WDAS monthly meetings have now recommenced for the new season with the next meeting on Tuesday January 6th from 7:30pm. The venue is the renamed (again) Whitby School, a title that for local people from the 70s to the 2000s would associate with the Prospect Hill site! 

The December meeting saw guest speaker Steve Bowden RO FRAS JP - a national speaker on astronomy as well as STEM ambassador.  

As arranged, Steve had arrived early allowing time for us to show him the Bruce Observatory and Cooke refractor. As fortune would have it, skies were pretty clear (obviously not a Sunday then!) allowing brief observations of Saturn and the Moon. Steve was not only surprised with the observatory and telescope but also impressed by the view through it given the age of the equipment. All too soon we locked up the dome and returned to the school. Steve had a presentation to give!.

Steve looking on at the Cook refractor (with Mark in hat) most impressed at the Victorian engineering. Image - Keith D. 

Back in the classroom a good turn-out was present for Steve's presentation. Astrophotography was the theme; Steve splitting the talk into two parts. The first was on his own personnel journey in astrophotography and was littered with many fantastic images he'd taken over the years, together with explanations on where, and how he had accomplished them. Quite a few images were from Steve's own observatory, which sits in the garden of his house at Muston, near Filey. Several images of his set-up were included. Many more images were from other locations, both in this country and abroad.

Steve's observatory at Muston near Filey. 

The second half of the presentation concentrated more on the image processing software aspect. Steve, highlighting the pros and cons associated with them, acknowledging the complexities of some such as Pixinsight. Great app, steep learning curve!   

It was a most fascinating and highly enlightening presentation - and well received. Steve is also the co-founder of Aurora UK on Facebook with over 40k members and mentioned that an aurora was very likely within the next few nights! The following evening a display was duly observed! I am sure we'll be asking back Steve in the future. 

Steve examines the Latin to English translation plaque - found on the stonework outside the observatory. Image - Keith D

At the society meeting on January 6th, Richard Randle will be giving a short presentation on his trip to Iceland last autumn to view the aurora (amongst other things). He showed one or two images back at the November meeting - quite stunning, so we are looking forward to seeing a few more! Hope you can join us. 

We shall also be looking back at some of the celestial highlights of 2025 and ahead to some in 2026. Matters surrounding the Danby Observatory will also be discussed.  

The meeting in February is on the 3rd.