Astronomy every Thursday
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A super collection of Noctilucent Cloud (NLC) images and a timelapse video taken by CMHASD members during the months of June & July this year.
First we have the 23rd June 2025 where several members managed to capture the clouds.
Member Martin Crow using his iPhone; taken from Burnham-On-Crouch.
And finally a timelapse video of NLC on the 23rd June 2025 taken by member Honor Wheeler also from Dartford.
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Member Jim Burchell also caught NLC on 3 more nights. These were taken on the 30th June 2025 from Dartford.
These on the 3rd July 2025 taken from Dartford.
And finally a stunning display on the 8th July 2025 taken from Swanley by Jim.
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.
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.
[ngg src="galleries" ids="91" display="basic_slideshow"]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?
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
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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.
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.
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.
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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.
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.
