It’s been yet another fantastic year! AstroSoc has gone from strength to strength, with bigger and better public events, outreach experiences and socials for our members.
Alongside the School of Physics and Astronomy here at Birmingham we have hosted four highly successful Astronomy in the City events this year. Our public lecture series Tea, Talk & Telescope (TTT) has been honoured with guest speakers from universities far and wide, giving us an insight into their fascinating research in astronomy. We’ve been demonstrating our equipment and answering questions about life, the universe, and everything. (And also consuming a lot of biscuits… we’ve got the ‘Tea’ part of the TTT events down to a T!)
At the end of the summer we had our annual camping trip, this year to the Exmoor Dark Sky Reserve. We went hiking, explored the Devon coastline and we were lucky enough for clear skies to get a spot of observing done too. A note to the new AstroSoc committee: don’t schedule an astronomy camping trip during a full moon!
This year our members and committee have been involved with lots of outreach in local schools. It’s so good to see the children interact with our telescopes and to answer their *interesting* questions about astronomy.
Our members have enjoyed social events such as the annual ‘Space Race’ bar crawl, board games and pizza night (in collaboration, or should we say competition, with MathSoc and PPS), various meals out, and the odd quiz or two.
We have now welcomed them our new committee into our ranks following their election at our Annual General Meeting in February. We would also like to announce the election of the new Society Patron: Professor Ilya Mandel. Professor Mandel has been a figurehead in the School for many years and is passionate about engaging the public in science – just like AstroSoc.
Counting down to the end of term, we’ve got a few things to look forward to in AstroSoc’s future. June sees not only our own Annual Dinner, with committee, members, and staff alike enjoying a fantastic evening at Edgbaston Golf Club, but also the EPS Societies’ Awards.
With the incredible year we’ve had as a society, we’d love to have our achievements recognised with one of the prestigious awards. If you are or have been a member of AstroSoc, have attended one of our events, or if you’re just feeling generous after reading this, then please nominate us!
We wish you good luck in all your astronomical endeavours and hope to see you at an AstroSoc event in the future.
AstroSoc
