Redditch Astronomical Society

01/09/2026

September – JUICE makes a gravity-assisted boost
On 14 April 2023, JUICE (Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer) began its intrepid voyage towards Jupiter, a mission that intends to uncover any secrets hiding beneath the surfaces of three of Jupiter’s Moons - Ganymede, Europa and Callisto.
However, JUICE isn’t able to zip straight over to the Jovian system, and will need to swing by the Earth and Venus to get a boost from their gravity. The first of two Earth flybys by JUICE will take place in September 2026, with JUICE coming within 9,000 km of our planet.

01/09/2026

🌌 MARK YOUR CALENDAR September 2026! 🔭✨

September is packed with exciting celestial events for skywatchers! From a meteor shower and planetary meetups to the September Equinox and the Harvest Moon, there’s plenty to look up and enjoy.

☄️ Sept 1 — Aurigid Meteor Shower Peak
Watch for fast-moving meteors streaking across the night sky.

✨ Sept 2 — Venus Meets Spica
Venus and the bright star Spica will appear close together in the sky, creating a beautiful celestial pairing.

🌙 Sept 8 — Moon Meets Jupiter
The Moon and Jupiter will share the evening sky, making a striking sight for observers.

🌍 Sept 22 — September Equinox
The Sun crosses the celestial equator, marking the beginning of astronomical autumn in the Northern Hemisphere and spring in the Southern Hemisphere.

🔵 Sept 25 — Neptune at Opposition
Neptune reaches opposition, placing Earth between the planet and the Sun and offering one of the best opportunities of the year to observe this distant world with a telescope.

🌕 Sept 26 — Harvest Moon
September’s full Moon lights up the night sky and brings one of the most anticipated lunar events of the month.

📅 Save these dates and keep your eyes on the sky! Which September event are you most excited to see? 🌌👇

01/09/2026

Nancy Grace Roman never built the Hubble Space Telescope herself. But without her, the idea of putting a powerful telescope in space might never have become reality.

Roman became NASA's first chief astronomer at a time when space-based astronomy was still a difficult idea to sell. During the 1960s and 1970s, she spent years bringing together scientists, engineers, government officials, and astronomers to build support for a telescope above Earth's atmosphere.

Her persistence played a major role in turning the concept into what eventually became the Hubble Space Telescope. Funding was approved in 1977, and Hubble finally launched in 1990.

Because of her extraordinary work behind the scenes, Nancy Grace Roman became known as the “Mother of Hubble.”

She also broke barriers throughout her career. Roman was one of NASA's earliest female executives and spent years encouraging more women to pursue careers in astronomy and science.

Now, NASA has honored her legacy with the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.

The Roman telescope is designed to survey enormous regions of the sky far more efficiently than Hubble. Scientists expect it to transform our understanding of dark energy, galaxies, and distant worlds—and its observations could reveal thousands of new exoplanets.

Nancy Grace Roman may not have built a telescope herself.

But she helped convince the world that telescopes belonged in space.

And decades later, the Universe is still being explored because she refused to let that idea disappear.

01/09/2026

01/09/2026

Open evening with interesting talks from our Chairman Nic and Treasurer Jeremy on the NAM July event plus one of our members Ben on our solar systems Moons 🔭

29/08/2026

🚨 Astronomy cuts update 🚨

Next Tuesday (1 September) a debate about the ongoing funding crisis affecting astronomy and other strategically important areas of UK science will take place in Westminster Hall from 1-1.30pm. 🗣️🔭

The RAS welcomes the debate and is encouraging all Fellows to contact their MPs to urge them to attend. ✍️

Find out more 👉️ https://ras.ac.uk/news-and-press/news/astronomy-cuts-be-discussed-westminster

29/08/2026

Camera settings for tonight’s PARTIAL LUNAR ECLIPSE! 📷

Mount your DSLR or mirrorless camera on a sturdy tripod, switch to manual mode, and use a telephoto lens. Ideally 300mm or longer.

For the bright Moon, start around:

📷 ISO 200
📷 1/250-second shutter speed
📷 Adjust your aperture as needed

As more of the Moon slips into Earth’s shadow, gradually increase your ISO and slow the shutter speed.

Check your histogram and review your images frequently (the settings will change throughout the eclipse)

A star tracker (that moves with the motion of the sky) helps immensely and gives you much more control (that's what I used for my image!).

My complete lunar eclipse photography guide is here:
https://astrobackyard.com/how-to-photograph-lunar-eclipse/

29/08/2026

🔴 Betelgeuse Is Literally Boiling — And Astronomers Just Captured It

Around 600 light-years away, Betelgeuse is a massive red supergiant nearing the end of its stellar life. With roughly 20 times the mass of the Sun and a radius hundreds of times larger, this enormous star is anything but calm.

Using the ALMA telescope, astronomers have obtained some of the most detailed observations yet of Betelgeuse’s surface. Instead of looking smooth and uniform, the star appears dynamic, uneven, and intensely turbulent—almost like a giant pot of cosmic soup boiling in space.

Massive convection cells transport energy from deep inside the star toward its surface. Some regions can be significantly hotter than their surroundings, revealing just how violent the processes inside this dying star really are.

Even more intriguing, astronomers have observed a persistent hotspot that has remained in approximately the same region for years. Its unusual behavior has prompted further questions about what is happening around Betelgeuse—including whether an unseen companion could play a role.

And then there’s the famous Great Dimming of Betelgeuse. When the star dramatically faded in 2019–2020, speculation spread that a supernova might be imminent. It wasn’t. Scientists still cannot predict exactly when Betelgeuse will explode—it could happen thousands or even hundreds of thousands of years from now.

There’s another mind-bending detail: we see Betelgeuse as it was roughly 600 years ago, because that's how long its light takes to reach Earth. So, in principle, the star could have already undergone a dramatic transformation, and we simply wouldn't know yet.

When Betelgeuse eventually becomes a supernova, it could become an extraordinarily bright object in our sky. 🌌

We aren't just looking at a star—we're looking deep into the turbulent final chapters of a stellar giant whose light began its journey toward Earth centuries ago.

Would you want to witness Betelgeuse go supernova in your lifetime, or would it be a little terrifying? 👇

📸 Image: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)