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| 27-Feb | Doug Edworthy - So you wanna buy a telescope? Bredhurst Village Hall  Doug Edworthy and other members of MKAS will talk about several different telescopes and discuss their pros and cons. Plenty of opportunity to ask questions before making a decision to purchase. If the sky is clear after the talk it may be possible to show the telescopes in action in the field behind the Village Hall. SPEAKER DETAILSDoug Edworthy  Doug's passion for all things to do with space was triggered as a small child as he listened to the beep-beep sounds of Sputnik 1 on the radio as the 'first man-made moon' circled the globe. By the time he was ten he was into amateur radio short-wave listening, building crystal sets, thermionic valve TRF receivers and, as the technology became available, transistorised superheterodyne receivers. After college, he worked for ITT Consumer Products and then moved to Millbank Electronics in Uckfield. During his time there Doug became involved in induction loop technology for hearing-aid users and in the writing of British Standard 7594. He later became the 'UK expert' for several related International Electrotechnical Committee standards. Doug eventually found himself as both a Technical Director and a Shareholder of Millbank and discovered a talent for quality management systems, taking the company through BS 5750:part 1 certification. He also spent time as President of the Institute of Sound & Communications Engineers and was awarded Honorary Fellowship in 2005. In 1994 Doug set up his own consultancy business in audio electronics and in business management systems and undertook a 5-year OU course which resulted in a Post-Graduate Diploma in Computing. | |
| 13-Mar | Mary McIntyre - Shadows in Space and the Stories they Tell. Bredhurst Village Hall - Speaker presenting via Zoom From shadows on Earth to shadows on the surface of the Moon we can learn a lot. But it doesn’t stop there; cameras on probes in orbit around other planets and their moons have taught us a lot just by studying the shadows visible there. SPEAKER DETAILSMary McIntyre  Born in Lancashire, Mary caught her passion for astronomy from her mother and was captivated by the Ladybird book about the constellations and their myths. She acquired her first telescope aged 11. She later studied for her Certificate in Astronomy and Planetary Science via the Open University. She now lives in rural Oxfordshire and is a keen astrophotographer together with her husband Mark. Mary is passionate about outreach and is a popular speaker with astronomical societies. In addition, she is a regular contributor to the Sky at night magazine and has appeared on TV and broadcast on the radio. She is one of the co-hosts of the Sky at Night magazine's Star Diary podcast. Elected as a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society in 2018 Mary is also a member of the British Astronomical Association and in 2021 was awarded the Sir Patrick Moore prize for her contributions to astronomy outreach. Mary also serves on the Council of the Society for Popular Astronomy. Mary is co-author of the Collins Stargazing Bible, which is due for publication on 8th October 2024. You can find out more on Mary's website https://marymcintyreastronomy.co.uk/ | |
| 27-Mar | William Joyce - The Inner Planets Bredhurst Village Hall  Abstract to follow SPEAKER DETAILSWilliam Joyce  Bringing astronomy and space to the public is William Joyce's passion. He has been fascinated by astronomy since the age of six, and enjoys sharing the wonders of the cosmos with the public, amateur and expert astronomers, and schools. William has spent time as an astrophysicist, a spacecraft engineer, and until recently a planetary scientist. He provides outreach talks and short courses for astronomy societies, the public, schools and special events in the UK, overseas, and on-board cruise ships. He is a Chartered Physicist and a STEM Ambassador. William is always delighted to share his enthusiasm for astronomy and diverse knowledge and experience with people of all ages and backgrounds who wish to learn more about fascinating areas of modern science, so please do ask him any burning questions you have on anything to do with space. | |
| 10-Apr | Arthur Fentaman - Astrophotography using Smartphones Bredhurst Village Hall  Arthur Fentaman will give an overview of how to take images of the night sky using mobile phones, followed by an extended Q&A session. SPEAKER DETAILSArthur Fentaman  Arthur is a published astrophotographer and active MKAS member. He was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society in 2020. | |
| 24-Apr | ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING Bredhurst Village Hall  This is your chance to discuss how the Society operates and to make suggestions about future activities, to appprove the annual accounts and to elect the Committee for the forthcoming year. Any Member can put themselves forward for election to the Committee. Indeed we would welcome some new blood so please do not be shy in volunteering. Please send any proposals for changes to society business to secretary@midkentastro.org.uk by no later than 10 April 2026. The AGM is open to all MKAS Members and Visitors, however only Members are entitled to vote. Please download and review the following documents: - Agenda for the 2026 AGM - Minutes of the 2025 AGM (Draft) - Committee Roles and Responsibilities The following report will been sent to members in advance of the AGM: - MKAS Accounts 2025-2026 The following reports will be presented at the AGM: - Treasurer's Report - Chairman's Report - Programme Secretary's Report - Membership Secretary's Report - GP20 update | |
| 08-May | Laura Mullin - Opportunities for Radio Astronomy from Home Bredhurst Village Hall  Budding amateur astronomers have many resources for starting out with optical telescopes, but giving radio astronomy a try can seem a bit more daunting. This talk will introduce the sorts of observations you might carry out and the sort of equipment needed. SPEAKER DETAILSDr Laura Mullin  Dr Laura Mullin is currently an Associate Lecturer with the OU School of Physical Sciences, supporting undergraduate and post graduate students on astronomy, astrophysics and space science courses. She started her career by undertaking a Ph.D in radio astronomy but has worked more broadly in space related roles since then. This includes a year with CNES at the Guiana Space Centre, a postdoc at the University of Bremen and a few years working for Airbus Defence and Space in the Industrial Operations Team, which was involved with preparing increment operations on ESA's Columbus module. Prior to the OU, she worked at UCL's Mullard Space Science laboratory as a tutor on the MSc Systems Engineering Management and as project manager for the MSSL contributions to the JUICE and the Daniel K. Inouye solar telescope cameras. | |
| 29-May | Jeni Millard - Investigating Gravitational Waves and Black Holes Bredhurst Village Hall  Abstract to follow. SPEAKER DETAILSDr Jeni Millard  Jeni Millard is an astrophysicist and science communicator and Hon. President of the Barry Astronomical Society. She was awarded her Ph.D. by Cardiff University in 2021. Her thesis was entitled 'The stuff between the stars: on the evolution of the interstellar medium in the real and simulated universe'. While continuing her research during the pandemic/lockdown she became increasing interested in sharing her passion for astronomy with a wider audience and became writer and host of the popular 'Awesome Astronomy' podcast. She is also Managing Editor of Fifth Star Labs 'Sky Guide' App and is a science presenter for BBC1 Wales 'Weatherman Walking' series. Other than astronomy, Jeni's interests include films and exploring places in the U.K. | |
| 12-Jun | Jonathan Clough - Kristian Birkeland; The father of Northern Lights knowledge Bredhurst Village Hall  Birkeland worked out what causes the Northern Lights from his observatory near Alta, Norway, and was nominated for a Nobel prize 7 times. He was Norway’s most celebrated scientist and father of Northern lights understanding. Not only was Birkeland the man who had the key insight that opened our understanding of how the solar and terrestrial environment interlink, but he also believed in applying science to immediate problems, eventually holding more than 50 patents. This talk covers Birkeland’s amazing career until his death in obscure circumstances at the age of 50. SPEAKER DETAILSJonathan Clough  Jonathan Clough is an experienced speaker and is frequently the ‘onboard astronomer' on cruise ships. He describes himself as an "astro-nut" and his enthusiasm for all astronomical topics is infectious. Jonathan is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and currently Vice-Chair and Events Secretary of the Cambridge Astronomical Association. | |
| 26-Jun | David Southwood - A Decade as an ESA Director Bredhurst Village Hall  Prof Southwood was Director of Science and Robotic Engineering of the European Space Agency from 2001-2011 and in his talk will share his memories of the projects that he supported (and cancelled!) during that time. SPEAKER DETAILSProf David Southwood CBE  David was formerly the Director of Science and Robotic Exploration at the European Space Agency (2001-2011) and President of the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) 2012-2014. He received a CBE in the 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours. Before going to ESA, he was a space scientist at Imperial College, London. At ESA, he oversaw building and launching spacecraft to Venus, Mars and the Moon as well as the Rosetta probe with lander Philae to comet Churymuov-Gerasimenko, in addition to several major space telescopes. He led the team that landed a European probe on Saturn's largest moon Titan in 2005. An instrument he built at Imperial operated in orbit around the planet Saturn aboard the NASA Cassini spacecraft from 2004-2017. He is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society, was awarded the NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal and won the 2011 Sir Arthur C. Clarke award for space achievement. He was chairman of the Steering Board of the UK Space Agency 2016-2019. He is currently a senior research investigator at Imperial College. | |
| 10-Jul | Georgia Richardson - How we can see the invisible: imaging Black Holes Bredhurst Village Hall  This talk will explore how the Event Horizon Telescope combined radio telescopes across the world is used to image the supermassive black hole at the centre of the galaxy M87. It will describe what the famous image actually shows, why it looks the way it does and how modern machine learning techniques were used to reconstruct and sharpen the image from incomplete data. SPEAKER DETAILSGeorgia Richardson  Georgia Richardson is a machine learning engineer specialising in computer vision, with an academic background in astrophysics. She completed an MSc in Astrophysics at Durham University, where her research focused on the variability of supermassive black holes. She has undertaken research with the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, resulting in a publication in Research Notes of the AAS, and completed an internship with the European Space Agency working on machine learning applications. Her current work focuses on applying ML to scientific imaging problems, and she retains a strong interest in black holes and the use of AI in modern astronomy. | |
| 31-Jul | MKAS Summer Social Bredhurst Village Hall  We will have a barbeque lit ready for you to cook the food you bring along. We will provide some salads, burger rolls and ketchup, but feel free to bring along some accompaniments and desserts to share. Tea, coffee and some cordials will be available in the kitchen, but please bring along any other drinks / alcohol you wish to have. There will be a quiz and music to add to the occasion. Family and friends are welcome to attend. There will be no admission charge for Members, but visitors will be asked to pay the standard meeting fee. |
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