It was the night before Halloween, and we had booked the evening at the 350-year-old Royal Observatory in Greenwich for our first exclusive access evening - what could possibly go wrong? Well, the weather for one. The only thing you could see was thick cloud with a spooky glow where the Moon just couldn’t get through. Did that matter? Hell no! We plan for this - we’re in England, after all 😊. I arrived at 6:30pm and proceeded to the staff entrance by the Shepherd Clock, whic

On the 27th of October , a group of Flamsteed members gathered at Mycenae House to listen to a talk on “The Sun: An Introduction to Viewing and Imaging”  given by Flamsteed member Tim Rickard . Tim is an experienced solar observer and a regular volunteer at the society’s solar observing outreach sessions at the Royal Observatory. Tim Rickard, at the start of his talk to the Flamsteed. Picture by Mike Meynell. Tim started his talk by covering the health and safety consideratio

Arriving on the heath, it was immediately clear that we were sharing the space with a few unexpected guests. The funfair had returned, lighting up the horizon with its usual neon glow and soundtrack of excited screams, and, for reasons known only to themselves, a large group of classic Volkswagen Beetle enthusiasts had gathered nearby. All this made for a lively backdrop as telescopes began to appear across the grass. The fairground as a backdrop, as we set up scopes. Picture

Our 2025/26 season of main lectures continued with its second fascinating instalment. The evening got off to a great start with a private viewing of the Astronomy Photographer of the Year exhibition for our members, provoking friendly discussions and debates over personal favourites. Then everyone moved into the lecture theatre for the sold-out talk. As well as our usual members’ photos - this time focusing on the Sun and the Moon - we were also treated to a wonderful review