OASI is a society for people interested in astronomy. We are based at Orwell Park Observatory and Newbourne Village Hall, both situated near Ipswich, Suffolk. Members enjoy a wide range of interests in astronomy and include armchair astronomers, casual observers, and dedicated amateurs with specialist skills in visual and photographic observing, constructing telescopes, public education in astronomy and the history of astronomy.
Events
Mon 14 Jul 2025, 19:00, Newbourne Village Hall, Newbourne meeting - beginners and new members welcome!
19:00: doors open and observing the Sun and Mercury if the sky is clear. Observing target for the month: Mercury.
Wed 16 Jul 2025, 20:00, Orwell Park Observatory, General observing for members of OASI.
Sat 19 Jul 2025, 13.00-20:00 (possibly later), Newbourne Village Hall, Summer picnic, open to all members of OASI and their guests.
In case of inclement weather, the picnic will be held inside the village hall.
Weather permitting, there will be solar observing.
Poster with more info.
Mon 21 Jul 2025, 20:00, Zoom, Pre-recorded talk: Citizen Science and Radio Jove: the Science and Instrumentation for a Radio Exploration of Jupiter by Chuck Higgins. (Zoom login details are provided in an email to members.)
Full events list, with contact details for further information.
[1/10] A cloud of propellant vented by SpaceX launch vehicle Transport-14 after placing its 70 payload satellites into orbit. The cloud is visible thanks to forward-scattered sunlight. 24 June 2025. Nigel Evans.
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[2/10] Solar observing at OASI's Newbourne meeting, 23 June 2025. Photo by Neil Morley.
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[3/10] OASI's solar observing activity at East Suffolk Wireless Revival (ESWR) on 15 June 2025 received considerable interest. The weather was conducive to observing and approximately 20 people got to view the photosphere (a white-light view of sunspots) and the chromosphere (an H
α view revealing active regions, prominences and filaments).
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[4/10] A visit to the Whipple Museum, Cambridge, finds many fascinating astronomical items. Neil J. Short, 11 June 2025.
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[5/10] Three star clusters imaged with Seestar S50 "smart" telescopes. L-R: NGC457 by Andy Gibbs, 04 April; M35 by Neil Morley, 19 April; M3 by Paul Whiting, FRAS, 19 April 2025.
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[6/10] Three galaxies imaged with Seestar S50 "smart" telescopes. L-R: M81 by Neil Morley, 06 April; M100 by Paul Whiting, FRAS, 03 March M100; NGC2403 composite of 1539 ten-second frames captured early April 2025 and contributed by Andy Gibbs, Neil Morley, Steve McElvanney and Paul Whiting, FRAS.
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[7/10] Observations by Steve McElvanney and Neil Morley show the evolution of active regions (sunspots) on the solar disk over the period 03-08 April 2025. Steve McElvanney: 03, 06 and 08 April; Neil Morley 07 April. The rotation of the Sun causes the sunspots to move from left to right over a period of some days.
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[8/10] The partial solar eclipse of 29 March was widely observed across the UK. Left: OASI observers at Newbourne enjoying the spectacle. Top, L-R: NASA GONG (Global Oscillation Network Group) image, Neil Morley smartphone at eyepiece of Lunt LS35, Alan Buttivant using iPad. Bottom, L-R: Neil Morley sketch at eyepiece of Lunt LS35, Paul Whiting, FRAS, Seestar S50, Nigel Evans EdgeHD stopped down to 85 mm with solar filter.
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[9/10] Venus on 19 March (LHS) and 26 March (RHS), respectively four days before and three days after inferior conjunction on 23 March 2025. Seeing was very poor. Nigel Evans.
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[10/10] Chairman Andy Gibbs introduces the speaker, Mike Culley, FRAS, at the start of the initial lecture of OASI's
2025 lecture series on 21 March 2025.
