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Guildford Astronomical Society

serving sw surrey since 1955

Public Outreach

At a public Observing Event, organised by GAS, Ted prepared to show visitors the view through his 18 inch Obsession scope. The stars of Orion are visible in the background sky Ted prepares his telescope for a public observing event at Newlands Corner. Picture credit: Surrey Advertiser


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.

Our outreach events are frequent and varied. We've organised activities at school clubs and Scout camps, and we've often hosted events when there have been special astronomical phenomena such as eclipses, comets and meteor showers. To find out more, see our Recent Events.




International Year of Astronomy

The official logo of IYA2009. A stylised person and child gaze at stars in the sky.The text 'The Universe Yours to Discover' appears at the top and 'International Year of Astronomy 2009' appears at the bottom of the image

The International Year of Astronomy 2009 (IYA2009) will be a global celebration of astronomy and its contributions to society and culture. It is intended to stimulate worldwide interest not only in astronomy, but in science in general, with a particular slant towards young people. IYA2009 will mark the monumental leap forward that followed Galileo Galilei's first use of the telescope for astronomical observations. It will portray astronomy as a peaceful global scientific endeavour that unites astronomers in an international, multicultural family of scientists working together to find answers to some of the most fundamental questions that humankind has ever asked. You can find out more about IYA at the official UK website.

The Universe for Everyone

GAS is presenting many events to celebrate IYA 2009. We'll be extending our usual activies further to promote and encompass the key themes of IYA2009.

We were at the UK Space Conference at Charterhouse School in April, with kids' activities, talks, an exhibition and star party. We held a very successful afternoon of talks with the theme 'She's an Astronomer' for local school students. We were at the Surrey County Show in May where we used solar telescopes to allow visitors to safely observe the sun. The first three of our 'Tours of the Night Sky', which were held at Newlands Corner, attracted hundreds of members of the public and were very well received. Several more of these observing sessions for the general public are scheduled during the year. You can download the flyer here [PDF: 122KB]

There are many more exciting events planned to celebrate IYA2009. For all of GAS's upcoming events, see Diary dates

For events hosted by Farnham Astronomical Society, click here.

The Great Look Up

The Great Look Up FlyerOn Friday, 28th August 2009 the Guildford Astronomical Society, in association with The University of Surrey, mounted a massive public outreach event in support of The British Festival of Science which, this year, was centred on Guildford. The venue was at The Varsity Centre, The University of Surrey, Egerton Road, Guildford and was attended by over 300 members of the public. After talks by Maggie Philbin (TV Presenter/Journalist), Dr Stuart Eves (Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd) and John Axtell (Secretary, GAS) the evening's viewing got under way. More than 30 telescopes, guided by members of GAS and other local societies, were available for the public to view the night sky. Thankfully, the weather stayed clear and the Moon and Jupiter presented a fine sight!