Introduction to Astronomy Day

Hi all.


We're planning an Introduction to Astronomy Day on Saturday 3rd March.

If you've just got a telescope or binoculars for Christmas and want to know how to get the best out of them or if you've just wanted to know more about the night sky and what you're looking at then we hope to see you.

The day will start at about 10am and will run to 3pm with breaks for tea through the day and lunch.

We will cover what to look at (stars, planets, galaxies, nebula etc), how telescopes work and how to get the most out of them and how to take pictures of the night sky.

After the daytime activities, to round the day off, if the skies are clear, we will have a practical observing session where you can bring your own equipment along, look through club member's equipment or use some of the club's telescopes.

The day will cost £15 for an adult, £10 for children under 16 (must be accompanied by a responsible adult). Discounts available for club members and family groups.

Please let us know if you are interested so we can start getting an idea of numbers. You can contact us via our Facebook page or email us via eeac@essexastro.com.

The daytime event will be at the Village Hall in Burnham on Crouch, the observing will be near by at an accessible dark site or a member's garden.

Regards

John, Chair EEAC.

News

Hi all,

Take a look on the events page as I've just added dates and subjects for next year.

I hope to do a daytime event in March for all the owners of new equipment. The idea will be to advertise widely to have potential new members join us.

Obviously any members who want to attend will get a discount of the cost of the day.

Also, anyone who wants to lend a hand on the day would be most welcome.

Hopefully it will be clear in the evening and we can put into practice what we learned in the day.

Thanks

John

News

Hi All,

Well, we had a good few in attendance on 6th of October for John's talk on Mars and Roy's presentation about his visit to the US to see "The Great American Eclipse" (all I can say is jealous!!). We also had the first outing for the club's new projector which enhanced the power point for all to see.

We had 2 TBAs on the calendar for the rest of 2017 which are now filled.

November we will have the top 10 sights in the winter sky. A run down of the objects, what they are, where they can be seen and the best way to see them, from the naked eye to larger telescopes. The talk will also cover how to capture some of the sights with simple photographic equipment.

December has Roy Hookway giving us his presentation on "The Life and Times of Charles Messier",which I'm looking forward to.

We are always happy for those in attendance to give 5 - 10 minute members talks (don't actually have to be a member but we have to call it something!). Just let us know in advance so we can schedule you in.

Do you have a topic that you would like more information on, an astronomical character you would like to hear about or an observing technique you would like to learn? Let us know as we are currently filling in calendar positions for talks for 2018.

In 2018 we are not going to have meetings in July and August. The past 3 years have seen dwindling attendance in these months so we are going to have a summer break. We will still have the Perseid night on 12th - 13th August (weather permitting).

Last and not least we still have a few slots for our 2018 calendar. Remember, anything astronomical goes and you must have visited us in 2017. We will produce a sample for you to look at and then take confirmed orders with deposits before we order in bulk.

Look forward to seeing you in November.

Calendar Call Out

We are going to put together another calendar of our visitors images, diagrams or pictures.

There are a couple of stipulations for submissions.

1) The images must be original and your own work.
2) You have to have been to one of the club meetings in the past 12 months.

Other than that, anything goes as long as it is space.astronomy related.

We would like all submissions by the end of October. You can email them in, add them as a comment to this post, add them to the facebook page (we will probably ask for a direct email of the image due to FB compression if the image is selected) or bring it along on a memory stick/CD to the October meeting on 7th October.

We look forward to seeing your work.

New Season

Hi All,

September sees the start of the next winter observing season as the sun crosses the ecliptic and we pass the autumn equinox. The light nights of summer with the summer triangle and Saturn are dipping into the western twilight as Capella and the Pleiades are rising in the East.

Our next meeting starts at 7pm on Saturday 9th September at the Village Hall in Burnham. The talk is going to be on how we find the distance to the stars. We will also be discussing an observing project that John has organised.

We would also like some help communicating meeting write ups and communications of meeting dates to the local press to help advertise our meetings. It won't take much time so if interested please let us know.

This site can now be reached via www.eeac.co.uk.

We are also going to arrange some public observing sessions. We would like access to a dark, open space with good vehicle access so if you know of anywhere near by please let us know.

Perseids...

Hi All,

It's not looking good for the Perseid meteor shower on Saturday, clouds predicted, but this may change. I'll keep you all updated.

John

Hi all, Just to let you know that unfortunately due to unforeseen circumstances we're having to cancel the August meeting that was due to be on the 5th august. The next meeting will be on 9th September where I'll do the talk about the distance to the stars I was going to do in August. We will still have the Meteor watch on the night of 12th-13th August. This will again be in my back garden. If you are interested please comment on this post  and I'll send you further details or click attending on the Facebook event. If you are interested then you will need to wrap up warm (I know it's August but it gets jolly cold when the sun goes down), a chair or sun lounger and some insect repellent. If you want to bring a camera to see if you can capture some meteors please feel free. You will need a tripod and if possible a remote shutter release. Hope to see you there. Regards John Chair EEAC

Forthcoming Events

After our July meeting (Saturday 8th July, see previous post), our next meeting is on 5th August at the Burnham Village Hall. In August we will be talking about how we measure the distance to the stars. We will also be discussing our forthcoming winter observing season which will also include details of a simple variable star observation project that all can join in on.

Also in August will be the 3rd Annual East Essex Astronomy Club Perseid meteor watch. In the previous 2 years we have successfully observed the peak of the Perseid meteor shower under clear skies. This year the shower peaks on the night of Saturday 12th - Sunday 13th August. A meteor is simply a speck of space debris about the size of a grain of sand burning up in the Earth's upper atmosphere. The passage of the dust leaves a bright streak behind it in a spectacular natural fireworks display. Meteors are visible on all nights of the year but there are specific times when the Earth passes through dust trails left by comets. The Perseids are such an event and from a natural back ground of 1 - 2 meteors per hour we can see up to 100, bright meteors an hour. Details of location and times will be available here and on our facebook page nearer the time.

East Essex Astronomy Club July Meeting.

Our next meeting is on Saturday 8th July at the Village Hall in Burnham on Crouch. Doors open at 6:45pm. We will be talking about the sun, it's history and how it will end its days. We will also cover how to safely observe the sun and how to make a simple solar filter. If the skies are clear we will also do some solar observations through various instruments.

As usual £3 per adult and £1 per child under 16. All under 16s to be accompanied by an adult. Tea and coffee provided.

Saturn at opposition

Opposition is the point in a planet's orbit where the Earth is in a direct line between the sun and the planet. Usually this means that the planet is at it's closest to the Earth and the brightest.
Unfortunately this apparition of Saturn occurs when Saturn has a very low altitude when viewed from the UK. This means that the light from the planet has to pass through a lot of atmosphere and can be quite distorted so some fine detail can be lost when viewing.

This shot from last night shows some colour and the Cassini division  can be seen in the rings. It is noted that the edge of the rings are visible behind the body of the planet. This changes as the position of Earth and Saturn change. At present the rings are "wide open", in 11 years the rings will barely be visible as they will be viewed edge on from the Earth.

Imaged from Burnham on Crouch in Essex using a Celestron 8" Evolution and an Altair Astro GPcam v1. Captured using sharpcap, stacked in Autostakkert 2, processed in Registax and Gimp.

June Meeting. 10th June 2017, 6:45pm, Burnham Village Hall.

Hi Everyone,

This month we will be discussing the moon, our largest natural satellite. If clear there will be a couple of telescopes on hand to have a look at the moon after the meeting. As always club members are on hand to answer any astronomical questions and help with using or choosing equipment.

We are going to be at the Village Hall in Arcadia Road.

Doors open at 6:45pm with tea and coffee provided.
Adults £3, children (U16) £1 (all under 16s must be accompanied by an adult).
Adult members £2, child members free.

Hope to see you there,

John

Chair EEAC.

Messing around with Jupiter last night. Moon to the left is Europa.

Another shot from last night with Io transiting the surface of Jupiter. It is sometimes hard to see the moons against the surface of the planet. But here Io is quite visible. This is because the limbs of the planet are subject to a phenomena known as limb darkening. This means that the moon stands out against the relatively dark limb. I'll process and post a shot from later in the night where Io is very difficult to identify.

Here is the list of our forthcoming meetings.

Hi all, just testing. Might be an easier way to let us all add stuff and take comments etc that's not FB.
What you think?