====================================================================== BAA electronic bulletin No. 00340 http://www.britastro.org/ ====================================================================== Meeting of the Instruments and Imaging Section Saturday, 10 May 2008 A note for those travelling by public transport: If arriving by rail, minicabs are available at West Bridge Garage, and cost considerably less than the black cabs that service the railway station. There is no direct bus route from the railway station to Wootton. If travelling by bus or coach - arriving at the bus station in Northampton town centre - buses 15 and 1B leave for Wootton at regular intervals, and stop immediately outside the meeting venue. The locations are marked on the map on the website. R.A. Marriott, Section Directorram@hamal.demon.co.ukhttp://www.britastro.org/iandi ====================================================================== BAA electronic bulletins service. E-mail: circadmin@britastro.org To unsubscribe please send an e-mail to circadmin@britastro.org Bulletin transmitted on Tue May 6 06:18:44 BST 2008 (c) 2008 British Astronomical Association http://www.britastro.org/ ======================================================================
====================================================================== BAA electronic bulletin No. 00339 http://www.britastro.org/ ====================================================================== I'm sure members will be delighted to know the recipients of this years awards. They are: WALTER GOODACRE AWARD - RON ARBOUR MERLIN MEDAL & GIFT - TOM BOLES STEAVENSON MEMORIAL AWARD - JEREMY SHEARS We extend our congratulations to each of these observers for their contributions to observational astronomy over the last several years. Formal presentations will take place at the Exhibition Meeting at the National Space Centre on Saturday June 28th. I look forward to seeing many of you there. Roger Pickard, President ====================================================================== BAA electronic bulletins service. E-mail: circadmin@britastro.org To unsubscribe please send an e-mail to circadmin@britastro.org Bulletin transmitted on Thu May 1 20:43:52 BST 2008 (c) 2008 British Astronomical Association http://www.britastro.org/ ======================================================================
====================================================================== BAA electronic bulletin No. 00338 http://www.britastro.org/ ====================================================================== Meeting of the Instruments and Imaging Section Saturday, 10 May 2008 Wootton Working Men's Club, Wootton, Northampton Doors open 9.45; meeting begins 11.00 3 entry, including morning and afternoon refreshments Programme 400th Anniversary of the Invention of the Telescope Bob Marriott : The early days of the telescope Dr David Whitehouse : The Digges telescope - before Lippershey Ron Arbour : Commissioning telescopes Nick James : Refurbishment of the James observatory Dr Allan Chapman : The seventeenth and eighteenth centuries Bob Marriott : A brief history of astronomical photography and imaging Dr David Whitehouse is a former BBC Science Correspondent. He has recently completed a biography of Digges, and is now working on a television documentary. Wootton Working Men's Club - formerly The Red Lion - is a real-ale pub with a private function room incorporating lecture facilities (including full black-out) in congenial surroundings, with comfortable seating and a bar. It is listed in the CAMRA Guide, and is the current recipient of the CAMRA Regional Award. The Yeoman of England - 70 yards distant - is open at 10 am for breakfast, and serves a comprehensive menu all day until 9 pm. The landlord of the Yeoman has given his permission for use of the car park Photographs of the venue, and a location map, are on the Section web site, which has been completely redesigned. Recent additions include several members' observatories and instruments, a selection of images, and all (113) of Tom Boles' supernova discoveries - in all, 267 pages. R.A. Marriott, Section Directorram@hamal.demon.co.uk Northampton (01604) 765190http://www.britastro.org/iandi/ ====================================================================== BAA electronic bulletins service. E-mail: circadmin@britastro.org To unsubscribe please send an e-mail to circadmin@britastro.org Bulletin transmitted on Mon Apr 21 06:30:05 BST 2008 (c) 2008 British Astronomical Association http://www.britastro.org/ ======================================================================
====================================================================== BAA electronic bulletin No. 00337 http://www.britastro.org/ ====================================================================== Those members attending the meeting this coming weekend and travelling by car may find the following link useful. The Storey's Way car park is the preferred one.http://www.newhall.cam.ac.uk/contacts/directions/site.html Roger Pickard ====================================================================== BAA electronic bulletins service. E-mail: circadmin@britastro.org To unsubscribe please send an e-mail to circadmin@britastro.org Bulletin transmitted on Tue Apr 8 10:31:40 BST 2008 (c) 2008 British Astronomical Association http://www.britastro.org/ ======================================================================
====================================================================== BAA electronic bulletin No. 00336 http://www.britastro.org/ ====================================================================== On Friday night, 2008 April 11, at around 20:49:30 UT (21:49:30 BST), the 20km asteroid (1886) Lowell is predicted to occult the naked eye star 4.8 magnitude HIP 63355 (36 Comae Berenices). The latest update (March 28) shows the shadow track crossing from east to west almost centrally over Edinburgh, Glasgow and surrounding towns. The star will be at an elevation of about 38, in azimuth 119 (ESE). The Sun will be 13 below the horizon, and there will be minimal interference from the Moon. The maximum duration will be only 1.7 seconds, but the star will disappear completely for those inside the shadow track. As with all predictions of this type, there is some uncertainty in the precise location of the track. Taking into account the formal errors, the probability of observing a positive event is around 15% within the shadow track, decreasing to 7% at the 1 standard deviation limits. The latter are around 50 miles north and south of the centre line and enclose parts of the Tayside, Fife, Central, Strathclyde, Lothian, and Borders Regions (using pre-1996 boundaries for simplicity). To see the detailed track, click on the link below to display Derek Breit's high precision plot of the event on a Google Map, and zoom in to Scotland:-http://www.poyntsource.com/New/Google/20080411_13468.HTM The predicted centre line is shown in green, the shadow track edges in blue, and the 1 standard deviation track in red. (Ignore the movable grey lines.) Although theoretically visible to the naked eye, observers may prefer to use binoculars or a telescope to see the event. Scientifically valuable information can be obtained from accurate timings of the disappearance *and* reappearance of occulted stars. A single positive timing can yield a position relative to the star of several times higher precision than standard astrometry. Combined timings from observers distributed across the track can yield the size and shape of the asteroid. Of course, occultations involving bright stars give the opportunity for many more observers to take part. Observers wishing to make serious visual timings (to better than 1 second) will need a multi-lap stopwatch or a voice recorder linked to an accurate time signal. Those with sensitive enough video cameras, camcorders or webcams may also be able to record the events, but will need an accurate method of time-stamping the video. This is a red star (Mr=4.0) which CCD video cameras are more sensitive to. Serious timings of positive occultations would be welcomed by the undersigned, as would definite negative events from within the predicted shadow track. It is normal practice to observe or record for 2 minutes either side of the predicted central occultation time above. A specimen report form can be found at:-http://astrosurf.com/eaon/Report%20form.htm Please email any reports to me, or contact me if you need assistance completing the form. Accurate latitude and longitude (WGS84 datum) can be obtained from the Google Map, before or after the event. Elevation above mean sea level is also required. Good luck! Andrew Elliott Assistant Director (Occultations), Asteroids and Remote Planets Section Email: ae [at] f2s [dot] com ====================================================================== BAA electronic bulletins service. E-mail: circadmin@britastro.org To unsubscribe please send an e-mail to circadmin@britastro.org Bulletin transmitted on Fri Apr 4 14:03:19 BST 2008 (c) 2008 British Astronomical Association http://www.britastro.org/ ======================================================================
====================================================================== BAA electronic bulletin No. 00335 http://www.britastro.org/ ====================================================================== Sadly, you may already have heard that Sir Arthur C. Clarke died yesterday (March 18th) at the age of 90. I'm sure many of you like me are saddened on hearing this news. However, you may also be interested to know that Sir Arthur, who was born in Minehead, Somerset and lived at Taunton during his early years, joined the BAA at the age of 27 in June 1945 just as the Second World War was coming to an end. He was a regular contributor to the BAA Journal, from the outset writing articles on radar reflections from the Moon and geostationary satellites during his very first few years as a member. Although he wrote on a wide range of subjects including travel, he is of course best known for his literary works on science fiction. He continued to write the occasional item for the Journal well into the 1970s. A great man that's for sure and one the like of whom we shall never meet again. Richard Miles Vice-President ====================================================================== BAA electronic bulletins service. E-mail: circadmin@britastro.org To unsubscribe please send an e-mail to circadmin@britastro.org Bulletin transmitted on Wed Mar 19 00:56:00 GMT 2008 (c) 2007 British Astronomical Association http://www.britastro.org/ ======================================================================
====================================================================== BAA electronic bulletin No. 00334 http://www.britastro.org/ ====================================================================== Postponement of CfDS/CPRE/ILE lighting conference, Leicester, 2008 May 20 Unfortunately, the conference at de Montfort University, Leicester, scheduled for 2008 May 20 as mentioned in a previous circular, will be postponed until a date to be announced. Apologies, Bob Mizon BAA CfDS ====================================================================== BAA electronic bulletins service. E-mail: circadmin@britastro.org To unsubscribe please send an e-mail to circadmin@britastro.org Bulletin transmitted on Tue Mar 18 17:20:20 GMT 2008 (c) 2007 British Astronomical Association http://www.britastro.org/ ======================================================================
====================================================================== BAA electronic bulletin No. 00333 http://www.britastro.org/ ====================================================================== I would like to wish everyone a Happy Easter and to remind you that the next meeting of the BAA including the SGM will be on Wednesday 26th March in the new lecture room, Burlington House. Our two guest speakers are Sam George who is a PhD student at the University of Birmingham studying in the field of Physics and Astronomy. He is also the Secretary of the Federation of Astronomical societies. Sam will be talking about "Extra Solar Planets and their Auroral Processes. We also have Jeff Lashley from the BAA RAG section. He will talk about the Jupiter radio noise and an up-date on the RAG group. Richard Miles will be doing Sky Notes Doors open at 17.00 and the meeting will start at 17.30 and is due to finish by 20.0 Hope to see you there Hazel Hazel Collett Meeting Secretary ====================================================================== BAA electronic bulletins service. E-mail: circadmin@britastro.org To unsubscribe please send an e-mail to circadmin@britastro.org Bulletin transmitted on Thu Mar 13 10:50:46 GMT 2008 (c) 2007 British Astronomical Association http://www.britastro.org/ ======================================================================
====================================================================== BAA electronic bulletin No. 00332 http://www.britastro.org/ ====================================================================== Dear fellow BAA member, It is with deep regret that I have to inform you of the sudden and untimely death of our friend and colleague, Steve Evans. Tragically, Steve suffered a massive heart attack on the afternoon of March 7th and died within the hour. A member since 1982, he has been an active member of our Association these past 26 years. In 2003, he was a very worthy recipient of the Merlin Medal in recognition of his notable contributions to the advancement of meteor astronomy, in particular for the role he played as Photographic Coordinator of the Meteor Section during the 1980's and 90's, and more recently the advances he made in video techniques. Neil Bone tells me that his work with Czech and Dutch observers on the Leonid storm in 2001 stands as a monument to his dedication and hard work. Steve was a member of the International Meteor Organisation and served as Assistant Treasurer for the UK. His multiple-station imaging work in collaboration with Andrew Ellott and other European observers has yielded many useful results and led to several professional-standard papers. Steve was a source of great inspiration to us all and for me his enthusiasm was infectious! It goes without saying that he will be greatly missed. A full obituary in recognition of his life will of course be published in the Journal in due course. If you wish to pay your last respects, the funeral ceremony will take place at 2.00pm on Monday 17th March at St. David's Church, Moreton-in-Marsh, and afterwards at the Redesdale Arms, High Street, Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire GL56 0AW Richard Miles Vice-President ====================================================================== BAA electronic bulletins service. E-mail: circadmin@britastro.org To unsubscribe please send an e-mail to circadmin@britastro.org Bulletin transmitted on Wed Mar 12 22:02:08 GMT 2008 (c) 2007 British Astronomical Association http://www.britastro.org/ ======================================================================
====================================================================== BAA electronic bulletin No. 00331 http://www.britastro.org/ ====================================================================== The BAA's Campaign for Dark Skies, in collaboration with the Campaign to Protect Rural England and the Institution of Lighting Engineers, will present a conference at de Montfort University, Leicester, on 2008 May 20, on the subject of PFI lighting schemes. While some such schemes have received awards from the CfDS (for example the Newcastle lighting initiative which saw thousands of old-stock lamps replaced with well-directed cut-off types), others have not been well received by residents. An example of the latter category is the new lighting scheme in the village of Broadwindsor in Dorset, where locals have protested loudly against the installation of very bright white lights on tall columns, which they consider more appropriate for a major road than a small rural community. Any BAA member who would like to attend this conference should seek further details from Bob Mizon via the Campaign website atwww.britastro.org/dark-skies Bob Mizon ====================================================================== BAA electronic bulletins service. E-mail: circadmin@britastro.org To unsubscribe please send an e-mail to circadmin@britastro.org Bulletin transmitted on Mon Mar 10 14:22:59 GMT 2008 (c) 2007 British Astronomical Association http://www.britastro.org/ ======================================================================
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