Astronomy in Edinburgh
From 1 October 2021 we are now back to physical/hybrid meetings. Stay involved and keep an eye open here, on Facebook and Twitter. Visitors are welcome to join us on our YouTube channel or in person at our physical meetings.
We aim to have something happening at least three times a month. The first Friday of each month will be a hybrid meeting at 7:30pm at the Augustine United Church, George IV Bridge, Edinburgh. This will also be broadcast on Zoom for ASE members and YouTube for visitors. Our second talk, sometime around the middle of the month, will just be on Zoom and YouTube. 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
15 October Meeting Report
From science fiction to reality. Dr. Martin Elvis from the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian told us all about asteroids and how our future in space will be tied up with them and mining of their resources.
1 October meeting report
Our first in-person meeting back since the pandemic started was a great success with a very engaging talk from Dr Mike Shaw live from the USA on Getting started in Nighttime photography.
Scotland’s Sky in October 2021
Saturn and Jupiter lead parade of watery constellations
More news
An elegant mathematical solution for the Venus Tablet of Ammisaduqa
Download the document and watch the video from Bruce's excellent talk. In it he outlines his solution and methods for determining the dates of Ammisaduqa’s reign in Babylon from the Venus Tablet.
17th September Meeting Report
Katrin gave us a very well delivered and fascinating talk and we were treated to not just an introduction to the study of and collection of postage stamps (philately), but to a whole historical journey of astronomy and space seen through stamps. This was a terrific talk and very highly recommended!
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.
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.
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!