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Home arrow Meetings arrow 2008 Meetings

This Years Meetings Print E-mail

2008 Jan 12 9:45am - BAA Meeting - Back to Basics Workshop - Clanfield

BAA Back to Basics, Beginners Workshop. Clanfield.

Clanfield Memorial Hall, South Lane, Clanfield, Hampshire, PO8 0NW

The cost will be £7.50 BAA members and £12.50 non-members. Bookings with remittance should be sent no later than 5th January 2008 using the following booking form.

pdf_small.gif Booking Form (pdf)

The day starts at 09:45 with registration and finishes at 17:00. Lunch and all refreshments are included.

Programme

0945 Registration – Tea/coffee
1015 Official welcome – BAA President, Roger Pickard
1020 So what astronomy can I do? – Mrs Hazel Collett
1030 What equipment & books do I need? – BAA Section Director Dr Stewart Moore
1100 Solar observing – BAA Speaker, Peter Meadows
1120 Lunar observing – BAA Speaker - Martin Morgan-Taylor
1140 Observing Saturn & Jupiter – BAA Section Director, Mike Foulkes
1200 Observing variable stars – BAA Section Director, Roger Pickard
1220 Lunch
1330 3 x 30 minute workshop sessions
1500 Afternoon tea
1530 2 x 30 minute workshop sessions
1630 Feedback and Q&A session
1645 Closing address – BAA President, Roger Pickard

Organisers: Hazel Collett (BAA) and Hampshire Astronomical Group

2008 Jan 30 5:00pm - BAA Meeting - Ordinary Meeting

Due to circumstances the scheduled speakers were unavailable. Replacement programme:

17.30 - BAA OM
17.45 - 18.00 Val White - The Otford (Kent) scale model of the solar system
18.00 - 18.20 Richard McKim - The latest images of Mercury from the Messenger  spacecraft and the ground-based record
18.20 - 18.45 Roger Pickard - Sky Notes
18.45 - 19.00 Sheridan Williams - Eclipses and Easter, equinox and solstice
19.00 - 19.20 John Rogers - Jupiter (the global upheaval of 2007)
19.20 - 19.40 Bob Marriott - Opening of the Black Country Museum Observatory
19.40 - 19.55 Nick James - NEOs etc
19.55 - 20.00 Close


Speakers
Andy Green "Triumph & Tragedy - the Highs & Lows of Space Exploration"
Nigel Bannister "An Auroral Imaging instrument for low Earth Orbit - which could perhaps find its way to Jupiter eventually"

Venue: Royal Astronomical Society Lecture Theatre, Burlington House , Piccadilly, London

Organiser: Hazel Collett

2008 Feb 23 10:30am - BAA Meeting - Observers Workshop No. 9 - Milton Keynes


BAA Observers Workshop - Observing Planets

10.30 Registration and introductions
11.00  "Observing Jupiter and Saturn" Mike Foulkes
12:00 "Imaging the Moon with a webcam" James Jefferson
12:30 "High-resolution imaging of the bright planets" David Arditti

13:30 Lunch

14:30 Practical workshop: Computer processing of planetary images, in small groups, led by Mike Foulkes, James Jefferson, David Arditti and Martin Lewis

16:00 Tea

16:30 Questions to all the contributors

17:00 Close 

Venue - Berrill Lecture Theatre, The Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA

Campus Map - http://www3.open.ac.uk/contact/maps/wh-campus.gif

Area Map - http://www3.open.ac.uk/contact/maps/wh-local.gif

 

Organiser: Hazel Collett

2008 Mar 1 10:00am - BAA Section Meeting - Deep Sky Section Meeting - Cheltenham

Century Hall, Shurdington Social Centre, Bishop Road, Shurdington, Cheltenham
Hosted by the Cotswold Astronomical Society

For directions to venue see http://www.shurdington.org/SocCtr/Location.htm

The final programme for the 2008 Deep Sky Section Meeting is shown below. There are a couple of changes to the previously advertised programme. Gain Lee has unfortunately had to pull out but his place has been taken by Owen Brazell (Assistant Director to the Deep Sky Section) who will give a talk on the Abell Planetary Nebula Project. It has also proved impossible to get anyone from the Galaxy Zoo project to talk to us.

Everyone welcome. Admission L7 payable at the door (to include refreshments).

For queries concerning the venue please contact Callum Potter This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Doors open 10am

10.30         Coffee

11.00 – 11.30  Welcome and Review of Year - Stewart Moore
11.30 – 12.15    Peter Grego - From Moon to Deep Sky, Sketching with a PDA
12.15 – 13.00    Paul Roche - Bringing the Deep Sky down to Earth: Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network

13.00         Lunch

14.30 – 15.15  Owen Brazell – The Abell Planetary Nebula Project
15.15 – 16.00  Callum Potter - Wide Field DSLR Imaging

16.00         Tea

16.30 – 17.15    Paul Downing - Galaxy Interactions and Peculiarities
17.15 – 17.30  Meeting round up - Stewart Moore

17.30    Close

The following sales stands hope to be in attendance:
BAA
Webb Deep Sky Society
SCS Astro
Aurora Books

Exhibitions of deep sky material by Section Members is encouraged.

Please contact the Callum Potter This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it if you want to have a display.

We look forward to seeing you on the day.

Venue:  Century Hall, Shurdington, Cheltenham, GL51 4TB
Organisers: Stewart Moore & Callum Potter 

2008 Mar 26 5:00pm - BAA Meeting - Ordinary Meeting

Speakers:
Sam George – Extra Solar Planets & Their Auroral Processes
Jeff Lashley – Jupiter Radio Noise and the BAA RAG up-date
Richard Miles – Sky Notes

Venue: Royal Astronomical Society Lecture Theatre, Burlington House , Piccadilly, London

Organiser: Hazel Collett

2008 Apr 4 6:00pm - BAA Meeting - Winchester Weekend

The Alfred Curtis Memorial Lecture will be given by Dr. Arne Henden, Director of the AAVSO. "Variable Stars"

Other speakers to include:

Neil Bone,  "Observing with a small telescope"
Michael Folkes, "Saturn"
David Bryant, "Meteorites"
Dr. Richard Crittenden, "Dark Matter"
Ian King, "Hands on introduction to image processing"
Paul Haley, "Solar observations as part of the International Heliophysical Year"
Peter Wise, "Modern developments of the telescope"

plus Exhibitors  

Sparsholt College is about 5 miles west of Winchester and has good train and motorway links. This new location provides en suite accommodation in modern student hall of residence, dark un-obstructed rural skies, plenty of room and plenty of parking. Clear skies cannot be guaranteed but observing will be encouraged (please bring equipment).

To book a place, please complete the Booking Form accompanying the December BAA Journal, or contact the BAA Office for a booking form.

Prices:

Resident (Friday to Sunday) BAA Member £160
Resident (Friday to Sunday) Non-BAA Member £180 
Day visitors:
Friday evening (no meals) £15 or (including dinner) £30
Saturday all day (including lunch) £35 or (including lunch & dinner) £50
Sunday to afternoon (including lunch) £25

Venue: Sparsholt College, Hampshire.
Sparsholt, Hampshire, SO21 2NF

Organiser: Alan Dowdell 

2008 Apr 10 12:00pm - BAA Meeting - Out of London Meeting - Cambridge

The British Astronomical Association (BAA) 2008 Out of London meeting is being held in conjunction with the American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO) from April 10th to 13th, in Cambridge.

This event is being held in New Hall College, approximately 1 mile from the city centre. Location maps may be found at http://www.newhall.cam.ac.uk/contacts/directions/regional.html

Accommodation is available from the evening of Thursday 9th. Friday 10th is devoted to Variable Star Observing, and the theme continues into the Saturday 11th for the BAA Out of London meeting which is followed by an evening banquet with a guest speaker. Sunday 13th sees an optional tour to Stonehenge and Avebury.

BAA Members have to register for the meeting either by completing the Booking Form (pdf) (printed copies of this are being circulated with the February Journal) and returning to the BAA Office with payment, or online at http://www.regonline.com/aavso-baa

Bookings must be made by March 26 2008.

Please note that BAA Members wishing to attend just the Out of London meeting do still need to register.

Programme

(Correct at 2008/01/31 - programme may change without notice)

 

Thursday Afternoon 10th April


Suggested trip to the American Military Cemetery for those arriving early

(Make own arrangements by bus or walk).

Thursday Evening

19.00

Dinner on Campus

20.00

Visit to Cambridge Institute of Astronomy old telescopes - no charge



Friday Daytime 11th April

09.20 - 09.30

Welcome, BAA President, Roger Pickard and AAVSO Director Dr Arne Henden

09.30 - 10.00

Dr Paula Szkody, Washington University, Coordinated HST and Ground Campaigns on Cataclysmic Variables

10.00 - 10.30

Des Loughney, VSS, Eclipsing Binaries - Observational Challenges

10.30 - 11.15

Short Presentations and poster papers from AAVSO and BAA Members

11.15 - 11.45

Tea/coffee break

11.45 - 12.45

Short Presentations and poster papers from AAVSO and BAA Members

12.45 - 14.00

Buffet Lunch

14.00 - 14.45

John Toone, VSS, Charles Butterworth

14.45 - 15.30

Robin Leadbeater, VSS, Chasing Rainbows - The European amateur spectroscopy scene

15.30 - 16.00

Tea/coffee break

16.00 - 16.45

Dr Tom Lloyd-Evans, VSS, Long term monitoring and the Carbon Miras

16.45 - 17.30

Dr Boris Gaensicke, Warwick University, Cataclysmic variables from large surveys - a silent revolution

17.30

Close



Friday Evening

19.00 - 20.00

Dinner on Campus

20.00 - 21.00

Informal lecture: Prof Mike Bode, Liverpool John Moores University, title TBA



Saturday Daytime 12th April

10.00 - 10:25

Registration - Tea/coffee available

10.25 - 10:30

Welcome, BAA President, Roger Pickard and AAVSO Director Dr Arne Henden

10.30 - 11:15

Dr Rene Oudmaijer, Leeds University, Star Formation

11.15 - 12:00

Dr Arne Henden, AAVSO, The MJUO/AAVSO Collaboration

12.00 - 13:30

Buffet Lunch

13.30 - 14:15

Guy Hurst, BAA Novae and Supernovae: from visual to remote robotic observations

14.15 - 15.00

Lee MacDonald, BAA, Observing the Sun with Small Telescopes

15.00 - 15:45

Tea/coffee break

15.45 - 16:30

Dr Giulio Del Zanna, Mullard Space Science Laboratory, Changes in the solar corona during the last cycle

16.30 - 17:30

Prof Douglas Gough, Inst. of Astronomy, Cambridge, The Sun as a Variable Star

17.30

Close



Saturday Evening

19.00 - 19.30

Assemble for Banquet (Smart casual attire will suffice)

19.30 - 21.00

Banquet

21.00 - 22:00

After Dinner lecture by Guest Speaker Prof John Brown, Astronomer Royal for Scotland, Some Musings on 50 Years in Astronomy and Magic

Sunday 13th April

09.30

Visit to Stonehenge / Avebury



 

 

2008 May 10 9:45am - BAA Section Meeting - I&I Section Meeting

Meeting of the Instruments and Imaging Section
Saturday, 10 May 2008

Wootton Working Men's Club, Wootton, Northampton

Doors open 9.45; meeting begins 11.00
£3 entry, including morning and afternoon refreshments

Programme

400th Anniversary of the Invention of the Telescope

Bob Marriott : The early days of the telescope
Dr David Whitehouse : The Digges telescope - before Lippershey
Ron Arbour : Commissioning telescopes
Nick James : Refurbishment of the James observatory
Dr Allan Chapman : The seventeenth and eighteenth centuries
Bob Marriott : A brief history of astronomical photography and imaging

Dr David Whitehouse is a former BBC Science Correspondent. He has recently completed a biography of Digges, and is now working on a television documentary.

Wootton Working Men's Club - formerly The Red Lion - is a real-ale pub with a private function room incorporating lecture facilities (including full black-out) in congenial surroundings, with comfortable seating and a bar. It is listed in the CAMRA Guide, and is the current recipient of the CAMRA Regional Award. The Yeoman of England - 70 yards distant - is open at 10 am for breakfast, and serves a comprehensive menu all day until 9 pm. The landlord of the Yeoman has given his permission for use of the car park

Photographs of the venue, and a location map, are on the Section web site , which has been completely redesigned. Recent additions include several members' observatories and instruments, a selection of images, and all (113) of Tom Boles' supernova discoveries - in all, 267 pages.

R.A. Marriott, Section Director

 

2008 May 28 5:00pm - BAA Meeting - Ordinary Meeting

Speakers:

Prof Paul Hewitt – Dark Matter & Gravitational Lensing
Dr Carolin Crawford - X-ray Astronomy - Science and Beauty of Nebulae
Guy Hurst – Sky Notes

Venue: Royal Astronomical Society Lecture Theatre, Burlington House , Piccadilly, London

Organiser: Hazel Collett

2008 Jun 28 11:00am - BAA Meeting - Exhibition Meeting - Leicester

This is the BAA Exhibition Meeting and a chance for the sections to
show the work that members have contributed over the past year.

Venue: National Space Centre, Leicester.

2008 Sep 5 10:00am - BAA Meeting - Out of London Weekend - Dublin

The British Astronomical Association (BAA) 2008 Out of London meeting is being held in conjunction with the Irish Astronomical Society at University College, Dublin (UCD).

Ireland uses the Euro (€) as its currency and the current exchange rate is around £1=€1.25. A good guide to Dublin with plenty of maps can be found on the Dublin tourist website.

Programme

birr_telescope_tn.jpg The weekend starts with a trip to Birr Castle on Friday, September 5th to see the restored 72-inch Lord Rosse telescope followed by an evening visit to Dunsink Observatory. The main meeting on Saturday has a full programme of talks followed by a formal dinner and after-dinner talk by Leo Enright. Finally, on Sunday we are fortunate to have 40 places to visit the Newgrange Passage Tomb, a 5,000 year old monument which has many astronomical connections. Full details are on the Programme and booking form.

You can also download the schedule for the coach trips - please assemble for the trips 10 minutes before departure time. 

Venue

ucd_campus_tn.jpg The Saturday meeting is being held in Theatre N, Newman Building, which is in the centre of the Belfield campus of University College Dublin. The Newman Building is location 39 on the campus map. The campus is around 3 miles southeast of Dublin city centre on the Stillorgan Road (N11). Buses take 20-30 minutes from the centre of Dublin and bus numbers 3, 10, 11B and 17 provide direct connections to the Belfield campus. Timetables are available from the Dublin Bus website. Simply enter the route number in the appropriate box.

Accommodation

Accommodation in Dublin is at a premium due to the All Ireland Hurling Final which is taking place at Croke Park on the Sunday. This means that it is important you book as early as possible.

The main hotel for the weekend is the Montrose. This hotel is just across the Stillorgan Road from the venue and it is the base for the coach trips. The BAA has negotiated a special rate of €129 per night for a twin room at this hotel. To book call the hotel on 00 353 1 269 3311 and quote reference BAA040908. If you search around on the web you may be able to book alternative rooms at this hotel more cheaply but these seem to come and go. The next nearest hotel on the same road is the Stillorgan Park Hotel a little further down the Stillorgan Road.

If you are travelling to the venue/Montrose by public transport we suggest that you book a hotel near to the 10 or 46B bus routes (see the Dublin Bus website for maps and details). These buses stop outside the Montrose and they run regularly from early in the morning until late at night. Hotels in the centre of Dublin near these routes would be a good choice. For example, low cost B&B is available from Mercer Court which offers student rooms in the centre of Dublin from €62 per night and which is a few minutes' walk from the bus routes.

Alternative hotel accommodation should be available via websites such as Dublin hotels and Ryanair. Many other options will be found by googling "Dublin hotels".

Once you have booked accommodation please let us know where you are staying by e-mailing us the details using this This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Travel to Dublin

There are many low-cost flights to Dublin from UK airports. For a selection go to the plan your trip page of the Dublin airport website.

 


 

Venue: University College, Dublin, Ireland.
Organisers: Hazel Collett, Nick James (BAA) and Deirdre Kelleghan (IAS)

 

2008 Oct 18 10:30am - BAA Section Meeting - Variable Star Observing Workshop, Edinburgh

The BAA Variable Star Section is organising a Variable Star Observing Workshop in Edinburgh on Saturday 18th October 2008. The workshop will be held at the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh.The workshop will last from 10.30 am to 4pm. There will be a £10 charge which will include lunch. Included in the day will be a short presentation by the RO of its Crawford collection.

All BAA members and variable star observers are welcome. Also welcome are members of astronomical societies and interested members of the public.

I would be grateful if you could let Des Loughney know if you intend to come to the workshop. Nearer the date he will forward a full programme. The Workshop is aimed at those who are thinking of observing variable stars or are new to it, and will provide information on current observing campaigns which will be of interest to more experienced observers.

Please circulate this notice to anyone you consider would be interested.

Des Loughney, BAA VSS Eclipsing Binary Secretary:
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
 

2008 Oct 29 5:30pm - BAA Meeting - Annual General Meeting & Presidential Address

Roger Pickard – Presidential Address
Sky Notes

Venue: Burlington House, Piccadilly, London

2008 Nov 1 9:45am - BAA Meeting - Back to Basics Workshop - York

BAA Back to Basics Workshops provide a programme of talks and practical sessions to help you learn basic techniques and develop your interest to its full potential. Experienced people will be on hand to answer your questions.

Cost of the event is £8.00 to BAA Members and £13.00 to non-members. Price includes all refreshments and a buffet lunch.

You can download this Booking Form (pdf, 188kb) which includes further details. Bookings must be made by October 17th.

Venue: Priory Street Centre, Priory Street, York, YO1 6ET.

Organisers: Hazel Collett (BAA) & Martin Whillock (York AS)

2008 Nov 22 2:30pm - BAA Meeting - Ordinary Meeting

Dr Sarah Bridle – Dark Matter Clustering
Dr Dave Rothery – Mercury Messenger
Sky Notes - Nick Hewitt

Venue: Burlington House, Piccadilly

2008 Dec 13 2:30pm - BAA Meeting - Christmas Meeting

Guy Hurst – A Study of Exploding Stars with Robotic Telescopes
Dale Holt – The Rev T.H.E.C. Espin 1858-1934, Eccentric vicar and dedicated astronomer.
Sky Notes - Nick James

Venue: Burlington House, Piccadilly

 

 

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