YA meetings and activities:

info and photos from selected dates are below

Peter Morris and Magda Wheatley presented our annual Christmas quiz. We had 20 questions, with a break for festive nibbles halfway through. The question formats included multi-choice, true/false (with the YAs holding up laminated cards to indicate "True"' or "False"), and some “free responses” – plus there were a few jokes. Questions ranged from general knowledge (such as “What kind of star cluster is the Hercules Cluster (M13)?”), to some based on material which had been covered during the year; and a few quirky ones, such as “Elon Musk sent this [pictured] car into space in 2018: True or False?”. Amazingly, the YA’s seemed to generally know the answer to this last one!

We also had a news item (about the discovery by the Chinese Chang-e 6 mission in June of volcanic basalt on the far side of the Moon); and a look at the December night sky. 

Above are four sample questions from the quiz - do you know the answers? (see below):

1. For us on Earth, the Sun rises in the east and then sets in the west. In reality, the Sun does not move at all. It is the Earth rotating from west to east that makes the Sun appear to move across the sky every day from east to west.
2. False. It was Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 that slammed into Jupiter’s atmosphere in July 1994, having been captured by the planet’s gravitational forces about twenty years earlier. 
3. The Ring Nebula is a planetary nebula in the Summer constellation of Lyra. 
4. d) Oxygen.  The green aurora is produced by oxygen atoms which are 100 to 300 km above the Earth’s surface. It is the result of excited oxygen atoms producing green light. Even higher in the atmosphere (at 300 to 400 km), the air is thin and the oxygen atoms emit red light. 

In the wake of C2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS), which some of you might have seen in October, Les Brand gave a talk about comets, "time capsules" of the early Solar System, covering aspects such as their structure, where they come from, and their orbital periods. Notable ones mentioned included, among others, Halley's Comet (average orbital period 76 years; depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry); Shoemaker-Levy 9, which crashed into Jupiter in 1994 and left brown impact marks; and Hale-Bopp, last seen for around 18 months in 1996-7.  We also saw an entertaining video* by the Royal Observatory Greenwich about ESA's Rosetta Mission, the first to land on a comet (67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, in 2014). 

We then had an activity which followed on from John Neal's talk about spectroscopy in October.  The YAs made spectroscopes from toilet roll tubes, taping a piece of cardboard with a thin slit at one end, and a wider, rectangular piece of spectroscopic grating material (made of plastic; similar to what coats a CD) at the other end, at a 90° angle to the slit.  The YAs - some parents also took part! - then looked up at the fluorescent lights and saw the light split up into its constituent colours of red, green and blue. 

A very enjoyable and participatory meeting - with, in particular, lots of questions about the recent vivid aurorae, which formed one of the news items. 

* The video can be seen here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dNdl_ZVD6g&t=3s

Interactive website with information on asteroids and comets: https://eyes.nasa.gov/apps/asteroids/#/home

Image credits: #1: NASA/W. Liller - NSSDC's Photo Gallery (NASA); #2: ESA; #3-4: Les Jones;

Visit to the National Space Centre, Leicester - 5 October 2024 (adult and YA joint visit) -

see details and photos here.

The YAs turned detective in October! John Neal presented ‘Weird Stars: CSI Meets Astronomy’, using the analogy of detectives looking for evidence when we had a go at examining the 'stellar crime scene' using spectroscopy. The spectrum of a star tells us how hot, and what kind of star, it is. We looked at two 'weird stars' which have left the main sequence of more orderly, 'well-behaved' stars.  As John said, any good detective considers all the evidence first, so he guided us through the spectra and attributes of two exceptional, but 'weird', stars:

• Suspect #1: WR136, in Cygnus, has a spectrum similar to a hot O-type star, but also has strong emission lines which show that it's very hot, energetic, and is nearing the end of its life. It's an example of a Wolf-Rayet star, found in the Crescent Nebula (NGC 6888), and is likely to end its life in a supernova to produce a neutron star or a black hole.

• Suspect #2: Y Canum Venaticorum, also known as La Superba, is in Canes Venatici under the handle of the Plough. Its spectrum is similar to that of a red supergiant, but it has bands produced by carbon (the Swan bands), cyanogen and carbon monoxide rather than the titanium oxide bands of a typical red supergiant. This type of supergiant, called a carbon star, is even cooler than a normal red supergiant. It will soon explode to form a planetary nebula with a white dwarf at its centre. It's so red that you will know it when you spot it - though you'll probably need a telescope or binoculars!

John's talk was followed by an observing session, as the skies were clear. Targets included Saturn, and also Vega and the Ring Nebula (image #5), viewed using the ZWO Seestar. 

Photo/image credits: 1-4 and 6 - Les Jones; 5 - Les Brand   

Magda Wheatley showed photos from the club’s August 11 Perseid Watch Party, and gave a brief run-through of various 'space rocks' (comets, asteroids and meteoroids). We then looked at examples of craters and meteor showers. Magda explained how scientists find meteorites in remote locations such as Antarctica and deserts. We also learned that you can find micrometeorites (usually less than a millimetre across) closer to home, in the ‘debris’ (dust) found on flat roofs or gutters. We then saw a video about how to do this 'urban micrometeorite hunting'. 

The YAs then used small neodymium magnets inside plastic bags to pick up tiny metallic pieces from sweepings from roofs and driveways, brought in by Magda, Peter Morris and Les Brand. The YAs examined this fine metallic dust with a torch and magnifying glass. We saw some samples in more detail on Les' laptop, using his digital microscope. We're not sure if we did find any micrometeorites, but there’s a chance we did, as about 30,000 tons of ‘space debris’ falls on to the Earth each year!

Photo credits: #1-3: Les Jones; #4: Les Brand

In response to a request from members, Les Jones gave a presentation on Jupiter and the Great Red Spot. He talked about the largest and oldest planet’s formation and its influence on the creation of the Solar System and our Earth in particular. He then described the largest storm in the Solar System, its age and how recent spacecraft missions have revealed some surprises about the storm and its possible future.

Les Brand began the evening's proceedings by presenting Max with an astronomy-themed book in recognition of him being the first Young Astronomer to give a presentation to the group at last month's meeting (entitled 'Illuminating the Universe: The role of Light in Astronomy'). Les then presented the usual regular features: what to look for in the coming month's Night Sky and recent Space News.

Les then gave a talk entitled  ‘Introduction to Astrophotography’. He explained, with the aid of telescopes and other props, the basics of just using a smartphone or ordinary camera, and how to connect to a telescope eyepiece. After the break, a practical demonstration was held outside the Education Room. There Les used a refractor telescope with a smartphone attached to the eyepiece to view and image a distant target. 

We were delighted to have our first presentation by a Young Astronomer.  Max gave a great talk about Light, entitled 'Illuminating the Universe: The role of Light in Astronomy' - going through the spectrum to discuss light (more broadly, electromagnetic radiation) at its various wavelengths; and the uses of these different types in astronomical research.  He asked some questions of the audience, such as 'What is the origin of light?' and 'How does the sun produce light?', and also talked about telescopes that operate at different wavelengths.   

This was followed by two regular features: finding out about next month's night sky, and news items - this month, about a new way of measuring the spin of a black hole, and about the beautiful Northern Lights seen earlier in May, with a short slideshow of some of the many images taken by club members. 

Club members John Sweeney and our Secretary, Liz Watson, talked about their trips to Mexico and Texas, respectively, to see the impressive solar eclipse of 8 April. They had varying degrees of success, due to local weather conditions, but gave a great summary of what it's like to travel for such events. John and Liz also showed some photos from that eclipse, and from a number of others. 

    Les Brand helped the YAs to show, with some model planets and moons, how and why eclipses occur; and how the Moon is at an appropriate size and distance from the Sun whereby total eclipses can take place. The YAs also demonstrated the effect of the Earth's tidal locking of the Moon, spinning once on its axis in the same time it takes to orbit the Earth, and therefore always showing the same side to us. 

    Les used his Tellarium (above right, and left) to illustrate the mechanics of an eclipse. 

Photo credits: Liz Watson.  Short video demonstrating the Tellarium (left): Les Brand

Les Brand gave a talk on black holes, a topic which had been requested by the Young Astronomers, divided into two parts. In the first half, he spoke about the life-cycle of massive stars and how they end their lives in a supernova explosion, producing a very dense neutron star or a black hole, depending on the initial mass of the star. This was followed by a hands-on activity, using balloons wrapped in tin foil, which showed how stars keep their mass despite internal changes within the star, then how they are compressed into a small ball with the same mass.

The second part of the talk was about how black holes were first found, and how they can be detected. Les then spoke about the supermassive black holes at the centre of the elliptical galaxy M87 (in Virgo) and of our galaxy (called Sagittarius A*). The evening ended with the second activity, which used buckets, balls of different sizes and stretchy fabric to explore how “matter tells spacetime how to curve, and curved spacetime tells matter how to move” (Prof John Wheeler). Straws and tiny balls were used to find out how the escape velocity varies with mass of the object.

Photo credits: Les Jones

The YAs did well in our Christmas/New Year Quiz - a mix of true/false and multi-choice questions.  After a break for some festive nibbles, Les Brand held an interactive feedback session, asking the YAs their thoughts on the club, and what their favourite space and astronomy topics are - and their parents, via a questionnaire, what they'd like to get out of the club in 2024.  We are grateful to the adults who completed our survey; we also plan to e-mail this more widely round the YA section shortly. 

The skies were clear, so we then had an observing session outside (image #3 was taken that evening).

Photo credits: #1 and 3 - Les Brand; #2 - Magda Wheatley

Visit to Bayfordbury Observatory, University of Hertfordshire -

18 November 2023, 6-8pm

[this info also appears on our Events and Activities page, for adult members]

A very successful visit to Bayfordbury Observatory, at the University of Hertfordshire, organised by Les Brand. Thirty three people attended: a mix of Young Astronomers and their parents, plus adult club members. 

The evening opened with a talk by Calum about astronomy, covering aspects such as the structure of the universe, star development, and the university's own research.  There was then a thrilling planetarium show, presented by Ashley.  After this, we went outside, to see the radio and optical telescopes, and had a fascinating time learning how the 50cm Cassegrain and the 24” CDK telescopes are used. 

This visit was made possible through the kind donation made by Ian Ridgley and family in memory of Frances Ridgley, late Society founder member and long time Society Secretary.

Our thanks are due to Mily Riley, Bayfordbury Education Officer, and to Calum and Ashley.  We are very grateful to Les Brand for organising this visit.  See more photos below.

Further information:

Bayfordbury Observatory is the University of Hertfordshire's teaching observatory for astronomy and astrophysics.

• Click here for info on its teaching and research, plus resources for adults, and children of various age groups.
• Check out the HOYS Citizen Science project, which observes nearby young clusters and star-forming regions to study their variable young stars.

Photo credits: #1 - Magda Wheatley; #2 - Les Brand; #3 - Bill Wood; #4-6, 8 - Les Jones; #7 - Peter Morris

Below and below right: The 'stomp rocket' proved very popular!

External resources