The latest Mercury, July / August 2020, is now available

The latest Mercury newsletter is now available, the July / August 2020 issue can be downloaded from the Digital media | Mercury page.

In this issue:

Coordinators Report
The Romans’ pre-Julian calendar
Dates for your diary
Noctilucent Cloud Season Arrives!
Members Photos
Mount Tufley Observatory

Next Meeting

The next four meetings will take place as virtual meetings using Zoom. Members will be notified of the meeting details by email.

13 June 2020 - James Fradgley: "Black Holes" and if time permits, "The 21cm Line"

11 July 2020 - Chris Lintott: "The Crowd and the Cosmos: Adventures in the Zooniverse"

8 August 2020 - Members' Night

12 September 2020 - Pete Williamson: "Whirlpools in Space - The Birr Telescope (Earl of Rosse)"

Full list of meetings...

When things return to 'normal'...
Our monthly meetings take place at Shurdington Social Centre, Shurdington, Cheltenham. Visitors are welcome!

Astronomy News Feeds

Astronomy
Radio Astronomy
Space
Dark Matter

This year's (astronomy) fireworks came early

5 August 2020

This year's (astronomy) fireworks came early. By Joe Bauman, Columnist Aug 5, 2020, 10:28am MDT

Astronomers Catch X-Rays from Calcium-Rich Supernova

5 August 2020

Astronomers have for the first time used X-ray imaging to examine a calcium-rich supernova. Their fi

Perseids meteor shower Ireland: Stargazers urged to count shooting stars as shower peaks next ...

5 August 2020

David Moore, the Editor of Astronomy Ireland magazine, said: "This has real scientific value as

Asteroid tracker: NASA captures INCREDIBLE space rock video completing near-Earth approach

5 August 2020

Late last month, astronomers discovered a 65ft (30m) asteroid as it hurtled close to Earth. Asteroid

Exploding stars created the calcium in our bones and teeth, study says

5 August 2020

We truly are made of star stuff, as famed astronomer Carl Sagan once said. In fact, half of the calc

KSAT Kids: See Saturn and Jupiter tonight at weekly free stargazing event

5 August 2020

Look up to the skies with San Antonio Astronomical Association. Sarah Acosta, Reporter. Published: A

Space Dynamics Lab to Provide Deep-Space SmallSat Radios for Janus Asteroid Mission

5 August 2020

The SDL-built Iris radios will provide communications for dual Lockheed ... According to NASA, the D

SpaceX latest: Elon Musk firm plans for five million Starlink customers after huge spike

5 August 2020

“Recent advances in radio astronomy, such as producing the first image of a black hole or understand

Prof Melvin Hoare is Driving Development in Africa with Radio Astronomy

5 August 2020

We then started trying to figure out how training radio astronomers will help the economy. We were a

Self Improvement: Astronomy in times of crises

5 August 2020

History shows us that astronomy and troubled times go well together. Take a listen ... 702 AM. Or as

Best place to stargaze on Earth

4 August 2020

Matt - It's a general problem for astronomy that we are living at the bottom of a ... Matt - As

VLBA finds planet orbiting small, cool star

4 August 2020

This is the first discovery of an extrasolar planet with a radio telescope ... the astronomers track

NASA Administrator Statement on the Passing of Mike Freilich

5 August 2020

“Mike's excellence as a scientist is well known. His dedication to oceanography and helping tra

MarCO shows interplanetary cubesats possible but not easy

5 August 2020

Cubesats have the advantage of being cheaper to build than traditional larger science spacecraft. Bu

Uncovering Our Solar System's Shape

5 August 2020

One question scientists have tried to answer for years is on the shape of this bubble, which travels

Pollution disparities can be seen from space

5 August 2020

Researchers analyzed data collected over several different neighborhoods in Houston, Texas, finding

NASA Astronaut Aboard Space Station Answers STEM Students' Questions

5 August 2020

... for the Advancement of Science in Space, the organization tasked by NASA to manage U.S. National

Space Dynamics Lab to Provide Deep-Space SmallSat Radios for Janus Asteroid Mission

5 August 2020

Scheeres and fellow Janus scientists will study the pair of asteroids to better understand the forma

His Dark Materials season 2, BBC: trailer, release date, pictures, plot, cast

5 August 2020

... the cast are Jade Anouka (Cleaning Up) as witch queen Ruta Skadi, and Simone Kirby (Peaky Blinde

Interpreting the human genome's instruction manual

5 August 2020

"We've sequenced the human genome and we largely know where genes are. But when you get ou

Summer Sundays Go Virtual

5 August 2020

Scientists on the Dark Energy Survey have used observations of the smallest known galaxies to better

Lowell astronomer collaborates on international finding of 'fossil' stars

5 August 2020

... Way — throughout the Southern Hemisphere, in order to weigh the Milky Way, which is not uniform

Europe's Euclid Space Telescope Will See Cosmos with Panoramic Vision

5 August 2020

Launching in 2022, the wide-field observatory will be one of three next-generation facilities meant

Can We Outrun Dark Energy In The Race To See The Universe?

5 August 2020

The full suite of data can not only distinguish between a Universe with and without dark matter and