All regular meetings are open to members and visitors, held on the second and last Friday of each month, except August and at Christmas, when there are no meetings. Unless otherwise stated, meetings normally open at 7:40pm for an 8pm start, finishing around 10pm.
Print | DATE | DETAILS |
| 30-May
DETAILS
| David Rees - The Cometary Tails of the Moon, certain Planets and their Satellites
Bredhurst Village Hall
A relatively unknown feature of at least three objects in the Solar System is that they are accompanied by permanent cometary tails featuring the easy-to-observe sodium atom. Mercury has a persistent and easy-to observe sodium tail featuring variations with its position in its highly-elliptical orbit about the Sun. The Moon’s sodium tail is difficult to observe from the Earth, except when it sweeps past the Earth around the time of New Moon and becomes focussed by the Earth’s gravitational field. Looking further afield to Jupiter, Io has what is known as the Io sodium torus, extending over most of its orbit about Jupiter.
Prof. Rees will illustrate his with images of each of these three sodium cometary tails, some of which have been obtained recently from the UK, including those taken using a camera specially adapted for the purpose by him.
He will also explore what happens to these cometary sodium tails. In all cases, sodium is easily photo-ionised by Solar UV light.
SPEAKER DETAILS
Prof David Rees
Prof David Rees has designed and built instruments for NASA, ESA, JAXA and other space organisations around the world. He designed and largely built the MSASI instrument that is part of the Bepi-Colombo payload that ESA/JAXA launched successfully toward Mercury in October 2018.
David was for many years Emeritus Professor of Astrophysics at Utah State University, USA. He has a network of contacts that include some of the biggest names in astrophysics and therefore he is up to date on all the latest theories and research.
David is also conducting leading edge research on our atmosphere using his sophisticated LIDAR system. He uses LiDAR systems from Salehurst in Sussex to undertake cutting-edge research into the Earth's atmosphere and the wind, also atmospheric particulates like dust from the Sahara.
David is currently working on the Aeolus Calibration / Validation Programme for the Aeolus wind-measuring Lidar Satellite launched by ESA in August 2018.
David is an active member of MKAS and regularly observes using a 16inch ODK from his back garden in Sussex, under some of the darkest skies in the UK.
He is a keen cricketer and plays regularly for the Kent Seniors team.
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| 13-Jun
DETAILS
| Peter Bassett - Space Island: the Isle of Wight
Bredhurst Village Hall
Amanda and Peter have made over 100 trips to the Isle of Wight. The talk will include the island's relationship with Dr Robert Hooke (Sir Isaac Newton's associate), the local astronomical society, observatory, planetarium, dark observing sites, and history of the Black Arrow rocket that was built and tested there. Drone shots / videos of related sites and our own astronomical imaging will be included. From this July, they will operate the space section of the Wight Aviation Museum.
SPEAKER DETAILS
Peter Bassett
Peter has studied Spaceflight & Astronomy from the age of five after seeing the Apollo 8 mission live on TV orbiting the moon for the first time in 1968. After a tour of the USA in 1992, he was inspired to set up a planetarium business teaching the subject up to A level. Peter also gives public lectures around the country including 'Are we Alone?' & 'Satellite Spotting from your garden'. He has performed in over 2000 different venues.
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| 27-Jun
DETAILS
| Prof. David Southwood - Electromagnetic threats from the Sun
Bredhurst Village Hall
Our local star, the Sun, does more than twinkle in our sky. Its warmth is critical to life on our planet but as human civilisation has become more and more technologically dependent so has the Sun become to be seen as a cause for electromagnetic disruption. We’ll look at some of the history and some of the actions put into place to watch for unpleasant “space weather” what is done to mitigate or avoid the effects of the star we live close to.
SPEAKER DETAILS
Prof 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.
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| 11-Jul
DETAILS
| Jeremy Phillips - Going over to the Dark Side - remote imaging
Bredhurst Village Hall
Abstract to follow.
SPEAKER DETAILS
Jeremy Phillips
Until retirement, Jeremy worked as an executive producer making documentaries and factual programmes for the Discovery TV network. He first got interested in astronomy at 11 years old when his father bought him a second hand 3in refractor telescope. After getting up at 3am, he pointed it at the brightest object in the sky and couldn't believe what he saw. Jeremy said "it actually had rings. This was Saturn of course, and it blew me away. From that moment I was hooked. Through astrophotography I still get the same buzz today."
During the night Jeremy looks at the sky, often travelling several hours to a dark sky location, but by day he enjoys life with his wife and two daughters at his our home in south west London.
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| 25-Jul
DETAILS
| MKAS Summer Social - EARLY START OF 6pm
Bredhurst Village Hall
Details to follow.
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Regular Meetings
Regular meetings are held on the second and last Friday of each month, except August and at Christmas, when there are no meetings. Meetings normally start at 7:40pm for 8pm.
These meetings are open to everyone of all ages and levels of expertise, including complete beginners.
In-person meetings held at Bredhurst Village Hall
All Regular meetings are held at Bredhurst Village Hall unless otherwise stated.
Bredhurst Village Hall : Hurstwood Road, Bredhurst, Gillingham, Kent ME7 3JZ
Bredhurst is close to J4 off the M2. There is a car park on site.
There is a small entrance fee (£2 for members or £4 for visitors) for each meeting to cover refreshments and other meeting costs.
Following the presentation there will be a refreshments break giving a chance to talk with other MKAS members and visitors, followed by an observing session in the field behind the hall (weather permitting) and a telescope surgery in the hall, so if you are having problems with your telescope (or just want to show it off) bring it along.
Please dress appropriately for the weather, and be ready for observing, if it is clear. Remember that it can get very cold, especially in winter, so bring several layers or your warmest winter coat, as you feel appropriate.
Virtual meetings (held occasionally)
Occasionally, we hold virtual meetings where the speaker is not able to visit in person.
All virtual meetings are held on Zoom unless otherwise stated.
These meetings are open to members as part of their annual subscription, and also available to non-members who are welcome to attend, for a fee of £4.
Following the presentation there will be a short comfort break followed by the main speaker answering your questions. This is then followed by a "Chit-Chat" session for all present who wish to stay on, where we have the opportunity to discuss any astronomical topics or ask any questions to those present.
Non-members who wish to attend can make their request by emailing us by no later than noon on the day before the event, at MemberSec@midkentastro.org.uk
Observatory Open Evenings
The James Irwin Observatory is
Confirmed CLOSED
It will remain closed until further notice.
On the Fridays when we do not hold our regular meetings at Bredhurst, and depending on the weather, we open our James Irwin Observatory in Canterbury for those who wish to do some observing.
We first meet at the Victoria Hotel from 8pm (Oct-Mar) / 8.30pm (Apr-Sep). Thirty minutes later, you will be escorted to the Observatory. Venue details are found on the left of this page.
Outreach Events
MKAS often get asked to hold Astronomy events for various schools, councils, scout groups and other groups. The committee and other supportive members are very actively organising and holding events from small shows or talks to Spectacular Events where several thousand members of the public typically attend.
Member Events
We organise various astronomy-related events and trips for our members. These are often subsidised.
Other Events
Members may also be interested in other astronomy-related events, run by other groups and societies, that our members are welcome to attend.
All persons under 18yrs must be accompanied by a parent/guardian or responsible adult.
If you wish further information on MKAS or any of the meetings, events and activities of the Society, please contact us, using the details on the CONTACT page.
