Events

We normally meet fortnightly on Wednesdays, from 7.30pm, at our Whepstead Community Centre dark sky site, just outside Bury St Edmunds.

If you’re planning on joining us for the first time, please contact us in advance, just to make sure the meeting is going ahead. We recommend that you wear warm clothing (even summer nights can be chilly, especially when the skies are clear!) and bring a flask, or insulated mug, for a warm drink. We have tea and coffee-making facilities on-site.

What happens?

When conditions allow, meetings are spent observing the sky with telescopes, binoculars or the naked eye. If you are new to astronomy, this is a good opportunity to try out, and speak with other members about, the different types of equipment available, before committing to a potentially expensive purchase.

When the skies are not conducive, we follow our pre-arranged members’ programme of topical talks, presentations and fun with all things astronomical.

2026 Calendar

Wednesday 19 August

GUEST SPEAKER - “Signals from Space - The search for extraterrestrial intelligence” - Paul Fellows

Wednesday 2 September

GUEST SPEAKER - “Monsters in the Dark - searching for the Universe’s most extreme galaxies” - Dr Matthew Bothwell

Wednesday 16 September

An introduction to Practical Astronomy Part 4 - Steven Richards

What’s Topical - Mike Kirkham

Wednesday 30 September

What’s in the Night Sky in Autumn. October - December. - Mike Kirkham

Redshift - Nigel Bond

Wednesday 14 October

AGM and AGM Quiz - Lillias Haye

Wednesday 28 October

Constellations deep dive - significant objects in chosen Autumn constellations - Paul Foreman

Overview of Jupiter and its moons - Mike Kirkham

Wednesday 11 November

Open Cluster and Discussion Evening - topic TBC

Wednesday 25 November

An introduction to Practical Astronomy Part 5 - Steven Richards

Overview of Neptune and its moons - Mike Kirkham

Wednesday 9 December

GUEST SPEAKER - “The Hubble Telescope” - Andrew Green