About Us

Northumberland Astronomical Society was founded in January 2000 and has approximately 30 members. We are a friendly, active society of professional and amateur astronomers.  We welcome new members to come and join us in our bi-monthly meetings and observing sessions where you can learn and experience new things- you can take a short course in astronomy, you can have access to a wide range of astronomy equipment, participate in or lead sessions, have your own personal tour of the night sky, join us in our famous observing night barbeques, meet people with similar interests and make life long friends!

The benefits of joining the Northumberland Astronomical Society are:

 

  • In our location we have open dark skies with minimal light pollution

  • We have our own observatory

  • We own a wide range of telescopes and equipment

  • We have outstanding speakers

  • We have excellent visitor facilities

  • We provide a series of courses

We have an ongoing outreach programme to encourage interest in Astronomy primarily by providing sessions for local community groups.  In the past we have provided sessions for schools, libraries, play and youth schemes, Women's Institute groups, and hospitals. We have  broadcasted information on radio shows both locally and nationally to educate people about current events in astronomy.  We recently ran a two part session for the Alnwick Scout group to support them in achieving their astronomy badges.  Now that we have our Observatory and telescope up and running we are aiming to develop our work in the community further by organising Sky Watching events for the public.   Please contact us if you would like to know more about our work in the community or to organise an outreach session.

 

If you would like to make a donation to our society or become a sponsor please click here

 

 

 

 

 

The Place

We meet in a beautiful location at Hauxley Nature Reserve near Amble on the coast of Northumberland where the skies are dark.

The Nature Reserve Visitor Centre was recently destroyed by fire damage but we do however continue to meet at our Hauxley Reserve Observatory for our observation nights, the observatory and site car park remain fully accessible for the time being.

We have our general society meetings bi-monthly on the second and last Thursday of each month from 7.30pm until about 9.00pm . These take place in the Trap Inn, North Broomhill. Please visit the Events page to see what we are up to next!

We make plans to meet for any astronomical event such as eclipses, meteor showers and comet viewings, usually with Austin's speciality barbecues.

On clear nights we contact each other, usually through our Yahoo Discussion Group for to arrange observing sessions.  We set up our own telescopes in the large car park area as well as  using the observatory.

More information on how to find us

 

The Reserve is Run by the Northumberland Wildlife Trust

 

The Reserve. Photo by Christine Westerback

 

Getting warm in the visitor centre after watching the Geminids Meteor shower

 

Jim, Norman, Emma and Malcolm outside the newly built observatory

 

 

 

The People

 

 

We welcome beginners and professional astronomers alike. We are a diverse group of members with varying astronomy knowledge and experience.

Who's Who on the Committee

 

Chairman: Austin Bowman

Vice Chairman: Jim Martin

Training Officer: Adrian Jannetta

Secretary: Paul Lewis

Treasurer: Bob Scott

Events Officer: Austin Bowman

Observing Officer: Malcolm Robinson

Fundraiser: Malcolm Robinson

 

 

 

 

 

Austin

 

Malcolm

Jim and Alfie

 

Paul

Adrian and Emma

   

 

 

 

 

In the Press

Tim Kent in The Northumberland Gazette 2009

 

Dave Scott's Mensa Article Aug 09

On the Web

Northumberland Gazette 1

Northumberland Gazette 2

 

Did you know that NASTRO is also on:-


 

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Web Designer: Emma Jane Maddison

© Northumberland Astronomical Society 2010