Check out these online astronomy events taking place in 2024/2025
To register for these fascinating talks please click on the links below.
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.
December 2024
SWHAS MEMBERS MONTHLY MEETING
Friday 13 December 2024
20:00 – 22:00 GMT
Members Images
For our last meeting of 2024 we will be showing a selection of members images in the Cadogan House Hall, Royal Masonic School For Girls, Rickmansworth.
We will also be holding a Bring and Buy event. This is a great opportunity to pick up a bargain or a chance to find a new home for equipment or accessories that you no longer use.
The meeting will also include a news item of interest and a tour of the night sky.
We look forward to seeing you.
RAS Public Talk by Dr Jenny Shipway
Wednesday 17 December 2024
13:00 – 14:00 GMT
18:00 – 19:00 GMT
Dr Jenny Shipway will give a talk to the Royal Astronomical Society on Tuesday, December 17th, 2024, which may interest you and your astronomy group.
Jenny is passionate about bringing people together to share skills and resources that support and encourage public outreach in astronomy. The presentation will cover Jenny’s involvement in three national projects (AstroBoost, 100 Hours Under One Sky and National Astronomy Week), all of which provide resources to amateur astronomers.
Jenny’s talk will be available to watch for free online and has two time slots, 1 pm and 6 pm.
You can book tickets for the 1 pm slot here:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ras-public-talk-dr-jenny-shipway-1pm-tickets-1095076255559
Tickets for the 6 pm slot are available here:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ras-public-talk-dr-jenny-shipway-6pm-tickets-1095095081869
January 2025
Touching the Sun by Professor Lintott
Wednesday 15 January 2025
19:00 – 20:00 GMT
Despite its familiarity, the Sun is a very different presence from the friendly yellow circle in children’s paintings. Our star is a broiling mass of plasma, with its powerful magnetic fields, twisted by its rotation, capable of producing dramatic events of spectacular beauty and power. Using results from NASA’s Parker Solar Probe – the fastest moving human-made object ever – and ESA’s Solar Orbiter, this spectacular lecture takes a new look at the mysteries of the Sun, and its effects on the Earth.
Gresham Professor of Astronomy
Professor Chris Lintott is a Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Oxford, and a Research Fellow at New College.
Having been educated at Magdalene College, Cambridge and University College London, his research now ranges from understanding how galaxies form and evolve, to using machine learning to find the most unusual things in the Universe, to predicting the properties of visiting interstellar asteroids. He is Principal Investigator of the Zooniverse citizen science platform, which provides opportunities for more than two million online volunteers to contribute to scientific research, and which was the topic of his first book, ‘The Crowd and the Cosmos’.
Professor Lintott is best known for presenting the BBC’s long-running Sky at Night program, and as an accomplished lecturer. Away from work, he cooks, suffers through being a fan of Torquay United and Somerset cricket, and spends time with a rescued lurcher, Mr Max, with whom he presents the Dog Stars podcast.
To watch this event online simply register here:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/whats-on/touching-sun?mc_cid=3a65e9a9a1&mc_eid=d25c0e416e
SWHAS MEMBERS MONTHLY MEETING
Friday 31 January 2025
20:00 – 22:00 GMT
Astronomers’ Tools: Choosing the right telescope by David Arditti
David Arditti has been observing the sky for 47 years. He took up astronomy at the age of 13 after reading a book by Patrick Moore that he found in the school library. After making a telescope by the method described in the book, using spectacle lenses and cardboard tubes, which did not work very well at all, he joined a local astronomical society and became addicted after being shown views of Saturn and other objects through a 12-inch reflector. He now lives in NW London and uses an observatory he constructed himself in his back garden to observe a wide variety of objects, but mostly the Moon and planets, the imaging of which he is a noted expert on.
He is currently both Director of the Equipment and Techniques Section of the BAA and the BAA Vice-President. Also he is Observations Director and Vice-President for the West of London Astronomical Society. He has written for many magazines including Astronomy Now and the BAA Journal and has produced a book, Setting-Up a Small Observatory, published by Springer. He regularly gives talks on observing, imaging, astronomical equipment, the history of astronomy, cosmology, and other topics, to groups ranging from schools to professional conferences. He is also a classical pianist and composer and is Chair of London Composers Forum, a group that puts on concerts of new music.
The meeting will also include a news item of interest 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.
