There is a solar eclipse on the evening of the 12th August this year that is easily visible from South Wales. Although in some parts of Europe, for example Northern Spain, the eclipse is total from the UK is a creditable 93% or so.

It is the intention to set up some special telescopes, designed and professionally built for observing the Sun safely, in Belgrave Park in Abergavenny. This park has been chosen for its very open aspect to the west. By the time the eclipse is over the Sun will be only just above the horizon so a clear unobstructed view to the west is essential.

Under no circumstances should anyone ever look at the Sun with the naked eye or any optical instrument that is not built for the purpose. Makeshift filters and welders masks etc. should not be used as they are very dangerous. Even when 93% obscured the Sun is bright enough to cause serious irreversible damage.

Arrangements

The eclipse starts at around 6:15 pm, the maximum coverage is at around 7:13 pm when the Sun is around 12 degrees above the horizon. The eclipse ends at around 8:07 and the Sun sets at 8:42pm. The telescopes will be set up at around 5:30 pm.

This is a totally informal viewing session. The team are very experienced with solar observing. There is no charge, just turn up and have a look through the telescopes and ask any questions you may have of the astronomers present.

Location

The location is Belgrave Park in Abergavenny. The postcode for Belgrave Park in Abergavenny is NP7 7AD. The recreation area has pedestrian access points connected via Belgrave Road and Cresta.

You can also find it with “What Three Words” application. Belgrave Road entrance is ///aquatic.culling.broker and Cresta Road entrance is ///sleep.chairing.nails

The annual Bannau Bycheiniog Dark Sky Festival celebrating the beautiful Dark Sky Reserve is on at the Mountain Visitor’s Centre on Saturday 20th September. There is a full and exciting programme and tickets can be purchased at the following link:

Dark sky Festival – Brecon Beacons National Park

The next meeting of Abergavenny Astronomy Society is on Monday 28th April at 7:30 pm in the Hen and Chickens, Flannel Street, Abergavenny. Nick Busby will give a talk on the Moon.

The Moon plays a hugely important part in our lives, it has great cultural importance- it affects our calendar; we have just celebrated Easter for example and that is a moveable feast whose dates depend on the phase of the Moon. It stabilises the Earth’s rotation and it gives us the tides. It is unique in our solar system as the largest satellite relative to its host planet and was an integral part of the way our Earth was formed and has developed. In this talk we will examine some of these aspects in detail to gain an appreciation of just how important it is.

All are welcome, no knowledge required just an enquiring mind.

It is spring already with the vernal equinox on 2025 20th Thursday and to astronomers that heralds the galaxy season. At this time of year we wave goodbye to the planets as they progressively set in the twilight. The “realm of the galaxies” is of course in the constellation of Virgo. To mark this, on Monday 24th March, Andrew Lohfink will give a talk on “Galaxies, their discovery, classification and observation.” The meeting starts at 7:30pm in the Hen and Chickens, Flannel street, Abergavenny. All are welcome whether a member or not.

The next meeting of the Society will be in the Hen and Chickens, Abergavenny on Monday 24th February at 7:30 pm. In this meeting Nick Busby will present on the subject of “Dark Matter”.

Dark matter is one of those enigmas in astronomy; there is plenty of evidence it exists, in fact if it doesn’t exist we need to come up with a bunch of other explanations for some real observational anomalies. The trouble is nobody knows what it is, yes of course there are plenty of theories and also alternative ideas – but none have a scrap of physical evidence to support them.

In this talk we will look into why dark matter has been invoked in the first place, the evidence it exists and some of the alternatives.

The next meeting of the Society will be on Monday 25th November in the Hen and Chickens, Abergavenny. The meeting will start as usual at 7:30pm. Everyone welcome, members, strangers, indeed anyone with an interest in astronomy of any level of knowledge. Remember the old saying “a stranger is simply a member that hasn’t joined yet” – or something like that!

Andrew Lohfink will give another of his insightful talks on solar system objects, this time it will be all about the planet Saturn.