British Astronomical Association

Supporting amateur astronomers since 1890

Archives

Franz von Paula Gruithuisen (1774− 1852) and the ‘Lost City in the Moon’

In the early hours of the morning of July 12 in the year 1822, Franz von Paula Gruithuisen (1774–1852) turned his small telescope to the Moon. What greeted him at the eyepiece, in the environs of the crater named Schroeter, was nothing short of a revelation. The jumbled terrain, caught under raking illumination, coalesced into a regular arrangement which convinced the astronomer he had discovered evidence that the Moon was inhabited….

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128-2 shears

The 2017 Presidential Address: Amateur astronomers and the new golden age of cataclysmic variable star astronomy

The study of cataclysmic variable stars has long been a fruitful area of co-operation between amateur and professional astronomers. In this Address, I take stock of our current understanding of these fascinating binary systems. I consider the sky surveys that are already on stream, providing near continuous and precise photometry of these systems. I show that while these surveys might be perceived as a threat to amateur observations, they actually provide new opportunities, although amateurs need to adapt and focus their efforts. I identify areas where amateurs equipped for either visual observing or CCD photometry can still make scientifically useful observations.

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