Introduction to the Stella Cinderella A talk by Simon Nosworthy about Caroline Herschel What is the connection between the first officially paid female scientist, the first woman to discover a comet and the first woman to join the Royal Society? Caroline Herschel is the connection, and these are just a few of her accomplishments. Caroline was destined to be a domestic assistant, the role set out for many women of her time. Caroline fought prejudice, poverty, pestilence and her mother to escape this destiny and become one of the greatest astronomers of her age. How on earth did she do all this? Alice Everett; The Greenwich Astronomer who mapped the stars and became one of the early pioneers in TV Technology A talk by Mary Dooley. Alice Everett was one of the first batch women to be allowed to study for a degree at Girton College Cambridge and from January 1890 to be employed as an astronomer at the Royal Observatory Greenwich. She was employed as a ‘lady computer’ but primarily worked on a major international project called the Carte de Ciel. Alice was the ultimate ‘career changer’! She continued to re-educate herself in STEM subjects to stay relevant and employable in the male dominated workplace of the 1900s. This enables her to get a job at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) and later on with the Baird TV company working on the nascent technology of Television. She published many scientific papers in her lifetime notably in the notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, the annual reports of the NPL and even in the journal Nature. She was a founder member of the Television Society later known as the Royal Television Society. A truly amazing lady of science!

25th AGM Address to the Flamsteed Astronomy Society members by Bobby Manoo, Chair

Following our recent FAS workshops on Telescopes and Astrophotography, we would not like to take our members into the emerging area of “Electronically Assisted Astronomy” or “EAA” for short. Observational astronomy has starting to shift from the traditional setup where people look through the eyepiece to view celestial objects to something which seems more like a cross between remote observation, astrophotography and computer/smartphone app usage. This is the area of EAA. Bobby and team will use this workshop to zone into its benefits, show what options there are and take a deep dive into setting up a typical EAA kit using a small single board computer called a Raspberry Pi. He will demonstrate how you can use the Raspberry Pi to install an integrated astronomy software called Astroberry which can then be used to remotely control a refractor telescope with an autofocuser that is mounted onto an equatorial go-to mount. For image capture, he will use a CCD guidescope and a DSLR Camera. At the end of this session, you will gain insights into how you can make simple and relatively cost-effective upgrades to your existing equipment to create a remote-controlled assembly. This will enable your celestial targets to be viewed and photographed from your computer or other devices in the comfort of your home. Bobby Manoo is Chair of Flamsteed Astronomy Society and is a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society. He also holds a masters degree in Computer Science and this workshops brings together two of his passions, Astronomy and IT

In this video, Bobby Manoo skillfully restores a unique 1960s wooden telescope built from WWII military parts. Highlighting key restoration steps, from refurbishing the brass equatorial mount to reviving the wooden tripod, the video captures the telescope’s transformation. Ending with its first use in astrophotography, this project is a testament to history, ingenuity, and Bobby's dedication to preserving astronomical heritage.

A welcome from the BAA and FAS to this year's Comet Section meeting at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich.