Author: WebMistress

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Face to face meetings every Thursday plus we are live on Zoom*

As a courtesy to others please stay at home  and attend via the zoom if  you are feeling unwell - coughs, sniffs and sneezes etc.

* zoom will only be available with the lecturer's consent.

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It was another sell-out and in-spite of heavy cloud, after the welcome, telescope guidance and night sky tour presentations we were so very lucky to have 30 minutes or so with gaps in the clouds. The public appeared to be very appreciative of a glimpse of the moon & Jupiter through a very wide range of scopes – Society Dob’s, member refractors and new-gen smart scopes.

Tea and comets followed the outside observing and we finished bang on time.

In all an extremely successful evening – we’re very grateful to the great many members who gave up their time (and possibly a romantic dinner) to support the event!

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Messier 3 is a Globular Cluster in the constellation of Canes Venatici.

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Images by Simon Dawes

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Many members have been at AstroFest this weekend, but it looks like the cost of living crisis and high prices seem to be having an impact, with many retailers and manufacturers not exhibiting at AstroFest this year. At least there isn't the crush of people from past years and a bit more space to have a coffee and cake or get get some practice in docking to the ISS.

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Janice received the Lydia Brown medal from the BAA in recognition of meritorious service to the Association in an honorary capacity over many years.

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[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="704"] Occultation by Asteroid 2000 SZ278 on 2024-01-26[/caption]

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A lovely image of a Waxing Crescent Moon taken on the 17th Dec 2023 by member Honor Wheeler. On this day the Moon was 4.72 days old, 27.01% illuminated and in the constellation Aquarius.

The image was taken using a Skywatcher ED80 Refractor, Skywatcher EQ3 Synscan mount, x2 Barlow, Canon M6 MRKII Camera set at ISO100 and exp. 1/20s.

Congratulations to team Dalek for winning this years CMHASD Christmas Quiz.   

Team Dalek

Member’s Rita Whiting and Debra Holton pulled out all the stops to provide a night of head scratching, puzzlement and fun.  Thank you Rita & Debra for all your hard work & effort creating the quiz.  It was a great night and we are all looking forward to the next one!

A stunning 10 frame image of the Moon taken by member Neil Webster on the 19th Dec 2023.  The Moon was in the First Quarter phase, 47% illuminated, 7.07 days old and in the constellation Pisces.

The First Quarter phase comes roughly 7 days after the New Moon and is when the moon has completed one quarter of its orbit around the Earth hence the name First Quarter.  The Moon in this phase is also referred to as a Half Moon too.

Neil acquired is image using a R/IR filter, ZWO ASI 290MM, EQ6 R, AA 115 triplet APO, and Firecapture. 10 frames stitched in Microsoft ICE. Each 90s x 33fps. 20% stacked in AutoStakkert. Post processed in Photoshop.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/137388222@N05/53409456667/

Below are a couple of individual frames from the above image.

To see more of Neil's brilliant images check out his flickr page at https://www.flickr.com/photos/137388222@N05/with/53409456667/

Two super images by member Jim Burchell taken on the 8th Dec 2023. The 1st image shows Venus, the star Spica and the Moon going lower left to top right.  Spica is the brightest star in the constellation of Virgo and one of the 20 brightest stars in the night sky. The 2nd image is of the Moon with Earthshine.

The Moon on the 8th December 2023 was 24.88 days old, 22.05% illuminated and in the Waning Crescent phase. This is the phase where the moon is less than 50% illuminated but has not yet reached 0% illumination which would be a New Moon.