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We present the nine-year lightcurve of the cataclysmic variable 1RXS J140429.5+172352 from 2005 April to 2014 July.

David Elijah Packer (1862-1936), a librarian by profession, was an enthusiastic amateur astronomer who observed from London and Birmingham. He observed variable stars, meteors and nebulae, on one occasion reporting a brightening in the nucleus of the galaxy M77. However, his remarkable claims in 1896 that he had photographed the solar corona in daylight were soon shown to be flawed.

HS0705+6700 (also identified as V470 Cam) is a short period (2.3 h) post-common envelope detached eclipsing sdB binary system which exhibits transit time variations (TTVs) of a cyclical nature. We report a further 25 timings of light minima and show that our new TTVs support and extend this cyclical pattern to 1.6 periods. We examine possible causes of the observed TTVs and confirm that the presence of a third, and possibly a fourth, body could provide an elegant explanation of these cyclical variations. However other non-circumbinary mechanisms, e.g. Applegate magnetic dynamo effects, will remain possible contenders until sufficient data has been accumulated to demonstrate that the periodicity of the TTVs is time independent. A further 27 eclipse timings recorded between 2014 October and 2015 April are reported in the Addendum. These new timings occurred 0.00012 days (~10s) later than anticipated by our circumbinary model. Two possible explanations are offered.

A method of daytime collimation of a Cassegrain-type reflecting telescope is described, which uses a circular target aligned on the optical axis of the primary mirror. Basic construction details are given for making a suitable target and a procedure is outlined for collimating both Schmidt–Cassegrain and Ritchey–Chrétien telescopes.

Four low resolution (R~1000) spectra were obtained of the RV Tauri-type variable AC Her during its rise from a deep minimum in July 2014. These show changes in spectral type and Balmer line equivalent width as the star brightened, consistent with earlier observations.

Edwin Alfred Holmes (1839-1919) is best remembered for his discovery of a bright comet in 1892, now known as Comet 17P/Holmes. An amateur astronomer and authority on optics, he was an original member of the BAA and contributed to its Journal and meetings for many years. As a prolific writer of letters to English Mechanic, he developed a reputation for his controversial and acerbic penmanship.