Meetings and Events

MEETINGS 2023-2024

 

Society meetings are normally held on the second Friday of each month from September to July and are free for members (See how to become a member on our Join Us Page).  Visitors are very welcome (£2 at the door) - Please bring cash, change preferred, we have no card payment facilities.

All these meetings will be from 7.30 - 9.30pm in our normal room on the Plymouth University campus, Room - Rolle 002 (Ground floor).

There is a map on the Join Us page of our website https://plymouthastro.co.uk/Join-Us/

 

Please note that there will be plenty of time at the meetings for socialising but that refreshments will no longer be served, please feel free to bring a drink and vending machines are available outside. For any further details regarding these meetings, get in touch with us on our Contact Us page.

 

Meetings normally conclude with a short presentation of "What's in the night sky this month?" by our Committee Member Phil James.

 

Saturday 12th August 2023
Persied Meteor Shower observing evening at Wembury Beach Car Park. Roughly 20.30 start. Weather depdendent. If you see rain or clouds outside, assume it is not going ahead! Check our facebook page for updates.

 

Friday 1st September 2023
Beginning of new PAS Membership year (Full year membership is still 15 pounds - cash only). A talk from Chris Cooke our new chairman on "UK Space Launches", and all the usual night sky updates. 

PLEASE NOTE - THIS IS AN IRREGULAR MEETING AND IS OCCURING ON THE FIRST FRIDAY OF THE MONTH, AND NOT THE SECOND FRIDAY, AS IS USUAL.

 

Friday 22nd September 2023

Plymouth Hoe Observing Evening (Starting Approx 20.00) Weather dependent!

Due to unforeseen circumstances the meeting has been relocated and is now at Wembury Beach Car Park.

 

Friday 13th October 2023

Interstellar Medium - by Mike Shearer

A journey investigating the nature of the material in space between and around the stars and galaxies. This will include the origin, discovery, methods of analysis, location and observation of this mysterious celestial stuff.

 

Saturday 21st October 2023

Orionids observing evening at Wembury Beach Car Park. Roughly 19.30 start. Hoping to see some Orionid Meteors, with a 1st quarter moon setting at 21.00. Jupiter, Saturn, Andromeda, Pleiades and the Auriga clusters are possible targets of observation.

Weather dependent. If you see rain or clouds outside, assume it is not going ahead! Check our facebook page for updates.

**CANCELLED**

 

Saturday 28th October 2023

Partial Lunar Eclipse observing evening at Plymouth Hoe. Roughly 19.00 start until 21.00. Meet near Drakes statue on the Hoe. The lunar eclipse is partial so expectations should be set accordingly. Hopefully we will see Saturn, Jupiter and perhaps other celestial goodies! Wrap up warm!

Weather dependent. If you see rain or clouds outside, assume it is not going ahead! Check our facebook page for updates.

**CANCELLED**

 

Friday 10th November 2023

Quark Stars and Strange Matter - by Paul Fellows

Paul is one of our special guest speakers this year and is Chairman of the Cambridge Astronomical Association. His talk is on exotic matter in the deaths of giant stars!

 

Friday 17th November 2023

Leonids observing evening at Wembury Point National Trust Car Park Roughly 19.30 start. A crescent moon sets early, Jupiter is at opposition, and Saturn, Taurus, Auriga, Gemini and of course Orion will be on display! Wrap up warm! 

Weather dependent. If you see rain or clouds outside, assume it is not going ahead! Check our facebook page for updates.

**CANCELLED** (PLEASE NOTE: This is not our usual observing locaton, wembury beach access road is damaged, please see facebook event for map).

 

Friday 8th December 2023

PAS Christmas meeting with a short talk and includes one of committee member Davids famous Quiz's and a raffle of astronomically themed goodies.

Talk by Steve Cooke titled "In search of the Northern Lights, a Norwegian Sojourn" - 

The Northern Lights (Aurora borealis) are one of nature's true spectacles and appear in numerous books, magazines, TV programmes and Internet. But what is it like to see them in person and come away with some photos for the record? In this talk Steve discusses his long standing ambition to see and photograph them, his voyage up the Norwegian coast and the challenges to overcome to eventually see and image the Aurora.

 

Wednesday 13th December 2023

Geminids meteor shower observing - Wembury Point 20.00

Meet in NT car park at Wembury Point (Not by the beach). With clear skies we have a chance to see some meteors and other autumnal goodies as well as Jupiter and maybe Saturn. Weather dependent. If you see rain or clouds outside, assume it is not going ahead! Check our facebook page for updates.

(PLEASE NOTE: This is not our usual observing locaton, wembury beach access road is damaged, please see facebook event for map).

 

Sunday 17th December 2023

A Stargazing evening on Plymouth Hoe 19.00

A free event - just turn up and hopefully see Jupiter, Saturn and other goodies. Children of all ages welcome (8-80!). We usually meet near Smeatons Lighthouse not far from drakes statue. Weather dependent. If you see rain or clouds outside, assume it is not going ahead! Check our facebook page for updates.

**CANCELLED**

 

Tuesday 9th January 2024

Wembury Observing Evening

Observing evening open to all. With a clear sky and no Moon this should be a good if cold evening! So dress appropriately. WEATHER dependant! So watch Facebook event for updates! Note the road to the beach car park is now open again but the road is quite narrow due to subsidence so take care!

 

Friday 12th January 2024

A ZOOM talk by Professor Shirin Haque, University of the West Indies

Title: Astronomy served Caribbean Style. Dr Shirin Haque is the first woman to head the Department of Physics at The University of the West Indies (UWI), St Augustine. She is well known for advancing the study of astronomy at the university and in the Caribbean both professionally and through her work in public outreach. Her research interests include quasars, cosmology, large scale structures and spin glasses.

 

Friday 9th February 2024

Carolyn Kennett (Independent Researcher)

Title: The Celestial Landscape of Dartmoor and Bodmin Moor

 

Friday 16th February 2024

A Stargazing evening on Plymouth Hoe

A free event - just turn up and hopefully see a 1st quarter Moon, Pleiades Jupiter and other goodies. Children of all ages welcome (8-80!). We usually meet near Smeatons Lighthouse not far from drakes statue. Weather dependent. If you see rain or clouds outside, assume it is not going ahead! Check our facebook page for updates and start time (After dusk!)

 

Friday 8th March 2024

Astronomical Equipment Evening - A social meeting where various equipment will be displayed and discussed. This is the perfect opportunity to get some questions answered and check out some typical astronomy equipment.

 

Wednesday 13th March 2024

Observing evening at Wembury Beach. - WEATHER dependant! So watch Facebook event for updates! Note the road to the beach car park is now open again but the road is quite narrow due to subsidence so take care!

**CANCELLED**

 

Friday 12th April 2024

Shakespeare's Astronomy - By Sheila Evans

This talk isabout the many astronomical references in his plays and other works, set in the context of the times in which Shakespeare lived.  These were times when our view of humanity's place in the Universe was undergoing enormous changes.

 

Friday 10th May 2024

The James Webb Space Telescope: Two Years of Discovery by Dave Norman (President, Torquay Museum Society).

After its launch on Christmas Day 2021 and start of science work in the Summer of 2022, the James Webb Space Telescope has continued its amazing series of discoveries across the cosmos, reaching further than any previous scientific instrument. This talk will summarise those discoveries and present some of the wonderful images and science data collected in that period.

 

Friday 14th June 2024

Professor David Southwood (Previous President of the Royal Astronomical Society, Previous Director of Science and Robotic Exploration at the European Space Agency and our Plymouth Astronomical Society Patron!) - Comets, Asteroids and things that fall from the sky.

 

40 years ago, the prospect of Comet Halley’s return in 1986 led to the start of a space race towards the small bodies of the solar system.  These small bodies, comets, asteroids and meteor showers, are immensely important as they are the likely raw material from which our solar system formed originally.  However, also in the early 80s, the geological discovery of a distinct sedimentary layer containing far more Iridium than occurs naturally on Earth led to the notion that it marked the remains of a catastrophic impact of our planet with a celestial body.  The impact, dated to 66Myr ago, appeared to wipe out many species, most famously the dinosaurs.  Accordingly, small system bodies not only provide evidence of how our planet and its life started but also are a threat to life on our planet.  In the 21st C., for both the reasons above, small bodies in our solar system are important targets for space missions.  The talk will explore some of the history and what is planned.

 

Friday 12th July 2024

Summer Quiz, Raffle, AGM

 

In addition, there are no scheduled PAS meetings in August (2024).