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Guildford Astronomical Society

serving sw surrey since 1955

Meetings

Guildford Institute looking towards North Street, Guildford

Our meetings are held in the Guildford Institute, Ward Street, Guildford, GU1 4LH, (opposite the Public Library in North Street). [map]

Despite Ward Street being empty as shown right, in the early evening it is usually full of cars, and adjacent parking can be difficult. There are several car parks within a 5-10 minute walk, indicated on the map linked to above.

Meetings start at 7.30pm on the first Thursday of each month, (except August when there is no meeting). Meetings usually finish around 10pm. One or two meetings in the year, (including the AGM), are set aside for members only; these are indicated in our list of Talks for upcoming meetings.

Note for Visitors: To cover the cost of the room hire, we charge £2.50 per meeting. On arrival, please introduce yourself to the Secretary. You will be warmly welcomed.

If you have any special access requirements, please contact the Secretary,  .

Meeting Format

The featured speaker (Robin Scagell) at a meeting of the Society.

Meetings generally take one of two formats:

  • An invited expert gives a talk/presentation – illustrated and/or animated - of an aspect of astronomy. Subjects are chosen because they're topical, practical – or just interesting to astronomers. Each year we arrange a balanced mix, covering a wide range of topics. and levels.
  • A 'members evening', in which members present short talks on their own interests, projects, and topics of general interest.

Occasionally, invited speakers have to cancel, (usually at extremely short notice), and at these times the meeting often takes the form of an informal quiz, a question and answer session, or a hands-on Workshop.

After the break, the members settle down to hear the Society reports and What's On for the coming month

Typically,the main talk of the evening lasts for an hour or so, after which we have a 15-20 minute comfort break. Tea, coffee and biscuits are available from the adjoining refreshments room.

Following the break, the remaining time until 10pm usually features Society news and business, (such as the latest reports from the Observatory, Observing Evening Reports, etc), and a short 'What's on?' feature describing events happening later in the current month.

Afterwards

As seen from Chertsey Road, the front of the Guildford Tup pub

If there's time at the end, some members go round the corner to the pub (usually the The Guildford Tup) for a drink and a chat. You're welcome to join us.

Talks for the 2009-2010 session

Date Talk/Presentation Title Speaker
1 Apr 2010 Latest Results from Cassini
This replaces the original talk titled Dark Energy which was to be given by Prof Bob Nichol,
University of Portsmouth. We hope to re-schedule this for next year.
Prof Andrew Coates,
Mullard Space Science Laboratory
6 May 2010 May the force be with you Dr Paul Daniels,
Guildford Astronomical Society
3 Jun 2010 Galaxy Evolution and star formation in local galaxies
Cancelled due to emigration of speaker to NZ — replacement talk to be announced.
Dr Claire Bretherton,
Royal Greenwich Observatory
1 July 2010 AGMMembers Only Short talks by GAS Members
5 Aug 2010 Note: There is no meeting in August

Click here to see the profiles of past and forthcoming speakers and access any presentation material they may have provided.