Mexborough & Swinton Astronomical Society
@msas78.bsky.social
Formed in 1978 with just five members and meeting in members front rooms over the years the society has grown into a group of about fifty members who meet every Thursday evening.
The Society also own and runs its own observatory at nearby Hoober Stand.
The Society also own and runs its own observatory at nearby Hoober Stand.
'Smart' telescopes are becoming very popular and MSAS members are using them to capture some excellent images. Recent recruit Paul R took this with his Seestar S50 just before January's 1st Quarter Moon.
February 2, 2026 at 5:03 PM
'Smart' telescopes are becoming very popular and MSAS members are using them to capture some excellent images. Recent recruit Paul R took this with his Seestar S50 just before January's 1st Quarter Moon.
Dr Isabel Hawkins, of the Exploratorium, San Francisco USA, presented this week's talk on how the peoples of Polynesia, the Andes and Mesoamerican cultures use observations of the Pleiades to plan their hunting and farming activities.
January 30, 2026 at 5:05 PM
Dr Isabel Hawkins, of the Exploratorium, San Francisco USA, presented this week's talk on how the peoples of Polynesia, the Andes and Mesoamerican cultures use observations of the Pleiades to plan their hunting and farming activities.
This week MSAS welcomed back Mary McIntyre with a talk on the Augsburg Wunderzeichenbuch - the Book of Miracles. This 16th century German folio of 123 paintings include biblical stories and astronomical sightings. Mary described them and used her own images to unravel the mysteries depicted.
January 23, 2026 at 4:48 PM
This week MSAS welcomed back Mary McIntyre with a talk on the Augsburg Wunderzeichenbuch - the Book of Miracles. This 16th century German folio of 123 paintings include biblical stories and astronomical sightings. Mary described them and used her own images to unravel the mysteries depicted.
Just in case you have forgetten what the Sun looks like, here is an image of the Sun taken a few weeks ago by MSAS member Simon B. The image shows AR4324, AR4325, AR4323 and AR4331.
January 19, 2026 at 5:03 PM
Just in case you have forgetten what the Sun looks like, here is an image of the Sun taken a few weeks ago by MSAS member Simon B. The image shows AR4324, AR4325, AR4323 and AR4331.
MSAS welcomed Larry Bartoszek from ISEC who discussed the work being carried out to create a Space Elevator. Larry introduced the 2003 book by Bradley Edwards and Eric Westling, the engineering problems, some proposed solutions as well as issues created by the poliferation of LEO satellites.
January 16, 2026 at 4:51 PM
MSAS welcomed Larry Bartoszek from ISEC who discussed the work being carried out to create a Space Elevator. Larry introduced the 2003 book by Bradley Edwards and Eric Westling, the engineering problems, some proposed solutions as well as issues created by the poliferation of LEO satellites.
MSAS members have been using recent cloudy nights to catch up with processing images. Simon C. took this image of NGC 1977, The Running Man Nebula, a reflection nebula in the Orion constellation a 1,460 lightyears away. It was discovered by William Herschel in 1786. 35 minutes of 15s subs.
January 13, 2026 at 12:27 PM
MSAS members have been using recent cloudy nights to catch up with processing images. Simon C. took this image of NGC 1977, The Running Man Nebula, a reflection nebula in the Orion constellation a 1,460 lightyears away. It was discovered by William Herschel in 1786. 35 minutes of 15s subs.
MSAS started the year with a members talk on astro-imaging. Members Tony Morris and Tom Wade presented talks on how to take images and process them. Tony explained how to take the images and the importance of the biase files whilst Tom shared the work flow through PixInsight and tweaks he uses.
January 9, 2026 at 12:31 PM
MSAS started the year with a members talk on astro-imaging. Members Tony Morris and Tom Wade presented talks on how to take images and process them. Tony explained how to take the images and the importance of the biase files whilst Tom shared the work flow through PixInsight and tweaks he uses.
Many thanks to the MSAS members and public who turned out for this year's 'So, Santa brought you a Telescope'. On a cloudy, cold and drizzly day eight members of the public with three telescopes visited the J A Jones Observatory. Lots of questions were answered and lots of problems solved.
December 27, 2025 at 9:47 PM
Many thanks to the MSAS members and public who turned out for this year's 'So, Santa brought you a Telescope'. On a cloudy, cold and drizzly day eight members of the public with three telescopes visited the J A Jones Observatory. Lots of questions were answered and lots of problems solved.
If Santa left you a telescope (or if you have one at home gathering dust) and would like to know how to use it, bring it to the J A Jones Observatory on the 27th of December 2025. There may also be an opportunity to look around our observatory.
Happy Christmas and Clear Skies!
Happy Christmas and Clear Skies!
December 24, 2025 at 5:11 PM
If Santa left you a telescope (or if you have one at home gathering dust) and would like to know how to use it, bring it to the J A Jones Observatory on the 27th of December 2025. There may also be an opportunity to look around our observatory.
Happy Christmas and Clear Skies!
Happy Christmas and Clear Skies!
MSAS' Tom W. took this image of LDN1337, a dark nebula in Cassiopeia, in November. He used a UV/ IR cut filter and took 4.5 hours of 120s subs. Tom reports the filter is best used when there is little Moonlight and is one of the most difficult objects he has imaged and processed.
December 22, 2025 at 5:04 PM
MSAS' Tom W. took this image of LDN1337, a dark nebula in Cassiopeia, in November. He used a UV/ IR cut filter and took 4.5 hours of 120s subs. Tom reports the filter is best used when there is little Moonlight and is one of the most difficult objects he has imaged and processed.
MSAS members wrapped up 2025 meeting programme with the Annual Christmas Party. This year we were entertained with a Roy G quiz. Kris emerged the winner! Simon B shared this image from the recent Geminid shower. Simon took over 200 images with a Canon 600D for this single success!
December 19, 2025 at 5:29 PM
MSAS members wrapped up 2025 meeting programme with the Annual Christmas Party. This year we were entertained with a Roy G quiz. Kris emerged the winner! Simon B shared this image from the recent Geminid shower. Simon took over 200 images with a Canon 600D for this single success!
As the rest of MSAS are trying to find clear skies Andy D (who lives in south-east Spain) is basking in sunshine. Andy sent this image, one of three, showing the development of a class X5+ solar flare on the 11 November. Don't forget the suncream Andy!
December 17, 2025 at 11:25 AM
As the rest of MSAS are trying to find clear skies Andy D (who lives in south-east Spain) is basking in sunshine. Andy sent this image, one of three, showing the development of a class X5+ solar flare on the 11 November. Don't forget the suncream Andy!
MSAS welcomed back Dr Colin Steele who introduced the book 'Flatland' by E A Abbott and the works of C H Hinton describing the adventures of A Square, a character from the prior. He described gravity, eclipses, the difficulties in making out the orbits of planets and mapping constellations in 2-D.
December 13, 2025 at 5:36 PM
MSAS welcomed back Dr Colin Steele who introduced the book 'Flatland' by E A Abbott and the works of C H Hinton describing the adventures of A Square, a character from the prior. He described gravity, eclipses, the difficulties in making out the orbits of planets and mapping constellations in 2-D.
With Andromeda being close to the zenith this is good time of the year to have a go at imaging the Andromeda Galaxy, M31. MSAS member Mike S took this image a few weeks ago. Mike reports the image is 1473 x 10 seconds (a little over 4 hours) subs taken with a Vespera Pro, stacked but not processed.
December 9, 2025 at 12:03 PM
With Andromeda being close to the zenith this is good time of the year to have a go at imaging the Andromeda Galaxy, M31. MSAS member Mike S took this image a few weeks ago. Mike reports the image is 1473 x 10 seconds (a little over 4 hours) subs taken with a Vespera Pro, stacked but not processed.
Andy K-V shared his image of the 'Silver Sliver Galaxy' NGC 891 with fellow MSAS members last week. The galaxy is a member of our local super cluster and is approximately 27Mly away in the constellation of Andromenda.
December 2, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Andy K-V shared his image of the 'Silver Sliver Galaxy' NGC 891 with fellow MSAS members last week. The galaxy is a member of our local super cluster and is approximately 27Mly away in the constellation of Andromenda.
MSAS welcomed amateur astronomer Adrian Smith this week who described the universe from the view of the both General Relavity and Quantum Physics and the scientists, Albert Einstein, Max Planck, Erwin Schrödinger, Paul Dirac (and others) who showed how quantum effects shape our observations.
November 29, 2025 at 2:14 PM
MSAS welcomed amateur astronomer Adrian Smith this week who described the universe from the view of the both General Relavity and Quantum Physics and the scientists, Albert Einstein, Max Planck, Erwin Schrödinger, Paul Dirac (and others) who showed how quantum effects shape our observations.
Cleveland & Darlington AS' Neil Haggath presented this week's meeting. He regaled us with tales of astronomical mishaps through the ages including the american hit by a meteorite weighing 3.8kg and survived, the 30+ year feud between two members of the RAS and the unluckiest observer in history.
November 21, 2025 at 8:32 PM
Cleveland & Darlington AS' Neil Haggath presented this week's meeting. He regaled us with tales of astronomical mishaps through the ages including the american hit by a meteorite weighing 3.8kg and survived, the 30+ year feud between two members of the RAS and the unluckiest observer in history.
Comet Lemon was in the evening skies in October and November but quite a difficult object for many observers. MSAS' Tony M managed to capture this image using a SQA55 telescope (109 x 10s) from the observatory grounds on 25/10/2025.
November 18, 2025 at 12:04 PM
Comet Lemon was in the evening skies in October and November but quite a difficult object for many observers. MSAS' Tony M managed to capture this image using a SQA55 telescope (109 x 10s) from the observatory grounds on 25/10/2025.
MSAS welcomed back Dr Ed Daw from U. of Sheffield this week. Ed discussed dark matter and how the theoretical axioms that could be the solution and introduced the QSHS project and 'The Fridge' detector at Sheffield anticipating the first data runs soon.
November 15, 2025 at 4:26 PM
MSAS welcomed back Dr Ed Daw from U. of Sheffield this week. Ed discussed dark matter and how the theoretical axioms that could be the solution and introduced the QSHS project and 'The Fridge' detector at Sheffield anticipating the first data runs soon.
MSAS welcomed back Dr Ed Daw from U. of Sheffield this week. Ed discussed dark matter and how the theoretical axioms WIMPs (Weakly Interacting Massive Particles) could be the solution and introduced the QSHS project and 'The Fridge' WIMP detector at Sheffield anticipating the first data runs soon.
November 14, 2025 at 6:07 PM
MSAS welcomed back Dr Ed Daw from U. of Sheffield this week. Ed discussed dark matter and how the theoretical axioms WIMPs (Weakly Interacting Massive Particles) could be the solution and introduced the QSHS project and 'The Fridge' WIMP detector at Sheffield anticipating the first data runs soon.
MSAS' Roy G. is an avid fan of the Moon and took this image on November 1st with his Seestar S50. Roy's image shows, very clearly, the asymmetrical ejecta pattern from the the crater Proclus between the Seas of Tranquility and Crises.
November 11, 2025 at 12:05 PM
MSAS' Roy G. is an avid fan of the Moon and took this image on November 1st with his Seestar S50. Roy's image shows, very clearly, the asymmetrical ejecta pattern from the the crater Proclus between the Seas of Tranquility and Crises.
This week MSAS welcomed Tom Gillespy of Alyesbury AS. Tom described Tsiolkovsky' Rocket Equation in depth, explaining along the way why Δv matters when trying to get anything off the Earth's surface. He showed how rockets are inefficient the and the measures used to overcome some of these issues.
November 7, 2025 at 1:05 PM
This week MSAS welcomed Tom Gillespy of Alyesbury AS. Tom described Tsiolkovsky' Rocket Equation in depth, explaining along the way why Δv matters when trying to get anything off the Earth's surface. He showed how rockets are inefficient the and the measures used to overcome some of these issues.
Comets are difficult objects to see in the UK, mainly due to the weather, but this autumn Comets Swan(C/2025 R2) and Lemmon(C/2023A6) have been visible. MSAS' Phil M took this image of Comet Swan on the 27th October from his back garden managing to avoid the glare from the street lights.
November 4, 2025 at 12:04 PM
Comets are difficult objects to see in the UK, mainly due to the weather, but this autumn Comets Swan(C/2025 R2) and Lemmon(C/2023A6) have been visible. MSAS' Phil M took this image of Comet Swan on the 27th October from his back garden managing to avoid the glare from the street lights.
This week's speaker was John Jack McGill from Michigan, USA. John described how his interest developed after buying a telescope for his son and becoming interested in astronomy. He went on to share the equipment and preperations needed to get an 'up close and personal' photograph.
October 31, 2025 at 12:05 PM
This week's speaker was John Jack McGill from Michigan, USA. John described how his interest developed after buying a telescope for his son and becoming interested in astronomy. He went on to share the equipment and preperations needed to get an 'up close and personal' photograph.
MSAS member Simon C. observes from a suburban site but can still take advantage of clear nights with a Celestron Origin. Simon took this image of the Elephant's Trunk Nebula, IC 1396A, part of a much bigger gas cloud IC 1396 in Cepheus some 2,400 light years away.
October 27, 2025 at 12:05 PM
MSAS member Simon C. observes from a suburban site but can still take advantage of clear nights with a Celestron Origin. Simon took this image of the Elephant's Trunk Nebula, IC 1396A, part of a much bigger gas cloud IC 1396 in Cepheus some 2,400 light years away.