Previous Club Meetings

Saturn–Venus–Moon Conjunction

Saturday, 01 February 2025
16:45-18:00

The Moon will be close to Venus and Saturn after sunset.

This will be a great chance to get some photos of the Moon and two planets from the park.

Image credit: Stellarium

If your photos turn out well, we can send them in to BBC Sky at Night Magazine and BBC Weather Watchers. Maybe they will be selected to be used in their online news reports.

Full Moon Close to Mars in Gemini

Monday, 13 January 2025
21:00-22:00

This month's Full Moon will lie close to Mars all evening. It will gradually creep closer to Mars as the hours roll by. We'll take a look after 21:00 and take some photos.

Image credit: Stellarium

The Moon will sit very close to Mars at 04:20 the following morning, for anyone waking up that early.

Jupiter: Europa Shadow Transit

Friday, 10 January 2025
17:00-19:00

Europa's shadow will begin its transit of Jupiter at 16:00 (daytime). Europa will end its transit at roughly 17:04, and its shadow will end its transit at 18:45.

The Moon (88% illuminated) will lie close to Jupiter all evening and its glare will negatively impact the view of this transit. But we'll see how we get on anyway.

Jupiter's Great Red Spot (GRS) will be centered at midnight.

Image credit: Stellarium

Please refer to the January 2025 Action Plan for more information about January's moon transits and shadow transits on Jupiter and Saturn.

Moon Close to the Pleiades

Thursday, 09 January 2025
21:00-22:00

The 81%-lit waxing gibbous Moon will approach the Pleiades open star cluster tonight.

Image credit: Stellarium

The Moon is scheduled to occult the Pleiades at 02:30 tomorrow morning. It would be fun to see that, but we'll all be fast asleep at that time.

UPDATE: Actually, one TRAC member was still awake at 02:30 to see the event. Can you guess who?

Titan Shadow Transit

Tuesday, 07 January 2025
19:00-20:00

Titan's shadow will be cast on Saturn between 16:24 and 21:32. We'll see if we can spot it midway through its transit.

We'll need an exceptionally clear night to witness a Titan shadow transit since this will push the telescope to its absolute maximum limit. It will be very difficult to observe and success is not guaranteed.

Image credit: BBC/Stellarium

Please refer to the January 2025 Action Plan for more information about January's moon transits and shadow transits on Jupiter and Saturn.