15th December Lecture: The Star of Bethlehem

The Star of Bethlehem. Talk this Sunday 15th December 7pm. With the academic world closing for Christmas we’re not able to get a guest speaker this month’s talk slot. Therefore Chris Duffy our Chair will do a light hearted topical talk this Sunday on “The Star of Bethlehem“. Assuming the famous star was real, what…

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29th December: Christmas Benker Night

Sunderland Astro Xmas Benker night. Traditionally between Christmas and New Year has been our night (if you attend we will enlighten you on what the Benker Night means?, nothing wrong with an incentive to try to get people to come along. Sunder 29th December 2024 at the Washington Wetlands Centre, from 7.00pm until late.

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16th February Lecture: What is Space?

We know surprisingly little about the nature of the stage upon which the universe’s great show plays out. In this talk Graham Darke will take us through the ages, along the way examining humanity’s developing understanding of what space is. It will bring us right up to the modern era where what we know today…

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17th November- Sunderland Astronomical Society AGM

The Sunderland Astronomical Society AGM will be taking place on Sunday 17th November 2024 from 7:00 pm at our base of operations Discovery Room at the Washington Wetlands Centre. SAS members are invited to attend, listen to chair’s reports and vote in the election of the committee and nominations are asked from the SAS members. The agenda is…

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Friday 8th November: Moon Watch & Stargazing Event

Back by popular demand, Sunderland Astronomical Society are will be hosting a unique Moon Watch and Stargazing event at our base of operations (Cygnus Observatory and Washington Wetlands Centre). Join Sunderland Astronomical Society for this awesome public Moon Watch & Stargazing event. See the moon in stunning detail through many telescopes and enjoy a tour…

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SAS Memberships – New Season 2024-2025

September is the start of our new season. SAS Memberships will be due from 1st September 2024 (payable throughout September) for this season 2024/2025 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…

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15th September Lecture: How did the Moon get there?

Rocks returned to Earth by the Apollo astronauts over 50 years ago profoundly changed our view of how the Moon has formed. This talk will review our current understanding of the Moon’s formation, explaining planet formation more generally and how computer simulations are being used to try to infer what happened 4.5 billion years ago.

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7th September: SAS Starbeque

This year’s Starbque will be held at our usual venue, the Millshields car Derwent Reservoir on Saturday 7th September 2024. We meet around 3pm for our picnic / barbeque and continue into the night for stargazing.   A bit of cloud or rain will not stop the event going ahead but we will consider an…

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18th August: Equipment Workshop Night

There won’t be any lecture Sunday 18th Lecture night is having a rest, so we are having an “Equipment Workshop Night”.   The observing/Astrophotography season is starting now that the dark skies have returned so it’s time to get your equipment in tip top condition. We will therefore be doing an equipment workshop.   Come…

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21st July Lecture: The Beginning of Everything

In this talk Dr Steve Barrett will give a brief description of the origin and the very early history of the Universe. After the Big Bang it took about three minutes to make all the constituents of the Universe and give it a kickstart. If this happened 13.8 billion years ago, how can we be…

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