Minutes.
Apologies from Andrew Collins and Kevin Pretorius
1. Welcome by the President – John Price
This was an unusual AGM, being online. However, John Price opened proceedings with his normal bell ringing!
After a difficult year John felt the society seems as strong as ever with the monthly online meetings well attended and a good mix of internal and external speakers. The monthly newsletters and observing notes also help to maintain the society’s cohesion.
2021 will be the 50th (Golden) anniversary of the founding of the society, so it is hoped to do something special next year.
One of the changes John introduced is to combine the AGM and Christmas Party. That was obviously not possible this year, though some members did bring their own refreshments to Zoom! Hopefully next year will see normality re-established.
2. Committee Members’ Reports 2020
- Kevin Pretorius – Co-Chairman and Programme Secretary
(presented by Danny Thomas).
Hi, I’m Kevin Pretorius, I’m your Co-chairman and Programme Secretary. Hopefully you know me by now, as I’ve been performing the latter role since Barry Bellinger foolishly left the role open in Dec 2009 (yes, I looked it up this time). It’s an interesting role, I enjoy doing it, and hopefully you’ll support me to continue in this role a little while longer.
I hope you’ll agree that despite everything else that’s happened this year, at least we’ve had another interesting year of talks from some great speakers, not least of which from our own ranks. So I’d first like to thank FAS members Steve Baker, David Lewis, Steve Woodbridge and Charles Dixon for some truly exceptional talks on this year’s programme. Thank you!
I both appreciate and encourage members at all levels of experience to share their interests – as there’s no better way to motivate yourself to learn a topic than to commit to teach it to someone else.
As you may recall, we opened the year with Prof. Andrew Coates, who told us about how ExoMars 2020 will hunt for life on the surface of Mars (just not this year), picked up some tips about useful apps for our phones and tablets from Dr Lillian Hobbs; heard about the Royal Observatory from raconteur Greg Smye-Rumsby, pondered the uniqueness of our home planet with Dr David Waltham, listened to stars singing with Dr Giovanni Mirouh and ended the year learning from Prof. Hilary Downes that broken fragments of planets from the early solar system have been hiding in meteorites all along.
The closure of Aldershot Cricket Club has been a challenge, but thanks to Danny we got back online, and I’ve worked with each of our speakers to run rehearsals and generally sort out the gremlins. And occasionally it worked.
The first half of the programme for 2021 is ready to publish and will appear on the website soon. I’ve been hesitant to book further out than this, not quite knowing when we’ll be able to meet up again, but we’ll just need to wait and see.
Thank you.
- Danny Thomas – Co-Chairman and Webmaster.
New articles have been published to the website during the course of 2020 but at a much slower rate than previously years. The trend has been towards articles about events and meetings rather than observation but the lack of observing opportunities seems to be a continued theme. My thanks to all those who continue to generate new articles and content while new posts are always welcome.
Outside of my duties as Webmaster I have continued as the contact point for SAGAS (Southern Area Group Astronomy Societies) and the society’s contracts with the MOD and Grainger for the observatory and Alice Holt. During the Covid pandemic external events have been cancelled and so work related to these contracts has not been necessary.
The focus for SAGAS has been on how societies have coped during the pandemic and plan to restart meetings in the future. I have now been co-opted onto the SAGAS committee in the post of Webmaster.
As we cancelled meetings at the start of the Covid pandemic, I personally pushed the move to online meetings and used an open source platform to allow the committee and then members to test the concept. We made this move much earlier than other societies and at that time, there were many unknowns about how members and speakers would adapt to online meetings.
Therefore this was intentionally a very low cost experiment in monetary terms, although it took a lot of time and effort to prove the concept and gather sufficient support. While some members have experienced issues with equipment or the service itself, it is important to remember that at the beginning of lockdown, a surge in demand meant that nearly all platforms had problems and there was no perfect option. Service issues have been addressed by operators and it is not fair to judge the quality of the first few months by current standards.
Other societies have shared their experiences at SAGAS meetings and experienced very similar problems even using premium, paid services from the outset. Some societies even abandoned the move to online altogether, so we can proudly say we made an early but successful transition.
However, the overriding objective behind the move to online was to keep the society running, support each other in an unprecedented situation. We have tried to make online meetings as inclusive as possible and they may play a part in the future when we are able to meet in person once again. However this will require review in the future as running mixed-reality meetings may not be feasible.
We continue to implement GDPR obtaining consents to the usage of personal data when new members join and in maintaining the database to remove any lapsed memberships.
The Committee continues to place high importance in the way we store and use personal details, by using password protected databases and blind copy in emails. No member details are shared with third parties, although many requests are sent to the Committee to promote events, services and products. We are very selective in what we choose to pass on and our policy is generally not to endorse commercial ventures.
Unfortunately work commitments continue to impact the time I can spend on Committee duties and my attendance at meetings. However, much of the website and database maintenance can be done remotely and so I am happy to stand for re-election as webmaster in 2021.
- Roberta Smyth – membership Secretary.
The FAS membership as of November 2020, I am happy to report that we have acquired another ten members this year, bringing the total up to eighty-two. Let us hope that things will return to normal, or something like it, next year so that firstly we can find out what we all look like, and secondly, start to enjoy participating in all of the Club activities in full.
I am happy to stand again as Membership Secretary if you should so wish.
- Eric Grieve – Librarian and Instrument Coordinator.
Members may request books or loan equipment between meetings on the FAS Website, which has a direct link to me.
To arrange for the loan of books or a Scope, at any time on: 01252 518256. OR (telescopes@farnham-as.co.uk)
FAS Loan Equipment
Again we have had a quiet Sun this year, BUT the new solar cycle has officially started, small spots are appearing. Perhaps 2021 will see the SPT more regularly out on loan to members.
A full inventory has been made this year of items held on FAS charge and, in the light of the present Covid19 restrictions, revised procedures are now coming into place. Remember, the Society has: Binoculars, Telescopes – both reflectors and refractors: ranging in size from 90mm to 250mm and the PST – all available for loan by members. Photographs and full details of all these instruments are on the society website.
FAS Library
The FAS Book list now consists of some 160 books. Regrettably the FAS library remains little used, with just a few books out on loan at anytime.
I ask members to look again at the Societies website to see if there is not something that you may find of interest.
The Alexander Observatory
A number of well attended outreach events took place at the Observatory before the Covid19 outbreak early in the year. Because of the present restrictions the Observatory is now closed to the general public until further notice.
The update of the Alexander Observatory Guidebook and the User Manual will be in 2021, once these restrictions are lifted.
Thanks
I must again thank John & Roberta Smyth and Andrew Collins for all their assistance in the Alexander Observatory.
Finally, I offer myself up for re-election as the Society’s Instrument Coordinator and Librarian for 2021.
After 16 years in this joint post I would however prefer a new Member to take on the Librarian role in the future.
- Andrew Collins – Outreach Coordinator.
Presented by Danny Thomas
This has been an interesting year and I am setting out a summary of our activities for those occasions where we were not defeated by the weather.
January
First up were Wrecclesham guides. I did the two groups on two separate days. The first group got to do some observing, whilst the second had a talk inside. Both were successful. The observing mainly included Orion’s Nebula as the Moon had just set whilst the second group totally enjoyed building a solar system.
February
Time for an old favourite – Deadwater Valley Trust in Bordon. We had a very full attendance of helpers at this event with two groups of over 20 adults and children resulting in a successful viewing session.
March
We had a group of cubs visiting the telescope with clear skies for a change. We were able to take in the Moon, Venus and even Orion’s nebula. The adults enjoyed the phases of Venus
An event was held at Woodlea school but there was poor attendance due to the weather despite agreeing to give a talk in such circumstances.
Another group of brownies at the telescope with good clear skies. The brownies were great and enthusiastic.
Sadly, that was the last event we ran as COVID-19 and lockdowns meant that observing, sharing telescopes and large groups were not viable.
Outreach Co-ordinator
It has, as always, been a privilege to represent you all doing outreach in our community. The unusual circumstances of this year have meant little opportunity for a full outreach programme and I do not see this changing until the autumn season next year at the earliest. To the extent that the society wishes to have outreach co-ordinator next year I put myself forward to serve again.
- Chris Reed – Secretary.
Good evening, I am Chris Reed. I have been the Society’s secretary since 2017, with a lot of assistance from other committee members. It is a role that probably suits me as it doesn’t require any great skill! It mainly involves organising meetings, preparing agendas and writing up minutes.
Additionally, I have been producing the society’s newsletter and usually get some impressive images from Mike Stutters, Steve Fox, Kevin Pretorius, Geof Lewis and Simon Kidd. If anyone has any suggestions for improvements to the newsletter or images, articles, hints and tips please let me know via secretary@farnham-as.co.uk or reed.chris@btinternet.com.
The newsletter, Facebook group “Farnham Astronomical Society” and our web site www.farnham-as.co.uk allow the Society and its members to share information, so if you have a stunning image, an interesting fact or a technical tip please share it via the newsletter or Facebook. Perhaps you have a question which can be posted on Facebook where someone will supply an answer.
If anyone would like to try their hand at either of these roles, then just let a committee member know or even volunteer for election, otherwise I am happy to continue in these roles.
- John Rees – Treasurer.
Headlines:
Proposed donation 2020 to ACC
Membership fees increase postponed for 2021. Guest rate unchanged.
2021 projection with meetings commencing June 2021 is a deficit
3. The Committee propose to postpone membership renewal until January 2022.
The normal business of the society has not been possible for most of 2020 and is unlikely to resume until later in 2021. Therefore the Committee plan to postpone membership renewal until January 2022.
The next three items required approval by the members which was obtained with a combination of Zoom voting option and Google Forms Voting.
4. The Committee is proposing that the society makes a donation to Aldershot Cricket Club’s (ACC) fund raising campaign.
The members approved the Committee proposal to make a donation 50% of the 2020 fees to the ACC fund raising campaign and to continue with 50% of the fee each month until meetings can resume.
5. The Committee is proposing that the Society purchase an annual subscription to Zoom.
The members approved the Committee proposal to purchase an annual subscription to Zoom for 2021.
6. Election of Committee Members.
There were no volunteers far any of the committee roles and the members approved the re-election of all the current officers. This does leave the Observing Coordinator role vacant until a volunteer can be found.
7. Any Other Business
Danny Thomas thanked various members for their contributions to the society during 2020.
- Roberta Smyth for still managing to recruit new members.
- Steve Baker for his observing and equipment guides.
- Kevin Pretorius for managing the online meetings, organising the speaker programme and administering the society’s Facebook page.
- Chris Reed for the monthly newsletter and observing notes.
- John Rees for looking after our interests with ACC (Aldershot Cricket Club).
- Andrew Collins for promoting the astronomy to organisations such as Scouts, Guides, Clubs and Brownies.
- Katherine Rusbridge for keeping the website supplied with interesting articles.
The committee members would also like to thank Danny for all his efforts behind the scenes. Maintaining the website, looking after our Observatory interests with the MOD and Grainger and our links with SAGAS (Southern Area Group of Astronomical Societies) and FAS (Federation of Astronomical Societies), etc.