Bath Astronomers – The observing arm of the William Herschel Society

What are we up to?

Oct26

Talks by Simon Holbeche (Chairman of Bath Astronomers)

26 OctTithe Barn, Dunster

Speaker Simon Holbeche is the leader of Bath Astronomers, the observing arm of the William Herschel Society. He's passionate about making stargazing and astronomy accessible to all. As a STEM Ambassador, he visit schools, run kids workshops and work with the Herschel Museum, Bath Preservation Trust, Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution and English Heritage on youth and adult "Looking Up" projects. £1 pp per talk, payable on the door. No booking required. Part of the Exmoor Dark Skies Festival 2019 ~ 14th October - 3rd November

Oct30

Talk by Mark Woodland, Exoplanets for Amateurs

30 OctHerschel Museum of Astronomy

Wednesday 30th Oct – 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 other 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. Registration is not required. Picture: Simon Holbeche

Nov1

Stargazing at Wellow for all

1 NovPublic Car Park, Wellow, Somerset

Public stargazing session at Wellow, south of Bath. These events involve Bath Astronomers bringing along a telescope and helping visitors see objects of interest in the sky that evening. It's all about sharing. If you have your own kit, bring it along and we might be able to help you use it more effectively or give you some hints/tips. Start time is 6pm. Subject to clear skies - weather dependent. You can find out more about the Wellow site by visiting https://bathastronomers.org.uk/observing/sites-wellow/ We'll check the weather is suitable and issue guidance on whether things are going ahead by 4pm on the day. Guidance will be issued on Facebook and Bath Astronomers website. Do no travel until you see confirmation in this Facebook event or on Bath Astronomers website. If you register for the event on our web site, we'll email you to confirm the event is happening i.e. registration is a good idea. You should dress warmly and arrive as close to the start time as possible to avoid car lights ruining people's night vision too frequently. Wear stout, warm, waterproof footwear and consider a thermos of your favourite warm drink. If you are not a member of Bath Astronomers/William Herschel Society, you can get on our mailing list by emailing stargazing-join@bathastronomers.org.uk

Nov11

Day-time astronomy: Transit of Mercury

11 NovHerschel Museum of Astronomy

Visit the Herschel Museum of Astronomy to have the opportunity to take part in daytime astronomy on the day of the transit of Mercury. Free with normal admission to the museum. Generously supported by the Bath Astronomers

Nov24

Stargazing at Wellow for all

24 NovPublic Car Park, Wellow, Somerset

Public stargazing session at Wellow, south of Bath. These events involve Bath Astronomers bringing along a telescope and helping visitors see objects of interest in the sky that evening. It's all about sharing. If you have your own kit, bring it along and we might be able to help you use it more effectively or give you some hints/tips. Start time is 6pm. Subject to clear skies. You can find out more about the Wellow site by visiting https://bathastronomers.org.uk/observing/sites-wellow/ We'll check the weather is suitable and issue guidance on whether things are going ahead by 4pm on the day. Guidance will be issued on Facebook and Bath Astronomers website. Do no travel until you see confirmation in this Facebook event or on Bath Astronomers website. If you register for the event on our web site, we'll email you to confirm the event is happening i.e. registration is a good idea. You should dress warmly and arrive as close to the start time as possible to avoid car lights ruining people's night vision too frequently. Wear stout, warm, waterproof footwear and consider a thermos of your favourite warm drink. If you are not a member of Bath Astronomers/William Herschel Society, you can get on our mailing list by emailing stargazing-join@bathastronomers.org.uk

Nov27

Talk by Roger Pickard, Variable Stars

27 NovHerschel Museum of Astronomy

Wednesday 27th Nov – 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 other 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 WHS/Bath Astronomers members. Registration is not required. Picture: Simon Holbeche

Dec6

Stargazing at Wellow for all

6 DecPublic Car Park, Wellow, Somerset

Jan29

Talk by Chris Starr, Cassini and Saturn

29 JanHerschel Museum of Astronomy

Wednesday 29th Jan – 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 other 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 other 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 other 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

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

29 AprHerschel 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 other 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

NASA APOD

Pluto at Night

The night side of Pluto spans this shadowy scene, a stunning spacebased view with the Sun 4.9 billion kilometers (almost 4.5 light-hours) behind the dim and distant world. It was captured by far flung New Horizons in July of 2015. The spacecraft was at a range of some 21,000 kilometers from Pluto, about 19 minutes after its closest approach. A denizen of the Kuiper Belt in dramatic silhouette, the image also reveals Pluto's tenuous, surprisingly complex layers of hazy atmosphere. The crescent twilight landscape near the top of the frame includes southern areas of nitrogen ice plains now formally known as Sputnik Planitia and rugged mountains of water-ice in the Norgay Montes.

Latest Post

Good week welcoming new faces

We opened our doors this week for both introductory talks at the Herschel Museum of Astronomy and a first observing session at Wellow. Between 15 and 20 people popped along to get to know more about stargazing as a hobby and try it out for themselves. Still Autumn, the skies were not truly dark and...

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Darkness information

Night time

Sunset: 17:05
End twilight: 18:56
Begin twilight: 04:53
Sunrise: 06:44

Third Quarter

Phase: 72.3%
Illumination: 58.5%
Age: 21.34 days
Size: 32.0'
Distance: 373,460km

Click image to visit NASA Scientific Visualization Studio and detailed maps

New Moon	First Quarter	Full Moon	Last Quarter
Sat 28 Sep 18:27	Sat 5 Oct 16:48	Sun 13 Oct 21:10	Mon 21 Oct 12:41
Mon 28 Oct 03:40	Mon 4 Nov 10:23	Tue 12 Nov 13:37	Tue 19 Nov 21:13
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

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

Good week welcoming new faces

Recent Posts

Restoration Underway

Getting to grips with the night sky

25th Sept talk by James Fradgley

Potential telescope restoration project

Busy weekend of outreach

Stargazing at Stonehenge

Weather over next 3 days

Darkness information

Night time

Third Quarter