IOG Meeting Report 8 February 2023
Radim Stano reports on one of our special Imaging & Observing Group meetings with guests. We had 2 special guests, both from the British Astronomical Association Radio Astronomy Section and both trustees of the UK Radio Astronomy Association, Paul Hearn and Andrew Thomas.
3 February 2023 Meeting Report
Unfortunately Dr James Wurster couldn't be with us in person but still delivered a very interesting talk about Using computer simulations to model the formation of stars and their discs. Jim Nisbet also told us about the Sky in February.
2022 When ASE caught the Meteor Bug
Pat Devine tells us about the ASE's new interest in meteor cameras. Over the past year the ASE have setup cameras operated by four members in the UK, a camera in Slovakia and soon to be one in Germany, with others in the pipeline.
20 January 2023 Meeting Report
Clara Brasseur gave us an excellent talk on Friday about turning astronomical data into sounds. Quite different from anything else we've had but very creative and engaging.
6 January 2023 Meeting Report
Our first meeting of 2023 was by ASE member Viktoria Urban who took us on a stage from our Losing the Sky event in June 2021 by telling us how the issues with space debris are currently being addressed. Nigel Goodman also gave us a run-down of what's in the sky for January 2023.
Meeting Report Friday 16th December 2022
Our final guest speaker of 2022 was Dr Jenifer Millard, who spoke to us about “Exploring the invisible Cosmos through island universes”.
Occultation of Mars
That was a fascinating event early in the morning of 8 December 2022. The full Moon occulted Mars, which was at opposition - a rare event indeed. Various ASE members braved the freezing early morning air to grab some amazing images.
Image of the Year 2022 results
Congratulations to Ramsay McIver who won with his excellent Maasai Mara Milky Way Mosaic. Also to Eros Tang and Andrew Farrow who took 2nd and 3rd places.
2 December 2022 Meeting Report
We had a really interesting and challenging talk from Dr Indranil Banik of the University of St Andrews on Going beyond Einstein to understand the Universe. Alan Pickup also gave us a very comprehensive talk on the Sky in December.
Meeting Report 18 November 2022
Our guest speaker was Patrick Barth, a PhD student from the University of St Andrews, who spoke to us about “ What makes a planet habitable”. The possibility of life in the wider universe has greatly increased in the past 25 years. We had a detailed explanation of the factors influencing the chance of life on exoplanets and the search for these “biosignatures”.
John Rostron
John Rostron, who passed away on 24 October aged 94, was a familiar sight at ASE meetings in the last century. He had been President, a Council member and a Trustee of the Astronomical Society of Edinburgh Trust, although most long-standing members will probably remember him as Society Treasurer for many years. A chemistry teacher at Ross High School in Tranent, John’s interests were wide-ranging, particularly in relation to the natural world, which sometimes spilled over into his distinctive book-keeping for the Society! Although he had been a keen cyclist in his younger years often arriving at meetings in all weathers, sadly his declining health meant that he relinquished his membership in 2017.
4 November 2022 meeting report
That was a really interesting story of Pluto from Prof Ian Robson and we had quite a lot of visitors in the AUC too. Sadly Ian couldn’t be there in person because of rail strikes but it was no less interesting. There’s clearly still a lot of affection for Pluto as a planet and you can understand why there was (and still is) such an outcry about it being demoted. But given the number of other, larger-than-Pluto bodies in our solar system, it probably makes sense. Or maybe you disagree?
Partial Solar Eclipse 25 October 2022
That was a very successful event. Live streaming went well and hundreds of visitors looked through our telescopes outside. We got clouded out at the end but we got through maximum so that was a real success considering we thought we would be totally clouded out a couple of days before.
Partial Solar Eclipse 25 October 2022
We plan to go ahead with our live stream of the partial solar eclipse tomorrow. Looks like there should be some gaps in the clouds. Or you can join us on Calton Hill and look (SAFELY!) through our solar telescopes and eclipse glasses.
Adrian Weatherhead, 22 September 1943 – 9 October 2022
We sadly have to report the passing of one of our long-standing members, Adrian Weatherhead aged 79. Adrian was a member of our Society for 25 years and also a former member of the ASE Council on several occasions, most recently in 2001/2. Adrian is best known for his running prowess having been a Scotland, GB and NI international, and a sub-4 minute miler. On track he was a 1500m runner and won the Scottish indoor title in 1973 and 1976 as well as national outdoor champion in 1979. We offer our sincere condolences to his family and friends.
7 October 2022 Meeting Report
We had a fascinating talk by Dr Gemma Richardson BGS on the effects of space weather on ground-based technology. Alan Pickup also gave us a talk on the Sky in October and Neil Martin revealed the results of our Image of the Quarter Competition.
Review of the book – “Fire and Ice Volcanoes of the Solar system” by Natalie Starkey
Radim Stano reviews the book by Natalie Starkey after hearing her speak at an ASE meeting.
Meeting Report 9 September 2022
Peter Goodhew showed how amateurs can help discover and image new planetary nebulae in today's world where there are huge ground based telescopes as well as the likes of Hubble and Webb.