| READING ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY |
| 2008 PROGRAMME 2009 |
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September 20th
THE ISAAC NEWTON TELESCOPE 1942-1967
Lee Macdonald (Cambridge University)
How the largest telescope in the British Isles came to be built at the site of the Royal Greenwich Observatory in Herstmonceux
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October 18th
GRAVITY WAVES
Chris van den Broek (Cardiff University)
The latest findings on Einstein´s last bastion, and looking for messages from hidden massive objects at gravity "wavelengths"
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November 15th
SUPERNOVA REMNANTS
Owen Brazell (Webb Society)
Images and description of remnants of stars that have destroyed themselves in the most explosive events in the Universe
Followed by DIY EVENING
Reading AS members share their astronomy projects and techniques; software demonstrations and image processing clinic
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December 13th (Nb. 2nd Saturday)
CHRISTMAS ASTRONOMY QUIZ
Bob Mizon (Wessex AS)
A light-hearted evening of seasonal entertainment with an astronomy based quiz and prizes
Followed by the RAS "Christmas Special"
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January 17th
SPACE WEATHER
Lucie Green (Mullard Space Science Laboratory)
What goes on in space between here and the Sun, how it affects the Earth environment, and ultimately humankind
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February 21st
EXTRASOLAR PLANETS
Martin Andrews (Maidenhead AS)
The numbers of extrasolar planets discovered continues to climb. How do we discover them? What are they like?
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March 21st
EARLY HISTORY OF THE TELESCOPE
Kevin Johnson (The Science Museum)
The International Year of Astronomy 2009 marks the 400th anniversary of the first use of the telescope by Galileo Galilei
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March 27th/28th/29th
INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF ASTRONOMY 2009
PUBLIC OBSERVING WEEKEND AT DINTON PASTURES
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April 18th
MESSENGER AT MERCURY
John Talbot (Reading AS)
Observing and exploring the secretive and elusive innermost planet
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May 16th
C1XS ON CHANDRAYAAN-1
Barry Kellet (Rutherford Appleton Laboratory)
The miniature X-ray spectrometer carried on the Indian Space Research Organisation mission to map the surface of the Moon
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June 20th
THE RISE AND FALL OF QUASARS AND OTHER AGN
Dave King (Edinburgh AS)
The discovery of quasars, how they mark the outer limits of the observable universe, and what we might learn from further study
Followed by 38th ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
Have your say in the running of the society
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| NO MONTHLY MEETINGS IN JULY & AUGUST |
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The
venue is St Peters Church Hall, Church Road, Earley, just
off the A329 Wokingham Road. Parking is available in the hall
car park and the adjacent school playground.
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| 7 - 8.30pm: |
Announcements and speakers as detailed above |
| 8.30 - 9pm: |
Refreshments (at 20p) and an opportunity to see displays, library etc. |
| 9 - 9.45pm: |
Miscellany
of topics by members (instruments and optical advice,
observational information, astrophotography, projects and book
reviews). |
| An Astronomy Basics Section, organised
by Gerry Bond, holds meetings
at Dinton Pastures Country Park, Winnersh. |
