Meetings and Events, 2009 - 2010
2009 is the International Year of Astronomy. The events listed below in blue have been organised by Exmoor National Park and are held on Exmoor in order to take advantage of the park's dark skies. Those listed in orange are Tiverton and Mid Devon A. S. events and are held in the main hall at Blundell's Prep School at 7:30pm, usually on the first school-term Friday of the month.
No previous knowledge of astronomy is necessary, so if you are at all interested you are very welcome to come along. Many of us are regular attenders at our informal meetings, but a warm welcome is always given to new faces. For directions, please see the map.
| Date | Subject / Speaker |
|---|---|
| 2009 | |
| Wednesday 12th August | The Perseids Meteor
Shower Look out for the meteors at the Sportsman's Inn, Sandyway, EX36 3LU (Tel. 01643 831109). There will be a talk inside if it's cloudy. |
| Friday 11th September | Some Incredible
Voyages to the Moon - Douglas Rice Our chairman's talk has a topical theme to commemorate 40 years since the first Apollo landing. |
| Saturday 19th September | Voyage to the Outer
Planets See Jupiter through a telescope or see a talk by North Devon AS if it's cloudy. 8:30pm at the Sportsmans Inn, Sandyway, EX36 3LU (Tel. 01643 831109). |
| Friday 2nd October | The Commercialisation
of Space - Paul Young An introduction to the techniques now being developed which will lead us to new frontiers. |
| Wednesday 21st October | The Orionids Meteor
Shower Look out for meteors from 8:30pm at the Blue Ball Inn, Countisbury, EX35 6NE (Tel. 01598 741263). There will be a talk inside if it's cloudy. |
| Saturday 24th October | Autumn Moonwatch
With North Devon Astronomy Society, see the Moon and Jupiter from Pinkery Outdoor Education Centre, 8pm. |
| Friday 13th November | The Pioneer and
Flyby Anomalies: Physics from the Edge - Mike McCulloch Some spacecraft trajectories seem to disagree with modern physics - what does this imply? |
| Saturday 21st November | Heavens Above in Porlock
A family day at Porlock Village Hall, from 10am. See http://www.exmoor-nationalpark.gov.uk/exmoor-dark-skies.pdf |
| Friday 4th December | Towards Other Worlds
- Suzanne Aigrain Suzanne will explain her research at Exeter University, finding and characterising extra-solar planets. |
| Sunday 13th December | The Geminids Meteor
Shower See meteors from 8:30pm at the Sportsman's Inn, Sandyway, EX36 3LU (Tel. 01643 831109). |
| 2010 | |
| Friday 15th January | What it's Like
to Stand on the Red Planet: Mars in 3-D - Matthew Bate Put on coloured glasses and enjoy dramatic new pictures. |
| Friday 5th February | Astrophotography
- David Strange See some amazing images taken by a local amateur astronomer. |
| Friday 5th March | Dark Matter
- Patrick Butterly Pat will explore the theories of dark matter and energy and why most of the Universe is missing! UPDATE, 02/03/2010: Unfortunately our speaker has had to cancel owing to illness. Instead we will enjoy an informal evening of home-made entertainment: please bring an object, picture, book or idea with some astronomical connection for people to look at and chat about. If you have a telescope, bring it too and let’s hope for a clear sky. Enquiries: Douglas on 01884 252942. |
| March / April | Visit to the Norman
Lockyer Observatory A trip to see the historic telescopes and new facilities at Sidmouth. |
| Friday 7th May | Astronomers and
the Founding of the Royal Society in 1660 - Dr Allan Chapman A spellbinding account of some great astronomical pioneers. |
| Friday 11th June | AGM and
Member's Evening Three talks from members about their astronomical interests. |
