Cockermouth Astronomical Society

Suspension of CAS Meetings

2020-03-16T23:13:00.002+00:00

I am disappointed to inform you that the Cockermouth Astronomy Society has suspended all meetings until further notice in light of the government's advice on social distancing due to Coronavirus. The committee have agreed to this move tonight following the latest government update.

We will continue to post astronomy and spaceflight information on the Facebook page and will of course provide a message as soon as we can to inform you when meetings will restart. At this stage I do not expect this to be before the summer.

Best regards

Jeremy

CAS Chairman

February events

2020-02-12T20:43:00.000+00:00

We have a couple of events planned on Saturday 22nd February in Keswick.

Astrophotography Exhibition and Talks

An afternoon of talks by local, regional and national UK astrophotographers, featuring stunning images of the night sky. The event will be hosted by the Cockermouth Astronomy Society as part of the Cumbria Dark Skies Festival 2020.

The event will be held on Saturday 22nd February 2020 from 1-4pm in Keswick’s iconic Moot Hall, situated in the centre of the market town. The Hall’s Information Centre includes a lovely conference/exhibition room that comfortably seats up to 45 people. Therefore, spaces for the talks will be limited – book early to avoid disappointment.

The draft line-up of speakers includes (subject to confirmation in January):

Jeremy Hunt – Keswickian photographer and astronomer with over 30 years experience, recently a published author on the topic of astrophotography and the lifecycle of stars

Stephen Cheatley – Blackpool based professional photographer, featuring regularly in national media with beautiful images of the night sky and famous UK landmarks

Pete Williamson – Fellow of the Royal Astronomy Society, broadcaster and astronomer working as a deep-sky imaging consultant on the Faulkes Telescope Educational Project

As well as featuring some stunning images, the talks will provide advice on how to take your own images of the night sky.

Talks will be approximately half an hour duration, with a short break between each. A longer break for refreshments will be held around 2.30pm and offers a chance to have a chat with the speakers, browse the exhibition and buy prints etc.

Places can be reserved in advance by calling Jeremy Hunt (07535540499) or via the Cockermouth Astronomy Society Facebook page. Seats available (subject to capacity) on the door.

Spaces are limited to 45 per talk.

Price per person: £5 per talk; or £10 for the entire session.

Cumbria Dark Skies Festival Public Stargazing Event

A public stargazing event will be hosted by the Cockermouth Astronomy Society in Crow Park, Keswick. A range of telescopes will be available and several local members will be on hand to facilitate their use and guide people around the night sky.

Demonstrations will also be given on how to take pictures of the night sky using simple equipment.

Specialist low-light astro-video equipment will be in use to facilitate group observation of faint objects such as galaxies, nebulae and star clusters. This also makes it simpler for young children and those with disabilities to use the telescopes.

If you want to enjoy stunning views of the night sky in a beautiful setting then this is for you!

If you have your own binoculars or DSLR camera please feel free to bring them down and we will help you get the best from them, including taking your first picture of the night sky.

The park has good access, but please remember that it will be dark and potentially a little slippery under foot. Please dress appropriately for the cold and potentially wet grass.

It is advised that children are accompanied by an adult.

If you bring a torch, please use it discreetly, not shining it in the vicinity of the telescopes/observers; and preferably bring a red-light torch.

Crow Park is located overlooking Derwentwater. The nearest car park is the pay and display Lakeside Car Park adjacent to Keswick’s Theatre By The Lake. The entrance to the park, where the event will be held, is opposite the theatre.

A quick update to our website.

2020-02-09T11:19:00.002+00:00

We haven't updated this website for quite a while, most of our activity is over on our Facebook page these days. However, we know there are still plenty of you who are looking to keep up with society news without using social media. So we've made some updates to the background information on these pages and will provide more updates on our events.

The programme calendar is now up to date with events for the next few months.

Get in touch if you have any questions.

Change of meeting venue.

2018-06-22T10:42:00.001+00:00

Our next meeting is on Tuesday evening. Remember that we have now moved our meeting location.

We are now meeting at the Friends Meeting House at 65 kirkgate Cockermouth. Meetings are at the same time 7.30pm on the last Tuesday of the month.

Note that there is limited parking at the meeting house so please plan to use one of the car parks in town. The nearest ones are at the kirkgate Centre or in Market Place.

We’ll post details of our meeting and guest speaker shortly.

May 2018 CAS Meeting

2018-05-24T19:59:00.002+00:00

Tuesday 29th May is our next meeting (7.30pm St Joseph's Church Hall, Cockermouth).

The meeting will be a bit of a mixture with no specific talk this time. We will start with the usual astronomy news items as well as some important society news about future meetings times, dates and locations.

The remainder of the meeting will be open. If you have an astronomy project you want to tell people about or ask for help with now is your chance. Also a great opportunity to share images or observations.

We will have few astronomy related videos to show (and give our new projector a test!).

Hope to see you there.

February 2018 Meeting

2018-02-24T23:17:00.001+00:00

For our February meeting on Tuesday we will be holding an equipment night. After our usual news update we will have an opportunity to look at telescopes and answer your questions on buying or using astronomical equipment. It will be an ideal opportunity to bring along a telescope you need some help with.

We will also have a look at some of the basic photography equipment to photograph the night sky.

September CAS meeting: equipment night

2017-09-21T20:09:00.001+00:00

Next Tuesday 26th September is our next meeting. This time it's our Equipment Night.

We will have a range of telescopes and accessories available to demonstrate and will be having a look at different eyepieces and options for finding and buying astronomical equipment.

If you have a specific question or want some help with a telescope then either let us know beforehand or just ask on the night.

The meeting starts at 7.30pm as usual.

CAS May meeting

2017-05-27T07:38:00.001+00:00

Our next meeting is on Tuesday 30th May, 7.30pm.

As well as our usual round up of space and astronomy news, this month we have a guest speaker. Leigh Jenkins, a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, will be giving us a talk on 'Elements'.

Hope to see you there.

Chris

CAS March meeting

2017-03-27T21:22:00.001+00:00

This month's meeting is on Tuesday 28th at 7.30pm, St Joseph's church hall.

The agenda is:

- News update (Chris)

- Observing tips for April & Observer's Reports from March (Jeremy)

- Break

- Observing With The Mount Wilson Telescope (Roger Vine)

Please bring along any photos on a USB stick to share.

Jeremy

February CAS meeting

2017-02-24T17:53:00.001+00:00

This month's meeting is on Tuesday 28th February 2017 in the usual St Joseph's Church Hall in Cockermouth at 7.30pm.

The order of events is:

- News Update on Spaceflight & Astronomy (Chris Darwin)

- What To See in the March Night Sky (Jeremy Hunt)

- Coffee/Tea

- The Wonders of Orion (Dennis Kelly)

Look forward to seeing you all there!

Important: No meeting in January

2017-01-26T21:55:00.001+00:00

Unfortunately due to other commitments from several of the Committee we do not have anyone available to run the CAS meeting next week. We have therefore decided to cancel the meeting planned for 31st January.

Normal service will be resumed in February with our meeting on Tuesday 28th. Hope to see you then.

Chris.

Christmas Drinks

2016-12-10T11:12:00.001+00:00

Our traditional gathering in a local pub for pre Christmas Drinks and a chat will take place in the Swan Inn on Kirkgate in Cockermouth on Wednesday 14th December. We will be there from about 7.30pm. Hope to see you there.

Chris.

November CAS Meeting

2016-11-26T17:00:00.001+00:00

This month's meeting is on Tuesday 29th November at 7.30pm.

Following the news update on astronomy and space travel, we have a visiting speaker from Kendal who will be known to many at CAS. Stuart Atkinson will be taking us through the fantastic achievements of the Rosetta mission to land on and survey a comet.

Please join us for a really interesting talk, good company and coffee.

As usual if anyone has any images that they've taken this month to share then please bring them down on a USB.

If any CAS Members would like to borrow one of the society telescopes to while we have dark and clear skies the 8 inch Dobsonian reflector is available. Just let me know and I'll bring it along on Tuesday.

Chris.

September meeting: Equipment Night

2016-09-26T16:05:00.001+00:00

Our next meeting opens the autumn season with our usual Equipment Night. This is often useful for anyone interested in buying binoculars, telescopes or cameras as there will be a variety of equipment in the hall to get your hands on and talk to the owners about the pros and cons.

The meeting starts at 7.30pm on Tuesday 27th September and will be in the normal location (St Joseph's church hall in Cockermouth).

Following the news updates on space travel and astronomy we will have a series of short discussions about a variety of equipment including solar telescopes, beginners scopes, binoculars and more advanced computerised telescopes and cameras.

If you are a CAS member please bring your equipment down to show.

If you are interested in advice on what to buy please come and see what we have, including equipment owned by the society and available for loan to members.

And finally, if you have bought a telescope and need advice on how to set it up and get the most from it then please bring it down so we can help you get to grips with it.

See you on Tuesday!

Links from May CAS Meeting

2016-05-31T20:30:00.000+00:00

Here are some links for some of the items we covered at our May 2016 meeting this evening.

Pluto

NYT 'Seeking Pluto's Frigid Heart' film on YouTube and New York Times VR app.

High resolution image of Pluto.

Mercury Transit

Big Bear Observatory

Thierry Legault transit video and his website.

Exoplanets

NASA Kepler Mission announcement.

CAS May 2016 meeting

2016-05-26T19:37:00.000+00:00

Our next meeting will be on Tuesday 31st May in St Joseph's church hall Cockermouth.

We have an excellent local speaker Robin Leadbeater talking on the subject:
"Where have all the supernovae gone ?"

Despite an increasing number of surveys looking for them, the number of reported supernova has dropped dramatically over the last ten years. Robin investigates what is going on and describes his own contribution to pinning down these fascinating objects.

The meeting starts at 7.30pm with a round up of astronomy and space flight news, a short coffee break - a chance to meet fellow astronomers, get advice on equipment or technical issues, and then the main talk.

All are welcome, members and visitors.

Join us to observe the transit of Mercury on Monday 9th May 2016

2016-05-07T16:11:00.000+00:00

On Monday 9th May we will be holding an public event to observe the transit of Mercury.

During the transit the planet Mercury will move across the face of the Sun as seen from Earth. You can't see this event with the naked eye, indeed it is very dangerous to look at the Sun directly with the naked eye or any optical aid. We'll have the equipment on hand to show you the event safely, and explain what's going on.

Transit of Venus 2004

The transit starts just after 12pm and society members will be on hand in Memorial Gardens, Cockermouth from just before 12 with their specially equipped telescopes. Members will be around most of the afternoon and then again from around 5pm until the transit finishes just after 7.30pm.

You can find more information about the transit on the Society for Popular Astronomy website and more information on safe solar observing from the BBC Sky at Night Magazine.

Hope to see you there,

April CAS meeting.

2016-04-24T20:20:00.001+00:00

The week is our Annual General Meeting. Not as formal as it sounds, just part of our routine monthly meeting given over to some of the 'society business'. We'll also be catching up on the latest space and astronomy news and looking ahead to the transit of Mercury on 9th May.

Hope to see you there.

February 2016 meeting

2016-02-21T19:42:00.003+00:00

Our next meeting is on Tuesday 23rd February. This time Jeremy will be looking at choosing cameras for various types of astrophotography. 

We'll as be catching up on the latest astronomy news including, of course, the recent historic discovery of gravitational waves.

Hope to see you there,

Dark Sky Events at Low Gillerthwaite Field Centre

2016-01-04T19:50:00.000+00:00

Once again our friends at Low Gillerthwaite Field Centre in Ennerdale are holding some Dark Sky Events this year. The two events are being held on Saturday 9th January and Saturday 6th February. More details on the LGFC website here.

This year the main activities will be between 4pm and 7.30pm on each day, with extended night sky observing if skies are clear.

As usual CAS members are welcome to come along and take part in the activities as well as supporting the event by helping to show the night sky to members of the public through our telescopes. If you are able to help please let me know beforehand so that let the organisers know how many people to expect.

CAS Christmas Drinks

2015-12-05T10:38:00.000+00:00

As usual we will not have a formal meeting in December. We will meet for some informal drinks on Wednesday 16th December at 8pm in The Swan on Kirkgate in Cockermouth.

I hope to see you there.

November 2015 CAS meeting

2015-11-21T20:38:00.001+00:00

Our next meeting is on Tuesday 24th November. This month Robin Leadbeater will be giving us a talk;

"An Introduction to Variable Stars"

How and why many stars vary in brightness, and the vital role of the amateur observer in studying them

CAS October 2015 Meeting

2015-10-16T17:48:00.001+00:00

Our next meeting is on Tuesday 27th October and we have a visiting speaker Dr Ian Bradley from the Lancaster University department of Physics, who will be speaking on the subject "Every picture tells a (scientific) story"

The meeting starts at 7.30pm

Lunar eclipse tonight

2015-09-27T16:06:00.001+00:00

Don't forget there is a total eclipse of the moon tonight. You'll need to be up in the early hours to see this one as it starts around 2am.

As usual Stuart has lots of useful information about observing the event and other things in the sky over on his Cumbrian Sky blog. .

If you take any pictures of the eclipse bring them along to our meeting on Tuesday night.

Chris

September meeting: Equipment Night

2015-09-20T07:45:00.001+00:00

Our next meeting is on Tuesday 29th September. As the nights are drawing in, we are starting our autumn season with a few meetings which are particularly aimed at beginners.

This month we will be looking at the equipment used for astronomy. You don't need anything expensive to get started - there is plenty to see just with your eyes, or some simple binoculars. However it's not long before everyone starts to ask "which telescope should I buy?". There is a huge range of options available which can seem overwhelming and we can give you plenty of advice.

At our equipment meeting we'll have a range telescopes available to explain the different types and features. We will cover the basics of how telescopes work and consider some of the other factors that you need to think about when choosing a telescope. It's also a great opportunity to get some practical advice on using your own telescope so if you want to get more from the equipment you've already got bring it along.

Over the coming months we'll turn our attention to finding our way around the night sky and starting out in astrophotography.

As always we will also be reviewing the latest news and images from the world of astronomy and space exploration.

I hope to see you there, 7.30pm at St Joseph's Church Hall, Cockermouth.