NWGAS Minutes Saturday, 31st July, 1999

The meeting was held at the invitation of Manchester Astronomical Society at the Godlee Observatory, UMIST. This meeting was poorly attended but representatives from Liverpool AS, Salford AS, Chester AS and Manchester AS were present.

Minutes of the last NWGAS meeting held at Hatton Farm, C/o Chester AS, 24th April, were read. There were no matters arising except that it was felt that other NWGAS member societies should be invited to host these meetings, too. (Will NWGAS reps in receipt of these Minutes please contact me? I have also sent e-mail invitations out to all those on the NWGAS listing. KJK.)

  CfDS

There still being a vacancy for a CfDS representative in the NWGAS, there was nothing to report. Although Gerard Gilligan was present, he said that he no longer had an active role in CfDS but was still available as a speaker to NWGAS member societies on the subject if invited.

  Federation of Astronomical Societies

Ron Kelley said that at a recent FAS council meeting it was proposed that to reduce costs the FAS combine their AGM with the Autumn Convention. This will apply from 2000 onwards. The AGM in 2000 will be held at Oxford. This change may mean that the proposal to hold a meeting in Manchester in 2000 may not now be accepted.

Starwatch UK: At long last, the RAS have started to analyse the data collected, thanks to Pam Spence putting pressure on them to fulfill their agreed obligation.

Observatory insurance: For some years the FAS -negotiated 3rd party public liability insurance cover has been very successful. Most FAS members now use it. So a similar policy covering observatories and equipment is being negotiated with the insurers. The premium is likely to cost £1500-2000pa but when split equally among contributing FAS members it would be very affordable (depending on how many were interested). Details are still to be agreed but if, say, 100 societies were insured via this policy, the cost could be as low as £15-20 pa per society.

PPARC grants: Pam Spence has all the details of how to apply for grants. Alternatively, check the PPARC website . Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council

  NWGAS on the WWW

http://www.u-net.com/ph/nwgas/

Astronomy on the web is one of the more successful applications of this medium and Mike is to be congratulated on doing such a fine job for UK on-line astronomy, recognised internationally. Please support him, and do your society a favour, by sending information about activities in your society. As they say, "Old news is no news."

WWW access statistics for April - June 1999, inclusive: 

Society                       April       May        June

NWGAS                         217         286        250
    Altrincham  AS*          40          61         50
    Blackpool & Dist. AS*  38          18         41
    Bolton                        41          64         53
    Chester AS                 69         103         84
    Furness AS*                41          54         51
    Gwynedd AS                 25          43         25
    Liverpool AS*              38          50         40
    Macclesfield AS*           72         111        113
    Manchester AS*             35          44         31
    Preston & Dist AS*         23          38         28
    Salford AS*                27          40         26
    Southport AS               33          52         35
CFDS                         1015        1376       1213
SPA                          1284        1944       1417
StarWatch UK                  397         531        410
Manchester AS                1473        1782       1786
*Indicates societies that also have their own web site.

The figures for April are for 3 weeks only due to a server problem with the statistics.

StarWatch UK
http://www.u-net.com/ph/starw-uk/
I have decided to give up on this web site. Although it will remain for some time, I have put a notice on it to say that the site is no longer maintained.

CfDS
http://www.u-net.com/ph/cfds/
I have maintained the CfDS web site for about 6 years and I am finding that the number of sites I have is too high. I have arranged for someone else, who has more interest in the CfDS, to look after it. CfDS will move to another server and a new url.

NAW'96
http://www.u-net.com/ph/naw96/
As with the StarWatch UK site I have added a notice to say that it is no longer maintained. I will keep the site until I need the space.

RAS
I created the Royal Astronomical Society web site three years ago and have maintained it until now. It has now been handed over to the staff at the RAS. Their url is http://www.ras.org.uk/ras/

400 Years of Astronomy on Merseyside
http://www.u-net.com/ph/400/
A conference at the Merseyside Maritime Museum, Albert Dock, Liverpool on the 16th October 1999. Details of the event and a booking form are available on-line via my new web site. Amendment 29th Sept: The organising committee are very sorry to announce that this event has now been cancelled, this is due to a number of reasons, but main one is due to a very low number of confirmed bookings.

Other WWW Notes
Furness AS, new at ... http://members.xoom.com/Sirwin/
Blackpool & District AS, new at ... http://www.aacl55.ukgateway.net/

Updates - Please send me updated notices of meetings and any corrections, so that I can keep the web pages up to date.

Michael Oates
E-mail:
Home page: http://www.ph.u-net.com

  Total Eclipse '99

With twelve days to go, KJK reported that on behalf of Manchester AS he had given five talks in Manchester, two newspaper interviews (a photo session for Manchester Evening News was scheduled at the Godlee Observatory immediately after this NWGAS meeting) and one live radio interview on BBC Manchester GMR. Liverpool AS had also given public lectures including one by Dr Eric Jones to an audience of 225 people. Macclesfield AS's Vice-Chairman, John Thompson had given an eclipse lecture under the auspices of the Manchester Lit. &Phil. and on the day, Macc. AS were to meet at Jodrell Bank with telescopes with which the visitors could watch the partial eclipse. Dr Ian Morison, from Macc. AS and JB had, some weeks ago, given a well attended eclipse talk in Wilmslow. Chester AS had also taken every opportunity to keep the public well informed as had Salford AS with their demo of safe eclipse observing on 11th July.

(After this meeting several NWGAS delegates used the 8" Godlee refractor to project a 16" solar disk to show the M.E.N. photographer the safe way of observing the eclipse. A makeshift pinhole camera was made by Andrew Bates and he and Gerard Gilligan projected a clear image of the sun onto a piece of paper for the benefit of the reporter. This was all recorded and appeared in the Manchester Evening News during eclipse week.)

  Any other business and updates to these Minutes

1. Lassell - Dawes Conference at the Maritime Museum, Albert Dock. to celebrate 400 years of Astronomy on Merseyside. Saturday, 16th October 1999. The organising committee are very sorry to announce that this event has now been cancelled, this is due to a number of reasons, but main one is due to a very low number of confirmed bookings.

2. On the evening before, the 12th William Lassel Memorial Lecture' Isaac Roberts and the origins of Astrophotography' will be given by Dr. Allan Chapman in the Crypt of the Catholic cathederal, Liverpool.

3. 16th October. After the Liverpool meeting, there will be the annual barbecue and astronomy evening at Hatton Farm, Waverton, Chester, at the invitation of Andrew Bates. There is no charge but voluntary donations to a good cause may be made into the collection box by the door. All welcome.

  Next NWGAS meeting

11am, Saturday, 30th October at Pexhill Observatory, Cronton, Widnes. C/o Liverpool AS.

K J Kilburn. (Hon. Secretary) 27th September, 1999
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Last updated 27th Sept 1999