Astronomy Societies - your view

[CELESCOPE]

Well this has had a good response, i joined two clubs over the last 15 or so years , they were both short lived.

My purpose of joining the first club which is very local to me ,NO NAMES MENTIONED,

I needed to learn all about Astronomy, to start with it all seemed interesting, and with the combination of reading many books to aid my knowledge, i soon found myself just sitting there ,thinking , yes ok i know this , surely others there know this as well ,after all this is repeated over and over again ,week after week ,

Slowly i turned to imaging ,as the skies here did not reveal what i had read in books and at the talks provided at the society.

Now once into imaging, i self taught myself ,as there was no one at the club with any knowledge of astro imaging , except for two guys who had just started out, we all know them , well up in the imaging field now , no names mentioned again .they did try and give some encouragement, but the society at that time did not move in that direction, i soon became bored, and left very dispondant.

As far as i know it still remains much the same .

i then joined another society , ,short lived that one 2 visits , so boring , yes imaging at this place , but not interested in anyone learning , just showing off their images , ,just as well been invisible , so left.

Found UKAI, must say had a couple of good years there, and made a few friends, and had alot of help from a few members.

Then one day Ant who i knew for UKAI asked if i would like to come over to anew forum,SGL ,to which i did ,.

From that day life changed ,being one of the first imagers on here ,it soon bought about new ppl wanting to image after seeing what an old git like me could do hehehhe , from then on its been fantastic ,i to have learnt alot, made a load of friend s , and meeting ppl who have the same interest , Now look at it ,THE BEST FORUM GOING.

thanks to everyone here .

Rog

[George]

I know where your coming from Rog and can only echo your own experience, unfortunately that experience has put me off for life. First impressions are always important and being clicky and ignorant is not the best way of encouraging people to attend these meetings.

Thank god for the internet and forums like SGL

[Eddie]

Interesting thread Dave!

Unfortunately my experience with societies is also, yes everyone is very friendly but on the whole I found the experience rather unpleasent. When I did go I was only 14, and I recieved very little encouragement or folk that were willing to share info. Thankfully, when I returned to astronomy 2 years ago, I discovered UKAI and then SGL - what a difference!!

Eddie

[MrEd]

I belong to two Societies myself,

Adur is one and you have already heard the praise given.

The other is worthing (WAS Heh heh NickH :icon_lol:) and i have seen

what can only been described as the worst kind of behavior

i have ever seen in astronomy.(bullying, bureaucracy,cliques etc)

Nearly all by armchair astronomers.

Thankfully all the crud has been weeded out in worthing but it

goes to show that with any society it really is pot luck what kind you might have near to you.

I wish more were like Adur over the UK,Trev Robin and i have made sure that Worthing and Adur will always work as sister societies to try and promote astronomy in the best possible way.

Ed

[zcapp96]

The misses keeps saying to me that I should join the local society but to be honest the idea has never really appealed to me. One of the main points of enjoyment for me is the solitude and peace of an observing session so what could a society offer me? Tips and advice? Well I can get that on SGL, I have already refined the art of polar alignment thanks to the excellent tutorial from astro baby and when I asked a question about phd guiding the other day I had several responses in very quick time! Added to that I can also just have a chat with people as and when I want to and about anything I want to! In fact you can 'listern' in to conversations between people with much more experience than you without feeling like you have to say something! To me SGL is all the society that i need without the dangers that the weird bloke in the corner is going to come over and latch on to me for the whole evening and talk about his cats.

[MartinB]

I'm a lapsed member of the Chesterfield Astro Soc. I really should get round to renewing my membership and getting along on a few Friday evenings. They have some interesting talks once a month. There is a small core of dedicated members who work very hard for the society but numbers are small and I feel it does need an injection of new energy. I'm not about to volunteer because of other committments!

It is a very traditional set up and there are quite a few astro stereotypes there. The scope is a lovely, venerable 18" F7.5 newtonian on a humungous old equatorial mount. Trouble is, imaging wise, I'm better off with the kit I have in the back garden.

[astroguy]

Just to add my bit.

Im a member of a local society the SPA & BAA.

I've been a member of my local society for 11 years now and look forward to meeting up with other folk interested in astronomy at our monthly meetings.If any new people come along i do my best to make them feel welcome and give them any help or advice they need,if they want to come to round and have a look at any of my scopes im only to willing to give them my phone number (i've even gone out in the dead of night to help one guy out who was confused with his new scope and about to chuck it in the cupboard under stairs).

My interest led me to visit another local society in which i was'nt made to feel welcome and the only guy that did kept giving me the "you need to go out and learn the night sky with bino's first" talk even after i explained i had four scopes,an observatory,and i'd been out observing for around fifteen years.

Because of this i can understand why joining a society is'nt everyones bag.

I try to attend SPA meetings when i can but lately this has'nt always been possible.

The other year i went on a SPA trip to Jodrell Bank and got a private tour of what goes on behind the scenes with Dr Ian Morrison.To me the chance to go and have a look around such a place and sit at the main control desk with Ian as a guide was well worth the membership fee alone.

The BAA often offer 18 months membership for the price of 12,this was a deal i took them up on a few years ago.Again i try to get to meetings when i can.

By far the best meeting i attended was at Cambridge when there was also a meeting of Planetary scientists going on in Cambridge at the same time.During the day i got to meet and chat to Carolyn Porco (Cassini principal investigator),Mike Ahern (Deep impact mission) and Steve Squires (Mars Rover principal investigator).I would'nt have had that chance to meet these people listen to their lectures and ask them questions if i had'nt been a BAA member.

Martin

[Astro_Baby]

Its true whats been said that you only get out what you put in. I think the AAS website says it all where its says 'we dont want bums on seats - we want people to get involved'

That reminds me I must get along to the WAS as well at some time.

[irishbloke]

Hi all,

My experience of astronomy clubs in N ireland has been very positive. I checked out the websites and forums of the different options and got a bit of a feel of them from there. Forums were people actually laugh with and have banter with are the type I want to be involved with.

So I made my choice as a green owner of a 130pm and went to my first meeting. Folks were dead friendly and soon I was able to meet with a few for an observing session.

I have to admit the knowledge of folks did sort of blow my mind a bit! I didn't quite see the beauty of glusters or double stars yet! I was young! (ah actually no I wasn't!) But people had made the effort to help me with collimating and aligning and encouraged my with stuff I had done. It was great to be with folk that shared their time and passion with others. One fella lent me a 12" dob to see if it was what I wanted before I bought one. That's decent.

It has me thinking, If certain individuals have such a good impact in a group, what is it about them that helps make the society good, friendly and successful? And if we lost a couple of key folks would it stagnate into an armchair back slapping society? I suppose the answer lies with me and each person who is aware of the impact they can have making the effort to be friendly and helpful to eachother and newcomers.

I am c___, lets say not good with names, but I try to talk to different people each meeting. I need to be as generous with my time and stuff as others were with me.

Let's not ask what can our society do for me...

Brian

[themos]

I've been a member of Abingdon Astronomical Society for a few months now and it's been fab: good talks, both from members and invited speakers (one was a school child that described a school trip to the Canaries to see the big telescopes there, that's the same school my kids all go to!), beginner's meetings every month, observing sessions every month (attended by 4-10 people, so far). Plus the pub sessions...

[GB-UK]

Well I've had no experience of sstro clubs yet but will be going along to the Sunderland Astronomical Society meetings begining in March. I'm going along with a friend from work who like me has been interested in astronomy for a while and has just bought his first telescope. Hopefully it won't be as bad an experience as some of you have had, and maybe going along with someone that I know will help with the initial period of not knowing anyone at all!!

[Barry W]

Some interesting discussion here! I joined the Royal Astronomical Society about the same time I found SGL. The local group here has been very good to me so far. I recieve a copy of the annual observing handbook and two separate bi-monthly journals. It has a newly set up observatory on the site of the Government's observatory - I've only seen pictures yet - waiting to get on an access list. I'd like to hope that what I've experienced so far will continue. Between SGL and RASC I feel I'm in very good hands to continue learning.

For other newbies out there, RASC has several self paced certificate programmes which are freely downloadable and provide a good list of various objects to start learning your way around the sky (http://www.rasc.ca/certificates/index.shtml)

Cheers,

Barry

[m.tweedy]

Well I've had no experience of sstro clubs yet but will be going along to the Sunderland Astronomical Society meetings begining in March. I'm going along with a friend from work who like me has been interested in astronomy for a while and has just bought his first telescope. Hopefully it won't be as bad an experience as some of you have had, and maybe going along with someone that I know will help with the initial period of not knowing anyone at all!!

Look forward to you coming to us in March. The first sunday of the month is the committee meeting. The second sunday is the workshop and the third sunday is normally a lecture this one will be by Juergen Schmoll. However the obs will be open any clear sunday.

here's a link with whats on

http://www.sunderlandastro.com/iya.html

Michael

[GB-UK]

Hi Micheal, thanks for the info. Can anyone go along to the workshop? And what will it be on? My friend and I are newbies but are willing to learn, so are looking forwards to coming along.

[GB-UK]

double post

[irishbloke]

Barry W,

that Royal Astronomical society of Canada looks great. The certificate courses look like a great idea. I think I'll download and give it a go. I doubt they'll post certs over to uk but it would be a good challenge anyway.

Mite be a useful link to put onto my local clubs website as I'm sure many beginners would like to have a plan to structure their learning with.

Thanks

Brian

[timetraveller]

Having just started the new Swindon Stargazers Club Here in Swindon I must admit to my views being rather biased in Favor of joining your local group and from the amazing and very helpful and friendly response i had nearly 50 people attending the first meeting and hopefully having taken on board all the comments raised both by those attending the meeting and on here i will do my very best to make this a very user friendly happy hands on venture for everybody concerned as at the end of the day its the member who own the club not me I'm just the catalyst bringing the group together

best wishes Pete

[SurfingNeil]

Hi,

Before purchasing a telescope I joined a local (Caradon area of South East Cornwall) club. I found them both freindly and genuine. I have been going regulalry for nearly a year. They vary the timetable and try to include all levels.

I have made a few friends there but I am quite an introvert personally, professionally I have to be extrovert.

The club have supported me with issues and advice, never telling me what I should and should'nt do, I never felt to embarrassed to ask a question.

That coupled with this forum has aided me no end. I look forward to club nights.

Now all I need is more time and money to do the things I want to do

[Guest]

I think you have to aware as well that the internet and forums also containd a large number of self appointed experts and drivel. Just because a lot of people say something does not mean it is correct so in this way that are not that different from lcoal socitites. A local society will reflect the people that run it and yes some are cliquey and some are not. Sometimes you have to put effort in as well to get something out. There has also perhaps been a certain lack of understanding, although I may have missed the points, at what some of the national socities are for.

Teh RAS for instance is mainly a professiona l body that represents the interests of professional astronomers to the goverment and science finding. It does have a lot of amateur members but that is not really what it is for. Amateurs join for two reasons really. To get access to its facilities, particularly the library, and the prestige? of being FRAS

The BAA is a pseudo scientific society that still lives on its founders creed that it is there to do science and therefore will appeal to a very narrow band of amateurs who wish to do scientific work.Those numbers are realtively small but stay pretty much constant. It will never be a mass market orgainisation because its journal prints what its main members do (30 pages of Jupiter observations!!)

The SPA was set up as a break away from the BAA to encourage beginners and has a useful purpose in that area but you can out grow it quite quickly

Other groups like TA, the FAS and the Webb society split away from the BAA in the middle of the last century to do specific things like fats publishing of results, providing an umbrella organisation for lcoal socities and lookig at Deep SKy obsering. Things the BAA did not do at the time.

One person here noted that the RASC has also sorts of certificates for structured observing. They might also like to look at the astronomical league in the US which has many more observing clubs/programs and does provide pins/certificates as well (if that is what you want to collect. You might ask why does no-one do it here. Well the BAA did try many years ago but it appears the idea of collecting things like that and showing them off is a very American thing and British reserve did not seem to go that way. People would observe things themselves but not always want to share.

Sorry for the spelling a damaged wrist this morning

[irishbloke]

I noticed that the Irish Federation of Astronomical Societies also has several handbook challenges, a Novice, Binocular and Messier. I think these things could be useful to folks starting out.

[Barry W]

For Irishbloke,

My understanding is that the RASC Explore the Universe Certificate is open to anyone. It's specific purpose is to provide some guidance and a good challenge to novice astronomers, with the hope having people increase their interest and ultimately join the society. The higher level certificates are the ones for members only. As you said though, certificate or not, I like the idea the lists to guide me through some initial and on to more advanced observing. Glad you think so too.

Cheers,

Barry

[m.tweedy]

Hi Micheal, thanks for the info. Can anyone go along to the workshop? And what will it be on? My friend and I are newbies but are willing to learn, so are looking forwards to coming along.

Yep anyone can come along to the workshop-it is basically for anyone to bring gear along that needs some work or advice or to show off new kit.

No one stops learning so you will not be alone.

forgot to mention that obs is also open every clear wednesday.

see you in march.

did the link to the website work?

Michael

[RichieJarvis]

I find astro societies and fellow astronomers in general work pretty much the same way as a collection of geeks

What I mean is that I always learn when I watch someone else do something - sharing information is a central core of what makes this hobby great. I hope that when folks come and watch me, they find something useful as well.

I am also a member of Adur, along with Eastbourne AS. I have found AAS very very refreshing, and have learnt alot there. Although I gather its gone downhill since I joined

I've seen example of Societies who only practise armchair Astronomy. One that I can think of is having real difficultly gaining new members.

Cheers,

Richie

[GB-UK]

Yep anyone can come along to the workshop-it is basically for anyone to bring gear along that needs some work or advice or to show off new kit.

No one stops learning so you will not be alone.

forgot to mention that obs is also open every clear wednesday.

see you in march.

did the link to the website work?

Michael

Yes it worked fine. Thanks for the help!!

[thing]

I joined my local AS when I bought my scope a couple of years ago. I didn't find it unfriendly but I didn't find it friendly either. I was a bum on a seat. (Take that which way you will....) Some of the talks were interesting, some weren't. They have an old 12" reflector in a nice obs but I never had the chance to look through it. And yes, it was full of people that the man on the street would expect to see at a local AS. Cardigans, the smell of broken biscuits, open toed sandals and socks..........just like jazz guitarists actually. I stopped going after a good try to fit in. As someone else remarked earlier on, I had been to every meeting for months and the chairman still used to stop me on the way in and ask if I was a member, this out of about 20 regular attendees. Still, I gave it a go.