After the rainy start to June, and a rescheduled solar observing session, the Sun came out and didn't disappoint any of us. But there was so much more to be seen and experienced by our visitors, but more of that later. Unusually, we had no new volunteers joining us today, but twelve experienced volunteers turned up, encouraged by the weather forecast, which turned out to be very accurate! As is normally the case, everyone pitched in, bringing the equipment up from the stores

The first Flamsteed Landscape Astrophotography Masterclass was held at the National Maritime Museum’s lecture theatre on Tuesday 9th June and presented by Alec Knox, Helen Edwards and Tej Dyal. Alec – Linking the traditions of classical landscape painting with modern night-sky imaging. Alec started the evening’s talks by taking us on a journey charting man’s relationship with the night sky. He started by describing some of the earliest known archaeological sites with astronom

After missing our previous scheduled solar observing session due to cloud cover on both days, the team was eager to get up and running again at the Royal Observatory Greenwich this Saturday. Regular participants were joined by five new volunteers, bringing our total number to fourteen for the day. Everyone pitched in with enthusiasm, first helping to bring the equipment up from the stores at Flamsteed House before assisting with the set-up and running of the event. Setting up

Part 1 – Amateur Science Projects with Paul May Paul started the evening with his discussion on amateur science projects covering four topics: Spectroheliography Paul gave an update on the progress made with his MLAstro SHG 700 Spectroheliograph. How a spectroheliograph works is explained briefly in this manufacturer's description: “A slit is used to capture a small slice of sunlight. This light passes through a collimator, which turns it into parallel rays. These ray

The penultimate main lecture of the season proved to be a very popular one, with the lecture hall packed and barely an empty seat in the house. The evening commenced as ever with members’ images, but this time with a twist; a selection of artwork from the recent astro art workshop, where a variety of interpretations of the Orion Nebula were produced, was also on show. Then it was on to the members’ talk, Data-driven Astronomy with Thomas Obitz, asking how amateurs can still c

As the Flamsteed Astronomy Society’s current ‘History of Astronomy’ season draws to a close, we were presented with an enthralling talk given by our Chairman Bobby Manoo. A near-capacity audience in the main auditorium of the National Maritime Museum were treated to an exposition of one of the most famous and consequential disputes in twentieth-century astrophysics: the clash between Sir Arthur Eddington and Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, over the theory that ultimately became k

The latest in the current season’s History of Astronomy meetings took place at Royal Museums Greenwich on 21st April. The talk, entitled “Tycho Brahe and his Legacy”, was given by Dr Emma Perkins of the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at Cambridge University. Emma started by describing Tycho’s early life in Denmark. He was born in 1546, heir to several noble families. He grew up well educated, and his interest in astronomy as a youth led him to learn the night

What a difference three hydrogen-alpha solar telescopes make to a solar viewing session. Last season, we operated with just one scope for most of our events due to issues with the Lunt. Our old Coronado 60 was incredibly reliable, and the professionalism of our team saw us through, but long queues were often unavoidable, and we never quite felt able to give visitors as much time at the eyepiece as we would have liked. For the first session of the 2026 season, however, not onl

Moon’s the Word - Is There Life Out There? The evening opened with a talk on the Moon from Manish Patel, returning to a theme he had also spoken on last year and giving it something of an annual-event feel. He looked at the success of Artemis II, launched on 1st April 2026, 54 years after humans had previously left Earth’s orbit. A flyby mission to the Moon, its objective was to help decide ‘which post codes to move into’. He revealed the European dimension of this first crew

By 7.30pm, volunteers were gathering on Blackheath for our final session of the season, with Alec, Tej, Richard, Yvonne, Paul, Les and others soon getting set up alongside myself. It was particularly good to have Tej with us, as Sunday events are not usually possible for him. Much of our set-up time was dominated by conversations about the weather. The scopes were covered in preparation for a downfall. At one point, we looked to be surrounded on all sides by rain, but, miracu

A very enjoyable evening of observing on Blackheath, even if we were effectively competing with a circus and a fairground for the local sky. Being Easter Sunday, there was a certain sugar-fuelled momentum to the proceedings; it was suspected that a fair amount of chocolate had been accounted for before our visitors made their way onto the heath! We had around 70 visitors, mostly over a fairly busy hour or so, and well over a dozen scopes set up. Conditions turned out pretty m

As we move towards the spring equinox for 2026, the Flamsteed Astronomy Society gathered again at the National Maritime Museum Auditorium for its main March lecture, marking another well-attended and engaging evening in this season’s programme. Attendees were welcomed by our host for the evening, Barry Cassels, who opened proceedings with thanks to the organising team, museum staff, and those providing refreshments. There was also appreciation for members’ continued contribut

I arrived on Blackheath at around 6.30pm to find Alec and Tony already setting up. The sky looked encouraging and, thankfully, the forecast held up. Seeing turned out to be excellent, with decent transparency for most of the evening. Visitors began to arrive not long after sunset and by the end of the session we’d probably seen 50–60 people, with roughly a dozen telescopes spread across our usual patch of heath. It was particularly nice to see lots of families and children ag

This was our last Exclusive Access at the Royal Observatory Greenwich for the 2025/26 season, and the last until the ROG reopens following the First Light renovations. So, by the light of the silvery Moon - yeah right! Of course, after a couple of clear nights we got clouded out. But this is why we make a Plan B. After all, we’re not just astronomers, we’re English astronomers 😊 Bobby began the evening by leading a tour of Flamsteed House, which was designed by Sir Christoph

I arrived at around 5.45pm in the hope of spotting Mercury low in the west, but low cloud over central London put an end to that idea. No matter - it gave me time to catch up with Alec, who had also arrived early, and to compare notes on the prospects for the evening. We reminded ourselves that this was the first Blackheath observing session since 13 December. Such has been the weather over the past couple of months that sustained clear skies have been in very short supply. C

Looking to get into astrophotography but not sure how to get started, or what equipment to buy? Looking for something relatively inexpensive and portable? Or perhaps you’re an experienced astrophotographer who’s fed up with spending all that time setting up your imaging rig, polar aligning, only to find the clouds have come rolling in and you’ve missed the imaging opportunity of a lifetime? If so, then perhaps it’s time to think about investing in a smart telescope! This was

The event, chaired by Amy Scammell, had been widely anticipated. The audience members were warmed up by our own Yvonne Jacobs talking about Halley’s Comet, before Professor Daniel Mortlock of Imperial College took to the lectern to give us his talk on Quasars and Black Holes. The audience clearly enjoyed the pace, the content and the way both lectures were delivered. Both speakers were highly entertaining, informative and full of humour. Yvonne summoning up Chas & Dave’s 1986

I arrived on Blackheath to find a layer of persistent high haze, but it was thin enough that Saturn was already shining clearly in the south. That was encouraging. The atmosphere felt damp from the outset, though, and when Alec arrived by bike with his Vespera in a backpack, our first conversation was about how well - or otherwise - we’d manage the inevitable dew. More volunteers soon followed. Richard arrived with his Seestars, Yvonne with her Seestar, Les with a Dwarf III,

Another year has gone by ... And what a great evening we had! Thank you to everyone who came along to the Christmas social on 12th December and made it so much fun. There was so much chat and laughter - swapping memories and stories of the past year's observing (quite a few members have bought their first (or second or third ...) telescopes recently), events and socials, and also looking forward with plans and ideas (and purchases!) for next year! We tried a new venue this ti

As the year 2025 comes rapidly to a close, the Flamsteed Astronomy Society held its last ‘main talk’ of the year at the National Maritime Museum auditorium. Attendees gathered for the evening and began with an offering of ‘tea and biscuits’, appropriately presented with colourful Christmas lights, and welcomes from Poly Philippou, Clive Inglis and Richard Summerfield. This was also a chance to catch up with familiar faces and be introduced to new members attending. Suitably r