On the 26th of September  2009 we visited The Royal Observatory in Edinburgh

"From an early start and a trip around the houses picking up passengers, the boys managed to last until the Purdy Lodge, just South of Belford, before having to stop for re-fuelling. A few Big Breakfasts later and we on our way. We arrived at the Royal Observatory some time after eleven in glorious sunshine and it was so busy, I think we took the last spot in the car park.

We were warmly greeted and guided to the introduction display in the canteen, where we were given a map and program details. Everyone took the opportunity to look around at the displays and collect the appropriate literature of the different projects before we went and booked our place in the inflatable planetarium show. The next free places were for the 2:15 show, so this gave us plenty of time to have a look at the displays in the various other buildings and check out all the other things on the site including the sensor testing lab, the library with it's historical star catalogues, the viewing deck and the 36" Grubb Parsons reflector in the observatory. Straight after the planetarium show was a highly entertaining talk entitled `Cool Astronomy' where the presenter tried all sorts of things with liquid nitrogen, and ended up making a batch of ice cream which we were all allowed to sample. With the afternoon drawing to a close and still bathed in bright sunshine, though this turned to a night observing at Hauxley to round off the day."

Austin Bowman

On the 6th of June 2009 Sunderland Astronomical Society held a Meet-Up event for all of the local Astronomical Societies.

The Astronomical Societies represented were: Newcastle, South Shields , Durham , Cleveland & Darlington, Sunderland, Kielder  and the newly formed Luna Society.  Each group gave a 10 minute talk about how they formed as a society and said a bit about what they do. If you would like to know more about these Societies then you can visit our links & Sponsors page to be directed to their websites.

Austin Bowman represented us and Paul Lewis represented Kielder.

This  Event provided a great opportunity for us to meet new people, to exchange ideas and the names of possible guest speakers.

We would like to thank the Sunderland Society for organising and hosting this event.
 

Our members outside the Sunderland Astronomical Society's Cygnus Observatory.

A Female Astronomer Reflects... 

October 30th 2008

Jocelyn Bell-Burnell is a Radio Astronomer who discovered Pulsars

Some of our society members went to Newcastle University to hear a lecture by Jocelyn Bell-Burnell as part of the Insights Public Lectures.

In Jocelyn’s lecture she gave a commentary on being a female astronomer/physicist in the UK over the last 40 years, and being a wife and mother at the same time. She talked about how both society and science have changed over that period, and also how they have not changed.

In her lecture Jocelyn shared with us some amazing stories of her experiences all heart-felt and empowering.

Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell will be returning to the North East in June 2009 to give a lecture "Pulsars and Extreme Physics" at Northumbria University.

On July 13th 2006 we went to visit the Planetarium at South Tyneside College in South Shields.

The planetarium showed us  the night sky from anywhere on earth, at any time of year including phases of the moon, galaxies, stars, planets, eclipses, and motion of the planets.  Senior Lecturer  Eva Hans  commentated leading our tour.

 Direct viewing of the night sky is also available through a 40cm Newtonian telescope with a qualified astronomer as guide. Unfortunately we didn't get the opportunity to use the telescope.

This Planetarium has since shut down.