINGS
UPDATED APRIL 2019
MEETING VENUE
First Floor, Music & Drama Block, Ashmole Academy,
Cecil Road, Southgate, London N14 5RJ
The building is marked below, the two-story building next to the original Music Room where we used to meet
(Marked with the X below - though this is now a brand new building)
NOTE the Academy has installed new fences and gates along the car parks. A new map is in preparation, but current access is either via the route as indicated by the current the red arrow, (now enclosed by fences), or via a new gate in the centre of the car parks.
The stairs are directly ahead of you through the marked door.
We either use the meeting room directly on the left at the top of the stairs, or the auditorium, which is left, and left again, along the corridor
The day for all meetings is set at the third Thursday of the relevant month.
But in case of changes it is always advisable to double-check the dates below.
Correct up until press day, these dates will also be found in the magazine and mentioned on 
Doors open - 7.30pm : Main speaker - 8.00pm. Finish - 10.00pm sharp
Meetings directly below are for 2018, reminders of 2017 & 2016 below these
Note that the NEXT meeting is always at the top of the list
(Previous meetings move to the bottom of the relevant year)
Meeting details for more previous years - click the year 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012
Clicking on photos where relevant (when you hover the mouse, the border will change colour) will bring up other website or Facebook pages.
2019 |
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NEXT : WEDNESDAY April 24th Observing Evening
hosted by Jim Webb |
OBSERVING EVENING
At the ROYAL GUNPOWDER MILLS, Waltham Abbey Currently - rendezvous in the car park - orange arrow If you could require transport or need more details, contact the Chairman or 07801.577210 |
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| May 16th | TBA | |||
| June 20th | TBA | |||
July and August Summer Break |
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| previously for 2019 | ||||
January 17th Bob Marriott
For many years - 1991 -2016 - Bob Marrriott was the BAA's Curator of Instruments, and from 2003 - 2017 Director of Instruments and Imaging. He also produced the periodical 'I&I News' (newsletter of the Instruments and Imaging Section). Copies of those, and his own new publication, 'Occassional Notes', can be found and downloaded from his web site www.hamaldemon.com This will be his first visit to ASH, and looks as if it will be extremely interesting... |
THE SILVER-ON-GLASS REVOLUTION
From the mid-seventeenth century until the mid-nineteenth century, telescope mirrors were made of speculum metal – an alloy of copper and tin. (Example above is the Rosse Telescope mirror in the Science Museum) In addition to the age-old process of ‘silvering’ the back of domestic mirrors with a mercury amalgam, experiments in depositing metal films on speculum-metal mirrors and glass were attempted as early as the mid-eighteenth century, but these processes were intended only for aesthetic purposes and were of no use for optics. In the mid-1830s, Justus von Liebig succeeded in depositing a thin film of silver on a surface by chemical means, though this was an incidental effect resulting from his work on aldehydes. By the late 1850s, the process of depositing silver on glass had become sufficiently refined for optical purposes, resulting in a sudden ‘revolution’ in telescope technology. |
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February 21st Hosted by Treasurer
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THE CHANGING VIEW OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM
Over the 60+ years of The Sky at Night, the programme has covered the Solar System many times. We will see contrasting episodes - 40 years apart! The first is from 1975 : 'The OUTER PLANETS', compared to one from 2017 : 'INTO THE DARK ZONE' This meeting has moved from September and November 2018 |
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March 21st George Emsden
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PROJECT ECHO The first communications satellite to be launched. It was a 'passive' satellite - in that it purely bounced signals - as against re-transmitting them, which 'active' satellites do. Echo was nevertheless an important milestone to world communications. George tells the story
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January 17th Dr Simon Drake & |
THE SKYE METEORITE
The discovery of a meteor impact on the Isle of Skye caused much interest in the geological - and astronomical - communities, leading to the work done by our two speakers. The results have only recently been published in scientific journals, so we will be the first Society to hear the details |
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SATURDAY January 27th Alister Innes
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OBSERVING EVENING CANCELLED There will an Observing Evening with the hope of seeing the very close encounter of the bright star Aldebaran with the Moon.
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February 15th Dale Baker
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RAY HARRYHAUSEN - THE MONSTER MOVIE MAKER Dale continues with more stories of his autograph hunting amongst the rich and famous - with time time concentrating on one of the most famous - animator Ray Harryhausen. And if you don't know the name you will know the movies - including
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March 15th Mat Irvine
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April 19th Hosted by Chairman
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OBSERVING EVENING
After some changes - the Observing Evening WILL now take place on the scheduled date - at the Viewing Site (click for details on how to get there) The scene - skies permitting - should look similar to the image - taken a month ago, 19th March, with a three-day old Moon and a bright Venus. And there will be a lot more to discover as well |
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May 17th Hosted by Chairman
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OBSERVING EVENING
As the April Observing Evening went so well, another one for May - before the skies get too bright in the evenings. Check OBSERVING for maps and details. |
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June 21st Dale Baker
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July and August
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No meetings these months
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September 20th Greg Smye-Rumsby
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CAN WE LIVE ON MARS?
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FRIDAY October 19th Alister Innes
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OBSERVING EVENING AT THE BARNET VIEWING SITE - SEE OBSERVING MEET AT 8.00PM
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November 15th Jerry Stone
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THE APPROACH OF APOLLO
As we approach the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 in July 2019, the first Apollo flight away from the Earth was Apollo 8 in December 1968. Jerry takes a look at that mission, and the built-up to the actual landing, half a year later |
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December
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No meeting this month |
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previously for 2017 |
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January 12th Jim Webb & Alister Innes |
OBSERVING EVENING Meet at the Observing Site at the earlier time of 18.00hrs, 6.00pm POSTPONED |
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January 19th Dale Baker
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SIGN HERE PLEASE Society member Dale Baker collects autographs - but there's far more to it than that! The Society is well known for its eclectic talks, and here certainly is one as Dale will tell stories, show clips and - maybe - even reveal a few secrets (!) of our on-screen Science Fiction heroes.
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February 9th Jim Webb & Alister Innes |
OBSERVING EVENING Meet at the Observing Site at the earlier time of 18.00hrs, 6.00pm
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February 16th Jim Webb
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CASSINI - GRAND FINALE The Saturn Cassini probe has only a few month left - it will be steered to destruction in the Saturnian atmosphere in September 2017. It has been in space for 20 years and has been one of the most successful planetary probes ever. Jim will be examining the legacy and what will be happening in the next few months.
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March 16th Mat Irvine
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L.A. CONFIDENTIAL A recent visit to the 'City of Angels' involved an eclectic mix of scenes...
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April 1st Wayne Johnson
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OBSERVING EVENING at the Royal Gunpowder Mills
Royal Gunpowder Mills, Beaulieu Drive, Waltham Abbey,EN9 1JX |
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April 20th Michael Franks
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NEWS FROM THE CAPE Michael continues his latest visit to the Kennedy Space Center, as featured in 2002, January and February, with more stories and photos
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May 18th Jim Webb & Alister Innes
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TELESCOPE MASTERCLASS We often assume all Society members automatically know all there is to know about telescope and viewing, but of course they may not, and anyway new members arrive, and they may not be fully knowledgeable as to 'how to get the best out of your instrument'! So for this meeting, Observing Officers Jim Webb (right) and Alister innes (left) will take you through the basics, including the different types of 'scopes and lenses, and of course that a good pair of binoculars are also very useful for viewing the heavens |
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June 15th George Emsden
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SETI@HOME This slightly enigmatic title refers to the fact that firstly SETI - the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence - is still alive and well, and now through BOINC (Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing) anyone with spare downtime on their home computer (and most home computers are only used at 1% of their capacity) can join in the search. Past ASH member George Emsden, who participates in the exercise, will show how it is all achieved! |
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| July - August | No meetings these months | |||
September 21st
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DARKNESS VISIBLE POSTPONED until October
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October 5th
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DARKNESS VISIBLE Early date to coincide with SPACE WEEK Includes the AGM A round-up of the Total Solar Eclipse that will have occurred over a wide swath of the United States on 21st August - moved from September (Image shown from the 2006 total eclipse) |
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October 19th Alister Innes, Kyri Voskou and Jim Webb
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OBSERVING EVENING Held at the Barnet Site, Any enquiries, email observing@ashastro.co.uk During the evening it hoped we can spot both the outer planets - Uranus and Neptune
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November 16th Jerry Stone
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TIME and SPACE Our measurements of time have largely been derived from our observations of space. In addition, simple astronomical observations and timings can tell us remarkable things about Earth’s orbit around the Sun.
Astronomy gave us our day, month and year - though these divisions of time don’t last as long as most people think! There are other planets, where days and years are very different to those on Earth, so time really does depend on where you are in space.
Take a journey into time and space with Jerry Stone and find out how they are intertwined. Click here for a downloadable pdf that explains more |
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Saturday Members of the Society
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OBSERVING EVENING This is a first being held on a SATURDAY - we will see how this goes But potentially a good viewing opportunity, with the Moon being close to new The outermost planets, Uranus and Neptune, are both well placed for viewing and there is Comet 2107 O1 (ASASSN) near the Pole Star as a possible target
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| previously for 2016 | ||||
January 21st Mat Irvine
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BRITAIN IN SPACE (AT LAST) The main news for anyone in the UK (and we hope elsewhere) in space, is that we have finally got an official British ESA astronaut to the International Space Station. Celebrated around the UK on 15th December when the launch took place, including a Stargazing Live Special from the Science Museum, this was just the start of Tim's visit to the ISS, where he will be for six months. We trust also that it is a re-boot in the new-found 'official' interest in human spaceflight, that until now was frankly ignored by the UK Government (of any colour), as not being a priority. Your Editor, who was working on the SGL Tim Peake Special, will take you through the whole story and - as your Starter for 10 - just how many British-born astronauts have there been? |
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February 18th Alister Innes and
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OBSERVING EVENING Meet at the Barnet Observing Site see details. The Moon is just over half, so the terminator - the line between light and dark - will show the mountains and craters far better than at Full Moon Jupiter will also be rising during the evening |
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March 17th Mike Goldsmith
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NEW HORIZONS TO PLUTO More on the recent New Horizon probe encounter with what is still referred to by many as 'the outermost planet'. Mike Goldsmith has written an intriguing book on all aspects of the planet (dwarf or not...); its discovery; recent demotion and the latest findings from New Horizons. The book also includes other aspects of Pluto, such as its mention in fiction - and that includes Doctor Who!
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April 21st Jim Webb, Kyri Voskou, Alister Innes
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OBSERVING EVENING Meet at the Barnet Observing Site see details. The Moon is almost full, so a good comparison to the February meeting. The Lyrid Meteor Shower is at near-peak, and although the bright Moon isn't the best situation, you never know! Plus Jupiter is still bright and Mercury could just about be visible??? |
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May 19th Mat Irvine
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THE UNDERGROUND CORN CIRCLE Fermilab, set in the corn fields of Illinois, about 30 miles west of Chicago, is not quite as large as CERN, but it came first. Visibly the site is dominated by the impressive Wilson Hall. (left) Fermilab runs many international projects and it is also the centre for DUNE - Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment - shooting these elusive particles underground to a similar facility at Stanford, 800 miles away. Includes a trip 1000 feet underground to meet the detectors! |
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June 16th Michael Franks
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SPACEX AND THE WAY TO MARS Elon Musk says he wants to visit the International Space Station aboard his own craft by 2020 -- and he doesn't think it will be "that hard". Speaking at the StartmeupHK Festival in Hong Kong, Musk said the company was also looking further ahead, to Mars and beyond, and could unveil its plan to do so as soon as September 2016. Michael Franks has been digging deeper and will explain more at this meeting |
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July and August 2016
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No Meeting these months | |||
September 15th Jim Webb & Alister Innes
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OBSERVING EVENING at the Society's Viewing Site VISITORS WELCOME
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October 6th Michael Franks
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ASTEROID MINING : GOLD RUSH or GOING BUST? Will this be the Gold Rush of the 21st Century? The prospectors will certainly be a tad more sophisticated than their 19the Century distant relatives, but the rewards could be as great - if not greater...
This Meeting will also include the AGM |
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October 20th EXTRA Jim Webb and
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OBSERVING EVENING An extra meeting, on the day that would have been the usual October date. Meet at the Observing Site from 20.00hrs / 8pm Sights on view could be the constellations, Andromeda, Pegasus and Taurus - the last of which contains the Plieades or Seven Sisters open star cluster, always worth a view. |
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November 17th Jerry Stone
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NELL, ESTHER AND AUNT EFFIE This enigmatic title refers to 2016 being the 90th Anniversary of the launch of the world's first liquid-fuelled rocket. This was on March 26th 1926 by Robert H Goddard in Auburn, Massachusetts. Jerry has been delving deeper into this very important milestone- which will also reveal the 'why' of 'Nell', 'Esther' and 'Aunt Effie'...
THIS TALK WAS MOVED FROM THE SEPTEMBER DATE |
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December 8th
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OBSERVING EVENING
An Observing Evening is being planned for this day. Postponed due to weather |
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Dr Mike Goldsmith studied variable stars and cosmic dust at Keele University, receiving his Ph D in 1987. Since then he has written more than fifty books and scientific papers on a variety of subjects, including astronomy and astrophysics. He worked in the field of acoustics for many years, as head of the Acoustics Group at the UK's National Physical Laboratory. He is now a freelance researcher and science writer.
