Jersey Astronomy Club - News and Events

Events 2023

4/4/2023

13 November - The impact of AI on astronomy by Gordon Pollock

11 December – Christmas Quiz

January - Astrophotography update by Gordon Pollock

February - The Space Shuttle by Tony Bellows (provisional)

Neil will also do short briefings on anything significant to see in the night sky.

Visiting Speaker - Dr Robin Catchpole

20/10/2022

Autumn Meetings 2021

10/8/2021

Covid-19 Coronavirus

Meetings will be starting again, but we are keeping within one metre distancing. Chairs are re-arranged for social distancing.

Travel: Anyone who has travelled recently abroad will need to have had a negative test result.

Contact tracing: Anybody who has been contact traced will be required to have had a day 0 negative test result if double vaccinated and a day 0 and day 5 negative test result if non-vaccinated. While government guidelines do not mandate self-isolation while waiting for a test, we are following a stricter policy for attendance to make it safer for members.

Contact tracing: We will also require members to complete on arrival a Contact Tracing form which will be
kept for 21 days and then shredded.

Masks /Visors are mandatory while Government directives are in place.
Sanitizer is also available for use.

Proposed Planned Meetings
(subject to Covid restrictions)

• September: Gordon Pollock on Astrophotography
and Photographing the Sun
• October – Neil on the Winter Night Sky
• November – Derek on Private Enterprise in Space
• December – Tony Christmas Quiz
• January – Bring a Telescope
• February – Tony on Astronomy in the News

Astronomy Club Restarting

5/10/2020

Covid-19 Coronavirus

Meetings will be starting again, but for those who can’t come, the Mars presentation will be repeated on Zoom. This is very much an experiment.

Monday 12 October – 8 pm at Clubhouse
Tuesday 12 October – 9 pm on Zoom

We have re-arranged the chairs. We have removed some of the chairs. The photo above shows how they are distanced so you can judge the risk yourself.

We can accommodate 13 double units and 3 singles. Double units can be used for single people, but if two people from the same household come, we can count that as one unit.

Contact me on tony_theprof@hotmail.com if you wish to come.

Please think carefully – if the weather is wet and you decide not to come on the night, you may be taking a space from someone who does. If you cancel before, we can offer the place to someone else.

Please do not come unless you have received an acknowledgement that you are on the list.

Anyone who has travelled recently will need to have had a negative test result on the second test, not just the first. This is to reduce risk to a minimum

There will be sanitiser ready on a table by the door and wipes to wipe down door handles.

Contact tracing: We will tick off the booked names against those present. We will also require members to complete on arrival a separate checklist for Covid-19 as per Government guidelines which will be kept for 21 days and then shredded.

There will be no refreshments.

Monday Night Dome Viewing – Message from Neil

We are going to start our Monday night observing sessions again as of 5th October. We are still going to observe social distancing rules so we'll only have two people in the dome with me at any given time. Any extra people will have wait their turn outside the dome I'm afraid. We can at least provide chairs!

In addition, we'll ask attendants to fill in their name and contact details on a form provided. I'll sanitize the eyepiece between viewers.

I know this all a pain but it will allow us currently to observe Jupiter, Saturn and particularly Mars, which over the next month appears larger than it will again until 2033.

https://www.facebook.com/JerseyAstronomyClub/

As ever, keep an eye on our Facebook Site as I'll use it to announce whether or not the sky is clear enough to go ahead. As usual we will start at 8pm.

Events 2019 - Part 2

27/6/2019

July 8 2019 – Einstein and Eddington

Aug 12 2019 – Open Evening

Sep 9 2019 – Private Enterprise in Space (Derek Jepson)

October 14 2019 –Visiting Speaker – Dr Robin Catchpole on Comets and Catastrophes

November 11 2019 – The Sirius Mystery (Jaime Beckford)

December 9 2019 – Christmas Quiz with Mulled Wine and Mince Pies

2020 Events

January 13 2020 – Bring a Telescope Night
February 10 2020 – Astronomy in the News
March 9 2020 – A Look at the Spring/Summer night sky
April 13 2020 – Astronomical April Fools!

Events 2019

18/1/2019

February 11 2019 – Astronomy in the News (Tony)

March 11 2019 – Spring Night Sky (Neil)

Other potential presentations, dates to be arranged, will look at:

The Astronomer William Herschel
The Planet Mercury
Craters on the Moon and their stories
The Private Enterprise: Elon Musk, Richard Branson etc: in space
[All at the club house, 8pm, viewing if clear after the presentation.]

Visiting speaker - TUESDAY July 17 - Dr Robin Catchpole - St Peter's Parish Hall

29/6/2018

Events 2018

2/3/2018

Diary

Monday March 12 – The Spring Night Sky with Neil. A look at what to view in the spring / summer night sky this year. 8 pm Club House

Visiting Speaker

One for the diary! Tuesday 17h July evening, Dr Robin Catchole will be visiting Jersey. The venue and title of the talk has yet to be finalized.

Further Afield – Provisional Meetings as follows:

All on the 2nd Monday of the month, 8pm club house

April 9 - Look at the Planets – Neptune (Tony_

May 14 – - Apollo – A Personal Perspective (Derek ) *

June 11 – AGM

July 9 – Short Documentary as last year

August 13 – Open Evening, tell friends!

September 10 – Astronomy in the News (Tony)

October 8 – Autumn Night Sky (Neil)

November 12 – Cosmonauts – the Russian side of the Space Race (Tony) *

December 10 - Xmas Quiz (Tony)

Return of the Astrophotography Competition

Following last year’s competition, a new competition is being launched – details on rules and submission can be seen at:

http://jerseyastronomyclub.weebly.com/photography-competition/jersey-astronomy-club-astrophotography-competition-20172018

Given the abysmal weather this year, this competition is being extended to December, winners announced at Christmas quiz.

Astronomy Club Photo Competition 2018

29/12/2017

Mysteries of the Solar System - Visiting Professor

29/9/2017