Main Meetings
Each month, the society has a guest speaker, sometimes a professional astronomer, scientist or journalist, sometimes an experienced amateur, who will talk on their subject in the first half of the meeting. This is followed by free refreshments, after which there is normally a cluster of short talks by society members on topics of interest, plus updates on society activities such as trips, observing sessions or other events taking place.
Meeting Details
The meetings are held on the first Friday of each month from September to June and start at 7.30pm.
2024-2025 Season
Date Topic
6th September 2024 The Next Generation of Space Telescopes: Revealing the Universe in New Ways - Dr Chris Pattison (University of Portsmouth)
4th October 2024 Using a Solar Wind Model to Predict Comet Tail Disconnections - Sarah Watson
1st November 2024 "A Crack in Everything" - Marcus Chown (Writer And Broadcaster)
6th December 2024 Members Evening - Various Speakers
13th December 2024 NAS Christmas Meal at Newbury & Crookham Golf Club
10th January 2025 Mercury and the BepiColombo Mission - Prof Dave Rothery (Open University) - Note the later-than-usual date!
7th February 2025 A Tale of Two Telescopes: The EELT and the Vera Rubin Observatory - Dr Aprajita Verma (Oxford University)
7th March 2025 Electronically Assisted Astronomy - Chris Lee
4th April 2025 Observations and Analysis of the Most Extreme Extragalactic Explosions - Dr James Gillanders (Oxford University)
2nd May 2025 Observing Highlights and Challenges in 2024 - Pete Lawrence
6th June 2025 The Astronomy of Stonehenge - Simon Banton, plus NAS 44th AGM
2023-2024 Season
Date Topic
1st September 2023 Black Holes and Dark Energy: A Cosmic History - Dr Chris Pearson (RAL Space)
6th October 2023 Two Eyes Are Better Than One - Steve Tonkin
3rd November 2023 Cosmological Confusion - Dr Mark Norris (UCLAN)
1st December 2023 Galaxies In The Early Universe: Results From JWST - Dr Alex Cameron (Oxford)
15th December 2023 NAS Christmas Meal at Newbury & Crookham Golf Club
5th January 2024 Members meeting - Various speakers
2nd February 2024 Return of the Asteroids: Beginnings with Bennu and Results from Ryugu - Dr Ashley King (NHM)
1st March 2024 In the Shadow of Asteroids - Dr Tim Haymes (BAA)
22nd March 2024 Searching for Hidden Black Holes in the Milky Way - Professor Matthew Middleton (Southampton) Note the earlier date!
12th - 14th April 2024 BAA Winchester Weekend
3rd May 2024 Exoplanetary Ramblings: detection and characterisation of extrasolar planets - Dr Steve Fossey (UCL)
7th June 2024 Comet Interceptor: A Mission to an Ancient World - Prof. Geraint Jones (UCL/MSSL) & 43rd AGM
We also offer an ICS Calendar file of all the meetings (main & beginners) of the session to add to your phone or email client:
The meetings are held at The Fair Close Centre, Newtown Road, Newbury: RG14 7BH. There is a car park at the rear of the hall, the church at the roundabout, and spare car parking spaces at the garage on Newtown Road. Click here for an interactive map.