Cotswold Astronomical Mercury Society

Volume 18 Issue 1 - May 2002

Comet Ikeya Zhang, by Jack Newton 8/3/2002 (left), 11/3/2002 (right)

Occultation of Sat- urn by the on the 16th of April 2002.

A great night in the Cotswolds, and many members will have witnessed this unusual event. Inside this issue … These images by John Fletcher. The First Ten Years (Part 2) 2 Celebration of the 45th Anniversary of “Sky at Night” 6 The Asteroid that never was … Was ? 7 Sir Patrick Moore at the Roses Theatre 8 Saturn Occultation Viewing at Whiteshill 8 AGM 2002 - Co-ordinators Annual Report 9 AGM 2002 - Summary of Treasurer and Membership Secretary’s Report 10 AGM Update 10 Dates For Your Diary 12

Mercury - The Newsletter of the Cotswold Astronomical Society, founded 1982 Mercury

Editor’s Spot In June we had a visitor from afar, Muriel Enoch a member of the staff By Callum Potter of the Astrophysical Observatory in Victoria British Columbia who described the work of the premier Canadian Astronomy Centre which A much too brief Editor;s Spot this , but with so much material boasts a 72" telescope, the world's largest for 6 until the 100" to include superfluous waffle from me is the last thing you want to came on line in 1918. Also that month we had the devastating news read ! that one of our bravest members, Robin Townley, who had spent most

Just a quick thought on the latest Space Tourist, Mark Shuttleworth. of his life in a wheel chair yet had managed to get to the most inacces- He spent something like £15million, on his ‘holiday’ in space. But this sible places in his pursuit of astronomy and sites of old aircraft amount of money could fund the research of many astronomers for crashes, had been killed in a road accident in Sussex, returning from many years, or allow us to join some exciting international projects. one of his expeditions around the UK. Robin was a source of inspira- The contribution of Dell Foulkes who has funded the Foulkes robotic tion to us all and it is fitting that he is remembered to this day by the telescopes in Hawaii and Australia for use by school children will annual award of the Robin Townley Trophy for the member who has surely be remembered as a more fitting legacy. made the most contribution to the Society, other than the Co-ordinator or Treasurer/Membership Secretary. So, on with this months great articles ! Another observatory was opened. Dick Warden's fine building com- Clear Skies, plete with C8 at Bredon. Chris and Ken Sheldon boosted the Messier league with a massive opening total of 89 sightings - WOW !! And on a rainy day in July 1987 Nick and Janet tied the knot. A very happy Callum occasion it was too. In fact the summer of 1987 was terrible for astro- ————————————————————————————– nomical observations, yet our numbers grew to over 40 with 8 active

observatories. John Fletcher achieved world wide fame when his The First Ten Years (Part 2) photo of Comet Bradfield was published in The Times on November By Tony Ireland 18th; yet another scoop for our remarkable Gloucester Co-ordinator. Dick proudly announced that the Messier count had passed 1300 - and And so to 1987. Alan Wells got us off to a good start with a wonder- Tony had contributed at least six !! fully funny talk on how to observe occultations. One 'Don't' is to mut- ter into your tape recorder in the dark when there are policemen Early in 1988 ASTRONOMY NOW decided to get involved with around - you might get jumped on as a suspect burglar ! (Dick recalled amateur societies around the country by inaugurating the ASTRON- something similar when he and Dan Turton were trying to observe a OMY NOW quiz. We foolishly entered and were drawn away to grazing occultation from a Cotswold Churchyard. Locals reported Reading AS in February. With 20 supporters we set off down the M4 strange goings on and the police were called. They had great difficulty to be kindly received and royally entertained. Sadly we lost by 41 - in understanding that the unlucky pair were not practicing Black 36½. I recall not knowing the brightest Star in the Southern Hemi- Magic !!). sphere - Sirius.... As Bernard said afterwards to fellow grieving partici- pants, Dick, Peter and me, "They just had a bit more 'up there' than we At the 1987 AGM Dick finally relinquished the position of Co- did !". The victors went on to the semi-finals. ordinator to Bernard Abrams, but if we thought we could relax we were gravely mistaken. Bernard's enthusiasm was every bit as frantic John Fletcher went even further afield up to Scotland to spend a - as Dick's as we aspired to even greater triumphs. For starters Fred end with Andy Packer at St. Andrews University. Andy had already Watkins held a memorable party to celebrate the opening of Grace- come top of his class. John had a fantastic time with their huge refrac- lands Observatory in Charlton Kings, an amazing construction with tor taking his chance with both eyes. It was also about this time that I walls that moved, containing a new Fullersopes 8¾" F 7.3 telescope. began to forge links with a certain Mr. Jack Newton, Astrophotogra- pher supreme, and his wife Alice whom we had met on a visit to Vic- The Cotswold AS was well represented that year again at the BAA toria BC Canada the previous autumn. The links are still there and we weekend where Dick obtained a world exclusive interview with enjoy them greatly. who bewailed the deficiencies of that creaking organi- sation. The dilemma of science versus the needs of amateurs within one Association was discussed at some length. My own memory of that weekend is of the hair-raising journey by car to Winchester in galeforce cross winds. Boy were we glad when we arrived in one piece !

In March 1987 we welcomed a new Astronomy magazine ASTRON- OMY NOW. Even now hardly an edition doesn't go out without a photo or a contribution or mention by a CAS member. In May we scooped more photographic prizes at the FAS AGM returning hot foot from Coventry to 8 Merestones Drive to hear a fascinating talk by wily Brian Manning on astrophotography with almost 30 people crammed into our lounge - minus all doors - and Hilary closing her eyes as he demonstrated liquid developing techniques over our new carpet !

John Fletcher, dissatisfied with his 14½" scope and anxious to com- mence a supernova patrol decided to replace it with a 10" uttering Jack Newton with his 500mm telescope at his Observatory in Victo- those immortal words -" There's no place like ' Dome". Maybe they'll ria British Columbia Canada. It weighed over a ton !! Circa 1990. put that on his tombstone in 40 years time !! John nearly didn't make it back from Fullerscopes in London with the new scope. On the motor- way he was overtaken by a wheel - ONE OF HIS OWN !!! With Schumaker skill he survived and so did the scope. Volume 18, Issue 1 - May 2002 Page 2 Mercury

It was at this point we realised that we really could no longer meet in right from the beginning, yet even better editions lay ahead as Ken each other's houses due to increasing numbers at our Cheltenham made use of sophisticated equipment, though Dick continued with the meetings. So we found a most suitable venue at Church House, Pains- actual printing of MERCURY. It was a magazine to be proud of. We wick Road complete with off stage kitchen, a curtained wallscreen, introduced the two trophies mentioned above in memory of Robin and and room for up to 50 people. Everyone seemed pleased with this ar- Dan. Our photographic efforts won yet more awards at the 1989 FAS rangement. Hilary, my wife, was cajoled into providing refreshments convention where we scooped First Prize in the Spaceprints Competi- at each meeting, something she endured for the next 11 years. Peter tion and walked off with £75 to boost our morale and our bank bal- Cadogan started our library which soon grew into a very respectable ance. We recruited a distinguished new member Eric Dodson, star of collection, including magazines and videos. He also took over respon- Stage, Screen, TV (Porridge) and Radio who wrote a fascinating arti- sibility for our Star Atlas. By now we had been joined by the duo of cle on James Bradley, his and our 'local' Astronomer Royal. (I found Derek and Ian Birrell, two members who were to contribute a great out recently that Eric, who was an occasional attending member for deal to the Society in the coming years. But poor Ian's initial talk on about six years until illness forced him to resign, had died after a long Saturn will long be remembered for the chaos of my recalcitrant illness in January 2000. Eric was very appreciative of our Society and (Irish - need we say more) projector which defied all logic in showing the fact we never made a fuss of his fame, and treated him as 'one of his slides in the wrong order, upside down, back to front and occasion- us'. He is another member sadly missed ). ally not all. It was a memorable evening for all the wrong reasons. However, it was 'You know who' who hit the headlines yet again na- Late in 1988 we suffered yet another blow. Dan Turton died after a tionally when Mr. Fletcher found himself part of a major long battle against cancer. For Dick, his close friend, this was a sad TV production with the strange title of 'Earth Calling Basingstoke,' a blow; for the rest of us it was a great loss and it is only right that we resume of what well known amateur astronomers were up to around remember him today with the Dan Turton Trophy for the person who the UK. John was chosen for his excellent work with children and his has taken the best photos, in recognition of the marvellous ones Dan fanatical observing programme in the eternal search for supernovas. took over many years all around the world seeking solar . AS- We thought that, whilst John's contribution was very commendable, TRONOMY NOW published some of his photos as a tribute shortly the general public might have been baffled by the other amateurs' work before he died. shown in the programme. There are still copies of that TV tape around if anyone is interested. In October Dick chose a real 'hot potato' in opening a discussion in the newsletter asking why females are not 'turned on' by astronomy ?! About this time we took over the entrances to Cheltenham and Tuffley Chris Sheldon provided a suitable reply by achieving a brilliant pass- libraries for displays celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Moon mark in GCSE Astronomy as did young Adam Rose. Andy Packer - Landings - an event which had originally kindled John's interest - and, how time had flown – went one better achieving an excellent degree in I suspect, many others' too - in astronomy. It has always been a sense AstroPhysics from St. Andrews University whilst early member Rich- of pride that Peter Cadogan, worked on the follow up research into the ard Tweedy not only won a BBC prize which resulted in him spending brought back, as part of his PhD at Sheffield University. the day with the Cricket Commentary Team (TMS) at Lords for a Test That phial of tiny black Moon Rock is a treasured possession ...... we Match and a feature in Radio Times but set out on a PHD course at also featured on local radio again that month. Newcastle University which ultimately took him to the USA for fur- ther studies. Meanwhile ebullient Tim Bradbury journeyed to the South of France to spend an enjoyable few days at the Amateur Astronomy Centre at Pui Michel. Whilst Peter and I went North to a school at Sandbach to rub shoulders with none other than the Astronomer Royal at celebra- tions marking the tenth anniversary of their astronomy society. We were royally entertained. Peter gave an excellent talk while there were also memorable contributions from Sir Francis Graham Smith (who was impressed by Peter's Moon Display) and the late lamented Paul Docherty who thrilled us with his Space Paintings, an art self taught, whilst a group from Lincolnshire laid on the ultimate in audio visual space presentations.

The first winners of our Trophies were Jonathan Obee (Dan Turton) and Ian Birrell (Robin Townley) present ed by beaming Bernard Abrams. Both were well deserved offering encouragement to our younger members. Jonathan Obee receiving the All smiles from the guests at the opening of Mount Tuffley in first Dan Turton Gloucester by Heather Couper and November 1988. Trophy from Co- ordinator Ber- nard Abrams in October 1989. In But it was John Fletcher who once again stole the limelight late in the background 1988 with a fantastic party at Mount Tuffley under the glare of TV Ian Birrell ad- lights as Heather Couper and Nigel Henbest came down from Green- mires the Robin wich to officially open the new Mount Tuffley Observatory. The pho- Townley Trophy tos taken at that event were ‘out of this world' ! One of the best eve- he has just won. nings we have ever had at the CAS, with a turn out of over 30 mem- bers and friends. Fantastic. One of the high spots that year was an outing to Oxford for a tour of At the AGM in March 1989 Dick handed over the responsibility for the History of Science under the tutelage of the irrepressible Dr. Alan the magazine to Chris and Ken Sheldon. Dick had done a great job Chapman, self taught Professor of Scientific History at Oxford Univer- Volume 18, Issue 1 - May 2002 Page 3 Mercury

sity. Dr. Chapman would make the London Telephone Directory Watch, which had lapsed after Les Stevens went to Canada and mem- sound interesting whilst his capacity to drink ga llons of tea amazed us. bership went over 40 people for the first time. Our annual budget ex- He still does in every way. Dr. Chapman will feature again later in our ceeded £500. We continued to moan about the weather - has it ever story of the first ten years .... For me and many ot hers that trip one of been otherwise? In an effort to discover what members really wanted the very best of that era... to hear talks about we held our first 'opinion poll'. To most people's surprise Comets came out on top and Computers near the bottom, but The Astrono- old favourites like astrophotography still featured strongly in our pref- mer Royal Sir erences. The Royal Mail brought out some strange stamps on the Francis Gra- theme of 'Europe in Space' resulting in yet more publicity for our fa- ham Smith ad- mous 'postie' who was photographed giving a lift on the handle bars of mires Peter his bike to Heather Couper dressed in a Space Suit. (Heather, not Cadogan's John, that is !). The post was somewhat later than usual that morning. Moon display at Sandbach But for three lucky members 1991 will always remain the year of the School's 10th Total . Tim Bradbury, myself and Hilary set off from Heath- Anniversary row on 4th July for the US of A, Los Angeles initially, with 400 ot h- celebrations. ers - another 250 joined us on arrival - for a tour of the 100" at Mount 1989 Wilson under the guidance of Patrick Moore and John Mason and then on to Hawaii or Mexico. It proved to be a fantastic experience in every way. Those 4 minutes and 13 seconds of totality seen through the rising mists on a hillside high on Mount Mona Kea early on the Meanwhile the Gloucester Branch lost a very valued member when morning of July 11th - a miracle, for us taking into account the Les Stevens and young James – our youngest member aged 6 !! - set weather overnight - will remain in our memories for ever. A black off West to make their fortune in Toronto Canada. Les had been head- hole surrounded by a pearly white halo of light hung in the sky. We hunted by telephone direct from Canada. photographed and videoed and recorded and gazed and gazed at Na- ture's greatest show and cheered when it was all over. Hawaii itself Then in 1990 Bernard Abrams decided that because of his work and was beautiful. We vowed to return one day ...... Later that year Tim other commitments he could no longer cope with the Co-Ordinators was off again to California to see the Annular Eclipse of the Sun last- job. This was a real blow to us. With some reluctance I took over ing just 90 seconds. He came back enthused with the experience as and, after eight years, relinquished the Treasurer's /Membership Secre- this time it had occurred at sunset rather than sunrise, over the Pacific tary's job to Derek Birrell. At the same time the post of Gloucester Ocean. Co-Ordinator was abandoned. I decided that with another National Astronomy Week in the offing we had to draw in our horns somewhat Meanwhile back at base The Messier League was dusted down to the to preserve our finances. So throughout 1990 we relied on 'home delight of many and the despair of others. Bob Bass held a great Star grown' talent for our . In April Dick and I crossed The Party at Cranham with his friend Martin, whilst we even ventured into Rubicon and spent an evening with the ASTROLOGY Society the unknown territory of the Forest of Dean for an AstroCamp organ- (Patrick Moore was NOT informed beforehand !) We did our best to ised by Tim Jones, Mark and Mike. Computer buffs, Peter, Dick and show them the real heavens but felt that we may have been wasting Trevor, tried to boost the popularity of computers and astronomy in an their time, polite though our reception was. BBC Radio Gloucester- excellent presentation with John Fletcher and his Wordprocessor. shire sought a 'live recording' with us at the telescope ( I was puzzled by this expression - a broadcast is either live or recorded; it cannot be Knowing that we were coming up to our tenth anniversary I organised both surely ?), which was entertaining for Bernard and myself. Dawn a celebration dinner at the Charlton Park Hotel for early April 1992. Leigh, with the radio station's only engineer on duty that evening, tried We invited the one and only Dr. Alan Chapman to speak to us about their best to comprehend the mysteries of Jupiter and its and the life and work of Edmund Halley. Over 40 people, members past . The fact that it remained cloudy for most of the time and present then, and their guests, attended and the hotel laid on an was neither here nor there !! At a Society evening later that month excellent meal of Apple California, Best End of Lamb and Fresh Fruit Fred took us on a tour of the Moon whilst John was always available salad - not out of a tin ! - prior to Dr. Chapman's speech, which I re- to speak to us on something heavenly, including his continuing love of corded for posterity. Derek Birrell had obtained a splendid cake, com- pork pies ! All the while members continued to pile articles into the plete with astronomical decorations which we demolished faster than magazine showing the diversity of their interests as well as their enthu- one of John's pork pies. Everyone voted the evening a huge success siasm. under the chairmanship of Dick Warden. We presented Dr. Chapman and his delightful wife Rachel with a framed photo of the Hawaii In November 1990 we rolled up our sleeves yet again for another Na- Eclipse I had taken - and some packets of exotic tea !! Rachel received tional Astronomy Week. This time the theme was Light Pollution. a bouquet of flowers. I remember writing to the manager to thank him Despite the hard work of our dedicated team we had to confess by the and to say that we would return in 2002 - will we ? ...... end of that week that it had been a failure. The public were not 'turned on' by Light Pollution as they were for Halleys Comet. There was At the AGM of 1992 all sorts of changes took place. For the first time criticism of the organisers of the NAW that insufficient material was since the Society began I stepped down from all official positions made available to participating societies. It will always he an uphill other than writing up DATES FOR YOUR DIARY and corresponding task to 'sell' our hobby. I recall some years previously when Dick re- with the Chicago and Victoria AS. Trevor Talbot, rather like the US ceived a phone call, after the previous NAW, from a man who had cavalry, rode in to take over the Co-ordinators job at the last minute. bought a 4½" telescope to view Halley's Comet. It had cost him £100. We would be in his debt. Derek remained Treasurer and Membership The value new was nearer £250. "I'd rather go to bed than watch the Secretary, Mary Hilsden wielded her talents as Editor of the magazine, stars " said this intrepid 'Galileo'. One more example of the fickleness Peter Cadogan took responsibility for its production assisted by Nick of the public. Day, and Dave Anderson who helped with the distribution. The old order began to change but the Society continued to flourish. In 1992 And so to 1991. At the AGM Dick volunteered to be our Events Or- three members spent a terrific evening with Patrick Moore at Selsey ganiser again - and I breathed a sigh of relief ! Trevor Talbot, who had enjoying his generous hospitality, Mary Hilsden rushed around Austra- been a valued member for many years, revived the Constellation lia sending memorable reports from Ayers Rock, Melbourne and the Volume 18, Issue 1 - May 2002 Page 4 Mercury

flight deck of her returning aircraft - what a place to see M7 from !!. M84, M86, M63, M87, M67, M81, M82. John Rock photographed a supernova in NGC3294 - but hang on .... I NGC4565, NGC4435, NGC4438, NGC4388, NGC3628. am into the next ten years. It's time to bring this to a halt. M13 and M92 in Hercules (absolutely marvellous) and finally M57. I return to my comments in that article long ago as an apt finish. I ended with these words :- '..We must never forget that no matter how At 1215 we called it best. erudite the articles we produce for the newsletter, it is viewing the So, from M42 in Orion to M57 in Lyra - ’Just a night’s viewing’. heavens that matters most. Any evening can reveal a nova or a comet. You can never outguess the sky even though you may know it well.' (I ——————————————————————————————————————————– remember the thrill John Fletcher got at capturing, quite by accident, a Cotswold AS Astro-Camp magnificent fireball one evening as he photographed an aurora - a sen- sational success.) So I think that that is as true today as it was back in By Callum Potter

1992. I have enjoyed writing this. I hope those of you with long On having a chat with Andy at the last meeting, discussion turned to memories will have enjoyed reading it just as much, and those of you the idea of having a group camping weekend at a dark sky camp site with short - or no ! - memories of these events will appreciate just how sometime. This would be a chance to do some extended viewing away active we were in those days and feel inspired to continue to take up from the city lights. the mantle in the years to come. I apologise to all those whose names I haven't mentioned and for all the events which I have failed to report, Inspecting the Calendar and checking the Moon phases (ie. no Moon) far far too many to list here. All of us, whether we were only casual the best weekend would probably be that of the 7th September (this observers or avid viewers of the sky, all of us contributed something, year, 2002). even by just turning up at the meetings. My thanks to you all, but es- pecially to Dick without whom none of this would have happened. We need to find a suitable camp site, and some investigation into this The CAS was his idea. I merely helped to bring it into reality. is started. We would aim to be within an hours drive (or so) from To conclude, I shall ask Callum if he will reproduce therefore one Gloucester in a Wales direction. No more than about 70 miles. piece I chose at random at the end of my first article on the initial ten years of the Society, from all the many many reports during that time, If you would be interested in participating in this event or can suggest which seemed to me to illustrate why we pursue our hobby, which so a suitable please let me know. Further information will be circulated many find strange or even eccentric. Yes Fred you will probably be as soon as details become firm. amazed to see this again after all these years. But it is in a way a trib- ————————————————————————————– ute to you as being the sole surviving member with me of the past Viewing session at Nature-n Art twenty years and it expresses perfectly why we meet each month - to By Derek Maskell look at the sky and enjoy what we see. It appeared in Issue 1 of Vol- ume 5 in April 1986 and is entitled simply: JUST A NIGHT'S VIEW- It is intended to hold another Society viewing session at the usual ING...... venue of the Nature in Art car park on the evenings of June 14th 15th and 16th. Almost mid summer so not only should he weather be some- —————————————————————————– what warmer but the session could drag out till late.

The summer constellations will be well up and there will also be a 4- Just A Night’s Viewing day old moon during the early part of the evening for those members By Frederick Watkins who like to look into a crater or two. The planet line-up will be well First published April 1986 past but Jupiter should still be visible close to the moon. This will be a good opportunity also for the younger viewers who are always keen to I suppose most of us wait expectantly at holiday time hoping even see the moon. Make it a date in your diary, come with a friend, intro- more fervently than normally that the sky will clear. Easter 1986 was duce some youngsters to the skies and bring along your telescope, I no exception. I had been waiting for four days with the bearings of know that quite a few members now have portable go-to scopes, ideal Blue Leap beautifully polished and ready to go, but what awful for the occassion. As usual, the caravan will be there, and light refresh- weather! And then quite suddenly or so it seemed on Easter Monday a ments available. clear night. Put out all the flags !! ————————————————————————————– So there I was with Blue Leap and my 25mm Plossl eyepiece just to observe and it seemed such a long time since I had been out viewing. I started at 9pm with Douglas and a lad from next door. Cheltenham Festival of Science—Star Gazing Evening So first, M42 and M43 before they set; jus as glorious as ever, proba- bly my last look until the Autumn. Then, M35 in Gemini. I cannot As you may have seen we are hosting an evening Star Gazing as part really achieve a small enough magnification with my system to do of the Chelthenham Science Festival. This will be on the evening of justice to this object, but a marvellous sight all the same. Sunday 26th May in Imperial Gardens, Cheltenham, which is just be- Douglas and his friend lost interest at this point and retired to bed, but hind the Town Hall. Sadly it will be a , but hopefully there I was just beginning! M44 the galactic cluster in Cancer was quickly will be a few things to spot. Scheduled kick-off time is 9.45 pm.

followed by M51 (with NGC 5195) and M101, the face on galaxies as It would be good if there are a number of telescopes available for the I call them. I hurried on to M65 and M66 in Leo. At this point Bernard public to view through, so if you are able to bring some equipment arrived with Lara, Douglas got out of bed, dressed, and decided he along, even binoculars, please do. Of course all members are welcome would like to join us in the garden! Quite a party!! We therefore pro- to ‘gaze’ too, it is a free event ! ceeded with just a few arguments over whose turn it was to use the scope and Douglas was clicking his pics. If you are bringing ‘heavy’ equipment, parking can be arranged at the Town Hall. Please let Callum Potter know as soon as possible. We logged up the following further objects:

Volume 18, Issue 1 - May 2002 Page 5 Mercury

The Celebration of the 45th Anniversary of "Sky at Night" on 28th April 2002. By Kind invite by Sir Patrick Moore. By John Fletcher

What a wonderful surprise I had when I received a personal invite from Pat- rick Moore to join him in his celebrations for the achievement of his 45th years of The Sky at Night, The UK longest running program ever on record. I hope you like the invitation card of Patrick on his old bicycle seen set against his favourite astronomical object, the Moon.

Well I arrived at Farthings in West Street, Selsey, Patricks home about 45 minutes early at 11.15am and parked up the car about 25yards away and made way to his front door which was already open. "Do come in John", says one of his helpers who I had met on my last visit. I was offered a glass of wine, and accepted. Several dozen or more of his visi- tors were already enjoying themselves looking around his observatories in the garden and the wealth of knowledge seen in the form of several hundred books within his study. I walked through into his music and TV room and a dozen guests and Patrick were sat watching a whole batch of past Sky at Night videos. Patrick looked up. "John…. It is jolly good to see you. I am so glad you could make it. Do sit down" We shook hands and had a short chat. I gave Patrick a bottle of one of his favourite drinks wrapped in star and rocket coated paper and a congratulation card, which he opened and read with joy and gave me many thanks. From this point on more and more guests arrived and by 1300hrs I reckon there were around 200 guests present. I recognised many dozens of the guests but sadly could not put names to many of them. Everyone was able to walk around and chat freely throughout the entire event and there were so many familiar faces both famous and well know amateur astronomers that it was breathtaking. I met and chatted to the wife and daughter of the late Paul Doherty a famous space artist. I also met and spoke to David Hardy another fine space artist. Also I spoke to many others such as; Tom Boles the UK amateur with several supernovas to his credit. Guy Hurst TA and now BAA president. David Hinds tele- scope maker. Dudley Fuller the London telescope supplier. BAA top amateurs, Martin Mobberley, Michael Maunder a wonderful astrop hoto- grapher. John Wall, Alan Wells, Bob Marriot, Peter Cottermole and Chris Lintott from Cambridge University. One for Tony Ireland next. "Our eyes met and we just hugged each other". Yes it was my wonderful friend Heather Couper. Heather inaugu- rated my observatory and I went live on all TV channels that night. Several CAS members were present and I have a video if anyone wishes to see it some time. Heather did that wonderful "Lightning" documentary on Horizon through her Pioneer productions company. I also had a good chat with Nigel Henbest; Heather's live in close friend. Nigel was New Scientist main astronomy and space correspondent for many years and now they simply work together as a close team and have been very successful indeed. I also chatted to Caroline Rayner the Managing editor for Philip's maps, atlases and reference books and the BBC TV production manager in charge of Patrick's Sky at Night series. Joined onto Patrick's home and well out into the garden was erected a giant marquee where dozens of round tables were all laid out within. There was much wine, ample seating accommodation and some non-alcoholic still water, plus plenty of bowls of nuts and tit bits to eat on each table. To the right long tables heaving with more than enough food to feed everyone was laid out for all to be seen. Also there were Chefs in their tall white hats and waiters to serve up the food as required. The sherry trifles cheesecakes and chocolate gateau with cream of many vari- ous kinds twisted my arm and many others to have seconds. Out of the house dressed in a pale blue blazer looking very smart came Patrick, walked sadly now with great difficulty. He simple said. " The food is there. Do help yourselves". After a few minutes Patrick went back into the house and was seen throughout the event mingling with his guests. An hour later Patrick joined us in the marquee and everyone were silent as a speech was made. At various stages of the speech Patrick was cheering by all and a clapping of hands and an inclusion of the "For he is a jolly good fellow" was sung. Patrick was much taken back by it all but remained calm enough to thank everyone for coming along. He looked so pleased with everything and how things had worked out, and I might add at his own expense entirely. As I said before after my previous visit I have never met such a generous kind hearted man in my entire life. It was a wonderful event and by 18.30 hrs many began to leave so I decided I would make my way back to Mount Tuffley some 140 miles away. After listening to many guests talking to Patrick I grabbed my opportunity to say goodbye to Patrick. I held Patrick's hand and thanked him for his kindness. He replied by simply saying. "John. It was very good of you to come down and see me. Do come again and you are more than welcome to stay the night any time you wish". I accepted the kind offer and promised I would do so soon. On the way out I said goodbye to many of his guests and close house helpers and friends who I had met on my previous visit. One of them had found me a spare unopened music CD-ROM that Patrick wrote himself of which I had failed miserably to obtain from any high street shop this last six months. It was the one I spoke of in my last article for CAS which I listening to it with Patrick on my previous visit. Its title was "Moore Music" The Royal Scottish National Orchestra. Music such as Orion's March, Nocturne in D flat Op3 and Halley's Comet, Op 12: I did actually become brave and do a rather quick three minute video with my digital camcorder which you are all are welcome to see at my home any time. Just give me a ring. I have it transferred to a VHS video now.

All I can say is. Yet another wonderful memory has occured, and one that I will remember for the rest of my entire life. Thanks solely to Pat- rick who has done more for British astronomy than any other man I know.

Thank you Patrick is all I can say.

Volume 18, Issue 1 - May 2002 Page 6 Mercury

The Asteroid that never was.. Was? porting form had not been working since 21st September, 2001 ! They did however give a link where I could send my report to. I looked up By Alan Cahill as best as I could what information they needed and prepared my e-

At first glance this might seem an unusual title for an article, but I mail. I also found that you do not send images to them, you tell them hope that by the end of this you may more fully understand. where they may view the images preferably your own website. So I set On the night of Thursday 7th March, 2002. I saw that there would be a up a special page and link on my site and posted the e-mail!!! short window of opportunity for observing. The viewing wasn’t very I think I was in a dream from then on. I went to the Society that night good but due to the fact that the weather had kept me indoors for al- and told one or two of you about it, but I was reluctant to announce it most a month, it was worth a try. I had spoken to John Fletcher earlier until I had a confirmation from the MPC. That never came!!! and he also was going to do some observing. I waited 3.5 days, without a reply and sent a follow up to them. They I set my telescope up outside and clipped on all of my accessories, and replied immediately to this e-mail, stating that YES they had got my was ready to go by 9pm U.T. My target tonight was asteroid 173 INO report, and YES it had been ignored!! They stated that I had missed at 12.4 mag. This I knew would be pushing it, normally I can only get out some information and so it had not been acted upon. to around Mag 12, but I was all fired up and ready to go. I was so angry at this time.. it was hardly my fault that it hadn’t gone I set the controls for my CCD camera to take short exposures with them in the right format! What was I supposed to do if their reporting poor resolution. I always do this because my telescope isn’t the most form was down! And lets face it.. if they can reply straight away to my accurate on GOTO and so it only takes a few seconds to get yourself query SURELY to God they could have sent me an e-mail before, tell- into the correct field of view, and take a few exposures to centre the ing me the right format to report it in !!!! I was at a total loss to know asteroid. On the first image, I realised that INO was more or less in the what to do.. the delay of 3.5 days would now mean that only large tele- centre of my field, but not visible. So I took another image, this time scopes would be able to check out my find. I re sent the report, trying for 15 seconds, half as much again as the first. I found that there was a my best to give them what they wanted and also pointing out where fuzz where the asteroid should be. Still not good enough though. So any other data could be found.. on my website. They did reply to this when I tried another image, I found that cloud had covered the entire e-mail, saying that it was in the wrong format, and to refer to certain area. I went outside to look and sure enough there was the cloud! Time pages on the MPC website. to pack it in. The phone rang then, it was John Fletcher, like myself, he It was over… was clouded out and packing up. I was just banging my head against a wall trying to deal with the vaga- Now comes the exciting part.. after putting all of my gear away, I ex- ries of a system I couldn’t understand. amined the 2 images I had taken.. realized that they were not good Since that day, I have examined what I have been doing for the last 3 enough to claim seeing INO, and was about to delete them when I de- years and came to the conclusion that I have wasted my time.. I really cided to blink them together. Really I was hoping to see INO whist do try to do something useful. I always thought that if I found an aster- doing this, however to my great excitement, I saw an object moving at oid, or discovered that an asteroid was in the wrong place, then I the bottom left of my image! I must say, I was very excited at this as would be taken seriously, but that is obviously not the case. Format is you can well imagine. Only a couple of months before this I had im- obviously more important than discovery. I was at this stage ready to aged the Near Earth Asteroid 1998 WT24 and by God this was very give up. similar, only fainter. Later, I sent a private e-mail to my colleagues. Telling them the way I I did a median filter on both images to get rid of as much noise as pos- felt. No one can put into mere words the way I felt. It was a goal for sible.. hot pixels etc. On blinking them again, the object was still there! me to find a new asteroid, as I know it is for John Rock. So you see, I I have, in the past found suspect objects before, but on cleaning the will never know for sure if it was a new asteroid. Was I the first person images up they have always disappeared. Not this time however. to see this big beautiful piece of rock? Now lost for ever? Next I checked on my star charts for any stars or asteroids that could However, in a more positive mood I decided that I just could not pack be in the area. There were no asteroids, but at the position of the object in all those years of work. I had to find another method of reporting in my first image there was a 13.0 mag star. Obviously this could not finds. That turned out to be the TA (The Astronomer). Without my be the star, because I had failed to find INO at 12.4, and also this was knowledge, JF sent a copy of my e-mail to the director of the TA Guy only a 10 second exposure. On to the second image. If my object in the Hurst. I had a really understanding reply from him, and now if I find first image had been the 13th mag star, then it must show on the second something, I just send it to them and they will follow it up AND report image because the exposure was 50% longer. But no.. there was not h- it. ing showing there.. there was however an object just to the left and As an aside from this story, through the TA I contacted a man in Spain down. On my star charts nothing at all showed!!! who has just discovered a NEA. He has also discovered 15 other aster- I have to say I was now very sure in my mind that this was an asteroid! oids. I told him the tale, I have just told you, and he has been really I decided to phone JF at this point to get his opinion. Bless him, he brilliant. He agreed that something was moving on my images, he also was about to go to bed but told me to send him the images. I did think sent me a copy of his MPC report for discovering the NEA. Now at about phoning John Rock, but realized that he would be in the same last I have the format. The good news is that he has promised in the position. I went to bed excited! future to do follow up observations for me, should I ever find another Next morning I decided to e-mail John Rock at work. After all he has asteroid. He even said that if I wanted he would then submit the dis- much more experience of asteroid hunting than me. He wrote back covery for me! What a true friend. straight away asking me to send the images to him and he would check Rather than waste this experience, I decided to go through the formali- them out. ties, just as if my report had been accepted. I created a new MPC report and fed it into a computer program I have I won’t go into the vagaries of e-mail, but suffice to say, he didn’t get them until he went home!! John checked then out for me, and ran the that reads these reports, and computes orbital elements for it. (2 obser- images through lots of filters but could not make the object go away. vations are the minimum requirement) To my surprise it accepted the At this point the decision was mine.. I have been doing my asteroid data and created the elements for me! search for about 3 years and never sent anything into the Minor Planet Next I put this data into another Astro program I have, and sure Centre (MPC). I had always dreamed of doing this but never really enough there on the screen was a new asteroid called Alan01 ! I even went further and then created a display of the asteroids orbit on the thought it would happen. th I logged on the MPC website, and looked up how to report a new as- screen. It showed the close pass on the 7 March and plotted its orbit teroid. I found the correct page, and found to my dismay that the re- around the solar system , just out past Mars. So that’s it, I think the title for this story probably makes more sense Volume 18, Issue 1 - May 2002 Page 7 Mercury

now. Was it a new asteroid? Unfortunately we will never know. I think Saturn Occultation Viewing at I will leave you with the words of an astronomer friend of mine called Frank in Colorado. Having seen the images on my website he wrote.. Whiteshill By Duncan Willoughby Hi Alan, we do appreciate your work. You’re a keen observer, a good imager, and an asset to our community. So you forgot On Tuesday 16th April a sec- to dot the “i”, big deal, you did it, you know you did it, and we ond viewing evening was held know you did it. Well done! at Whiteshill Scout hut, in con- junction with the Whiteshill Cub Scout pack. The observation session was arranged on this particular eve- ning to take advantage of the occultation of Saturn by the Moon taking place just before ten. The bonus for this evening though, was that when the evening was being planned the visit of Comet Ikeya-Zhang was just being talked about, and we weren’t sure how good it would be at that stage. To kick the evening off, to get the cub scouts prepared, and to give an opportunity for Derek and William to set their telescopes up, I gave them a talk about structures in the universe, and also talked about the lifetimes of stars, to give the youngsters a comprehension of what they were about to be looking at during the overall viewing session. At about 9.30 we all went out- side and spent some time observ- ————————————————————————————– ing Venus before it set, and took a quick look at Jupiter before the Sir Patrick Moore at the Roses Theatre main event, that of the occulta- By Duncan Willoughby tion. At about 9.45 a thin band of On Sunday 10th March, Sir Patrick Moore gave a tour-de-force pres- cloud threatened to spoil the ac- entation of his “Great Universe” lecture at the Roses Theatre, Tewkes- tual event as the moon and its bury. immediate vicinity became Though I have heard him give the talk previously at the Bacon Thea- slightly obscured. By 9.55 this tre at Dean Close School, this time he was on top form. had all but cleared and the observation of the final occultation event Both during the talk and the lively question and answer session, Sir was unhindered. Patrick was full of his customary enthusiasm. And what an exciting event it was ! The structure of his talk was identical to those that he has previously At around 10pm, Saturn and Titan disappeared from view and the given. The audience were taken on a journey beyond our Solar System scouts were promptly whisked off to bed by their parents ! into deep space to unravel some of the marvellous spectacles that are The remaining adults, William, Derek, Rose, my Dad, the Scout there to be observed. Leaders and I, stayed on to about 11.15 to witness the re-appearance Through a combination of his own images, and photographs taken on firstly of Saturn at about 10.30, and spend some time looking at Ikeya his travels, to relatively familiar Hubble images, he eloquently ex- Zhang. plained what is out there to be see and what the observations tell us Akin to the observation session in July last year, we saw another about the universe about us. excellent Iridium flare. This one was at least three seconds long and Later on in the evening, Sir Patrick kindly read from our flyer, and brightened to in the region of magnitude –4, and was more spectacular encouraged the audience to become involved with local societies to than the last one. help deepen their interest and understanding of astronomical topics. Currently I am planning with the cub scout leader, Christine Clat- Sir Patrick’s special mention of the society was also supported by a worthy, a summer viewing evening as a repeat of last years event, and display that was put in the foyer of the theatre. Wycliffe College have also expressed an interest in organising a simi- During the interval and lar evening. after the show a great deal I would also like to thank Whiteshill Cub Scouts for kindly inviting of interest was taken in the us again this year, and also thank you again to Derek and William for society and about astron- generously setting up their telescopes for the youngsters to view this omy generally by his exciting event. guests, and a number of ————————————————————————————– people indicated an interest in joining the society. Great Magazine Give-Away

I would like to thank all of the members who turned The society has been given a number of Astronomy magazines. If you up to see the talk, and help would like any of these issues, please get in touch with Callum Potter. Photo Derek Maskell set up the display and hand Astronomy Dec 98, May, Jun, Aug, 2000, Feb 2001 to Dec 2001 out leaflets. I hope you en- Sky and Telescope Apr 2000, Sept 2000 to Dec 2001 joyed the evening as much as I did, it was extremely uplifting to see Astronomy Now Aug 98 to Dec 2000 Sir Patrick in action again. Sky and Telescope Skywatch 2001 ——————————————————————————————————————————– Astronomy & Space, Dec. 1998

Volume 18, Issue 1 - May 2002 Page 8 Mercury

AGM 2002 - Co-ordinators Annual Re- their two special articles in the Gloucestershire Citizen, in relation to the threat posed by Near Earth Asteroids and light pollution, respec- port for 2001 tively.

2001 has been an dynamic year for the Cotswold Astronomical Soci- Our members this year have also had their work featured on a national ety, not least in our move from Church House to this new venue, but in website, and local and national , and I believe that special so many ways that cannot be fully encapsulated in this report. mention should be made of John Rock and Alan Cahill in this respect. Alan Cahill appeared on both Central News South and the February As co-ordinator it has given me great satisfaction and pride in the So- edition of the Open University’s Final Frontier, and John Rock ap- ciety, that we on many occasions this year have been able to introduce peared on Final Frontier. the Society to the vast amount of people interested in Astronomy in Gloucestershire and beyond. During 2001 our membership has again grown, and the participation of I believe that we have successfully promoted ourselves and the greater members both at meetings and at other events has been particularly interest in Astronomy to a great deal of people, so of whom I am great. During the year we have not only been provided a wealth of pleased to welcome as new members. visual treats both in terms of slides, CCD images, and videos, we have Our members have proven throughout the year that Astronomy is an also been treated to a variety of stories about our members globe trot- extremely rewarding subject to become involved with and in the ting exploits to visit places of astronomical interest or to view events course of this report I shall give credit to some of the individuals who of astronomical interest. have made this so. This year, I believe special mention must go to Honouree Member, During the year the Society has been present at, or has organised a John Fletcher, not only to congratulate him for his special meeting variety of events that have helped communicate Astronomy not only to with Sir Patrick Moore, but for sharing his experience with us. This the members of the Society itself, but to various members of the local was a special treat. communities in Gloucestershire. This February and March we had stands at Astrofest, and at Sir Patrick As in previous years, our presentations have been varied, exciting, Moore’s talk given at the Roses Theatre, and many people asked ques- informative and uniformly well presented. tions of us about the society and Astronomy generally. Our talks have been both home grown and from a variety of outside In November, we successfully organised an Open Day at this hall to speakers from Research Establishments and the Amateur Astronomical encourage people with an interest in Astronomy to come and see what community. Many guests have appeared for the first time at the soci- we get up to as a society. The event was publicised across the county, ety, but it has been a pleasure to meet some familiar faces again. Our particular thanks goes to Callum Potter our events organiser. and in particular in libraries, tourist information centres, camera shops and museums. This year it has been pleasure to welcome the following speakers to In helping to make this event a success, I would particularly like to the society: thank the following members: Keith Gage, Peter Cadogan, Ian Birrell, Derek Maskell, Callum Potter and Rod Salisbury, without whose help Jay Tate, Spaceguard U.K. Asteroid Threats this event would not have got off the ground. Ken Sheldon Life of Stars Nick Hewitt, BAA President Deep Sky Exotica Earlier in the year during the National Science Week, youngsters in Dr. Ignacio Ferraras, How go Galaxies Form Gloucester were able to learn about Astronomy and Spaceflight at Oxford University Gloucester Library via a wall display, which was successfully co- Dr. David Whitehouse The Moon: A Biography organised with the staff at Gloucester Library. Andy Salmon, Missions to Jupiter Communicating with the next generation of Astronomers has generally Midlands Spaceflight Society not been far away during 2001. In July and October, children at White- shill Cub Scout pack, and at Bredon School were able to benefit from Thanks also goes to the Society’s members for their presentations and the time and experience of our members, my thanks goes to Derek contributions: Maskell and John Harris amongst others for helping to make these evenings of discovery for the youngsters who attended. Keith Gage Drawing at the Eyepiece John Harris William & Caroline Herschell Viewing opportunities have been a constant part of this year’s sched- Peter Cadogan Cosmological Conundrums ule, and not only have members been able to gather at our regular John Fletcher Astrophotography from the beginning viewing site at Nature In Art, new opportunities have been created, Ian Birrell Tour of the outer gas giants namely by organising viewing nights with the Bredon School Astron- Quiz omy Club, and the Whiteshill Cub Scout pack, and also here at this Graham Calvert Deep Sky Objects hall. Rose Leicester Eclipse 2001 On two evenings of our regular programme for the year, members have been able to observe from this hall, and I would like to thank Thanks also goes to Ian Gray for this slides throughout the year, and to Martin Sinton and Callum Potter for making equipment available to Derek Maskell, Alan Cahill, Callum Potter, and Rod Salisbury for other members and visitors for viewing on these occasions. their slides and videos during the year.

During 2001, the society has not been far from the attention of local The bi-monthly newsletter Mercury in its new look this year, and the and national media. In the November and March editions of website go from strength to strength and are vital parts of the society. “Astronomy Now” the society has received mention in both the Soci- Throughout the year the articles, photographs, drawings and CCD im- ety Spotlight and the Society News. Our profile has also been raised in ages have been of good quality and maintain the traditional high stan- the F.A.S. magazine. In both publications our events schedule is regu- dard of both these publications. As newsletter editor and webmaster larly updated. thanks goes to Callum Potter for his continued hard work. Thanks also We have appeared in the Shurdington Church Gazette, the Bredon goes to Tony Ireland as a valued regular contributor to the newsletter, School News, and in the local papers for Cheltenham, Gloucester, and and as a source of a wealth of information about upcoming astronomi- the Cotswolds in relation to various activities, but I feel that a special cal events. mention should be made of both Alan Cahill and John Fletcher, for As ever it has been our pleasure to welcome back as guests to the soci-

Volume 18, Issue 1 - May 2002 Page 9 Mercury

ety Tony and Hilary Ireland, and we wish Tony continued luck for the tickets to non-members (there will be no charge to members). Never- ongoing success of his society. theless our potential loss for the year becomes £250. However, we have the substantial reserves of some £700 for which we have no The society continues to boast a very well stocked and maintained Li- planned use and it is therefore intended that we meet any loss by draw- brary, and our thanks again goes to Peter Cadogan for single-handedly ing on these reserves, still leaving £450 in hand. Subscriptions can storing, transporting, and managing an ever expanding library. therefore remain unchanged for a further year. At the end of this financial year, the society is again in sound financial state and our membership is buoyant, and I would like to thank Rod ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTIONS 2002-03 Salisbury for his continual commitment as our joint Treasurer and Annual subscriptions for the new session (April 2002 - March 2003) Membership Secretary. are now due and should be paid by 1st June. The rates are unchanged from last year, but we have introduced a new category of reduced In concluding my report on this our twentieth year, I would not only combined membership to benefit those combined members who would like to thank ou all for making this a successful society for another individually qualify for the reduced level. The rates are: year, but I would like to thank those members and past officers who Individual membership: Standard level £16 through past hard work have ensured the society’s continued high stan- Reduced level £8 dards and longevity.

————————————————————————————– Combined membership: Standard level £24 Reduced level £12

AGM 2002 - Summary Of Treasurer/ The reduced level is available to students, retired people and those not Membership Secretary’s Report in employment. Combined membership applies to 2 persons who will share one newsletter, with the reduced combined level applicable if Membership Secretary’s Report both persons would be individually eligible for the reduced level. If This year, we suffered quite a substantial loss of members when 9 you currently have combined membership but now qualify for the new failed to respond to my plea in the September Mercury and did not reduced level, please let the Treasurer know when you pay your sub- renew their subscriptions. However, this was more than offset by the scription. addition of 11 new members resulting in a net increase in membership It would be appreciated if members would pay their subscriptions from 46 to 48, of which 9 are combined memberships. The total num- promptly. If however you have received this copy of Mercury but ber of people in the CAS at the end of March was therefore 57, four don’t intend to renew your membership, please let us know so that we more than last year. do not bother you with further requests for payment. We had no contact from those who did not renew, so we do not why ————————————————————————————– they decided to leave us and it is perhaps risky to speculate. I note AGM Update though that most of them had rarely, if ever, attended meetings during By Callum Potter the past few years, so maybe they all simply felt it was time to call it a day. For those members who were unable to attend the AGM, here is a Meanwhile, by the end of March four prospective new members had summary of the material issues that were discussed. been given registration forms and I continue to receive enquiries from other interested astronomers. The Society is therefore continuing to 1. New combined reduced subscription level where both mem- progress and can surely look forward to increasing its membership bers are eligible for the reduced rate was agreed. again next year. 2. The Dan Turton Trophy has had its scope extended so that images captured by any means (e.g. photographs, CCD im- Treasurer’s Report ages, drawings) are now eligible. As usual, our only significant source of income is members’ subscrip- 3. The Society’s officers are no longer barred from nomination tions which, because of our increased membership, is up by £36 on last for the Trophies. year. At the same time, expenditure under our two major headings of 4. A new voting system for the Trophies was agreed. The meetings and administration is down by 22% and 40% respectively. schedule is as follows: The former reflects the lower cost of our new venue and reduced a. Nominations requested in May Mercury. Nomina- speakers’ expenses (despite the continuing quality of the speakers), tions must be returned by the end of June. while the latter results mainly from a decrease in postage costs. b. Voting forms with the nominations will be posted The combined effect of increased income and reduced expenditure in the July Mercury. Voting forms must be re- means that this year we have made a profit of just over £170 which is turned by the end of August. transferred to our general funds. These now stand at £704. Our insur- c. Awards will be made at the September meeting. ance reserve remains unchanged at £250. 5. The officers from 2001/2002 were willing to stand again and In next year’s budget, I have been conservative both in estimating sub- were elected unopposed for 2002/2003. scription income at a similar level to last year despite my hopes for 6. Meetings are scheduled to start at 7.45 pm. Members are increased membership, and in providing for speakers’ expenses to re- requested to arrive in good time so the meetings can start vert to the 2000-01 level. I have also allowed for some increases in promptly. administration expenses and an expected further increase in our liabil- 7. The tea break can sometimes become somewhat extended. ity insurance premium. Provision has also been made for the purchase The coordinator will endevour to set a return-time for the of new trophies in anticipation of the decision on Society awards later start of the second half of the meeting. Members are encour- in this meeting. We have also decided that next year we should make a aged to return by this time. bulk purchase of astrocalendars and provide them free to our members. On these projections, we would show a loss of £50 next year. Some of these items need formal changes to the constitution. Amend- In addition to the above, we have budgeted a sum of £200 for 20th ments are in preparation and will be tabled in the near future (probably anniversary celebrations, in particular the visit by John Dobson. This is the June meeting). seen as the worst-case scenario because we would hope to keep expen- diture below this level and also recover some of the cost from sale of Volume 18, Issue 1 - May 2002 Page 10 Mercury

COTSWOLD ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY

REVENUE ACCOUNT – 1 APRIL 2001 - 31 MARCH 2002

Income Expenditure 2000/01 2000/01 £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ Members’ subscriptions Meetings Standard level 324.00 374 Hire of rooms 140.00 186 Reduced level 102.50 106 Speakers’ expenses 164.06 216 Combined level 198.00 108 Catering 20.58 16 624.50 588 324.64 418 Astrocalendars Administration expenses Sale proceeds 32.00 Postage stamps 32.92 68 Less purchase costs 22.00 Stationery 23.05 25 10.00 Engraving of trophies 7.95 14 63.92 107 Interest on Bank accounts 8.31 18 Annual subscriptions FAS 27.50 25 Donations 4 Local libraries 10.00 10 Web site registration 9.99 47.49 35 Miscellaneous purchases 33.48 27 Total expenditure 469.53 587 Excess of income over expenditure 173.28 23 642.81 610 642.81 610

BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31 MARCH 2002

2001 2001 £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ General fund b/fwd 530.82 758 Assets Plus surplus for year 173.28 23 Business account 693.28 685 704.10 781 Treasurer account 216.27 81 Less transfer to insurance reserve 0.00 250 Cash held 40.91 56 704.10 531 950.46 822 Insurance reserve b/fwd 250.00 0 Plus transfer from general fund 0.00 250 Advance payments 250.00 250 Shurdington Church Hall 3 Subscriptions Postage stamps 19.64 12 Advance payments, 2002-03 16.00 56 970.10 837 970.10 837

I certify that these accounts are a true record of the Society’s financial transactions and position for the period and date stated above.

R. J. Salisbury Treasurer

3rd April 2002

Volume 18, Issue 1 - May 2002 Page 11 Mercury

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY By Tony Ireland

Writing these notes two ahead of the issue of the next MERCURY I cannot comment on the hoped for observations of the planetary line ups in the western sky in the beginning of May. The most exciting event will have occurred the night before your meeting, on May 10th, when Venus and Mars will have been extremely close together in line of sight. I hope someone will have had the luck to photograph them succes s- fully. As of now I have had one or two tries at photographing the current line up but will not the know the results till much later.

In between we have had John Fletchers tremendous achievement in being invited to Sir Patrick Moore's 45th Sky at Night 'birthday bash' down in Selsey. Hope you have had a great time John and we shall be anxious to read all about it - and maybe video some of the fun if the BBC oblige soon. Meanwhile I can report some success at last in recording a planetary occultation on the evening of April 16th when the Moon occulted Saturn. For those who saw it it was a magical event. If you look on the SPA Website and click on Occultations you will find my report among others much better qualified than me. Of course Sods Law reared its ugly head as regards yours truly. I ran out of film thinking I had a 36 exposure film in the camera when it was only a 24 exposure and in the excitement of trying to change the film succeeded in ripping it out of the capsule rendering any replacement an impossibility. On digging out my reserve camera I found the batteries were flat with no time to change them - and as it happened - no film to put in it anyway !! Nevertheless I was able to video the sequence of events with a Canon M30 digital camera set at X 90 though as you can imagine at that magnification it was slightly blurred . You can see the planet disappear on the dark side and re-emerge on the bright edge of the Moon. As a visual sight it was magical to say the least. What a pity we have to wait until 2007 (?) to see the next one.

Anyway, without further ado let's see what the next two months will bring ......

MAY Tuesday May 14th Today, around the world , it is possible to see the Moon occult THREE planets in 24 hours !! Sadly none of these will be visible from here. For the record we start at 8 am BST with Saturn, twelve hours later its Mars and then four hours later at midnight it's Venus. Apart from the fact that the Moon will be just two days old you'll need to be at the North Pole for the first occultation, South America for the second ( also in daylight) and then down to the South Pole for the last one. Now there's a challenge for a keen amateur who's won the lottery ! Even in Concorde it would be a struggle though m! aybe some of those US fighter jets might make it in time providing they could be refuelled - but how to take off and land on snow ? lncidentaly if you still had some money left, and the plane and could get back to the North Pole the next day you would be just in time to see the Moon occult Vesta at midday. What fun !

Wednesday May 15th Zipping back from the North Pole this evening you would be able to see Saturn just 6 degrees ESE of Mercury very low in the WNW 30 minutes after sunset.

Thursday May 23rd Look at Venus in binoculars this evening and you may see three Moon widths (1 1/2 degrees) to the South a tiny point of light. (Mag -4.0 and 8.4). That's the asteroid Vesta. You'll have to wait until it is dark though. Closeby will be Jupiter.

Wednesday May 29th Saturn has disappeared in the Sun's glare whilst Venus and Jupiter are just five degrees apart.

Friday May 31st Venus and Jupiter just three degrees apart this evening.

JUNE Though the planets have now finished their main dance around each other we can still watch Venus and Jupiter play tag. At the same time Jupiter gets closer to Mars in line of sight. By the end of the month they will have both to all intents and purposes have disappeared , with Saturn, behind the Sun, all to re-emerge in the morning sky over a period of a couple of months.

Monday June 3rd Venus will be 1.6 degrees North of Jupiter this evening. A wonderful sight in binoculars, the best evening view we have had for three years. Mars will be much lower in the sky. A telephoto lens should give you a great photo of the conjunction.

Tuesday June 4th If it's clear try another photo - you'll be surprised how their positions will have changed in just 24 hours.

Thursday June 13th Cameras at the ready this evening as the Moon passes just North of Venus with fainter Jupiter to the SW.

Wednesday June 19th The Moon occults star ZC 1941 Mag 4.7 at 22.49 BST PA 174 (Star 1 2 Virgo )

Thursday June 20th Look at Venus in binoculars this evening and close by you might pick out M 44 - the Beehive Cluster - to the SSW. Meanwhile Mercury is best placed in the morning sky but at a poor angle for us northern observers.

JULY Tuesday July 2nd If you have a clear eastern horizon early this morning - 3 am onwards look out for the rise of Saturn before sunrise. Within a fifth of a degree South of the ringed planet will be Mercury. This is the closest planet planet conjunction this year. (Yes, even closer than Venus/Jupiter above). Best seen in binoculars.

Saturday July 6th The Sun this morning will be 5 million kilometers further away than it was on January 2nd. Brrrrrrrrrrr ... !

Wednesday July 10th Venus this evening will be a degree NNE of Regulus. (Mag -4.1 and 1.4)

Volume 18, Issue 1 - May 2002 Page 12 Mercury

SKIPTON & CRAVEN ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY

By the time you read this our will have almost finished with the AGM to come next Wednesday (15th) when it looks as though all our Committee will be re-elected en block for another session beginning in September. We hope to hope to entice Paul Money back to give us a good start once more. In the past year we have picked up some interesting new members including Ian Brown who is a very keen lunar ob- server with a new 4" refractor. He does some excellent sketches of lunar craters, worthy of wider publicity. We have also acquired a new lady member with a telescope she doesn't understand and a knowledge of the sky which is even less. She has trouble finding West ! But she looks as though she will be a great help to us as she lives by a fishing lake away in the Yorkshire Moors free from light pollution and, even better, the complex has a WARM meeting room where we can hide if we decide to have a star party - to show her where West is - and in true Yorkshire fashion it teems down that night. I must also mention the wonderful photography of Jack Parsons who has taken a fantastic photo of Comet Ikeya Zhang from his farm, also way out in the Dales, with an adapted telescope photo set up to enable him to maintain his interest in astro- photography despite a terrible accident nearly 3 years ago which has left him in a wheel chair. Jack is our Robin Townley...... we are all hop- ing like mad that continuing physiotherapy will enable him to walk again,

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————– Sky Watcher's Diary CCD Images By Derek Maskell

Members may be interested to know that Tony’s monthly Dates for Derek has been getting to grips with his Starlight Express M X7c CCD Your Diary will start to appear on the BBC Gloucestershire website, Camera, and has already had some great results - here are a few of following Tony’s recent appearance on the local radio station. So if them: you lose your copy of Mercury you can always check out:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/gloucestershire/weather/

————————————————————————————– Markarian 421

Markarian 421 is an interesting object in xxxxx. It is a variable xxx

This image of Markarian 421 was ob- tained by John Fletcher.

Observations of this object would be wel- comed by the BAA which has recently issued an alert.

Society Awards— Nomination Form

With the new voting scheme agreed at the AGM, we are inviting nominations for the Society’s awards for the year just completed (April 2001 to March 2002). You can either use this form or send a written note to the Co-ordinator. Nominations must be received by the Co- ordinator by the 30th June 2002.

For the Dan Turton Trophy (for the best astronomical images (photo, CCD, drawings)) I would like to nominate:

Name:

Examples:

For the Robin Townley Trophy (for the member who has contributed most to the promotion and general advancement of the society’s acitiv- ities) I would like to nominate:

Name:

Examples:

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————–

Name of nominator: Signature of nominator:

Volume 18, Issue 1 - May 2002 Page 13 Mercury

Monthly Meetings Society Officers

June 8th Coordinator X-Ray Astronomy, Dr. Mike Church, Univ. of Birmingham. Duncan Willoughby 69 Wellsprings Road, Longlevens, July 13th Gloucester, GL2 ONJ "Fourteen Pioneers of Astronomy (from Copernicus to Tel: 01452 416405 Jansky)", Bob Mizon, Campaign for Dark Skies

August 10th Treasurer & Membership Secretary "Spaceflight Revolution", David Ashford, Bristol Space- Rod Salisbury, planes Grove House, Christchurch Road, September 14th Cheltenham, GL50 2PN Members Night Tel: 01242 516416

September 19th Events Organiser 20th Anniversary Meeting - An Evening With John Dobson Callum Potter

The Cottage October 12th Bredon’s Hardwick Prof. John Parkinson, Solar Eclipses Tewkesbury, GL20 7EE November 9th Tel: 01684 773256 (home) "Deep Space in Wiltshire" , Philip Perkins, Astrocruise 01242 229741 (work) Email: [email protected] December 14th “Destination Moon”, video night Newsletter Editor Callum Potter January 11th, 2003 (as above) "Revd. Thomas William Webb", Dr. Allan Chapman, Oxford University Librarian

Peter Cadogan Monthly meetings of the CAS are held on the second Satur- Elville House, day of each month. Meetings are held at Shurdington Church 126 The Park Hall, School Lane, Shurdington, Cheltenham. Cheltenham, GL50 2RQ

Tel: 01242 235471 (home) New members are always welcome to come along. Meetings 01242 582451 (work) start at 7.45 pm. Email: [email protected]

Newsletter Distributer Rod Salisbury

Other Events (as above)

May 18 - Web Society Annual Meeting, at Rutherford Apple- ton Laboratory Web Site May 22nd - 26th - Cheltenham Festival of Science. May 26th - Cheltenham Festival of Science - Star Gazing eve- http://www.cotswoldas.org.uk ning at Imperial Gardens, 9.45 pm. Email June 14th-16th - Viewing Evenings at Nature in Art [email protected]

August 15th –17th - AstroWest Starcamp , Torquay. The Cotswold Astronomical Society is a member September 7th - Proposed weekend for Cotswold AS Astro- of the Federation of Astronomical Societies camp

October 19th - F.A.S. Convention, Leicester The next issue of Mercury will be the July 2002 is- sue. Copy date is Saturday the 6th of July 2002.

Volume 18, Issue 1 - May 2002 Page 14