**** ALL ENTRIES SUBJECT TO CHANGE ****

Meetings start 7.30pm unless otherwise stated.

Children are especially welcome but MUST be accompanied by a responsible adult.

Talks & Lectures

Bridge Village Hall meetings, Second Saturday Sept-May (except Febuary due to possible clash with Astrofest).

Joint Meetings with KENT PHYSICS CENTRE are held at RUTHERFORD COLLEGE LECTURE THEATRE 1 at the

UNIVERSITY OF KENT on tuesdays at 7:30pm

ALL our speakers are distinguished and are worthy of and should be honoured with a good-sized audience - PLEASE PUT THE DATES IN YOUR DIARY NOW!!!

It is suggested that there is an informal “Bring & Buy” at all our meetings at Bridge Village Hall 

Sept             Wed 10th: Faulkes Telescope stage 1 – Group test which we must pass to gain telescope time. (Subject 

                     to room confirmation) St Paul’s Community Centre, Cliftonville, Margate.

                     Sat 13th: Members Reports of the Siberian Eclipse, Bridge Village Hall: Presentations on the

                     August solar eclipse as seen from Siberia and China: Ashley Fuggle & Chris Sessions.

                     Sat 20th: Federation of Astronomical Societies AGM & Convention at the Institute of Astroomy,

                     Madingly Road, Cambridge. Do think about supporting this event. Get a group to go up in a few cars. 

                     There are some good lectures this year. AB will be there with his trade stand. See www.fedastro.org.uk

October      Tue 7th: Professor Nigel Smith, University of Kent Rutherford College Lecture Theatre 1,

                     ASTROPARTICLE  PHYSICS: FROM  THE SOUTH POLE TO  A  SALT  PIT,  

     In this talk I will discuss two different projects with which I have been involved, with the common theme of doing  experimental    

 astroparticle physics in extreme environments , namely the South Pole and 1100m underground down a salt mine. Astroparticle

 physics sits between cosmology , astronomy and particle physics, and studies the implications for the very large scale of our

 Galaxy  by studying sub-atomic particles and processes. The two projects, I will discuss, investigated the origin of high energy

 gamma rays and searched for the elusive dark matter particle. The talk will focus primarily on doing experimental physics in

 extreme environments, with an overview of the science being undertaken.

                     Sat 11th:  Neil Bone, Atmospheric Phenomena, Bridge Village Hall: Neil Bone Director of the BAA

                     Meteor section, Events diary editor Astronomy Now

November  Sat 15th:  Dr Ken Smith, A History of Spectroscopy, Bridge Village Hall.

                     Tue 18th: Professor Carl Murray, University of Kent Rutherford College Lecture Theatre 1,

                     A VIEW OF SATURN: IMAGES FROM THE CASSINI SPACE CRAFT.

 The Cassini space craft has been in orbit around Saturn for more than four years and has sent back tens of thousands of images of

 the ringed planet and its moons. The talk will review some of the scientific highlights from the Cassini imaging experiment,  on

 particular emphasis on what has been learned about Saturn’s ring system.

December  Sat 13th:  Xmas party/  Photo/  Drawing Competition, Bridge Village Hall: Members short presentations.

January      Sat 10th:  Instructional Presentations – 4 x 20 minutes each, Bridge Village Hall: Setting up a 

                     telescope, Planetary observation and use of filters, Solar observation, Basic tools for observation.

                    

                     Sat 31st:  BAA Back to Basics workshop whole day at Canterbury University. SEKAS are the host

                     society. These lectures will follow on from our Instructional Presentation with additional topics. Trade stands.

                     Last time we hosted this we had 120 attendees.

Febuary      Sat 21st:  Guest Speaker, Bridge Village Hall: TBA.

March          Sat 7th: Society Dinner at venue: TBA

                     Sat 14th: Prof Micheal D. Smith, Bridge Village Hall: Centre of Astrophysics & Planetary Science

                     Kent University. The latest observations, debates and issues from the Kent astronomy programme.

April             Sat 11th: Members evening, Bridge Village Hall.

May              Sat 9th:   AGM, bridge Village Hall.

Public Observing Sessions

Public Stargazing sessions are from SEPT-MARCH inclusive. ***Members to bring telescopes***, these can only happen if there is some prospect of partly clear skies.

Blean Church Car Park, Sessions are run by John Kemp (01227 265503).       

Walmer Castle, Sessions are run by Alan Buckman (01304 367711).

Hythe Princess parade, Sessions are run by Jim Read.

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September    Fri 26th: Deal, Walmer Castle.

October          Fri 3rd: Canterbury, Blean church car park.     Fri 17th: Hythe, Princess Parade.     Fri 31st: Deal, Walmer Castle.

November     Fri 7th: Canterbury, Blean church car park.      Fri  21th: Hythe, Princess Parade.   Fri 28th: Deal, Walmer Castle.

December     Fri 5th: Canterbury, Blean church car park.      Fri 19th: Hythe, Princess Parade.     Fri 26th: Deal, Walmer Castle.

Members Observing Sessions

Monkton Club nights, Second fridays year round. Please note that Monkton Club nights are open to non-members as well, but they will be subject to a charge of £2.50 per adult. Members off course won’t be charged.

Sessions are run by Tom Norton and Lee Phillips (07944 465975).

Please click here to view a monthly list of the best objects to observe.

June               Sat 28th: Visit to observatory: Ashley Fuggle, meeting and chat around his observatory From 19:00 

                        at 2 St Luke’s Walk, Hawkinge,  CT18 7EF Tel: 01303 892225.

July                Fri 11th:  Club night Monkton observatory Topic: Summer Objects  from 830 pm

August          Fri 8th:    Club night Monkton observatory  Topic: Summer Objects  from 830 pm

                     

                        Mon 11th/12th: Perseid Meteor Watch and Barbecue at Monkton observatory.

September   Fri 12th:  Club night Monkton observatory Topic: Focus on Globular Clusters.

October         Wed 8th: Visit to observatory: Paul Andrew, Meeting and chat round his observatory at

                       Alycyone, Reach Road, St. Margarets-at-Cliffe, Dover, CT15 6AE, Tel: 01304 852692.

                        Fri 10th:  Club night Monkton observatory Topic: Focus on Planetary Nebulae.

November    Thur 6th: Visit to observatory: Ashley Fuggle, meeting and chat around his observatory From 19:00 

                        at 2 St Luke’s Walk, Hawkinge,  CT18 7EF Tel: 01303 892225

                        Fri 14th:  Club night Monkton observatory Topic: Focus on Open Clusters.

December    Thur 4th: Visit to Observatory: Dermot Stewart, Meeting and chat around his observatory from 19:00

                       at 36 Bridgedown, Bridge, Tel 01227 830493

                        Fri 12th: Club night Monkton observatory Topic: Focus on Diffuse Nebulae

January        Mon 5th: Visit to observatory: TBA

                        Fri 9th:     Club night Monkton Observatory Topic: TBA

Febuary        Tue 3rd:   Visit to observatory: TBA                               

  

                        Fri 13th:   Club night Monkton Observatory Topic: TBA

March            Wed 4th:  Visit to Observatory: TBA                               

                        Fri 13th:   Club night Monkton Observatory Topic: TBA

If you have any ideas for events or meetings then please contact the Secretary (secretary@sekas.co.uk).

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