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Jan 2016 Newsletter Volume21, Issue 5 NWASNEWS January 2016 Newsletter for the Wiltshire, Swindon, Beckington 2016 another potential bumper year for viewing? Astronomical Societies and Salisbury Plain Observing Group 2015 certainly delivered for astronomers but big lenses and even short telescopes when it had to, sometimes only just. We and track with comfort with no dangling Wiltshire Society Page 2 had some good views of comet Lovejoy in leads. At last. Swindon Stargazers 3 January, a fabulous partial eclipse we In Space dramatic fly byes of Ceres and viewed from Silbury Hill in March, then Beckington and SPOG 4 the New Horizons at Pluto were certainly while the noctilucent display was weaker highlights, then better details from Roset- than expected the Sun delivered plenty a Software list: Downloadable 4 ta comet Churyumov-GHerasimenko mis- software and apps. energetic outbursts of plasma that reached sion filtering through. Water on Mars con- the lower British latitudes. I thin kPeter and firmed. Two reusable launch boosting Space Place : Will we see 6 I recorded over 5 separate events, and we systems from the private sector, and an event horizon? just missed out on a New Years eve dis- space flight costs could begin to plummet. play. Low cost mission from India got to Mars Space News: 6-14 Falcon 9, Space stories for We also had excellent skies at the end of and remains of Beagle2 have been seen. 2016, NASA budget, New September for the Lunar Eclipse. We Some black spots include the loss of the Year vfrom Curiosity on viewed from Avebury taking a group under Virgin Galactic mission, but overall a good Mars,ESA Mars probe, our wing from around the world that Peter year for space, Nebula. had assembled for an open stone sunset viewing and Moon rise from Stonehenge. Cosmologists must be delighted with the 101 Sights for 2016 Well done Peter Glastonbury. advances made in the Higgs Boson field and Dark Matter beginning to be tied Venus and Saturn conjunc- We even had a glorious line up of planets down a little. tion that was joined by a comet by the end of December. So what will 2016 bring. Viewing log and images 13-16 A full Moon an Christmas day and a final I have included a space preview and an Lacock viewing session that unfortunately astronomy 101, but the the highlight be- What’s Up January 2016 17-18 just got choked out by clouds. gins this weekend (Saturday morning) with a close conjunction of Venus and Constellation of the Month 19-20 Some personal highlight purchases in the Saturn 5 arc minutes apart low down in Taurus year was the first Astronomical camera the east south east. And a transit of Mer- produced by Nikon. The D810A. And it can cury in May… well who knows what else, Space Station Timings 21 be used in normal camera daylight work. it is going to be another cracking year. IMAGES, VIEWING SES- 22 This combined with the best portable Andy SIONS and OUTREACH mount to be made, the Skywatcher Star Adventurer that can not only take a camera A Quantarid meteor imaged on the 4th Janu- ary (early morning) this year. Pete took pictures of a few, but all got washed out by cloud during the long exposure time, and this was the only one to survive the cloud. It was published on the Space Weather.com web site. Pete Glastonbury Page 2 Volume21, Issue2 Wiltshire Society Page Membership Changes in fees to be discussed. Could be lowered! Wiltshire Astronomical Society Meeting nights £1.00 for members £3 for none members Web site: www.wasnet.org.uk Wiltshire AS Contacts Meetings 2015/2016Season. Andy Burns (Chairman, and Editor ) Tel: 01249 654541, NEW VENUE the Pavilion, Rusty Lane, Seend email: [email protected] Meet 7.30 for 8.00pm start Vice chair: Keith Bruton Bob Johnston (Treasurer) 2016 Philip Proven (Hall coordinator) Jan 5th Rosetta - An Update : Dr Andrew Morse Peter Chappell (Speaker secretary) Feb 2nd 10 Years at the Helm of the European Space Nick Howes (Technical Guru) Science: Professor David Southwood Observing Sessions coordinators: Jon Gale, Tony Vale Mar1st Life on Mars : Professor Mark Sims Apr 5th The Story of Star Names : Mark Hurn Contact via the web site details. This is to protect individuals from unsolicited mailings. May 3rd Oddities of the Solar System : Bob Mizon June 7th The Current State of SETI : Martin Griffiths Rusty Lane, Pavilion Dr Andrew Morse Observing Sessions Andrew Morse is currently working on the Rosetta mis- The Wiltshire Astronomical care shown we may get the sion to study the comet 67P/ Society’s observing sessions National Trust to do some- Churyumov-Gerasimenko. are open, and we welcome thing with them! visitors from other societies as well as members of the PLEASE see our proposed In May of last year Andrew public to join us. changes to the observing also agreed to do our little 15 We will help you set up sessions, contacting and questions and answers that equipment (as often as you other details. Back Page appear on our web page. Please look them up! need this help), and let you test anything we have to help you in your choice of future astronomy purchases. Please treat the lights and return to full working order before leaving. With enough Rosetta is still orbiting Comet 67P/Churyumov- Gerasimenko, and it’s beamed back an impressive image showing off the comet’s sur- face. It’s rugged and beautiful. Page 3 Friday 19 Feb 2016 Swindon’s own astronomy group The club meets once a month at Liddington Hall, Church Programme: Andy Burns: A presentation on John Herschel Road, Liddington, Swindon, SN4 0HB at 7pm. See pro- Friday 18 Mar 2016 gramme below. Programme: AGM plus a presentation Stargazing Event at Blakehill Farm Nature Reserve on 14 Friday 15 Apr 2016 December 2015 Programme: Mark Radice: Observing the Moon Originally conceived as an event to watch the Geminids Me- teor Shower, the clouds closed in unfortunately and our Friday 20 May 2016 plans changed to an indoor event for adults and children with Programme: Owen Brazell: Shrouds of Night - Observing activities and presentations by members of Wiltshire Wildlife Dark Nebulae Trust and Swindon Stargazers. Far from being a washout, it is true to say that everybody enjoyed the activities and learn- Friday 17 Jun 2016 ing about space. One presentation consisted of 'the sky at Programme: James Fradgely: How (on Earth) Did Life Start night around Blakehill Farm' (what we might have seen!), whilst another explained how meteor showers occur. Friday 16 Sep 2016 We now use Blakehill Farm Nature Reserve on a regular basis for ad-hoc stargazing and everyone is welcome. Often Programme: Guy Hurst: Star Clusters at short notice please see our website for more details. Friday 21 Oct 2016 More about the event here: http:// Programme: Paul Roche: Robotic Astronomy www.swindonstargazers.com/noticeboard/blakehillfarm.htm Friday 18 Nov 2016 Ad-hoc viewing sessions near Uffcott Programme: Mike Leggett: Exploration of Mars Regular stargazing evenings are being organised near Swin- Friday 16 Dec 2016 don. To join these events please visit our website for further information. Programme: Christmas Social We meet regularly at a lay-by just outside the village of Uff- cott, near Wroughton. Directions are also shown on the Website: website link below. http://www.swindonstargazers.com When we use East Kennett, we meet at the public car park just below The Red Lion pub at Avebury; we usually hang on Chairman: Peter Struve for 10 minutes and then move on to our viewing spot at East Kennett. Information about our evenings and viewing spots Tel No: 01793 481547 can be found here: Email: [email protected] http://www.swindonstargazers.com/noticeboard/ Address: 3 Monkton Close, Park South, noticeboard06.htm Swindon, SN3 2EU If you think you might be interested email the organiser Rob- in Wilkey (see website). With this you will then be emailed Secretary: Dr Bob Gatten (PhD) regarding the event, whether it is going ahead or whether it will be cancelled because of cloud etc. Tel Number: 07913 335475 We are a small keen group and I would ask you to note that Email: [email protected] you DO NOT have to own a telescope to take part, just turn up and have a great evening looking through other people's Address: 17, Euclid Street, scopes. We are out there to share an interest and the hobby. There's nothing better than practical astronomy in the great Swindon, SN1 2JW cold British winter! And hot drinks are often available, you can also bring your own. Enjoy astronomy at it's best! Members of the Wiltshire Astronomical Society always wel- come! Meetings for 2016 At Liddington Village Hall, Church Road, Liddington, SN4 0HB – 7pm onwards The hall has easy access from Junction 15 of the M4, a map and directions can be found on our website at: http://www.swindonstargazers.com/clubdiary/ directions01.htm Friday 15 Jan 2016 Programme: Philip Perkins: Astrophotography Page 4 BECKINGTON ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY SPOG OBSERVING SITES We also have a new website www.beckingtonas.org where Any ground rules for a session? details of our programme and other useful information can be Common sense applies in the group; red light is essential to found. General enquiries about the society can be emailed to preserve night vision; we park cars so you can leave when you [email protected] wish and not disturb others with your headlights. So our committee is now: Contact Details Steve Hill, Chairman/Imaging 01761 435663 John Ball, Vice Chairman 01373 830419 Our Website Alan Aked, Treasurer 01373 830232 www.spogastro.co.uk Rosie Wilks, Secretary 01225445814 Our Email Mike Witt, Membership 01373 303784 John Dolton, Telescope Hardware 01225335832 [email protected] Meetings take place in Beckington Baptist Church Hall (see the Twitter location page for details of how to get to us) and start at http://twitter.com/SPOGAstro 7:30pm.
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