For our sixth main lecture of the 2025/26 season, Nick James, Head of the Comet Section of the British Astronomical Association, took us on a whistlestop tour of both great and disappointing comets. Before this, however, we had two short talks from FAS members. Firstly, Mike Meynell launched the 2026 solar viewing season . Solar viewing has been running since 2003 and is a joint enterprise between FAS and the Royal Observatory Greenwich (ROG). Last year was hugely successful,

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

After our first cancellation of a Blackheath observing event in January, we were eager to get back on track this month, leading us to...