BRINGING ASTRONOMY AND SPACE INTO YOUR HOME
A compilation of resources and events for bringing us together even in isolation
Wells & Mendip Astronomers resources and events
Please note the Terms & Conditions of our online events
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Our next Monthly Online Meeting: AGM from 7:30pm Friday 22nd Jan 2021
A chance for members to to hear how the group is doing and the plans we have as we emerge from the pandemic during 2021. Most importantly it's an opportunity for members to share their own thoughts and ideas. We're aiming to conclude the AGM by 8:15pm when we'll have an entertaining talk 'Herschel to Hawkwind' by Pete Williamson FRAS. Pete is a widely known professional astronomer and broadcaster and his talk will reflect on astronomy, music and how they influence each other. Free tickets to the AGM are available at https://billetto.co.uk/e/wells-and-mendip-astronomers-agm-meeting-tickets-496092/
Webinars
Saturday 9th Jan at 7:30pm we have our first member's webinar of 2021 'The World's Biggest Eye' by Richard Hook our Membership Secretary, with the history of the telescope culminating in the giant equipment that is coming on line this decade. Richard brings a unique perspective having previously worked at the European Southern Observatory, so this is a webinar not to be missed. Free tickets can be obtained in the usual way by following this link https://billetto.co.uk/e/the-world-s-biggest-eye-by-member-richard-hook-tickets-496091/
Please email wellsmendipastro@gmail.com if you'd like to present a webinar on your passion in astronomy or space exploration.
Live video observing
Fred and Ed Vanner would have presented live views of Mars after our Mars Night monthly meeting on Saturday 14th November 2020, but the weather was terrible! So we settled for a video they'd prepared earlier :-)
Simon Holbeche presented 'Skies from my Shed' on Thursday Apr 23, 2020 - thanks Simon, it was great fun. We saw Venus, Castor (binary star), Messier 51 Whirlpool Galaxy and Messier 44 Beehive Cluster
Naked eye astronomy events
Brian Davidson's posts a monthly blog on our Blog Page explaining how to find your way around the sky
External resources and events
Great Conjunction Live Stream Although the two planets will appear closest together on Monday 21st December, the weather forecast doesn't look like its on our side. Jupiter and Saturn will be close enough to see simultaneously through the telescope on Saturday. Along with views from the telescope on top of the physics building at the University of Exeter, the universities' panel of experts plan to answer some of your questions. The live-stream will be recorded so you can watch it later. Remember to try to see the conjunction yourself, through a telescope, binoculars, or simply using your eyes! We plan for the live-stream to start at 16:15 GMT (4:15pm UK time) on Saturday 19th December. The direct link to the YouTube live-stream is: https://youtu.be/Rx1-JjfCjdA
TED talk and online articles Chris Starr, the founder of Wells & Mendip Astronomers, has suggested a fascinating TED talk by Dr. Marc Rayman of JPL, who led the Dawn Mission to Ceres and Vesta. Chris met him a couple of times at Spacefest and had a chance to interview him in depth. Dr Rayman is a wonderful advocate for science and exploration, and has recently done a TED Talk on this for which he gave Chris the following link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0PbFp-y6Dc
Related to Dr Rayman's talk Chris published a couple of interesting RocketSTEM articles on the Dawn mission which are well worth a read:
https://www.rocketstem.org/2015/03/01/exploring-the-dawn-of-the-solar-system/
https://www.rocketstem.org/2017/01/03/dawns-rich-harvest-as-ceres-gives-up-secrets/
Space Detectives is running regular online events for families https://spacedetectives.com/
British Astronomical Association webinars, on occasional Wednesday evenings 19:00 BST https://britastro.org/node/21142
On Wednesday 6th May 2020, Hugh Allen gave the BAA's Wednesday Webinar on hunting for molecules with a spectroscope
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6x1wuwKK20 British Astronomical Association video archive is also now publicly available https://britastro.org/node/21026
British Interplanetary Society are streaming previous lectures and live Q&A sessions https://www.bis-space.com/2020/04/06/24452/streaming-bis-lectures
The Virtual Astronomy Club - online get togethers https://www.star-gazing.co.uk/WebPage/virtual-astro-club/
Cambridge Institute of Astronomy - pre-recorded and live online talks https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCa7e55mYI2xQAoV_0hRmL-g
Astrobites - daily summaries by students of the latest astronomy research https://astrobites.org
A chance for members to to hear how the group is doing and the plans we have as we emerge from the pandemic during 2021. Most importantly it's an opportunity for members to share their own thoughts and ideas. We're aiming to conclude the AGM by 8:15pm when we'll have an entertaining talk 'Herschel to Hawkwind' by Pete Williamson FRAS. Pete is a widely known professional astronomer and broadcaster and his talk will reflect on astronomy, music and how they influence each other. Free tickets to the AGM are available at https://billetto.co.uk/e/wells-and-mendip-astronomers-agm-meeting-tickets-496092/
Webinars
Saturday 9th Jan at 7:30pm we have our first member's webinar of 2021 'The World's Biggest Eye' by Richard Hook our Membership Secretary, with the history of the telescope culminating in the giant equipment that is coming on line this decade. Richard brings a unique perspective having previously worked at the European Southern Observatory, so this is a webinar not to be missed. Free tickets can be obtained in the usual way by following this link https://billetto.co.uk/e/the-world-s-biggest-eye-by-member-richard-hook-tickets-496091/
Please email wellsmendipastro@gmail.com if you'd like to present a webinar on your passion in astronomy or space exploration.
Live video observing
Fred and Ed Vanner would have presented live views of Mars after our Mars Night monthly meeting on Saturday 14th November 2020, but the weather was terrible! So we settled for a video they'd prepared earlier :-)
Simon Holbeche presented 'Skies from my Shed' on Thursday Apr 23, 2020 - thanks Simon, it was great fun. We saw Venus, Castor (binary star), Messier 51 Whirlpool Galaxy and Messier 44 Beehive Cluster
Naked eye astronomy events
Brian Davidson's posts a monthly blog on our Blog Page explaining how to find your way around the sky
External resources and events
Great Conjunction Live Stream Although the two planets will appear closest together on Monday 21st December, the weather forecast doesn't look like its on our side. Jupiter and Saturn will be close enough to see simultaneously through the telescope on Saturday. Along with views from the telescope on top of the physics building at the University of Exeter, the universities' panel of experts plan to answer some of your questions. The live-stream will be recorded so you can watch it later. Remember to try to see the conjunction yourself, through a telescope, binoculars, or simply using your eyes! We plan for the live-stream to start at 16:15 GMT (4:15pm UK time) on Saturday 19th December. The direct link to the YouTube live-stream is: https://youtu.be/Rx1-JjfCjdA
TED talk and online articles Chris Starr, the founder of Wells & Mendip Astronomers, has suggested a fascinating TED talk by Dr. Marc Rayman of JPL, who led the Dawn Mission to Ceres and Vesta. Chris met him a couple of times at Spacefest and had a chance to interview him in depth. Dr Rayman is a wonderful advocate for science and exploration, and has recently done a TED Talk on this for which he gave Chris the following link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0PbFp-y6Dc
Related to Dr Rayman's talk Chris published a couple of interesting RocketSTEM articles on the Dawn mission which are well worth a read:
https://www.rocketstem.org/2015/03/01/exploring-the-dawn-of-the-solar-system/
https://www.rocketstem.org/2017/01/03/dawns-rich-harvest-as-ceres-gives-up-secrets/
Space Detectives is running regular online events for families https://spacedetectives.com/
British Astronomical Association webinars, on occasional Wednesday evenings 19:00 BST https://britastro.org/node/21142
On Wednesday 6th May 2020, Hugh Allen gave the BAA's Wednesday Webinar on hunting for molecules with a spectroscope
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6x1wuwKK20 British Astronomical Association video archive is also now publicly available https://britastro.org/node/21026
British Interplanetary Society are streaming previous lectures and live Q&A sessions https://www.bis-space.com/2020/04/06/24452/streaming-bis-lectures
The Virtual Astronomy Club - online get togethers https://www.star-gazing.co.uk/WebPage/virtual-astro-club/
Cambridge Institute of Astronomy - pre-recorded and live online talks https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCa7e55mYI2xQAoV_0hRmL-g
Astrobites - daily summaries by students of the latest astronomy research https://astrobites.org
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If you are interested in becoming a member of Wells and Mendip Astronomers, please contact us using the email icon below.
Copyright © Wells and Mendip Astronomers 2019