ASHastro - Meetings

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MEETINGS for 2013
January 10th EXTRA OBSERVING MEETING	To be in keeping with the BBC Stargazing Live events, there will be an observing evening on Thursday 10th (a week before the normal meeting) in the Ashmole School playing field. Telescopes will be set up ready to start viewing from 7:30 pm onwards - the cloud gods permitting. If it is cloudy, we can retire to the Waggon Pub for a ‘virtual observing’ session - we might even convince the landlord to show the Stargazing programme for that evening!
January 17th STARGAZING LIVE - REVISITED	The regular meeting will be on January 17th, as normal. This will be a ‘Stargazing Live – Revisited’ meeting where members will invited to come up and let us know what they got up to during the Stargazing Live events, or anything else of interest during the Christmas holidays.
February 13th WEDNESDAY	OBSERVING SESSION As a result of the last meeting (which evolved into a telescope master class!) it was decided to call another observing session on Wednesday February 13th. The intention is to start at 7:30 at the Ashmole playing field and, as usual, if the Cloud Gods are feeling overly playful and overcast, we will adjourn to the Waggon Pub for a virtual observing session. Alister and I will be providing three telescopes and binoculars, but if anyone feels like bringing their own instruments, please feel free as that will be a bonus. Jim Webb
February 21st JIM WEBB	WEST COAST ENDEAVOUR Jim will be talking about a visit to the California Science Center in Los Angeles, where the Space Shuttle Orbiter Endeavour is now on permanent display.
March 21st MAT IRVINE	DEEP SKIES An updated look at the 'space sites of the southwestern states' of the USA. From astronomical observatories to radio telescopes; from launch sites to - possibly??? - landing sites of craft 'from another world'!
April 18th CHANGE OF SPEAKER JERRY STONE Jerry been presenting space lectures for 40 years, and runs his own company, Spaceflight UK	THE WAY TO THE STARS Taking that bold step forward, where no-one has gone before, when we eventually do journey out of our Solar System - how exactly will this be achieved? Regular speaker to the Society, Jerry Stone looks as some of the possible ways. The original talk by Roy Goldsmitth on THE DISCOVERY OF NEPTUNE will hopefully take place at a later date.
May 16th MAT IRVINE Fred photographed in the gardens of Dene Court, Bishops Lydeard, Somerset, where he lived for many years	The Life and Times of of the ASH founder - FRED CLARKE Sadly Fred died at the end of April. Odd really, we all thought he would always have been with us. He founded the ASH in 1970, and stayed initially as Chairman, then he was made Life President. Although invariably introduced as "the brother of Arthur C. Clarke...", Fred was definitely his own man and had a wide, varied and very interesting life. This meeting will attempt to do justice to someone who was always 'a gentleman'.
June 20th Jim Webb, Alister Innes, Mat Irvine	SKY VIEWS After some upheavals during the last few months, not the least being the sad passing of our founder and President, Fred Clarke, the Society is taking a long, hard look at itself, and seeing if changes are needed to be made. On thing that has become apparent is there appears to be a renewed interest amongst many members for more on practical observing. Consequently for this meeting your Chairman, Membership Secretary and Vice-Chairman (aka Editor) will be looking at various aspects. Borrowing one of the regular column headings from 2002, “Sky Views”, we’ll look at what to observe; using telescopes and other ‘optical devices’; and a few aspects on astro-photography.
July EXTENDED SUMMER BREAK	Due to no-one being available to run the Meeting, it has been decided to cancel this. The next scheduled meeting is September.
August SUMMER BREAK	No meeting held this month
September 19th ROGER O'BRIEN	WALK THE PLANCK The ESA Planck space probe mission besides producing some spectacular images - some even bordering on the psychedelic - has refined some cosmological measurements and raised at least one important question. Roger will be looking at these results and in addition will also be taking a brief look back at Penzias and Wilson, COBE, WMAP. Intriguingly there seems to be a notable anomaly in the Planck results that has created some - he thinks - rather wild, speculation!
October 17th MAT IRVINE	AGM & MOONDUST TO SPACEPORT The Moondust in the title refers to one of Arthur C. Clarke's most famous novels A Fall of Moondust that has the distinction of being one of the very few SF stories based around space tourism. And Spaceport is the location in the New Mexican desert where the first Virgin Galactic space tourists flights will depart. Mat looks at the connections, with an updated talk based on the one his did for the first From Imagination To Reality event for the BIS, (which he co-organised with another regular ASH speaker, Jerry Stone).
November 21st MICHAEL FRANKS	ROLL A ROCKET That intriguing title will be how to build your own rockets - and then how to fly them, using no more than Alka-Seltzer tablets! (er, beer is optional...)
December 12th	Not held

MEETINGS for 2013

January 10th

EXTRA OBSERVING MEETING

To be in keeping with the BBC Stargazing Live events, there will be an observing evening on Thursday 10th (a week before the normal meeting) in the Ashmole School playing field. Telescopes will be set up ready to start viewing from 7:30 pm onwards - the cloud gods permitting. If it is cloudy, we can retire to the Waggon Pub for a ‘virtual observing’ session - we might even convince the landlord to show the Stargazing programme for that evening!

January 17th

STARGAZING LIVE - REVISITED

The regular meeting will be on January 17th, as normal. This will be a ‘Stargazing Live – Revisited’ meeting where members will invited to come up and let us know what they got up to during the Stargazing Live events, or anything else of interest during the Christmas holidays.

February 13th WEDNESDAY

OBSERVING SESSION

As a result of the last meeting (which evolved into a telescope master class!) it was decided to call another observing session on Wednesday February 13th. The intention is to start at 7:30 at the Ashmole playing field and, as usual, if the Cloud Gods are feeling overly playful and overcast, we will adjourn to the Waggon Pub for a virtual observing session. Alister and I will be providing three telescopes and binoculars, but if anyone feels like bringing their own instruments, please feel free as that will be a bonus.

Jim Webb

February 21st

JIM WEBB

Endeavour

WEST COAST ENDEAVOUR

Jim will be talking about a visit to the California Science Center in Los Angeles, where the Space Shuttle Orbiter Endeavour is now on permanent display.

March 21st

MAT IRVINE

Deep Skies

DEEP SKIES

An updated look at the 'space sites of the southwestern states' of the USA. From astronomical observatories to radio telescopes; from launch sites to - possibly??? - landing sites of craft 'from another world'!

April 18th

CHANGE OF SPEAKER

JERRY STONE

Jerry been presenting space lectures for 40 years, and runs his own company, Spaceflight UK

THE WAY TO THE STARS

Taking that bold step forward, where no-one has gone before, when we eventually do journey out of our Solar System - how exactly will this be achieved? Regular speaker to the Society, Jerry Stone looks as some of the possible ways.

The original talk by Roy Goldsmitth on THE DISCOVERY OF NEPTUNE will hopefully take place at a later date.

May 16th

MAT IRVINE

Fred Clarke

Fred photographed in the gardens of Dene Court, Bishops Lydeard, Somerset, where he lived for many years

The Life and Times of of the ASH founder - FRED CLARKE

Sadly Fred died at the end of April. Odd really, we all thought he would always have been with us.

He founded the ASH in 1970, and stayed initially as Chairman, then he was made Life President. Although invariably introduced as "the brother of Arthur C. Clarke...", Fred was definitely his own man and had a wide, varied and very interesting life. This meeting will attempt to do justice to someone who was always 'a gentleman'.

June 20th

Jim Webb, Alister Innes, Mat Irvine

Telescopes

SKY VIEWS

After some upheavals during the last few months, not the least being the sad passing of our founder and President, Fred Clarke, the Society is taking a long, hard look at itself, and seeing if changes are needed to be made.

On thing that has become apparent is there appears to be a renewed interest amongst many members for more on practical observing.

Consequently for this meeting your Chairman, Membership Secretary and Vice-Chairman (aka Editor) will be looking at various aspects. Borrowing one of the regular column headings from 2002, “Sky Views”, we’ll look at what to observe; using telescopes and other ‘optical devices’; and a few aspects on astro-photography.

July

EXTENDED SUMMER BREAK

Due to no-one being available to run the Meeting, it has been decided to cancel this. The next scheduled meeting is September.

August

SUMMER BREAK

Summer Break

No meeting held this month

September 19th

ROGER O'BRIEN

Roger O'Brien

WALK THE PLANCK

The ESA Planck space probe mission besides producing some spectacular images - some even bordering on the psychedelic - has refined some cosmological measurements and raised at least one important question. Roger will be looking at these results and in addition will also be taking a brief look back at Penzias and Wilson, COBE, WMAP.

Intriguingly there seems to be a notable anomaly in the Planck results that has created some - he thinks - rather wild, speculation!

October 17th

MAT IRVINE

AGM &

MOONDUST TO SPACEPORT

The Moondust in the title refers to one of Arthur C. Clarke's most famous novels A Fall of Moondust that has the distinction of being one of the very few SF stories based around space tourism. And Spaceport is the location in the New Mexican desert where the first Virgin Galactic space tourists flights will depart. Mat looks at the connections, with an updated talk based on the one his did for the first From Imagination To Reality event for the BIS, (which he co-organised with another regular ASH speaker, Jerry Stone).

November 21st

MICHAEL FRANKS

MichaelFranks

ROLL A ROCKET

That intriguing title will be how to build your own rockets - and then how to fly them, using no more than Alka-Seltzer tablets!

(er, beer is optional...)

Rockets

December 12th

Not held