Category: Public Outreach

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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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Several society members attended Shears Green Junior School on Friday 15th September 2023 with their own or a society telescope to take part in the school’s ‘Cosmic Camp’.  The Society would like to say a big thank you to all the members who helped make this event a success.

Member Diane Clarke who attended the event wrote ''Earlier in the year the CMHASD was again invited to the Shears Green Junior School Cosmic Camp.  So we took our telescopes along to offer views of various stella sights.

In the evening Jupiter & 3 of its Galilean moons appeared above the horizon and was again greeted with awe & wonder by all who viewed them. There was also views of Cygnus & the planet Saturn with its largest moon Triton.

The double star Mizar (Alcor) in Ursa Major also proved a great hit when the children discovered that 1 star was actually 2 stars.

As well as showing the children the night sky we also had some classroom presentations and a display of members images along with an image from the JWST on show.    

The members who went along had an extremely enjoyable and rewarding time due to the enthusiasm of all the children & teachers at the camp.  Lots of questions were asked by a very inquisitive & enthusiastic young audience and as they looked through the telescopes we heard were phrases such as “wow”, “is that real?” & “is it a hologram?”

One of the teachers from the school wrote in a thank you email to us “We all had such a fantastic time last Friday and the children didn't stop talking about it for days.”

We look forward to next year 🙂''

The Society did not take any photos of the event as there were too many safeguarding issues.

On Wednesday 22nd November 2023, CMHASD were back at Hall Place & Gardens to hold a star gazing event from 7pm to 9pm.  We had brilliant support from our members who bought along a variety of telescopes, cameras, meteorites and other displays for our guests.

CMHASD Chairman John Archer wrote ''Last week at Hall Place we had one of our best ever for observing and public enjoyment. Although these events take quite a bit of setting up, and time out of the diary, they are extremely rewarding. We managed a couple of talks – “choosing a telescope (or not)” from Mike being the customary first talk. Initially we were clouded out, however it became apparent that during the first talk, some gaps were appearing, so we invited the public outside. They were treated not just to a brilliantly positioned Jupiter, but also a prominent Moon, and far off Saturn even got in on the act. Finally, we managed to coax the visitors back in for tea, a comet talk and demo for which I’m grateful to Debra for the ingredients list and instructions – it wasn’t quite Bake-off but the resulting comet at least didn’t have a “soggy bottom” thanks partly to sublimation!

A big thank you to the whole team for once again supporting the event.''

Below are a few photos showing some of the celestial delights our guests got to view/image and one of the comet Debra made too :-) 

Crayford Manor House Astronomical Society Dartford (CMHASD) were out in force at the recent New Scientist Live event at ExCel Centre, London Docklands on the 7th to 9th October 2023.  We were there to help the British Astronomical Association (BAA) on their stand over the 3 days to promote the BAA and answer questions from members of the public, school children and teachers on all things astronomical.

CMHASD member Diane Clarke wrote ''As part of our display we had several 3D printed items which  included: M51, painted scale models of the planets Mars & Jupiter and a section of the largest canyon in the Solar System the Valles Marineris. 

All of these proved great talking points enabling us to make several sales as well as promoting membership of the BAA.

Among the visitors to the BAA’s stand was Professor Richard S. Ellis with his family; who had earlier in the day given a talk titled When galaxies were born: First results from the James Webb Space Telescope to a packed audience.

All in all, everybody who staffed the stand enjoyed the experience.  Over the 3 days their enthusiasm & knowledge radiated to everybody that visited the stand, hopefully resulting in future new members of the BAA.''

CMHASD would like to thank all their members who helped over the 3 days and to Diane Clarke for sharing her photos of the event.

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

On Saturday the 19th of August several members of the Society were present for the second of our 2 solar observing sessions at Hall Place & Gardens.  Below are some photos of the day.  Thank you to Dr Mike Rushton, Honor Wheeler, Jim Burchell, Omila and Diane Clarke for sharing your photos.

The Sun in Hydrogen Alpha taken by Honor Wheeler using a Personal Solar Telescope (PST).

The Sun in white light taken by Omila using an iPhone with an adapter and telescope fitted with a Solar filter.

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On Wednesday 30th November 2022, CMHASD were back at Hall Place & Gardens to hold a star gazing event.  We had brilliant support from our members – thanks to all – who bought along a variety of telescopes, cameras, meteorites and other displays for our guests.

We had over 33 ticket-holders to entertain and those who arrived early did catch sight of Jupiter, Mars and the Moon.

We ran through a handful of short talks – including a review of popular astronomy apps by Marc and a talk from Debra on Comets, followed by a successful comet-making demo to an enthralled audience.

Further gaps in the clouds allowed visitors another chance to observe with us. It’s always rewarding to hear the “oohs and aahs” of a first-time view of Jupiter’s moons through a decent scope. The Society Dob’s are just brilliant at that.

So thank you to the whole crew (you know who you are) for setting up, interacting, educating and closing down the show. It was very successful indeed.

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Crayford Manor House Astronomical Society Dartford (CMHASD) were out in force at the recent New Scientist Live event at ExCel Centre, London Docklands on the 7th to 9th October 2022.  We were there to help the British Astronomical Association (BAA), in which we have many members; on their stand in the Cosmos Section this year.  

Everybody pitched in; helping the BAA team organised by CMHASD member Janice McClean who is a trustee and the Events Coordinator of the BAA to promote membership of the BAA and answer questions ranging from 'What type of telescope should I buy?' to 'How do you use a Planisphere?'

Janice said ''After three years closure, it was great to be back.''

A big Thank you to CMHASD members Steve Floodgate & David Grist (our own Eric and Ernie) who were there for all three days of the event with Janice together with Mark Radice from Basingstoke Astronomical Society. 

Thanks fully to CMHASD members Rita Whiting and Debra Holton who were there to keep the peace on Friday (School’s day) and to CMHASD member Diane Clarke who got pulled in after rashly accepting a guest pass when the sheer number of visitors became overwhelming.  CMHASD trustee Mike Rushton added some calm and gravitas to the mayhem on Saturday and Rita returned on Sunday for even more!