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.
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.
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.