Next Meeting: Wednesday November 13th at 8:00pm So Simple a thing as a Star Robert Connon Smith

Eddington's 1926 book ended on a positive note: "... it is reasonable to hope that in a not too distant future we shall be competent to understand so simple a thing as a star." Nearly a century later we do understand the essentials, although many details remain uncertain. I will describe the essentials and give examples of the uncertainties. I was inspired to become an astronomer by seeing the naked-eye Comet Arend-Roland, although I have never worked on comets. I was brought up in Glasgow, educated at the University of Glasgow (BSc, PhD) and taught there from 1966 to 1968, when I moved to Sussex, initially as a Research Fellow. I became a member of the teaching faculty of the Astronomy Centre in 1972, and later published an undergraduate textbook (Observational Astrophysics, CUP 1995). From 1996-2001 I was Subject Chairman of Physics and Astronomy and from 2001-2003 served as Dean of the School of Chemistry, Physics and Environmental Science. From August 2003 to July 2004 I was Head of the Department of Physics and Astronomy in the new School of Science and Technology. I retired at the end of September 2006, but continued to be active in teaching and research until I moved to Cambridge in 2016. Latterly, I worked mainly on cataclysmic binaries, especially on star spots, publishing my last paper in 2017. I was an editor of Observatory Magazine (1977 - 1983) and of The Quarterly Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society (1984 – 1996, Managing Editor 1991 - 1995). I was active in other areas of the Royal Astronomical Society, serving on various committees and as Vice-President 2004-06. I have given regular talks to astronomical societies since about 1970, mostly in Sussex and the south coast, but a few since I moved to Cambridge in 2016.

Visitors most welcome at meetings or on Zoom

Visual Observing Sessions Get your telescopes ready! One of the things that has been mentioned as missing from our club is the ability to get together for visual observing sessions, i.e., naked eye, binoculars and telescopes. To that end we are considering setting up meetings to enable that to take place. At the moment, we have established a good relationship with Bramfield where there is a good sized field and some parking facilities. There is also a pub not far away! We anticipate possibly meeting once a month from 19:00- 23:00 during the darker months. There are lots of logistical details to be considered not least having a rough idea how many people would want to take part in such an activity. Feel free to also chat to Richard or Alana at the next meeting with any ideas or suggestions you might have. These sessions will also allow you to have a go with some of the telescopes the club owns and are free to borrow such as this lovely Meade 8” Lightswitch. We have put together a form where you can show your interest (or not) and that will help us enormously with our future planning.