The latest news from Sunderland Astronomical Society
This sunday’s Lecture is Cancelled and postponed for a later date due to the Corona virus outbreak. In view of the the present Corona Virus situation we regrettably need to take sensible measures and it necessary to cancel the SAS lecture this Sunday. As members will be in very close together and there is risk of spreading…
Sunderland Astronomical Society is planning another day trip for the forthcoming summer season (possibly July, August 2020 – Date TBD). We are planning a trip for our SAS members to visit the National Space Centre in Leicester (https://spacecentre.co.uk) We are hiring a coach for the day, leaving from and returning to Washington Wetlands Centre. We’ve…
Messier 42 or M42 is one of the brightest, most widely known and easily observed objects in the Winter Sky. And yet this stunning object is home to some utterly mind-blowing phenomena, many of which we have only just been discovered. There’s also a darker side – M42 hides a deeper secret about it’s past.…
Visit the Cygnus Observatory based at the Washington Wetlands Centre for an evening dedicated to our nearest celestial neighbour. See the moon in stunning detail through many telescopes and enjoy a tour of the night skies from this welcoming and friendly group of amateur astronomers. Powerful telescopes will be available to view: The Moon. Amazing…
Join members of Sunderland & Durham Astronomical Societies at Rainton Meadows Nature Reserve for this public stargazing event. Enjoy a tour of the night skies from this welcoming and friendly group of amateur astronomers. Ideal for children who will wow in amazement at the sights through the telescopes! Date: Saturday 25 January 2020. Times: from 7:00 pm –…
The SALT-HRS spectrograph has been developed and assembled between 2008 and 2013, with the main integration happening at the Centre for Advanced Instrumentation (CfAI) of Durham University. Jurgen, himself member of the CfAI SALT-HRS team (and of Sunderland AS) provides an overview about astronomy in South Africa, the technical novelties of the 11m SALT telescope…
Astronomy for Beginners – A simplified view of the universe. How to start observing by finding some of the main stars and constellations. Understand how the stars appear to move across the sky. Why does what we see in the night sky change with the seasons and where does Orion go in the summer? What are…
Just over one hundred years ago Einstein predicted the existence of gravitational waves on the basis of his General Theory of Relativity. For over 20 years physicists have been trying to catch the first gravity wave without success until February 2016 when the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) announced that they had recorded the ripples…
September is the start of our new season. SAS Memberships will be due from 1st September 2022 (payable throughout September) for this season 2022/2023 Joining/Renewing helps support your local astronomical society & community. So come on down to the Cygnus Observatory (based at the Washington Wetlands Centre) to join or renew your SAS membership. The SAS is the largest…
SAS Memberships will be due from 1st September 2020 (payable throughout September) for this season 2020/2021. Joining/Renewing helps support your local astronomical society & community. In this special year when we can’t meet as we would like, and haven’t been able to do our fundraising events your membership subscriptions are even more important to help keep…