British Astronomical Association - Historical Section

Introduction

Welcome to the BAA Historical Section!

The BAA is one of the world's oldest astronomical societies. We are the custodians of over 120 years worth of astronomical observations, by some of the world's most prolific and talented amateur observers.

Please come and join us in exploring the historical roots of our wonderful hobby.

What the Historical Section offers:

Section Meetings

We aim to hold a section meeting every year.

Our most recent section meeting at the Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge, on Saturday November 27th 2010.

Our next section meeting will be on May 5th 2012, at Soho House, Birmingham, with a theme of:

Astronomy in the Industrial Age


Speakers:

Kevin Kilburn - The Forgotten Star Atlas: Bevis's Uranographica Britannia

Mike Leggett - Bryan Donkin FRS: Engineer, Industrialist and Astronomer

Mike Maunder - The Early Years of Astrophotography

Stuart Williams - William Henry Robinson: From Red Books to the Red Planet

Allan Chapman - James Naysmith: Astronomer of Fire

Section Newsletter

We produce a bi-annual section e-news. You can download recent editions

Mentoring

We have plenty of material suitable for research projects. We aim to offer a mentoring service to encourage newcomers to try out research.

Contact us if you are interested.

Articles in the BAA Journal

Recent papers in the Journal include:

"Charles Lewis Brook: third Director of the BAA Variable Star Section" - Jeremy Shears (J Br. Astron Assoc. 122,1,2012, pp 17-30)

"Building a model astrolabe" - Dominic Ford (J Br. Astron Assoc. 122,1,2012, pp 33-41)

"An Ambiguous Truth: T.J.J. See and the surface relief of Mercury" - Richard Baum (J.Br. Astron Assoc. 121,5,2011, pp 276-287)

"Felix de Roy: a life of Variable Stars" - Jeremy Shears (J.Br. Astron Assoc. 121,4, 2011, pp. 203-214)

"The Hampstead Observatory 1910-2010: a century of service to the public" - Douglas G.Daniels and Julia V. Daniels (J.Br. Astron Assoc. 121,1,2011, pp.13-18)

"The strange case of pseudo-twilight on the Moon" - Richard Baum (J.Br. Astron Assoc. 120,6,2010, pp358-360)

The Society for the History of Astronomy

Section Members may also be interested in the activities of the Society for the History of Astronomy

Contact Us ...

Section Director - Mike Frost

Deputy Section Director - Lee Macdonald

Upcoming Events


  • Until Sat March 11th 2012 at Derby Museum and Art Gallery - Astronomical, The Beauty of a Thousand Stars           

  • Saturday April 28th 2012

    SHA Spring Conference

    At the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich          

  • Saturday May 5th 2012
    Our Next Section meeting - Astronomy in the Industrial Age(1700-1900)

    Soho House, Handsworth, Birmingham.

  • Mon 24th - Sat 29th Sep 2012
    SEAC 2012:Ancient Cosmologies and Modern Prophets

    Annual meeting of the Societe Europeene pour Astronomie dans la Culture (SEAC). Held in Ljubljana, Slovenia.