Announcements

Come and see us at Hall Place & Gardens for some Solar Observing – Sunday 3rd August 2025

NEVER LOOK AT THE SUN DIRECTLY. Please click here for solar observing safely.

CMHASD Solar Observing at Hall Place & Gardens – Sunday 3rd August 2025

11:00 am – 3:00 pm

Come and join us on Sunday 3rd August for the first of our Solar Observing events at Hall Place & Gardens where members of the Society will offer safe views of our Sun to the public.  

Please note this event is weather dependent.

 

The photo below is of CMHASD Solar Observing at Hall Place & Gardens on the 5th May 2024, click here to read about the event  🙂

 

The Dick Chambers Observatory – Status

The observatory and telescope are ready to use by members for visual observing. The telescope is fitted with an eyepiece.  Any questions please direct them to Keith, Steve, Simon and Andy.

 

Gallery

 

Society News

Teapot & Scorpius by Richard Bohner – USA

Two stunning photos taken on 22nd June 2025, 11:30pm local time, at the Grand Canyon Star Party, Arizona, USA by member Richard Bohner.

First photo: The area of the Teapot and Scorpius. Taken with Canon 6D with 35mm f2.8 lens at ISO 10K, exposure time 8 seconds, single frame. Intentionally under exposed image to show constellation stars without Milky Way stars covering them.

Second photo: same area and equipment but with a 20 second exposure showing the Milky Way, Tea Pot & Scorpius. 

Society BBQ – 28th June 2025

With the support of the committee and permission of the Parish Council, a team was set up consisting of members Jo Southgate, Steve Floodgate, John Archer, Mike Rushton, James Savage and Keith Rickard to plan and arrange the Society BBQ for 2025.

On the 28th June 2025 CMHASD held it’s annual BBQ and what a superb BBQ it was too – glorious weather, expertly cooked food, games galore and fantastic company all made for a great event.

The team set up from 11:45, with assembly of two gazebos (one for food/drink and the other for games), and outdoor games. Steve, Jo and John set up their respective barbecues and very soon all was ready!

 

After a fantastic lunch… it was time for games! Kicking off with a round of croquet, then an old school party game ‘Pass the parcel’, but with forfeits as well as prizes. It was a ‘mashup’ of charades, pass-the-parcel, film/tv/book quiz and (reverse) tag! and was enjoyed by all who played.

After tea and cakes… It was time for, pin the tail on the dinosaur! Contestants had to be blindfolded and spun around and disoriented!  It was great fun and a lot of laughs were had watching members try and pin the tail on the dinosaur.

THANK YOU! To all the wonderful members who worked so hard to give us an amazingly enjoyable day!!! A HUGE round of applause and slaps on backs all-round! AND, thank you to all those who attended and made the BBQ so much fun… Let’s all hope there is another BBQ in 2026?

Partial Eclipse of the Sun – 29th March 2025

NEVER LOOK AT THE SUN DIRECTLY. Please click here for solar observing safely.

On the 29th March 2025 there was a partial eclipse of the Sun and many CMHASD members observed the event all over the UK.  Below are a selection of photos and a timelapse video of the partial solar eclipse.

It was also the 1st outing of the new Society Solar Lunt telescope called Cecilia and mighty good views of the Sun were seen including a sunspot, prominences and surface detail of the Sun.

First light with Cecilia

The image below was taken pointing a phone down the eyepiece. You can see lots of prominences.

 

The 2 Sun images below were taken using a phone attached to a phone holder put on Cecilia and it set to the PRO setting. The lower of the 2 images was then processed in Snapseed to crop, flip, colour and processed to bring out the details. Taken at 10.37UT

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The image below was taken using Cecilia after the partial eclipse had finished using an old ZWO colour camera. The image shows a lot of surface detail of the Sun and shows the possibilities for better imaging using a dedicated camera.

 

 

The Partial Solar Eclipse by Honor Wheeler

 

Partial Solar Eclipse by Jim Burchell

 

Member John Archer’s set up and image

 

Member Guy Roberts’ partial solar eclipse image

 

Member Janice McClean’s setup

 

Member Keith Rickard safely observing the eclipse with dedicated solar filter glasses

 

Members Diane Clarke and Roger Moore observing the partial eclipse

Diane Clarke’s images

 

Member Martin Crow safely observing the eclipse using the projection method

 

Timelapse video of the partial Solar Eclipse by Jim Burchell

The Sun – June 2025

NEVER LOOK AT THE SUN DIRECTLY. Please click here for solar observing safely.

 

A great selection of Sun images taken by members on the 10th & 13th June 2025

 

Friday 13th June

The Sun by John Archer using a Dwarf 2 smartscope.

 

An Active Sun by Simon Dawes – details of how Simon acquired his images are on most photos.

 

Tuesday 10th June

The sun by Dr Mike Rushton taken using a Dwarf 3 smartscope

 

The Sun by George Buckberry taken using a Dwarf 3 smartscope.

The Moon – 10th June 2025

A small collection of lovely photos taken by members of the Moon on the 10th June 2025.

 

 

Moon rising by John Howarth taken from Bexley.

 

Moon rising by Jim Burchell taken from Dartford

 

The Moon by Honor Wheeler taken from North Norfolk.

BAA Winchester Weekend – 11th to 13th April 2025

                        The CMHASD crew 2025

Member Diane Clarke wrote ”Over the weekend of 11 – 13 April 2025 several members of the CMHASD attended the BAA Winchester weekend at Sparsholt College. The event was well attended with approximately 120 members of the BAA.  The weekend started with a talk about the BepiColumbo mission from Professor David Rothery and ended with a presentation of “The Winchester Report” by Crayford’s very own ‘Men in Brown Coats’.

The Alfred Curtis memorial lecture “We are made of star stuff” was given by Professor Dame Joycelyn Bell Burnell. The Professor’s presentation included same exam answers from American students such as – “H20 is hot water” & “CO2 is cold water” as well as – “Water is composed of two gins Oxygin & Hydrogin” Oxygin is pure gin, “Hydrogin is water & gin”

After the lecture She took some questions, and is seen here answering a two-part question from member John Archer, the first part of John’s question – “How does one address Dame Jocelyn” to which the reply was “Jocelyn”.

Before Joycelin gave the lecture the BAA president Ms Janice McClean read from the late Storm Dunlop’s appreciation of the life of Alfred Curtis 1901 -1976 to give the attendees an illustration of who he was.

Alfred “Alf” Curtis lived in Winchester, he was a fellow of the RAS and started the BAA “Winchester Weekend” which was originally held at King Alfreds College now known as The University of Winchester.  The first weekend taking place in 1967 with 56 attendees.  The weekends proved so popular that by 1976 the number had risen to 242, so the BAA relocated from King Alfreds to Sparsholt Collage in 2007.

There were also presentations from:

Professor Tony Freeth talking about the Antikythera Device.

Prof Mike Edwards delivered a lecture on the chemical makeup of other worlds.

Prof Boris Gänicke spoke about how Worlds will end including the end of the Earth when the Sun swells to become a red giant.

There was also a talk about the current range of “Smart Telescopes” given by Mr Steve Knight.

Professor Lucie Green gave a presentation about observing solar eclipses from space with the ESA PROBA 3 pair of satellite’s that were launched on the 05.12.24 and is currently going through various test phases before first light is received.

 

During the members session on Sunday afternoon, there were several contributions including:

Mark Radice’s presentation about stargazing in Namibia.

Nicky Fleet asking when is a Shower “not a Shower” related as to how the popular press promote meteor events such as the Perseid’s

“The Winchester Report” given by CMHASD members David Grist, Steve Floodgate & Gary Hunt.

All in all, a very varied and packed Winchester weekend.”

 

Below is a slideshow of photos and images members took of the weekend.

The Moon – April 2025

Below are a super selection of images by CMHASD members of our Moon between the 2nd and 8th April 2025.

The Moon – April 8th 2025 by Neil Webster

Waxing Gibbous at 82% illuminated.

Check out Neil’s flickr page at https://www.flickr.com/photos/137388222@N05/

 

The Moon – 6th April 2025 by Neil Webster

Waxing Gibbous at 64% illuminated.

Check out Neil’s flickr page at https://www.flickr.com/photos/137388222@N05/

 

The Moon – 5th April 2025 by Diane Clarke

First Quarter at 54% illuminated.

Diane took her image using a Seestar S50 smartscope

 

The Moon – 2nd April 2025 by Simon Dawes

Waxing Crescent at 22% illuminated.

Details of how Simon took his images are on the photos.

Our Sun – by Jim Burchell

NEVER LOOK AT THE SUN DIRECTLY. Please click here for solar observing safely.

A superb collage of images showing our active Sun over a 4 day period (31st March to 3rd April) taken by CMHASD member Jim Burchell.  

The latest Exoplanet Transits by Simon Dawes

Below are the latest Exoplanet Transit observations carried out by CMHASD member and trustee Simon Dawes for the ExoClock project.

TOI-1259 A b is a gas giant exoplanet that orbits a K-type star. Its mass is 0.441 Jupiters, it takes 3.5 days to complete one orbit of its star, and is 0.0407 AU from its star. Its discovery was announced in 2021. Ref: https://science.nasa.gov/exoplanet-catalog/toi-1259-a-b/

HAT-P-56 b is a gas giant exoplanet that orbits an F-type star. Its mass is 2.31 Jupiters, it takes 2.8 days to complete one orbit of its star, and is 0.0423 AU from its star. Its discovery was announced in 2015. Ref:https://science.nasa.gov/exoplanet-catalog/hat-p-56-b/

Qatar-9 b is a gas giant exoplanet that orbits a K-type star. Its mass is 1.19 Jupiters, it takes 1.5 days to complete one orbit of its star, and is 0.0234 AU from its star. Its discovery was announced in 2019. Ref:https://science.nasa.gov/exoplanet-catalog/qatar-9-b/

Qatar-8 b is a gas giant exoplanet that orbits a G-type star. Its mass is 0.371 Jupiters, it takes 3.7 days to complete one orbit of its star, and is 0.0474 AU from its star. Its discovery was announced in 2019. Ref:https://science.nasa.gov/exoplanet-catalog/qatar-8-b/

WASP-92 b is a gas giant exoplanet that orbits an F-type star. Its mass is 0.805 Jupiters, it takes 2.2 days to complete one orbit of its star, and is 0.0348 AU from its star. Its discovery was announced in 2016. Ref: https://science.nasa.gov/exoplanet-catalog/wasp-92-b/

The Sun – 21st March 2025 by Jim Burchell

NEVER LOOK AT THE SUN DIRECTLY. Please click here for solar observing safely.
 
Another great image of our Sun taken by member Jim Burchell on the 21st March 2025. Underneath is an image Jim took on the 16th March 2025; you can see how the sunspots have moved across the Sun since the 16th.
 
 
 
 
Both images were taken with an Pentax KP body attached to 102mm F11 Altair Astro refractor fitted with a solar filter and then coloured in Snapseed.

Partial Lunar Eclipse – 14th March 2025

On March 14, 2025, a total lunar eclipse, visible as a partial eclipse in the UK occurred during the early morning hours.  Below are a selection of images that members took of the event from the UK.

By Jim Burchell

 

By Jo Southgate using an iPhone

 

And by CMHASD trustee Keith Rickard using a camera phone

Sunspots by Simon Dawes – 16th March 2025

NEVER LOOK AT THE SUN DIRECTLY. Please click here for solar observing safely.

A splendid selection of Sunspot images taken by CMHASD trustee Simon Dawes on the 16th March 2025.  Details of how Simon took his images are on the photos.

An Active Sun – 16th March 2025 by Jim Burchell

NEVER LOOK AT THE SUN DIRECTLY. Please click here for solar observing safely.

 

Two superb images of the Sun today taken by member Jim Burchell.  As you can see the Sun is very active with lots of sunspots.

Jim’s 1st image below, a single shot; was taken using a 102 MM refactor with a Pentax KP body attached set at F11, 320 sec and iso 100 plus a solar filter.

 

Jim’s 2nd image, which is just a single shot; was taken using a SeeStar S50 smartscope.

 

Below is an image taken from Spaceweather.com showing all the sunspots with their labels.  As you can see there are lots!!!!!

Soul Nebula (IC1848) by Kevin Langford

A superb image of the Soul Nebula (IC1848) in Cassiopeia taken by member Kevin Langford from Bexley, Kent. This image was captured over three nights from the 2nd to the 4th March 2025. Number of images taken = 130 x 180sec Kevin took this image using an ES102ED APO...

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Venus & Mercury – Arizona – By Richard Bohner

Venus and Mercury taken at 7:03 pm MST Arizona on the 3rd March 2025 by CMHASD member Richard Bohner. Mercury is just above trees in center. Richard took the image using a Canon 6D, 105mm f5.0 lens, 1/100 sec exposure, at ISO...

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The Rosette Nebula by Neil Webster

A stunning image of the Rosette Nebula (also known as Caldwell 49) in the constellation Monoceros by CMHASD member Neil Webster taken on the 2nd March 2025. Neil acquired his image using a WO GT71 Apo, EQ6 R,  ZWO ASI 294MC Pro, Astro Essentials 50mm guide scope,...

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Our Sun by Simon Dawes

NEVER LOOK AT THE SUN DIRECTLY. Please click here for solar observing safely. A selection of fantastic images of our Sun taken on the 4th March 2025 by CMHASD trustee Simon Dawes from Bexley.  Details of how Simon took his images are on the...

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Daytime Moon by Diane Clarke – 6th March 2025

A lovely image of the Moon taken by CMHASD member Diane Clarke on the 6th March 2025 in the afternoon. Diane used her Seestar S50 smartscope to take the image.  The image is made up of 30 sec AVI (RAW) and stacked in the S50.   Original TIFF file edited with...

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The Moon by Neil Webster – 4th March 2025

Another stunning image of the Moon taken by CMHASD member Neil Webster on Tuesday evening; 4th March 2025. The Waxing Crescent Moon was 30.0% illuminated and 4.84 days old. Neil acquired the image using an AA 115mm Apo, EQ6 R, ZWO ASI 290MM, and a Astronomik R/IR...

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