Meeting Reports

Here you’ll find brief reports of the talks we’ve heard at Society meetings. In these we try to include any web links or other pointers to further information that were provided by the speaker at the meeting. If you were at one of our meetings and would like to correct or expand the report relating to it then please use the Society’s contact form.

Recent Reports

Older Reports

• April 2024 – Graham Cluer: Smart Telescopes - Report by Andrew Ramsay Graham Cluer was an early adopter. Cheerfully admitting his inability to recognise more than a few asterisms, he found the early …
• January 2024 – Colin Stuart: Time in Einstein’s Universe - A talk by Colin Stuart to the Orpington Astronomical Society on 24 January 2024 Report by Andrew Ramsay Colin Stuart’s talk did not disappoint. Beginning …
• November 2023 – Clive Ruggles: Archaeoastronomy - A talk by Prof. Clive Ruggles to the Orpington Astronomical Society on November 22nd 2023 Report by Andrew Ramsay Archaeoastronomy is a study of evidence …
• July 2023 – CERN, the LHC and All That: An Update from the Energy Frontier - A talk by Prof. Jon Butterworth to the Orpington Astronomical Society on July 26th 2023 Report by Hugh Alford FRAS. Astronomy is one of the …
• October 2023 – Greg Smye-Rumsby: Arrokoth and the Sentinels - A talk by Greg Smye-Rumsby to the Orpington Astronomical Society on October 25th 2023 Report by Tony Sizer. Being a teacher had the advantage of …
• September 2023 – Roger O’Brien: Interstellar Communication - OAS Lecture on Interstellar Communication by Roger O’Brien on 27 September 2023 Review by Andrew Ramsay In little more than an hour Roger O’Brien demolished …
• May 2023 – Richard Westwood: The History of Spectroscopy - When Richard last visited us, back in 2007, he told us all about the invention and development of planeteria. This time, he chose to speak …
• April 2023: Astronomical Oddities - The history of astronomy is littered with misunderstandings, misconceptions and downright frauds. Tony Robert’s review of some of these made for an entertaining evening. Tony …
• March 2023: Preparing for a Flagship Mission to Uranus - Dr Adam Masters is a space and planetary scientist with the Space and Atmospheric Physics Group at Imperial College, London. His research programme focuses on …
• January 2023: The Visions of Arthur C Clarke - For most people not brought up on a diet of post-war sci-fi literature the seminal movie “2001” would be their first and most vivid contact …

• 23rd November 2022: Astrophotography and how it is done
• 26 October 2022: 50th Anniversary of the Apollo Moon Landings – Triumph or Hoax?
• 28 September 2022: The Evolution, Diversity and Habitability of Exoplanets – Dr Edward Gillen
• 24 August 2022: Colouring the Sky – Nature’s Cathode Ray Tube
• 27 July 2022: The Birth of the Solar System
• 22 June 2022: Atoms, Photons and the Nebulium Affair
• The Sun and Climate Change
• Beneath the Night: How the stars have shaped the history of humankind
• The One Pixel Camera and the Edge of the Universe
• Exoplanets: Weird Worlds
• The Stars, Like Dust – June 2019
• How to Live on Mars – March 2019
• Robotic Telescopes – January 2019
• Shades of Rendezvous with Rama – October 2018
• How Special is Our Solar System – July 2018
• The Vulcan Affair – 22nd November 2017
• Members Evening – 25th October 2017
• The Magic of Astrophotography – 27th September 2017
• 13 Journeys Through Space and Time – 23rd August 2017
• Aliens!…Where are you? – 28th June 2017
• It’s about time – 13th November 2014
• Uranus: a story of planetary catastrophe – 24th July 2014
• Quiz – 26th June 2014
• Violent Universe – 22nd May 2014
• Finding Exoplanets – 24th April 2014
• The Antikythera Mechanism – 27th March 2014
• Chariots of Fire: The Sun and its influence on Earth – 28th November 2013
• The Intergalactic Medium and Other Things – 23rd May 2013
• Images of the Universe – 25th April 2013
• ExoMars – 22nd November 2012
• Solar Secrets: Understanding our Star, the Sun – 25th October 2012
• Colouring the Sky – 23rd August 2012
• Dark Energy and Dark Matter – 26th July 2012
• Members Evening – 25th August 2011
• Apollo Hoax – 28th July 2011
• Timings (reprise) – 23rd June 2011
• When Planets Cross the Sun – 26th May 2011
• Sun Kings – 28th April 2011
• An Alien’s Perspective – 24th March 2011
• AGM and President’s Address – 24th February 2011
• Supercool Astronomy – 27th January 2011
• Xmas Meeting – 16th December 2010
• Cold Dark Matter – 25th November 2010
• Mars Express – 28th October 2010
• Quasars and Black Holes – 23rd September 2010
• Members Evening – 26th August 2010
• Timings – 22nd July 2010
• Science and Beauty of Nebulae – 24th June 2010
• Backbone of the Night – 27th May 2010
• Members Evening – 22nd April 2010
• Meteor Echoes – 26th March 2010
• AGM and President’s Address – 26th February 2010
• Mars Exploration – 28th January 2010
• The Solstice Quiz – 17th December 2009
• Members Evening – 26th November 2009
• Are We Alone? – 22nd October 2009
• Who, What and When? – 24th September 2009
• Black Holes – 27th August 2009
• Variable Stars – 23rd July 2009
• Radio Astronomy – 25th June 2009
• Members Evening – 28th May 2009
• Tycho and the Uraniborg Observatory – 23rd April 2009
• Sun and Climate – 26th March 2009
• AGM and President’s Address – 26th February 2009
• Cosmology – 22nd January 2009
• The Solstice Quiz – 18th December 2008
• The Story of Jodrell Bank – 27th November 2008
• Galileo and his Telescopes – 23rd October 2008
• Members Evening – 25th September 2008
• Impact Cratering – 28th August 2008
• The Calendar – 24th July 2008
• Members Evening – 26th June 2008
• Message of Starlight – 22nd May 2008
• Sundials – 24th April 2008
• Hinode and STEREO – 27th March 2008
• AGM and Chairman’s Address – 28th February 2008
• Discovering Supernovae – 24th January 2008
• Sids Whispers and Pings – 25th November 2007
• Meteorites – 25th October 2007
• The Moons of Saturn – 27th September 2007
• The Universe in 3D – 23rd August 2007
• Members Evening – 26th July 2007
• History of Planetaria – 28th June 2007
• Venus Express – 24th May 2007
• Members Evening – 26th April 2007
• Astrophotography – 22nd March 2007
• AGM and Colour in Astronomy – 22nd February 2007
• Uranus & Neptune – 25th January 2007
• Quiz Evening – 21st December 2006
• Members Evening – 23rd November 2006
• Ghosts and Poltergeists – 26th October 2006
• Journeying into the Unknown – 28th September 2006
• Deep Sky Imaging – 24th August 2006
• Cosmology – 27th July 2006
• Spectroscopy – 22nd June 2006
• Observing the Sun – 25th May 2006
• Landing on a Comet – 27th April 2006
• Film vs. Digital – 23rd March 2006
• A.G.M. – 23rd February 2006
• Astronomical Treasures – 26th January 2006

• Xmas Quiz – 15th December 2005
• Exploring the Planets using Satellites – 24th November 2005
• Members Evening – 27th October 2005
• Ken Budd Memorial Lecture – Saturday 15th October 2005
• The Cassini Mission – 22nd September 2005
• The Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram – 25th August 2005
• The Gravity Zoo – 28th July 2005
• What are Terrestrial Planets made of? – 23rd June 2005
• Meteors – 26th May 2005
• Members Evening – 28th April 2005
• Mars Revisited – 24th March 2005
• AGM and Chairman’s Address – 24th February 2005
• Imaging the Universe – 27th January 2005
• Xmas Quiz – 16th December 2004
• The Science of Time – 25th November 2004
• Suns, Stars & Satchels – 28th October 2004
• Exobiology – 23rd September 2004
• The Moon and I – 23rd August 2004
• Planetary Nebulae – 22nd July 2004
• Astronomers & Oddities – 24th June 2004
• The Clouds of Magellan – 27th May 2004
• The Transit of Venus – 22nd April 2004
• When the Sun Lost its Spots – 25th March 2004
• AGM and Chairman’s Address – 26th February 2004
• The Sun and the Weather – 22nd January 2004
• Creating Space – 18th December 2003
• Harrison’s Clocks – 27th November 2003
• Robert Hooke – 23rd October 2003
• The Dynamic Universe – 25th September 2003
• Mars at Opposition – 30th August 2003
• The Planets – 28th August 2003
• Members Evening – 24th July 2003
• Planetary Nebulae – 26th June 2003
• Campaign for Dark Skies – 22nd May 2003
• Members Evening – 24th April 2003
• Galaxy Formation – 27th March 2003
• AGM and Chairman’s Address – 27th February 2003
• Amateur Radio Astronomy – 23rd January 2003
• Xmas Quiz – 19th December 2002
• Members Evening – 28th November 2002
• Unifying the Universe – 24th October 2002
• V2 – 26th September 2002
• A Tudor Telescope on TV – 23rd September 2002
• Members Evening – 25th July 2002
• Human Spaceflight – 27th June 2002
• Cassini Huygens – 23rd May 2002
• Destination Mars – 25th April 2002
• Members Evening – 28th March 2002
• AGM and Chairman’s Address – 28th February 2002
• Astrophotography – 24th January 2002
• African Eclipse – 20th December 2001
• Gamma Ray Bursts – 22nd November 2001
• Book Auction – 25th October 2001
• Universe Day – 13th October 2001
• Life on other Worlds – 27th September 2001
• Transits – 26th July 2001
• Infra-red Astronomy – 28th June 2001
• Antarctic Astronomy – 24th May 2001
• Mars and Meteorites – 26th April 2001
• Mars – 22nd March 2001
• AGM and Chairman’s Address – 22nd February 2001
• Plasma and Magnetism – 25th January 2001
• The Earliest Sundial – 14th December 2000
• Sizes – 23rd November 2000
• Starbirth – 26th October 2000
• The Second Kenneth Budd Memorial Lecture – 20th October 2000
• A Window Through the Universe – 28th September 2000
• Explosions from the Sun – 27th July 2000
• Gamma Ray Imaging – 22nd June 2000