{"id":402,"date":"2022-04-11T15:49:24","date_gmt":"2022-04-11T14:49:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.guildfordas.org\/newsitestaging\/?page_id=402"},"modified":"2026-04-17T15:42:59","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T14:42:59","slug":"about-us","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.guildfordas.org\/newsitestaging\/about-us\/","title":{"rendered":"About us"},"content":{"rendered":"
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If you\u2019ve ever gazed in awe at the night sky, pondered your place in the Grand Scheme of Things or already have an interest in Astronomy and would like to meet like-minded people then please come along to one of our meetings or to one of our<\/span>\n <\/span>public observing evenings.  Everyone is welcome (especially if you\u2019re a young person*) whether you be an absolute beginner or an experienced observer.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Like most local Astronomical Societies, we are primarily a forum for developing our personal interest, understanding and enjoyment of the subject.    We also work hard to encourage and promote a broader knowledge of Astronomy in our community.  Since our Society was founded in 1955, we\u2019ve been at the forefront of popularising Astronomy locally through public events.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Whatever your level of interest is right now, this website will provide you with what you need to know to decide whether you\u2019d like to join us. We\u2019ll be happy to see you \u2013 just as a visitor or as a potential member.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Guildford Astronomical Society is a member of both the <\/span>\n Federation of Astronomical Societies (FAS)<\/strong><\/a> and <\/span><\/p>\n

the <\/span>\n Southern Area Group of Astronomical Societies (SAGAS)<\/strong><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Guildford Astronomical Society’s Constitution is available to read.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

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GAS Constitution<\/span><\/a>\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n
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* If aged under 18 you must be accompanied by a parent or responsible adult.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Outreach<\/h2>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n
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GAS now has a very active outreach group. <\/strong><\/h4>\n

We work with Surrey University, MSSL and other organisations.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you would like us to assist or want to know where will be, please email Rachel Dutton at outreach at guildfordas dot org <\/span><\/p>\n

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GAS Astrophotography Interest Group (AIG)<\/h2>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n
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The AIG group is open to any member of GAS and allows Astrophotography enthusiasts of all levels to share experiences and learn from each other. The group meets monthly via Zoom.<\/span><\/p>\n

Our meetings consist of an experience share where a few members share images and explain the challenges they face, followed by a main topic about the practical business of capturing and processing images.<\/span><\/p>\n

Many of the images on the GAS web site are from AIG members but we also share many more images using Astrobin.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n https:\/\/www.astrobin.com\/groups\/1858\/gas-astrophotography-interest-group\/<\/a> (Opens a new window)<\/span><\/p>\n

If you would like to join us or have a question, please email me, Max Dobres, at astroimaginggroup at guildfordas dot org <\/span><\/p>\n

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GAS Exoplanet Interest Group (XIG)<\/h2>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n
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The XIG group is open to any member of GAS . <\/span><\/p>\n

If you have access to imaging equipment and want to try and detect a known exoplanet come and join our monthly Zoom meeting.<\/span><\/p>\n

We discuss how to collect the data and the resultant light curve after processing.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you would like to join us or have a question, please email Jonathan Clark at exoplanetgroup at guildfordas dot org <\/span><\/p>\n

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Members Data<\/h2>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n
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We use Membermojo to hold private data.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

To amend your data Click the button below to go to Membermojo, (opens a new window). Enter your email address to login, then check you inbox.<\/span><\/h4>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n
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Our history<\/h1>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n
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Guildford Astronomical Society was formed in 1955, originally as the Guildford Branch of the Junior Astronomical Society, (JAS).   Inside the front cover of  the surviving record book, in fading ink, the first entry states \u201cNov,1955. 7 Vicarage Gate \u2013 Guildford. Mr Noon inaugurates Guildford J.A.S.\u201d.  In these early days, the meetings were held in the various homes of the founder members.  In December 1955, Mr Leslie Ball, the famous pioneer lunar cartographer, astronomer, astronomical artist and resident of Guildford gave a talk to the Guildford JAS on the subject of the Moon. This must have been a success for the next meeting held in February 1956 was again given by Mr Ball on the same subject (it transpires that this was a 2-part talk).<\/span><\/p>\n

Gatherings then moved to the \u201cRed Cross House\u201d in Jenner Road and included \u2018open meetings\u2019 for members and their friends.  The May 6th 1969 meeting was then held in the\u201d Lantern \u201dCaf\u00e9” in Quarry Street apparently in response to growing numbers.  The following meeting on October 7th was held at Fairlands Community Centre. It was announced at the meeting on January 14th 1970, that those for the next three months be held at the Lantern Restaurant, at a charge of five shillings per head for refreshments. In the event, the next 7 meetings were held there, until October 1970.  Thereafter the meetings moved to the Corona Cafe in the High Street.<\/span><\/p>\n

At the AGM on June 3rd 1975 it was decided to move the monthly meetings to the Brew House, at the back of the Library in North Street, because the Society had outgrown the Corona Cafe. From 1971 onwards the monthly reports seem to have stopped and only reports of the AGMs appear in the records.  Meetings moved to the Guildford Institute in 1980 due to the rising costs of hiring the Brew House.<\/span><\/p>\n

Latterly (at least pre-Covid) our membership numbers have increased such that the Society has held its monthly meetings in a lecture theatre at The University of Surrey.<\/span><\/p>\n

Practical observing sessions were only very occasional up to the 1980\u2019s; thereafter they gradually became more regular and eventually monthly (subject to clear skies and the moon not being full).  We look forward to being able to return to these soon.<\/span><\/p>\n

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If you\u2019ve ever gazed in awe at the night sky, pondered your place in the Grand Scheme of Things or already have an interest in Astronomy and would like to meet like-minded people then please come along to one of our meetings or to one of our public observing evenings.  Everyone is welcome (especially if you\u2019re […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-templates\/full-width-page.php","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-402","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.guildfordas.org\/newsitestaging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/402","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.guildfordas.org\/newsitestaging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.guildfordas.org\/newsitestaging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.guildfordas.org\/newsitestaging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.guildfordas.org\/newsitestaging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=402"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/www.guildfordas.org\/newsitestaging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/402\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6216,"href":"https:\/\/www.guildfordas.org\/newsitestaging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/402\/revisions\/6216"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.guildfordas.org\/newsitestaging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}