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FAS Newsletter Federation of Astronomical Societies FAS Newsletter Federation of Astronomical Societies http://www.fedastro.org.uk FAS Annual Convention THE PATRICK MOORE COLLECTION An appeal for help by Mark Irving 9 October 2010 n November 2008, Trevor Little, Leanne Irving and I were visiting Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge I Patrick Moore on a social evening. The discussion turned to Pat- rick's large collection of photographic slides, which he has accumu- The FAS Annual Convention will be held at The In- lated over the course of his career. It turned out that Patrick had stitute of Astronomy, Madingley Road, Cambridge wanted these to be better used for some time, but the fact that they on Saturday 9th October. were physically stored in cabinets in his 'slide room' meant that they At the time of editing this edition the list of speakers who rarely saw the light of day. Few people even have the equipment to view slides any more. have committed to present talks at this years event is almost It was at this point, after a couple of glasses of wine perhaps, that complete. The agreed speakers include: we suggested that the collection should be scanned using a computer, Professor Philippa Browning from Manchester University and published on the internet for public viewing and use. Everyone whose research area is Solar and Laboratory Plasmas will pre- present thought that the idea was excellent in principle, but the task sent a talk entitled ‘Our Active Sun’. probably impossibly large... Dr Peter Wheatley, an associate professor in the Astron- After another glass of wine, we proceeded to have a quick esti- omy & Astrophysics Group in the Department of Physics at mate of the number of slides involved. They were mostly stored in University of Warwick will cover ‘Hunting for extra-solar plan- filing drawers specifically made for the purpose, with each draw hold- ets using small telescopes’ ing a couple of hundred slides. We guessed that there were perhaps ten to fifteen thousand slides altogether, so the obvious question was: Professor Tim Naylor is Norman Lockyer Professor of would it be possible to scan them all? Astrophysics and Head of Physics at Exeter University. The A bit of research on the internet quickly showed that domestic title of Professor Naylor’s talk was not available at this time. slide scanners might be suitable for scanning slides, but they were no In addition to the talks there will be a range of exhibitors, good for a job this large. At best they would scan slides in batches of where you will be able to drool over shiny pieces of astronomy 3 to 5, and would therefore require continuous supervision and re- kit, find that elusive book you have been searching for and to loading. We did, however, manage to find a machine that would try to win one of the many prizes in the, now, famous FAS process slides in batches of 50 or 100. In a fit of irrational enthusi- raffle. asm and optimism, we purchased this scanner and borrowed a size- Keep an eye on the FAS website for registration details. able chunk of Patrick's slide collection to start work. Initial results with the scanner were promising; the quality of the For those who have not yet attended an FAS Convention, images was good, and despite taking around 5 hours to scan a carou- please come along, you will not be disappointed. sel of 100 slides at maximum quality, it could be left unsupervised between reloading. We could process 200 to 300 slides a day with relatively minimal intervention. Things went downhill a little when we discovered that not all slides are created equal. The collection includes the familiar card- board 35mm slides, but also metal-framed solid glass, plastic-framed glass, and plastic-framed flexible slides. These vary in thickness and weight, and have to be separated to scan smoothly. Furthermore, the 100-slide circular carousels only work if fully loaded to ensure even weight distribution and proper balance. The original plan of scan- ning slides in sets with sequential numbering fell apart, and we had to scan physically similar slides together then renumber them after- wards. In parallel with the scanning effort, I worked on developing a suitable website to showcase the collection. After over a year's work (allowing for the arrival of a baby somewhere in there!), we have now scanned around 10,000 slides and have a working (if incomplete) website. If you visit www.patrickmoorecollection.com, you can see the z376 : Patrick with Dr Gary Latham, Apollo 11 Lunar Seismologist (Continued on page 3) President Treasurer Secretary Newsletter Editor Richard Sargent Peter Cooke Shaun O’Dell Frank Johns 4 Bache Drive, Upton, Haven Cottage, Frithville, 147 Queen St, Swinton, 38 Chester Road, Newquay, Chester. CH2 2JB Boston, Lincs, PE22 7DS Mexborough, S Yorkshire. Cornwall. TR7 2RH [email protected] 01205 750868 S64 6NG 01637 878020 [email protected] 07714 093723 [email protected] Issue 93 Spring 2010 [email protected] Published by the Federation of Astronomical Societies ISSN 1361 - 4126 The other thing I’d like you to consider is what you’d like the FAS to be doing for its Presidents Spot member societies. I’d be pleased to receive your ideas and comments, just e-mail me at [email protected]. We can’t make Greetings from the FAS! any promises to adopt your suggestion as Well another newsletter means another Therefore this year I’m starting my appeal Council members are just volunteers but we opportunity for me to communicate directly early for volunteers to put themselves forward would consider suggestions. with you the members of the FAS. I’m pleased for Council duty in time for the AGM on 9th Each year at the AGM the FAS awards the to note that we have been able to significantly October. Not sure what the Council posts Eric Zucker Prize (a plaque and £50 book discount the FAS membership subs for those and duties are? I’m going to post details on token) to someone who has been a great pro- societies who have promptly paid them. Also the FAS website so keep an eye out for that. moter of Astronomy to the public and/or we have significantly reduced the PLI pre- I’m determined that you will have a better Astronomy educator. If there is someone you mium. idea of what Council members do and can would like to nominate for FAS Council con- How have we been able to do this? It has properly consider whether you should put sideration for the award please let us know only been possible because FAS Council yourself forward for a spell on Council. You and tell us why you think he/she would qual- members have been working hard at generat- don’t need special knowledge or skills just a ify for the award. ing income from the production and sale of willingness to help out. It sometimes comes as Finally, may I wish you and your society the Astrocalendar and other astronomy book- a surprise to some of our members that FAS clear skies and happy observing! lets. This income has subsidised your subs Council members are not paid employees but and PLI costs. For us to be able to continue to just volunteers who give of their time and Richard Sargent do this we need to maintain Council mem- effort like any other astronomical society bers! committee member. APPEAL FOR STANDBY Liverpool AS—Star Party at Ainsdale Discovery Centre SPEAKERS FOR THE I arrived, by train from Liverpool Central At about 19:36 I was able to see a very FAS ANNUAL CONVENTION Station, at about 19:10. As I had not seen any good view of Mars in Jim Stacey's C6 with a The 2010 FAS Convention will be held at the sign of the Sun all day I was not expecting 6mm 300x eyepiece. A polar cap was easily Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge on Satur- this event to have clear skies. However, the 1st visible, as well as a large dark region below it. day, 9th October. As usual the day will include quarter Moon was easily visible in the 20 Just after 19:30, the Ainsdale Ranger, a programme of talks by invited speakers. In minute walk to this event. Rachel, turned off the external fluorescent case a programmed speaker has to cancel at Jim Stacey was starting to set up his Ce- lights. This made viewing a lot easier. Rachel short notice, the FAS is looking for one or lestron C6 f12 GoTo telescope when I ar- also provided access to hot drinks and bis- two volunteer speakers from member societies rived and Brendan Martin soon had his 10 cuits that were much appreciated. who would be willing to act as emergency inch Dobsonian Reflector set up to view the At about 19:50 the fog started to get Moon and Mars. The limiting magnitude, at thicker and by about 19:53 the Moon had stand-in speakers at the Convention if re- about 19:15, was approximately 3, within almost dissappeared. At about 20:00 Geoff quired. This would require attendance on the about 30 degrees of the zenith. Below that Regan started his talk in the Visitors Centre - day on standby. Reasonable travel expenses altitude the fog made it very difficult to see "Our Place in Space". This was followed, after and free entry to the Convention would be anything. a short intermission, by Brendan Martin's provided. If called upon to give a talk then a laptop and multimedia projector would be available but the volunteer would have to bring their talk along on a memory stick or CD-ROM.
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