Bath Astronomers – Looking up into the skies above Somerset in awe

What are we up to?

Jan29

Member's Night; Short talks on your own projects and activities

29 JanHerschel Museum of Astronomy

Wednesday 29th Apr – Monthly meeting. Bath Astronomers monthly meeting for all members and new comers to meet up, enjoy perhaps a new topic and a cup of tea and a biscuit. Held on the last Wednesday of every month at the Herschel Museum of Astronomy, 19 New King Street. The format is open and comprises an update for the month and a talk on an astronomy topic within the reach of amateurs. All visitors welcome and there is a charge of £5 which helps cover the cost of the venue. Reduced to £2 for juniors, students or Bath Astronomers members. Picture: Simon Holbeche

Feb26

Talk by Owen Brazell

26 FebHerschel Museum of Astronomy

Wednesday 26th Feb – Monthly meeting. Bath Astronomers monthly meeting for all members and new comers to meet up, enjoy perhaps a new topic and a cup of tea and a biscuit. Held on the last Wednesday of every month at the Herschel Museum of Astronomy, 19 New King Street. The format is open and comprises an update for the month and a talk on an astronomy topic within the reach of amateurs. All visitors welcome and there is a charge of £5 which helps cover the cost of the venue. Reduced to £2 for juniors, students or Bath Astronomers members. Picture: Simon Holbeche

Mar21

Wells & Mendip Astronomers Messier Marathon

21 MarCharterhouse Outdoor Activity Centre

Wells & Mendip Astronomers are having their Messier Night on Saturday 21st March 20120 The event is open to the public and to Bath Astronomers. Discover Charles Messier’s deep-sky wonders in an almost moonless sky and listen to a Introductory talk.

Mar25

Talk by Bud Martin, A Life on Mars

25 MarHerschel Museum of Astronomy

Wednesday 25th Mar – Monthly meeting. Bath Astronomers monthly meeting for all members and new comers to meet up, enjoy perhaps a new topic and a cup of tea and a biscuit. Held on the last Wednesday of every month at the Herschel Museum of Astronomy, 19 New King Street. The format is open and comprises an update for the month and a talk on an astronomy topic within the reach of amateurs. All visitors welcome and there is a charge of £5 which helps cover the cost of the venue. Reduced to £2 for juniors, students or Bath Astronomers members. Picture: Simon Holbeche

Apr29

Talk by Chris Starr, Cassini and Saturn

29 AprHerschel Museum of Astronomy

NASA APOD

Starlink Satellite Trails over Brazil

Egon Filter

What are those streaks over the horizon? New Starlink satellites reflecting sunlight. SpaceX launched 60 Starlink communication satellites in May and 60 more in November. These satellites and thousands more are planned by communications companies in the next few years that may make streaks like these relatively common. Concern has been voiced by many in the astronomical community about how reflections from these satellites may affect future observations into space. In the pictured composite of 33 exposures, parallel streaks from Starlink satellites are visible over southern Brazil. Sunflowers dot the foreground, while a bright meteor was caught by chance on the upper right. Satellite reflections are not new -- the constellation of 66 first-generation Iridium satellites launched starting 20 years ago produced some flares so bright that they could be seen during the day. Most of these old Iridium satellites, however, have been de-orbited over the past few years. Infinite Loop: Create an APOD Station in your classroom or Science Center.

Latest Post

New Society, new Team

On Wednesday 27th November, the Bath Astronomers were re-constituted as an independent astronomical society having spent a decade as an informal group within the William Herschel Society. The new team helping to coordinate the first year are Abi Chown, Chris Brooks, Dennis Lewis, Jonathan Hall and Simon Holbeche. The Bath Astronomers were originally founded in...

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Darkness information

Night time

Sunset: 16:00
End twilight: 18:03
Begin twilight: 06:01
Sunrise: 08:04

Full Moon

Phase: 45.5%
Illumination: 98%
Age: 13.44 days
Size: 30.5'
Distance: 391,288km

Click image to visit NASA Scientific Visualization Studio and detailed maps

New Moon	First Quarter	Full Moon	Last Quarter
Tue 26 Nov 15:07	Wed 4 Dec 06:58	Thu 12 Dec 05:14	Thu 19 Dec 04:59
Thu 26 Dec 05:15	Fri 3 Jan 04:46	Fri 10 Jan 19:23	Fri 17 Jan 13:00
Fri 24 Jan 21:44	Sun 2 Feb 01:43	Sun 9 Feb 07:34	Sat 15 Feb 22:19
Sun 23 Feb 15:33	Mon 2 Mar 19:58	Mon 9 Mar 17:48	Mon 16 Mar 09:35

Buying a Telescope

So you're considering buying a telescope and the internet is awash with advice. So what can we add?

The key advice is to not buy immediately. Try to use a variety of telescopes in the field before you buy. You can do this by going to a public stargazing event or joining a local astronomical society and going on an observing night. All you need is a pair of 10x50 binoculars and your curiosity.

You can pick up a cheap pair of 10x50 binoculars from Millets for £15 to £25 - not great quality but they'll help you find objects in the sky.

Small, cheap telescopes (less than £150) tend to be very poor value for money as the view through them is limited, often coloured or distorted, and the view wobbly. The kicker is their resale value is low too.

If you have space to store it and can confortably lift 10kgs then we'd recommend the Skywatcher Skyliner 150P and preferably 200P. These are Newtonian reflecting telescopes on a Dobsonian mount costing between £199 and £275. These push me pull you telescopes are quick to set up and simple to use. You'll need to learn your way around the sky but then that's part of the fun.

If you wish to be more "astro tourist" and SatNav than learning your way around then a small to medium sized computerised telescope is a lighter but pricier option. The most compact versions are Maksutovs and Schmidt Cassegrains comprising both lenses and mirrors.

You can see a map of telescope retailers here

Welcome

Latest Post

New Society, new Team

Recent Posts

27th Nov Variable Star Observing

Transit of Mercury at Sainsbury’s

Exoplanets & The Charterhouse Exoplanet Project

Good week welcoming new faces

Restoration Underway

Getting to grips with the night sky

Weather over next 3 days

Darkness information

Night time

Full Moon