Meetings

The Papworth Astronomy Club holds monthly meetings in Papworth Everard in the North Hall of Papworth Village Hall (Ermine Street South, Papworth Everard, Cambridge CB23 3RD, 52.2484646° N 0.1166734° W, or see map below). Meetings are usually on the first Wednesday of the month at 7.30pm, and feature a mixture of invited speakers, equipment demonstrations and viewing sessions. Everyone is welcome (you don’t have to be a member to attend) and the meeting room is accessible to wheelchairs. Refreshments are provided for a small fee.

You can subscribe to meeting reports by RSS feed:

Subscribe to RSS feed


Upcoming Meetings and Events

No in-person meetings or events are currently scheduled.

Upcoming virtual meetings (on Zoom) will be announced as they are organised. Other organisations hosting online space talks and in-person meetings include GoSpaceWatch and the Cambridge Astronomical Association, as well as local astronomical associations such as Letchworth, Ely, and Sandy.


Past Meetings

2021

  • 13th January: Online New Year’s get-together
  • 11th March: John I Davies (Initiative & Institute for Interstellar Studies) – 1I/’Oumuamua and 2I/Borisov, the unexpected and the half-expected interstellar visitors
    • This was a virtual meeting run via Zoom; the presentation can be downloaded from here.

2020

  • 8th January: Paul Beskeen – Narrowband Imaging
  • 5th February: Ed Zanders – a report from European AstroFest 2020
  • 4th March: Keith Tritton – What’s Up With Betelgeuse?
  • 1st April: Talk postponed in light of ongoing COVID-19 pandemic
  • 8th July: John I Davies (i4is) – Interstellar Probes: How can we do it?
    • This was a virtual meeting run via Zoom; the presentation can be downloaded from here.

2019

  • 9th January: Rob Sandford – Building the ExoMars Rover
  • 6th February: Dr Emma Woodfield (British Antarctic Survey) – Planetary Space Weather
  • 6th March: Cancelled
  • 3rd April: Dr Colin DeGraf (Institute of Astronomy) – The First Massive Black Hole
  • 1st May: Keith Tritton (Papworth Astronomy Club) – A Wondrous Discovery: how the mystery of the missing gold was solved by a kilonova
  • 7th August: Twenty-third annual summer picnic
  • 4th September: Paul Fellows (Cambridge Astronomical Association): Hawking’s Black Holes and the Edge of Physics
  • Tuesday 1st October: Keith Tritton (Papworth Astronomy Club) – Hubble Trouble: Why Astronomers Can’t Agree How Fast the Universe Is Expanding
  • 6th November: Dr Dave Green (Cavendish Labs) – Cygnus X-3: A High Mass X-ray Binary
  • 4th December: Jonathan Clough (Cambridge Astronomical Association) – The Solar System

2018

  • 10th January: Ed Zanders – “Astronomy 2030”
  • 7th February: Phil Butcher (Papworth Astronomy Club) – Observing in a Warm Climate
  • 7th March: Dr Nick Walton – Gaia: Imaging the Milky Way
  • 4th April: Dr Matt Bothwell – “Big Bangs to Big Rips: a History of 20th Century Cosmology”
  • 2nd May: John McEvoy – “Asteroids, comets and meteorites”
  • 5th September: Simon Kidd – Asteroid Occultations
  • 3rd October: Bob Baldwin (Airbus, and Letchworth Astronomy Society) – “Spacecraft in Astronomy”
  • 7th November: John McEvoy (Northampton) – The outer planets
  • 5th December: Dr Patricia Fara – “Robert Hooke’s ‘Micrographia’”

2017

  • 4th January: Peter Sandford – “Denmark: Astronomy and Space”
  • 1st February: Outreach evening with Papworth Cub Scouts
  • 1st March: Dave Roberts (St Neots Astronomical Association) – the Hubble Space Telescope
  • 5th April: Dr Paul Murdin (Cambridge University) – “Landscapes of the Planets”
  • 3rd May: Dr Keith Tritton – “Mapping the Milky Way with Gaia”
  • 2nd August: Twenty-first annual summer picnic, in the Vintner Room.
  • 6th September: Paul Fellowes – “From the Pendulum to Dark Matter”
  • 4th October: Ryan MacDonald – “The Inferno World with Titanium Skies”
  • 1st November: Douglas Boubert – “Are the fastest stars in the Milky Way on the run from another galaxy?”
  • 6th December: Keith Tritton – “Mapping the Milky Way with Gaia”

2016

  • 6th January: Dr Keith Tritton – “The La Palma Site Testers”
  • 3rd February: Doug Millard (Science Museum) – Russian Space Exploration
  • 2nd March: John Richer (Cavendish Laboratory) – Exploring the Cold Universe at High Resolution: First Images From the Atacama Large Millimetre Array
  • 6th April: Charles Smith (University of Hertfordshire) – Asteroids and the Jovian System
  • 4th May: Keith Hawkins (Institute of Astronomy) – Galactic Archaeology
  • 3rd August: Twentieth annual summer picnic, in the Vintner Room.
  • 7th September: Paul Fellows (CAA) – Planets that Never Were
  • 5th October: Jerry Workman FRAS – an update on the Mars Curiosity mission
  • 2nd November: Rob Sandford – “Mars Flyby Missions: Apollo 8 for Mars”
  • 7th December: Observing evening led by Dave Roberts

2015

  • 7th January: Dr Steven Gratton – “Learning about our Universe with new results from the Planck satellite”
  • 4th February: Observing evening led by Dave Roberts. There will be an alternative presentation indoors if the weather is poor.
  • 4th March: Peter Townsend (Peterborough Astronomical Society) – “The Curiosity Rover” (with 3D glasses for everyone!).
  • 1st April: Mark Hurn (Institute of Astronomy) – “Supernova: Queens of the Sky” (Gordon Carter Memorial Lecture)
  • 6th May: Professor Andy Fabian OBE – “Observing Black Holes”
  • 5th August: Nineteenth annual summer picnic, in the Vintner Room.
  • 2nd September: Dr Sonali Shukla (Institute of Astronomy) – “Discovering Dwarf Planets”
  • 7th October: Dr Simon Mitton – “The Fireworks Universe of Georges Lemaître”
  • 4th November: Observing evening led by Dave Roberts
  • 2nd December: Dr Sergey Koposov (Institute of Astronomy) – “The Milky Way and its neighbours”

2014

  • 8th January: Ed Zanders — “A Northern Sky Watcher’s View of the Southern Stars”
  • 5th February: Professor Tom Marsh (Warwick University) — “White dwarfs, Supernovae and Gravitational Waves”
  • 2nd April: Rob Sandford (Warwick University) — “The Second Space Race?”
  • 7th May: Dr Robin Catchpole (Institute of Astronomy) — “Are We Alone? A talk about if and why we may be the only observers of our universe”
  • 6th August: Eighteenth annual summer picnic
  • 3rd September: Dr Patricia Fara (University of Cambridge) — “Newton and Newtonianism”
  • 1st October: Neil Parker — “Aurora Flights”
  • 5th November: Dr Deborah Sjacki: “Computer Simulation of Galaxy Formation”
  • 11th December (20th Anniversary Celebration Meeting): Professor Malcolm Longair (Cavendish Laboratory) — “Fundamental Physics, Astronomy and Cosmology”

2013

  • 2nd January: Nik Szymanek — “Photographing the Night Sky”
  • 5th February: Dave Roberts — “Observing Basics”
  • 6th March: Paul Hewett (Institute of Astronomy) — “The search for the highest redshift quasars”
  • 3rd April: Andreas Schroeer — “Coordinates… or Captain Jack and the Lost Crown Jewel”
  • 1st May: Professor John Zarnecki (Open University) — “Landing on a Comet”
  • 7th August: Seventeenth annual summer picnic
  • 4th September: Dave Green (Cambridge University) — “Observing the radio universe”
  • 2nd October: Dr Mike Leggett FRAS — “Astronomy in the Ancient World”
  • 6th November: Observing evening led by Dave Roberts
  • 4th December: Sheridan Williams FRAS (Computing Section, BAA) — “The Mechanics of Eclipses”

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

  • 9th January: Stephen Wilkins (Institute of Astronomy) — “The Formation Of Stars And Galaxies: Measuring The Rate Of Star Formation Over The Last 100 Billion Years”
  • 6th February: Andy Green (Stardome) — “To Infinity And Beyond”
  • 5th March: Michael Czajkowski (Open University) — “Icy Worlds”
  • 2nd April: Carl Warren (Astrium Ltd) — “LISA Pathfinder”
  • 7th May: Club Members discuss the Club’s recent Faulkes Telescope observing session
  • 31st May: Trip To Greenwich
  • 6th August: Twelfth annual summer picnic
  • 3rd September: Nobel Laureate Antony Hewish (Cavendish Laboratory) — “Pulsars And General Relativity”
  • 1st October: Neil Trentham (Institute of Astronomy) — “Gamma Ray Bursts And Dark Energy – Fundamental Physics In Cosmology”
  • 5th November: Stephen Reed (Dept of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge) — “Meteorites, Messengers From Space”
  • 3rd December: Observing evening

2007

  • 10th January: Carolin Crawford (Institute of Astronomy) — “Hubble Space Telescope Images Of Nebulae”
  • 7th February: Mark Hurn (Institute of Astronomy) — “Failed To Find Neptune”
  • 7th March: Observing evening led by Ed Zanders
  • 4th April: Tom Boles (Coddenham Suffolk) — “Discovering Supernovae – Methods, Motivation and Rewards”
  • 2nd May: Talks From Club Members – Show And Tell!
  • 24th July: Observing With The Faulkes Telescope at Papworth Library
  • 1st August: Eleventh annual summer picnic
  • 5th September: Keith Tritton (Club member) — “The Instruments of Darkness Tell Truths”
  • 3rd October: Jerry Workman (Loughton Astronomical Society) — “Mars Express”
  • 7th November: Observing evening
  • 23rd November: AstroQuiz – Vinter Room
  • 5th December: David Roberts (Club member) — “Astronomy My Way”

2006

  • 4th January: Dave Early — “Filming The Moon And Stars”
  • 1st February: Roger O’Brien (University of Hertfordshire) — “Cosmology In The Corridor. You Can Be A Supercluster If You Try!”
  • 1st March: Simon Green (Open University) — “NASA’s Stardust Mission”
  • 5th April: Alistair Scott (Astrium) — “Astrium And Their Work”
  • 3rd May: Andy Green (Stardome) — “Apollo Missions To The Moon”
  • 3rd June:Observing With The Faulkes Telescope at Papworth Library
  • 2nd August: Tenth annual summer picnic
  • 6th September: Neil Parker (Green Witch) — “The 2006 Eclipse”
  • 4th October: Cathie Clarke (Institute of Astronomy) — “Recent Results On Star And Planet Formation”
  • 1st November: Lisa Jardine-Wright (Cavendish Laboratory) and Robin Catchpole (Institute of Astronomy) — “Making A Comet For All Saints Day”
  • 10th November: AstroQuiz in Papworth
  • 18th November: Visit To Astrium, Stevenage
  • 6th December: Observing evening led by Ed Zanders

2005

  • 5th January: Keith Tritton — “How Old Is The Universe”
  • 2nd February: Mike Stephens — “Einstein and Relativity: 100 Years In A Strange Universe”
  • 2nd March: Open Evening at Pendragon Primary School
  • 6th April: Nobel Laureate Antony Hewish — “The White Hot Universe”
  • 4th May: Alan Lawrie — “Secrets of Saturn V”
  • 3rd August: Ninth annual summer picnic
  • 7th September: Nick Achillios (Imperial College) — “Magnetic Observations of Saturn During The Insertion Orbit of Cassini”
  • 5th October: Talks from Club Members
  • 2nd November: Ed Zanders and Lee Sproats — “The Sky Tonight”
  • 4th March: Peter Howell (Cambridge Astronomical Association) — “Whistlers: Listening To The Earth’s Natural Radio Signals”

2004

  • 7th January: Robin Catchpole (Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge) — “From the Solar System To The Edge Of The Observable Universe”
  • 4th February : David Whitehouse (BBC) — “The Moon: A Biography”
  • 3rd March: Monica Grady (Natural History Museum) — “Voyage In Space And Time”
  • 7th April: Nik Szymanek (University of Hertfordshire) — “Astronomical Imaging From Hawaii”
  • 5th May: Jonathan Shanklin (British Antarctic Survey) — “An Astronomer In Antarctica”
  • 5th August : 10th Anniversary Dinner at The Conservatory
  • 1st September: Derek McNally (ex UCL) — “Between The Stars”
  • 6th October: Observing evening led by Dave Eagle (Bedford Astronomy Club)
  • 3rd November: Neil Parker (Green Witch) — “Arizona Sky Village”
  • 1st December: Dr Sarah Symons (Leicester University) — “Ancient Egyptian Astronomy”

2003

  • 8th January: Kevin Marshall — “From Technology To The Stars – And The Universe”
  • 5th February: Peter Howell — “The Sky Tonight”
  • 5th March: Mark Hurn (Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge) — “The Story of Star Names”
  • 2nd April: Nik Szymanek (University of Hertfordshire) — “Astronomical Imaging From La Parma”
  • 7th May: Lisa Wright — “Painting by numbers (galaxy formation)”
  • 6th August: Eighth annual summer picnic
  • 3rd September: Mike Stephens (Club member) — “Visitors From Earth”
  • 19th September: Astroquiz
  • 1st October: Stephen Smartt (Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge) — “Supernova Studies With The Hubble Space Telescope”
  • 5th November: Ed Zanders (Club member) — “From Eyes To Silicon Chips – A History Of Astronomical Imaging”
  • 3rd December: Bob Argyle (Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge) — “Visual Double Stars And How To Observe Them”

2002

  • 9th January: Derek Jones (Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge) — “Longitude”
  • 6th February: Peter Howell and Peter Ingram (CAA) — “The Sky Tonight”
  • 6th March: Club Open Evening: Robot building with OMEN
  • 3rd April: Talks from club members:
    • Fred Bastable — “The Search For Planet X”
    • Mike Stevens — “Where To Park In The Solar System”
    • Gordon Carter — “Time”
    • Janine Eisegood — “Pennies From Heaven – Gold”
    • Ed Zanders — “The Kingston Pastures Observatory”
    • Janet Vialls — “Messier Objects”
    • Georgio Rozario — “The Leviathan of Parsons Town”
  • 1st May: Linton Guise (Bedford Astronomical Society) — “Charles Piazzi Smyth”
  • 7th August: Seventh annual summer picnic
  • 4th September: Jerry Workman (Astronomical Society of Haringey) — “The Galileo Mission To Jupiter”
  • 2nd October: Peter Howell and Peter Ingram (CAA) — “The Sky Tonight”
  • 6th November: Monica Grady (Natural History Museum) — “Strangers From Space”
  • 4th December: Peter Howell and Peter Ingram (CAA) — “The Sky Tonight”

2001

  • 3rd January:Talks from Club Members
  • 7th February: Peter Howell and Peter Ingram (CAA) — Demonstration Evening
  • 7th March: Club open evening: Prof. Colin Pillinger (Open University) — “The Beagle 2 Project”
  • 4th April: Mike Leggett (Astronomy Lecturer and Writer) — “Neptune And The Outer Solar System”
  • 2nd May: Gareth Lloyd — “Stellarsphere”
  • 15th August: Sixth annual summer picnic
  • 5th September: Alex Barnett (National Space Centre) — “The National Space Centre”
  • 3rd October: Peter Howell and Peter Ingram (CAA) — “The Sky Tonight”
  • 12th October: AstroQuiz (Sawtry Methodist Church Hall)
  • 7th November: Bob Fosbury (Space Telescope Coordinating Facility) — “The Next Generation Space Telescope And The Epoch Of Galaxy Formation”
  • 5th December: Peter Howell and Peter Ingram (CAA) — “The Sky Tonight”

2000

  • 5th January: Dr Andy Robinson (University of Hertfordshire) — “Quasars: Monsters Of Deep Space”
  • 2nd February: Dave Eagle (Bedford Astronomy Club) — “The Sky Tonight”
  • 1st March: Club Open Evening
  • 5th April: Neil Parker (Green Witch) — “Cassegrains and Canaries”
  • 3rd May: Dr Ann Bonell (Leicester Astronomical Society) — “Ladies Of The Night”
  • June: Astronomy Quiz
  • 2nd August: Fifth annual summer picnic
  • 6th September: Philip Dembo (Mars Society UK) — “A View Of The Universe”
  • 4th October: Peter Howell (Cambridge Astronomical Association) — Demonstration Evening
  • 13th October: Astronomy Quiz (Sawtry Methodist Church Hall)
  • 1st November: Paul Murdin (British National Space Centre) — “Black Holes – An Update From Space”

1999

  • 1st January: Dr Keith Tritton (Club member) — “The Solar System”
  • 3rd February: Dave Eagle (Bedford Astronomy Club) — “Introduction To The Night Sky – 2”
  • 3rd March:The first Club Open Evening, with Astronomy Roadshow
  • 7th April: Dave Eagle (Bedford Astronomy Club) — “Introduction To The Night Sky – 3”
  • 5th May: Dr Barrie Jones (Open University) — “Life In The Universe”
  • 1st June: Visit to The Mullard Radio Observatory, at Lord’s Bridge
  • 2nd June: Astronomy Roadshow—Visit of the Mobile Planetarium
  • 4th June: Annual AstroQuiz (Institute of Astronomy)
  • 4th August:Fourth annual summer picnic
  • 11th August: Visit to the CAA solar eclipse meeting
  • 1st September: Air Commodore Colin Foale — “How To Survive Being The Father Of An Astronaut”
  • 6th October: Dave Eagle (Bedford Astronomy Club) — “Introduction To The Night Sky – 4”
  • 3rd November: Nobel Laureate Prof. Antony Hewish (Cambridge University) — “The Pulsar Story”
  • 1st December: Dave Eagle (Bedford Astronomy Club) — “The Sky Tonight”

1998

  • 21st January: Dr David Malin (Anglo/Australian Observatory) — “A View Of The Universe”
  • 4th March: Night sky session
  • 1st April: Stan Trafford (Cambridge Astronomical Association) — “The Night Sky And Your Camera”
  • 6th May: Night sky session
  • 3rd June: Peter Ingram and Brian Lister (CAA) — “Spectroscopy: Is A Spectrum More Than A Squiggly Line?”
  • 5th August: Third annual summer picnic
  • 2nd September: Gordon Carter (Club member) — “40 Years of NASA”
  • 7th October: Night sky session
  • 11th November: Dr Jasper Wall (Ex Director RGO)
  • 2nd December: Dave Eagle (Bedford Astronomy Club) — “Introduction To The Night Sky”

1997

  • 1st January: Night sky session
  • 5th February: Janet Vialls (Club member) — “Looking Back In Time”
  • 5th March: Visit to the London Planetarium
  • 2nd April: Hale-Bopp observing session
  • 7th May: Night sky session
  • 4th June: Dr Paul Hewett (Cambridge Institute of Astronomy) — “Galaxies, The Expanding Universe And Dark Matter”
  • 6th August: The second annual summer picnic
  • 3rd September: Night sky session
  • 1st October: Dr David Whitehouse (BBC) — “Astronomy In The News”
  • 5th November: Night sky session
  • 3rd December: Dr Jonathan Shanklin (British Astronomical Association) — “Astronomy From The Antarctic”

1996

  • 3rd January: Night sky session
  • 7th February: Gordon Carter (Club member) — “JFK and Apollo”
  • 6th March: Night sky session
  • 3rd April: Dr Peter Andrews (Ex RGO) — “Things That Go Bump In The Night”
  • 1st May: Night sky session
  • 5th June: Open Forum (Debate) — “Life in the Universe”
  • 7th August: The first annual summer picnic
  • 4th September: Night sky session
  • 2nd October: Teresa Grafton (London Planetarium) — “The London Planetarium: Opening The Dome”
  • 6th November: Night sky session
  • 2nd February: Dr Robin Catchpole (Ex RGO) — “The Hubble Space Telescope”

1995

  • 4th January: Night sky session
  • 2nd February: Dr Robin Catchpole (Ex RGO) — “Exploding Stars”
  • March: Visit to the Royal Greenwich Observatory
  • 5th April: Brian Lister (Cambridge Astronomical Association) — “Dinosaurs, Frankenstein and Stiff Snakes”
  • 3rd May: Night sky session
  • 7th June: Dr Margaret Penston (Ex RGO) — “Life on Other Planets”
  • 2nd August: George Rozario (club member) — “An Astronomical Tour of Arizona”
  • 6th September: Night sky session
  • 4th October: Brian Lister (Cambridge Astronomical Association) — “Moon Rocks and Meteorites”
  • 2nd November: Night sky session
  • 4th January: Dr Patrick Moore — “The Inner Planets”

1994

  • 7th September: Dave Early — “Sky Photographs”
  • 5th October: Keith Tritton — “The Moon”
  • 2nd November: Night sky session
  • 7th December: Dr Colin Humphreys (Institute of Metallurgy, Cambridge University) — “The Star of Bethlehem”