Astronomy in Edinburgh
Because of Covid-19 most our meetings have been online – and we’ve been doing more of them than ever. We are now working towards hybrid physical-online meetings from 1 October 2021. Stay involved and keep an eye open here, on Facebook and Twitter. Visitors please join us on our YouTube channel.
We’re aiming to have something happening at least twice a month – often on Fridays at 7:30pm. The first Friday of each month will be a hybrid meeting from October 2021. We also have the monthly Imaging & Observing Group meetings for ASE members on the Wednesday after the first monthly meeting.
The priority for the ASE is the health and safety of our members and the public but we also want to continue engaging with you all through our love of astronomy.
Follow our Facebook page and Twitter feed for more up-to-the-minute observing ideas, information and results.
Observing forecast for Edinburgh
A green block indicates a clear sky, orange partially clear, red cloudy. Blue blocks show cloud level – darker blue is clearer. Click on the chart for hourly detail and ISS passes. Forecast provided by clearoutside.com
Featured news
Astronomical inspiration at the Dynamic Earth Planetarium
Yes - Edinburgh has a fantastic new planetarium at Dynamic Earth! I went to visit Planetarium Manager and former Royal Observatory Edinburgh astronomer, Dr Alastair Bruce yesterday for a look around the dome and a sneak preview of some of their shows.
New interactive solar system map
ASE member Radim Stano has been working on a number of projects since he joined the Society and he has now released the first of them - an interactive solar system map.
Scotland’s Sky in September 2021
Escape light pollution to savour Milky Way in evening sky
More news
3 September Meeting Report
The society’s regular talks resumed for the new season with a fascinating talk from Professor Don Pollacco of the University of Warwick. His talk covered the science of detecting terrestrial exo-planets and the work involved in untangling the natural activity of a star from the influence of its orbiting planet(s).
Watch the Perseid meteor shower this August 2021
The Perseids, one of the best meteor showers of the year, reaches its peak on the night of August 12-13, not long after New Moon, so conditions are quite favourable. Some will be visible each night from 23 July to 20 August.
Our Autumn Programme 2021
We've got a great programme of talks and events lined up this Autumn. Here's a taster of what's to come. More talks are still to be confirmed.
2 July Meeting Report
We had an excellent talk from Prof. Giles Hammond of the University of Glasgow on a very interesting project he's running with his students. Alan Pickup also gave us a very comprehensive rundown of what's in the night sky in July and August.
Spectroscopy – a practical approach for amateurs meeting report
Tom Field introduced us to the principles, history and importance of spectroscopy and what you can do as a backyard astronomer with basic equipment to help understand the nature of our Universe.
Losing the Sky meeting report
What a fantastic set of panellists we had for the Losing the Sky event last night. The talk was very wide-ranging and covered just about all the issues associated with the problem of mega-constellations and the pollution of the night sky. Watch the video if you missed it. You won't find a better overview of the topic.
Partial eclipse live stream
The weather wasn't perfect but we saw the partial eclipse of the Sun through the clouds as did almost a 1000 others on our YouTube live stream.
4 June Meeting Report
Prof. Petri Vaisanen, Director of the South African Astronomical Observatory gave us a very interesting presentation on the "South African Large Telescope (SALT) and SAAO – responding to astronomy in the 2020s". This was followed by the Sky in June from ASE member Nigel Goodman and then our AGM for members only.
Catherine Heymans – New Astronomer Royal for Scotland
Congratulations to Prof. Catherine Heymans who was officially announced as the new Astronomer Royal for Scotland today and the first woman to hold the post. Catherine is also our new Honorary President and an enthusiastic and infectious communicator of astronomy.
Seeing the Invisible: The Dark Side of the Universe.
A major highlight of this year so far, was this incredible and mind-expanding talk given by Prof. Catherine Heymans, "Seeing the invisible - The Dark Side of the Universe".
Losing the Sky event
We'll be hosting a very special event on 15 June about the problems caused for astronomers by satellites. "Losing the Sky" is an online live public discussion with Andy Lawrence, Brian Eno, Catherine Heymans, Mark McCaughrean from ESA, Amy Mehlman from Viasat, and many others.
Meeting report: “Planet 9 or Planet Nein?” and “Sky in May”
Dr Samantha Lawler gave a detailed and fascinating technical explanation of what astronomers understand about the bodies in our outer Solar System, discussing theories for their formation. Alan Pickup then gave a wonderful Sky in May presentation which was, as always, full of topical gems of knowledge.
Ask an Astronomer
Is there something you always wanted to know about our universe?
How to observe a planet? Take a photo of the stars? Which telescope to buy? Why is space black? …
Well here’s your chance: just ask your question in the form and we’ll try and get back to you with an answer. The answer may just be: “we have no idea” – but that’s the beauty of astronomy!