CADAS

December 2014 Sky notes

December 2014 Sky chart

What a great evening that was! Robin Catchpole’s thought- provoking presentation was superb. Are we alone?  Can we ever know? What are the implications of a yes or no answer. How much does that matter? Many thanks to Robin for making the long trip from Cambridge and thanks to Bob Mizon for finding us another great speaker.

A warm welcome to first time visitors Ron Dinsdale, David Halsall and Charles Freebury. And it’s always nice to welcome James Fradgley when he visits.

Thanks to Arthur for his monthly sky-notes and our usual thanks to Zena and all who helped with the all- important refreshments. Is it my imagination or are the cakes even tastier

Thanks too to Bob Mizon for his ‘object of the month’ presentation.

Bud shared some great lunar images and Bill had us all viewing his 3D moon through our red/blue glasses. Nice work Bill. Speaking of which, many thanks to Richard Harbord for obtaining a stock of 3D viewers for us to use. Bill also shared some of his images (including one of a smoke filled fireworks night sky which did nothing for his imaging efforts). I had a few solar images and Bill and I showed some radar capture images from the recent Leonid meteor shower.

Next month is our Christmas social and there will be short talks by members. So bring along a few nibbles and a short 5 minute talk on anything you choose (just as long as its not too high brow and technical).

And clear skies for the Geminids in mid December.

Ron

Just a reminder that at our meeting on 19 November Robin Catchpole will be presenting.

‘Are we alone?’  Don’t miss it!

Remember to bring those red/blue 3D glasses as Bill has an interesting image to share.

Our programme for 2015 can now be found on the ‘Events’ page.

November sky notes

November Skychart

First and foremost, it was great to have Bob Mizon back with us after his successful surgery! Welcome back Bob from us all!! And thanks for a great talk on what has been achieved so far (a lot ! ), and the future of the campaign to improve our night skies.

Thanks to Arthur Davis for an excellent ‘monthly sky notes’ presentation and for the hard copies.
David Pickles’ image of the Andromeda galaxy was stunning. It was well worth the effort Dave.
Once again Bill Reed’s images were superb. The Snowball Nebula and Uranus and its moons were outstanding. Thanks Bill.
And don’t forget to bring any red-blue 3D glasses you have. Bill has an  interesting image to show us.

Next month we have an excellent speaker in Robin Catchpole the title of whose talk is,’Are we alone?
Can’t wait to find out!!

If you have the blue red 3D goggles/glasses bring them to the October meeting so you can view an image of the moon i`ve done in 3D

see you all there

bill

October14skynotes

October14skychart

The 2014 FAS Annual Convention and AGM will be on Saturday 11 October in the Bramall Music Building, located in the centre of the U of Birmingham campus.

Tickets are obtainable via the FAS website www. fedastro.org.uk

Many thanks to our speaker John Gifford, for his enlightening, entertaining and inspiring talk in which John shared his experiences of astro-imaging.The wide range of his images showed what practice and a relatively modest investment can achieve.  This talk was much enjoyed.

Despite recent poor conditions, Bill Reed was still able to share excellent images, a movie of comet Jaques moving against the background stars and a ‘movie’ of images of Perseid meteors captured by radar reflection during the recent shower. Thanks Bill. And thanks to Arthur for his monthly sky notes.
Ron also shared some images of recent H alpha solar activity.

Many thanks to all who helped in the kitchen and with refreshments. Particular thanks to Lorna for taking the considerable trouble to drive miles to get her cakes to us in time for our break. They were delicious  and every one of them was scoffed. Thanks Lorna!!

All in all a most enjoyable evening.

Next month, the subject of Bob Mizon’s talk is ‘Dark future?” This is a topic relevant to everyone with an interest in the night sky.