AstrotalkUK

Its that time of year. Summer time has arrived but not yet.. the summer. Local astronomical societies all over the country are winding down from the previous season and preparing for the next. In today’s episode a little more about two individuals who have been on the speaker list for many astronomical societies. Martin Lunn from Aurora Books and Andy Lound from Odyssey Class Dramatic lectures.

The veteran BBC aerospace correspondent Reg Turnill recalls some of the key moments that he personally covered during the height of the space race. Reg has recorded his eye witness account in his book The Moonlandings.

Chris Lintott one of the authors of Bang! and a co-presenters on Sky at Night far too young to have experienced the Apollo program personally, looks forward to the next manned mission to the moon. You have probably heard of Galaxy Zoo but did you know Galaxy Zoo 2 is in the pipeline too.

About 20 years after Galileo used the telescope for astronomy, William Crabtree and Jeremiah Horrocks used it to observe a transit of Venus in 1639. Carl Barry and Lilian Fletcher researched documented this unique event. If you missed it a 19mb video here.

Former executive Paul Allen (Allen Telescope Array) from Microsoft and Wayne Rosing (LSST Observatory) from Google are modern examples of private investors in space research.

Emerging from the the industrial revolution in the 19th century Lancashire were two similar individuals who contributed to making large mirrors and large telescopes. James Naysmith and William Lassell.

The Astronomy Centre: If you head east out of the Lancashire town of Bacup along the A681 towards the Yorkshire town of Todmorden, a couple of miles up a snaking undulating road, nestled amongst the green hills, wild flowers and the sheep you see on your left two large astronomical domes. This is the home of the Astronomy Centre.

Founded by Peter Drew, it is the largest dedicated resource for the amatuer astronomers in the country. A not for profit venture, the astronomy centre has been developed and maintained by a diverse team of skilled, dedicated and industrious volunteers.

Profile #1: First of occasional episodes profiling individuals who have made a unique contribution in amateur astronomy. In this episode three diverse individuals. Ken Willoughby from West Yorkshire Astronomical Society bringing Apollo astronauts to Pontefract. Astronomy Now's Mark Armstrong supernova discoverer and Chris Marriott of Skymap.

Amateur Astronomy - the next generation? In the 1960s and 70s astronomy did not have the competition from computer games, internet and TV. That apparently is what is keeping the young people away from participating in astronomy. Guy Fennimore, secretary of the Society for Popular Astronomy (SPA), suggests that astronomy is not the only victim and describes the SPA’s “young stargazers initiative”.

Roger Pickard, the president of the British Astronomical Association, recounts the days of committed amateurs who made the telescopes they used and asserts the ongoing strong relationship between amateur and professional astronomers.

This recording took place at Astrofest 2008, apologies for the occasional noisy background.

University of Central Lancashire

Studying Astronomy :Peter Thomas from the the University of London Observatory, Stewart Eyres from the University of Central Lancashire @UCLan and Ulrich Kolb from the Open University discuss some of the options available to amateur astronomers who want a little more structured approach in learning about their hobby.

Image- Starlight Express

Astrophotography: Terry Platt from Starlight Express talks about his early days of vidicon and photo multiplier tubes. Terry describes how his passion in astronomy in the 60s resulted in Starlight Express.About 6 years ago, Steve Chambers came up with a nifty way to rewire a Phillips Toucam webcam so that it could be used by astronomers. Something that cost well under £100 and it could still be used for non Astro purposes as well. Details of the postings were available and still are on the web. It was a mini revolution in low cost astrophotography. Steve has now moved on to bigger and better things with ArtemisCCD

Jonathan Maron in his role as the marketing manager for astronomy cameras at The Imaging Source, describes some of the features of this relatively new source of cameras for astrophotography.

David Ratledge has been observing for decades and is one of the most experienced astrophotographers in the country. He is also the chairman of Bolton Astronomical Society and the editor of Digital Astrophotography - The State of the Art . I spoke to him, via the telephone so excuse the audio quality as he prepared retreat for quiet break .. and no doubt some astrophotraphy.

David Levy

This episode - contributions from David Levy, Campaign for dark skies and @UKSEDS

David Levy recounts the momentous event of July 1994 and talks about his current preoccupations. Did you know he has his own podcast called letstalkstars. 

David Paul talks about the Campaign for Dark Skies which was established in 1989, what progress has been made and how the amateur astronomy community can still contribute.

Alison Gibbings describes what students do when not attending lectures, no they're not in the pub. They have got themselves organised take a look at UKSEDS. The website does require an update though.

Nik Szymanek

Astrofest is a unique event for amateur astronomers for the UK and Europe. Keith Cooper, Astronomy Now's editor provides some background to how and when it started. @AstronomyNow

Nik Szymanek an accomplished astrophotographer shares his experiences of capturing some spectacular images. See some of them on his website.

Dr Allan Chapman talks about the tradition of amateur astronomy. He identifies some of the key figures from the past and speculates on its future. Read more about Allan on Wikipedia.