Upcoming Events

  • 18 May, 2012 @ 7:30pm
    The Summer Night Sky (RW)
    Club Room, 4a Railway Street, Huddersfield, HD1 1JP

  • 25 May, 2012 @ 6:30pm
    Public Solar Viewing 2
    HAPS Observatory, Blackmoorfoot Road, Crosland Hill, Huddersfield, HD4 7AF

Vesta - one of a kind

Submitted by President on Sat, 12/05/2012 - 20:17

In our Solar System there are nine [yes I did say nine] Planets along with over 150 moons, many millions of Comets and, probably the same number of small rocky bodies known collectively as the Asteroids.
The Asteroids are placed in a number of regions in the Solar System:
1) Circling the Sun at about the same distance as Earth - three classes known as the Amor, Apollo and Aten groups
2) Two classes - the Tojans and the Greeks - which lead and follow Jupiter in its orbitround the Suns.

Cassiopeia A

Submitted by President on Sat, 05/05/2012 - 20:23
Start On: 
Fri, 01/06/2012 - 19:30
Location: 
HAPS Club Room

Cassiopeia A is a well studied object in our galaxy that may be a result of a supernova explosion of a large star some 350 years ago.
It has been studied by Astronomers in the past 350 years, but may not have been actually recorded at the time that the original star exploded.
So, what has been found out about this object and who are the main characters in its investigation and what they, as individuals, find that was interesting at the time of their discovery.

Second Observatory Solar Evening

Submitted by President on Sun, 22/04/2012 - 19:49

On Friday 25th May 2012, the Observatory will, if the sky is clear, be open to view the Sun through a number of properly filtered Telescopes.
If you would like to come along to see how the Sun really looks, learn about what it does to create all of the heat and light that we receive and have a look around the Observatory, please come along - the Observatory will be open from around 6.30pm until sunset [about 9.00pm] if the sky is still clear.

Our Universe - the Pizza that nobody Ordered!

Submitted by President on Sun, 22/04/2012 - 19:41
Start On: 
Fri, 04/05/2012 - 19:30
Location: 
HAPS Club Room

On Friday 4th may the Astronomy society welcomes another speaker from Durham University, to follow up the visit by Professor Carlis Frenck, in November 2011.
This talk will be about how networks of computers can simulate the Universe and, in theory, can predict both how it got started - i.e. the Big Bang and how it might end - currently known as the Big Rip.

HAPS 2012 to 2013 Program of Events

Submitted by President on Sat, 21/04/2012 - 13:25

Here is a current draft 2012 to 2013 program.
There are still a few Public Lectures to plan - these will be notified later once Lecturers are booked and confirmed.
** Update 28/04/12 - following review at the Society's AGM the Program has been slightly updated **
For enquiries about any Program event please use the Contact Us form on the website
regards
Robert Williams
President HAPS

Cassini spacecraft finds an oxygen atmosphere around Saturn's Moon Dione

Submitted by President on Fri, 02/03/2012 - 19:08

The NASA/ESA joint venture Spacecraft - now on its second extension of the original planned mission is still providing revelations about Saturn, the Ring System and its many Moons.
Recently instruments on the spacecraft have been finding that a number of Saturn's moons have tenuous atmospheres around them.
Of Saturn's moons, its largest - Titan, has a very significant atmosphere - mostly made of Methane, Ethane and Propane - and is about 50% more dense than Earth's atmosphere.

Meteor Showers

Submitted by President on Sat, 04/02/2012 - 12:25

2012, as well as being the year for observing the Planets - with Venus, Jupiter , Mars and Saturn all visible at some time of the February night; will also be the 'year of the meteor showers', since most of the brighter shower, such as the Perseids of mid-August, will arrive at time when the moon will be mostly out of the way so that more of the fainter shooting stars can be seen.
What are meteors/shooting stars?
Essentially they are sand grain sized particles of space dust thrown off Comets and some Asteroids.

StarGazing Live 2012 in Huddersfield

Submitted by President on Mon, 23/01/2012 - 15:46

Final update 26th January 2012
​Message from the Observatory Director
Thank you to everyone who attended our 3 nights of Star Gazing Live at the Observatory last week.
Hope you enjoyed what we had on offer - it was unfortunate that the weather was not very good on two of the nights.
We would appreciate any feedback about this event, that you are willing to provide.
This can be done via the Contact Us form on the website.
We will then send it, anonymously, to the BBC.

The Summer Night Sky

Submitted by President on Sat, 03/12/2011 - 21:00

Here is the latest seasonal sky update.
For June, July and August the Planets are still the major feature of the evening sky.
The first significant event of the Summer months, is the Transit of Venus.
This will take place early on the morning of 6th June as seen from Huddersfield.
If the sky is clear, members will be at the Observatory from around 0400, setting up to glimpse the last few minutes of the 2012 ToV, just as the Sun is rising at 0446 - the Transit ends less than 10 minutes later

Flybys

Submitted by President on Wed, 17/08/2011 - 16:49

Ever wondered if you are seeing a UFO passing across the sky?
More likely it will be an artificial satellite or, if it is very bright, it will be either:
a) An Iridium Flare or
b) The International Space Station
To get more information please browse this website:
http://spaceweather.com/flybys/search_results.php?lat=53.8&long=-1.58333&offset=0&country=GB&state=Leeds&city=Leeds

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