Check out these online astronomy events taking place in 2026
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 2026
SWHAS MEMBERS MONTHLY MEETING
Friday 25 September 2026
20:00 – 22:00 GMT
The Pluto Story by Professor Ian Robson
This talk is about the erstwhile planet Pluto, how it was discovered and how discovery and observations of the Kuiper Belt Objects eventually led to the International Astronomy Union (IAU) in 2006 to declassify Pluto from being a planet. Although ‘what is a planet?’ might seem to be an easy question to answer, it turns out that the ensuing debate by professional astronomers was both complicated and fractious. The twists and turns of how Pluto finally came to be demoted by the IAU are revisited on a personal basis – astronomy democracy in action – or not, and what was the legacy from the decision and what have we learned from the New Horizons space mission to Pluto and beyond.
Professor Robson has been Head of Dept of Physics and Astronomy at UCLAN; Director of the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope in Hawaii; Director of the UK Astronomy Technology Centre at the Royal Observatory Edinburgh and Director of the Science and Technology Facility Council’s Technology Department. He has undertaken extensive research in the fields of Active Galaxies and submillimetre astronomy and wrote an undergraduate textbook on Active Galactic Nuclei.
Professor Robson is very active in outreach and was the first President of the International Astronomy Union’s (IAU) Commission for Communicating Astronomy with the Public. He led the UK programme for the International Year of Astronomy in 2009. He was the International Astronomy Union Assistant General Secretary for 2018-19 and has been President of the Society for Popular Astronomy and the Royal Scottish Society for the Arts. He was Vice-president of the Royal Astronomical Society from 2021-23 and received the prestigious Service Award in 2024.
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 some consumables (such as sugar, UHT milk and biscuits) may 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. This is because of the ongoing repairs to the instrument. 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.
