The Astronomical Society of Edinburgh (ASE) has been holding meetings in Edinburgh to inform members and the general public about astronomy since 1924. We meet monthly, usually on the first Friday of the month at 7:30pm, and are always happy to see new faces at our meetings. Members and beginners of all ages are encouraged to participate in the Society’s activities.
“The name of the Society shall be The Astronomical Society of Edinburgh and its objects shall be to advance the education of the public about the science of Astronomy and to promote astronomical research chiefly in Edinburgh and its neighbourhood.”
Officers
President
Mark Phillips
Vice-Presidents
Andrew Farrow
Jim Nisbet
Secretary
Seán Wixted
Treasurer
Alan Ellis
Honorary Presidents
Prof. Catherine Heymans MPhys DPhil FRSE
Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Edinburgh
Astronomer Royal for Scotland
Prof. Andrew Lawrence BSc PhD FRSE FRAS
Regius Professor of Astronomy at the University of Edinburgh
Councillors
Sarah Bulman (from July 2021)
Nigel Goodman
Will Joy
Neil Martin
Jim Nisbet
Ian Smith
Lorimer medal
The Lorimer Medal of the Astronomical Society of Edinburgh is awarded from time to time for meritorious work in diffusing the knowledge of Astronomy among the general public. It was established in memory of one of our Past Vice-Presidents, Mr John Henry Lorimer, RSA, who left the Society a substantial sum of money when he died in 1936.
City Observatory
The Astronomical Society of Edinburgh had the use of the City Observatory from 1938 to 2008, and had met regularly at the Calton Hill since 1953. Unfortunately, in the years leading up to our departure, vandalism had caused so much damage to the buildings and fittings that we had to recognise that the site was no longer usable.
It is with great reluctance that the Council of the Society took the decision to move our meetings and to remove all our property. We hope that the City of Edinburgh Council will manage to restore the site to something approaching its earlier glory when it was quite rightly awarded Listed status and that the Society may, some day, have renewed access to what was once one of the country’s premier civic observatories.
The Society produced a short Guide to the City Observatory.