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Guildford Astronomical Society

serving sw surrey since 1955

Welcome!

The Society logo. A heraldic shield bearing two antique brass telescopes, on the left, a refractor on a pillar and claw mount. On the right a refractor on an equatorial mount. In the middle is a shield in four quadrants. The upper left and right have the letters G and A; with the lower left filled with the letter S. The lower right features a stylised image of a comet with a long tail.

If you've ever gazed in wonder at the night sky, pondered your place in the grand scheme of things or have an interest in Astronomy already and want to meet like-minded people then please come along to one of our meetings or public observing evenings.

Everyone is welcome - absolute beginners to experienced observers.

Like most local Societies, we exist mainly as a forum for satisfying our own personal interest and enjoyment of the subject we're passionate about: Astronomy.

GAS member Observes Venus during a favourable evening apparition in 2007. Pam is using a driven eq-mounted 10-inch SCT x 200. The blue and red bands are to keep the aluminised dew-caps stable. The grey sock keeps stray light out of the viewers vision! Pam, a GAS member, observing Venus in Spring 2007

We spend a lot of time and effort encouraging and promoting a broader knowledge of Astronomy in our community. Since our Society was founded in 1955, we've been at the forefront of popularising Astronomy locally through public events.

Whatever your level of interest is right now, this website will provide you with what you need to know to decide whether you'd like to join us. We'll be happy to see you – just as a visitor or as a potential member.

The members area of the web-site contains a lot of extra information only accessible to paid-up members. If you decide to become a member please send an email to the WebMaster and you'll be sent a User name and Password once we have your subscription.

The Guildford Astronomical Society is a member of both the Federation of Astronomical Societies (FAS) and the Southern Area Group of Astronomical Societies (SAGAS).

Newlands Corner Observing Events

Our public observing events at Newlands Corner are finished for this year — and what a year it's been! We've been very lucky with the weather and attendance; observing was possible on every occasion (even the most recent evening this November) and we had well over 100 people for the first and last evenings and well over 200 for the two Summer events. It was particularly nice to see so many interested young people who'd brought an adult or two along!

Everyone seems to have enjoyed themselves and, heartened by the response we've had, we'll be holding another two Newlands Corner events some time next year (at dates yet to be decided).

The Great Look-Up public event organised with Surrey University saw over 300 members of the public attending and the University has expressed an interest in a similar event for next year.

Watch this space!

IYA2009

IYA2009 logo

The International Year of Astronomy (IYA2009) is here. One of the main aims of GAS is to promote the understanding and appreciation of astronomy to a wide audience. We achieve this through an ongoing programme of public education and outreach events.

Visit our Outreach section to see what GAS is doing for IYA2009.

Also, if you visit this flickr site you'll be able to see some of the photographs taken at past GAS Outreach events.

The Moon for all Mankind

For their IYA 2009 contribution the Malta committee has put an emphasis on the Moon and its exploration by robotic and manned spacecraft. They decided to create an image of the Moon composed of images taken by countries all over the world. An image of the Moon was divided into numbered segments and all of the IYA 2009 member countries were invited to take part.

The UK's Royal Astronomical Society chose the image taken at Guildford Astronomical Society's own Holmbury Observatory by members Julia Gaudelli, Tony & Pam Questa and John Axtell to represent the UK's contribution!

You can visit their home page here or enjoy the YouTube video on the right (our clip starts 3:54 into the movie and lasts 11 seconds).

Observing Session Plan Updated for 2009.

The Observing Session Plan has been updated for 2009. It can be found here or from the Index in the Observing Section.

Loan Telescopes

Update from Tony Questa - November 2008.

The Society now has five telescopes available for loan to members. A sixth telescope will become available soon. Please see the Loanscopes section on the GAS Resources page for more details including pictures of the various telescopes. Please contact Tony Questa (Observatory Management Team) to book a telescope.

Diary Dates

From the admin.

Also worth mentioning is our Diary Dates page (also linked from the menu). Lots of information on upcoming astronomy events and GAS outreach events. See what you can get involved in as a member of GAS!