Check out these online astronomy events taking place in 2025
We will regularly update this page as details of more events become available.
Members will also continue to receive email invitations to join our SWHAS monthly meetings.
September 2025
SWHAS MEMBERS MONTHLY MEETING
Friday 26 September 2025
20:00 – 22:00 GMT
In Search Of The Aurora by Andrew Ritchie Green BSc (Hons) FRAS
Andy is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society has been actively involved in astronomy and space for over 48 years becoming interested in astronomy & space aged 7. He has travelled the world many times to promote astronomy and give presentations and lectures far and wide, talking to varied groups including those at the University of Cambridge, Sheffield Hallam University and visiting observatories as far afield as Hawaii, mainland USA, Europe, Australia, and Chile. He has visited several space agencies and their facilities including those at NASA and the European Space Agency, ESA. He was involved in grass roots astronomy for many years, and he has seen astronomy at all levels from the local astronomical society level to the public understanding of science and space to professional astronomy. Andy particular interest is in the Auroras and has spent over 16 years researching, observing and photographing them in Iceland, he has many friends in the country. Andy has a degree in Geo-Science / Planetary Geology from the University of Sheffield. He is also a freelance space journalist/photographer and has had articles published in several magazines both in the UK and USA. Andy Recently wrote on Space Flight for the US Navy’s training manual for the ROTC Programme. An accomplished photographer his images have been published in many publications and used online in addition to many hard copy publications and books worldwide. One of his Aurora images was used on the title page of the 2021 Philips Stargazing Guide.
The meeting will also include a news item of interest and a tour of the night sky.
We look forward to seeing you.
October 2025
SWHAS MEMBERS MONTHLY MEETING
Friday 31 October 2025
20:00 – 22:00 GMT
Dr. Paul Fellows: Once Around the Sun’s Sisters
A talk which looks at the question of whether the Sun was born as a solitary star and if not how we might find its sisters!
Paul leads the public observing events at the University of Cambridge and presents lectures on Cunard Queen Mary 2 and other ships on a frequent basis, his talks are always popular. Full biography Having borrowed a small telescope and seen the rings of Saturn for the first time aged 13 Paul went on to build his own 8in reflector and do the O-level in astronomy the following year. His undergraduate studies were in Natural Science at the University of Cambridge specialising in Spectroscopy after which he joined the university Computer Laboratory for his postgraduate degree. He worked on the first generation of home computers and lead the design of the RiscOS operating system for the ARM processor, including inventing the apps and icon bar user interface that has since spread to phones and computers across the world. He was a pioneering of streaming video across the internet and twice a winner of the Queens award for Technology. In 2005 he was elected a Fellow of the Institute of Engineering and Technology and was recently given a lifetime achievement award by Emmanuel College Cambridge and was awarded the British Empire Medal for services to the public understanding of science and technology in the new years honours of 2025. Through this time he maintained his interest in astronomy and has lead the public observing events at the University for over 20 years giving hundreds of live presentations, lectures and planetarium shows. He teaches the introduction to astronomy course and leads the monthly “Cambridge young astronomers” events for younger children. He is also an elected Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society. Since 2016 he has been a lecturer on board Cunard’s Queen Mary 2 and other ships and frequent presenter to clubs and societies as well as at the international astronomy show.
The meeting will also include a news item of interest and a tour of the night sky.
We look forward to seeing you.
November 2025
SWHAS MEMBERS MONTHLY MEETING
Friday 26 September 2025
20:00 – 22:00 GMT
Mankind’s Next Giant Leap by Neil Philipson
This presentation has a little less emphasis on the personalities and a bit more on the amazing science behind it all!
Neil has a Masters degree in space science, is a former astronomy retailer and designer of observatories. Neil has a Masters degree in Space Science from University of Kent. He is a former owner of Astronomia (UK astronomy retailer). During this time he trained over 1000 people to use their telescopes, ran beginners’ astrophotography courses and advised astronomers at all levels on their equipment. Neil also carried out servicing and repair of most types of instruments. He is an observatory designer and creator of Home Farm Observatories as well as being host of “Tour of the Universe”. This astronomy-based full theatrical production toured eight large UK theatres in 2014 in partnership with BBC Sky at Night magazine. In addition, Neil is a TEDx Speaker and the Technical Founder of Sky Village BG – the world’s first dedicated astronomy village.
The meeting will also include a news item and a tour of the night sky.
We look forward to seeing you.
Revised RMS meeting protocols now in place
In order to keep everyone safe we still need to adhere to the school guidelines following the relaxation of rules regarding the COVID situation.
We ask you to respect social distancing where appropriate, as not everyone is comfortable in crowds.
Use good hygiene and the wearing of face coverings is a now a personal choice.
We will endeavour to keep the hall well ventilated at all times and this may mean some doors need to be left open from time to time.
1. We will ask you to collect your own chair from the back of the hall and take it to a place in the hall where you would like to sit. This can be either near friends/family or well away from everyone else – the choice is yours, but we encourage you to respect social distancing where appropriate. Be aware that some doors may be left open to aid better ventilation, so bear this in mind when you choose a seating location. It might be advisable to wear layers ! Sanitising wipes will be provided when you collect your chair for you to wipe down your seat.
2. In addition to the school cleaning regime, we will, prior to the meeting, wipe down all accessible surfaces including the handrails, door handles and toilets.
3. All beverages will be dispensed in paper cups and consumables (such as sugar, UHT milk and biscuits) will be supplied as individually sealed packs. After use, please dispose of these items in the rubbish bags provided.
4. After the talk is over, please return your chair to the back of the hall where it will be wiped down and stacked away.
5. For the time being, we will not be holding planetarium visits – because the space in there is too confined to safely ventilate it. Instead Richard will do a summary of the upcoming night sky in the hall.
Members will be advised of the RMS gate code nearer the date of the meeting.
Keep safe and we look forward to seeing you in person.
