Wiltshire Astronomical Society Posts

Next Members Meeting

Our next scheduled in-person members meeting will be held at the (new venue) Pewsham Community Hall (see meetings page), on Tuesday 2nd December 2025 at 19:15 for 19:30 start.

There will be no speaker for this month, as this month we will have some festive fun with a quiz. There is no pressure to get all the answers correct! As well as astronomy/space related questions, there will be general knowledge and trivia thrown in.

Unfortunately, we will also be unable to provide Zoom this month since we are short on volunteers. However, normal service will resume in January.

Newsletter

Once again thanks to Simon Barnes, our chair, for editing the newsletter and providing our monthly “Report from the Chair” amongst other details about the society and the “Beginners” section this month. Please check it out. If you have any feedback about the newsletter, then we would love to hear it, so get in touch via our contact page.

Observing

Thanks again to Chris Brooks, our diligent observing coordinator who has complied this seasons’ observing programme. If you’re a keen observer, Chris would appreciate some support in organising and running the observing evenings, so please reach out to us via our contact page. Download the observing programme below.

Membership

Thank you to all the members that have renewed and to those members that have joined the society recently. We really do appreciate your support.

Mailing List

Please make sure you are subscribed to our mailing list to get the society monthly updates by email and also the observing reminders.

Clear skies

Wiltshire-AS

Next Members Meeting

Our next scheduled in-person members meeting will be held at the (new venue) Pewsham Community Hall (see meetings page), on Tuesday 4th November 2025 at 19:15 for 19:30 start. This month we welcome Dr. Peter Allan who will give the talk “Black Holes, Dark Matter and Dark Energy”, see the newsletter for bio and more info.

We will set up a zoom call for remote members to join and hear the speaker. If you able to attend in person, we do urge you to attend in person, thanks for the support. If you would like access to the Zoom call, please email (see Contact Page).

A special shout out to Chris and Tracey for organising the new self-service hot water flasks, these seem to work well at the previous meeting, thanks.

Newsletter

Once again thanks to Simon Barnes, our chair, for editing the newsletter and providing our monthly “Report from the Chair” amongst other details about the society and the “Beginners” section this month. Please check it out. If you have any feedback about the newsletter, then we would love to hear it, so get in touch via our contact page.

Observing

Thanks again to Chris Brooks, our diligent observing coordinator who has complied this seasons’ observing programme. If you’re a keen observer, Chris would appreciate some support in organising and running the observing evenings, so please reach out to us via our contact page. Download the observing programme below.

Membership

Thank you to all the members that have renewed and to those members that have joined the society recently. We really do appreciate your support.

Mailing List

Please make sure you are subscribed to our mailing list to get the society monthly updates by email and also the observing reminders.

Clear skies

Wiltshire-AS

The society is beginning it’s new 2025/2026 season of meetings and observing evenings as of September.

Next Members Meeting

For our first meeting back, we will be holding an in-person meeting at our new venue (see address below), on Tuesday 2nd September 2025 at 19:15 for 19:30 start. This month we are delighted to invite Dr Jane Clark who will give the talk “Adventures in Infrared”.

New meeting venue address:

Pewsham Community Centre
Lodge Rd
Chippenham
SN15 3SY
google maps link

**NOTE – for 2nd September 2025 meeting only. We’ve been notified the usual car park may be undergoing resurfacing works. It is unclear if these works will be completed by the time of the meeting. Therefore, if the car park is unavailable, please park (respectfully) where you can on the surrounding side streets. Thanks for your patience with this. **

In addition to meeting in person, we will set up a zoom call for remote members to join and hear the speaker. Details of the zoom info will be sent our to members via the usual email channel.

If you’re not a member and are interested in joining, please come along. We kindly ask that after two “try out” member meetings, that you take out an annual membership, see membership page for details.

At meetings, we kindly ask Members for a £1 (cash) donation and non-members £3 (cash) on the door to cover refreshments and hall fees.

Newsletter

Once again thanks to Simon Barnes, our chair, for editing the newsletter and providing our monthly “Report from the Chair” amongst other details about the society and the “Beginners” section this month. Please check it out. If you have any feedback about the newsletter, then we would love to hear it, so get in touch via our contact page.

Observing

Thanks again to Chris Brooks, our diligent observing coordinator who has complied this seasons’ observing programme. We thank Chris for his efforts in putting this together. If you’re a keen observer, Chris would appreciate some support in organising and running the observing evenings, so please reach out to us via our contact page.

Download the observing programme below.

Membership

Thank you to all the members that have renewed and to those members that have joined the society recently. We really do appreciate your support.

Mailing List

Please make sure you are subscribed to our mailing list to get the society monthly updates by email and also the observing reminders.

Clear skies

Wiltshire-AS

Last Members Meeting for 2024/2025 Season

This month we are back to an in-person meeting in the Irene Usher Memorial Pavilion in Seend which is scheduled for Tuesday 3rd June 2025 19:15 for 19:30 meeting start. The full address is “Rusty Lane, Seend, SN12 6NS (click to Google Map)”.

Unfortunately, due to limited internet connectivity at the Seend Hall, we cannot hold a zoom call for this meeting, therefore no zoom passcode email will be issued this month. See our newsletter for updates on a change of venue next year with better internet facilities.

This month we are treated to a number of “mini” presentations by members including:

• Matthew Terrell – Astrophotography
• Tracey Kelly – Musica Universalis: A Brief Look at Music & Astronomy
• Jon Gale – The Astronomers Library
• John Dartnell – A bit of the Space Shuttle History

Please see the newsletter for further details and thanks to the members that have volunteered to talk.

Followed by that we’ll have a short AGM which is required for us to keep our society status. We look forward seeing you in person again

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Membership Renewal Reminder

As a reminder, after our June meeting the society is on it’s summer break in July and August, returning again in September. Our current membership period expires on 31st August 2025. The membermojo members system will send out an automated reminder to your membership email address ~10 days prior, which opens up the new season 2025/26 membership window. Please look out for your renewal email at the end of August. Thanks.

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Newsletter

Once again thanks to Simon Barnes, our chair, for editing the newsletter. Please check it out. If you have any feedback about the newsletter, then we would love to hear it, so get in touch via our contact page.

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Observing

Our observing season has concluded for the 2024-2025 season ahead of our summer break. We shall publish a new season ahead of restarting in September.

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Mailing List

Please make sure you are subscribed to our mailing list to get the society monthly updates by email and also the observing reminders.

Clear skies

Wiltshire-AS

Next Members Meeting

This month we will be holding an online/zoom only meeting which is scheduled for Tuesday 6th May 2025 19:15 for 19:30 meeting start.

This month we are delighted to have Barry Fitzgerald who will give a talk “Lunar Geology”. Please see our newsletter (download link below) for further details and a speaker bio.

If you’re not a member and you are looking to join, please drop an email to us (see contact page) and request the Zoom access code. We kindly ask that after two “try out” member meetings, that you take out an annual membership, see membership page for details.

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Newsletter

Once again thanks to Simon Barnes, our chair, for editing the newsletter and providing our monthly “Report from the Chair” amongst other details about the society and the “Beginners” section this month. Please check it out. If you have any feedback about the newsletter, then we would love to hear it, so get in touch via our contact page.

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Observing

Download our observing schedule for the next event.

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Mailing List

Please make sure you are subscribed to our mailing list to get the society monthly updates by email and also the observing reminders.

Clear skies

Wiltshire-AS