Annual General Meeting on 10th December 2019
Minutes.
1 Welcome by the President – John Price
The society was founded in 1971 and John has been a member since about 1972. Up until around 2010 the society had between 10 and 20 members, was much more informal with no minutes being taken at committee meetings and the only accounts records remain.
So, there is very little information about who spoke at the meetings only hints hidden within the expense column of the accounts. However, John does remember Patrick Moore coming to judge a junior painting competition and giving a talk at a meeting in 1977, though because Patrick did not like driving in the dark, he had to be picked up by one of the members.
Now things are much more formal with constitutions, meeting agendas and minutes, observing and outreach risk assessments, child protection policies, General Data Protection Regulations, etc. However, we still manage to retain a membership with a broad range of knowledge and experience from raw beginners to semi-professionals. Our monthly meetings are usually well attended with a wide variety of talks by both society members and external experts.
2 Officers’ Reports 2019
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Kevin Pretorius – Co-Chairman and Programme Secretary.
Hi everyone. I think most of you know me. I’m Kevin Pretorius. I organise the speaker programme for the society (a role I’ve been performing for over 10 years now) and for the past couple of years or so, I’ve shared the chairman role with Danny Thomas, an arrangement which allows us to both share the workload and to provide continuity to deal with matters when one or other of us is absent or busy.
Looking back over the year, the committee has explored new potential observing sites, considered ways to make the society, our meetings, and our observing nights more accessible and engaging for new members; it has been busy updating our GDPR policy and Welcome Pack; organised a trip to the Winston Churchill School planetarium, plus dealing with the day to day machinery of running the society – such as booking speakers, paying the bills, looking after the observatory, the library, the website, the newsletter, our facebook group, our membership, supporting public outreach events, negotiating permits with Alice Holt, dealing with everything from electrical safety testing, risk assessments, through to public liability cover, etc, etc.
It takes a lot of work to run a society, and I’d like to thank everyone on the committee for giving of their time and enthusiasm to help keep the society running, and to enable us to be the sort of organisation people want to be a part of.
In my own role as Programme Secretary, I’ve tried to be responsive to the diverse needs and interests of society members, mixing more introductory and practical material, such as Rory’s “Stars of Spring”, John Price’s “An observatory disguised as a Shed”, and William Joyce’s “Whistlestop Tour of the Solar System”, with more advanced material, such as David Lewis’ “Origin of the Moon”, Marina Barcenilla’s “Extremophiles”, Andrew Collin’s presentation on “the Solar Parker Probe”, and my own offering on “Galaxy Bulges”. I have no idea how to categorise John Axtell’s October presentation on Sputnik. It’s not often you get a talk which involves a goon show script, and it probably deserves a category of its own.
Next year’s programme is close to being finalised and has been published on the website. We have beginner-friendly talks on using apps for astronomy, and on how to observe Mars, we have thought-provoking talks on the uniqueness of the earth, and what that means for life in the universe, and what meteorites can tell us about planets which no longer exist in our solar system, and we welcome the return of Andrew Coates of MSSL, and Greg Smye-Rumsby of Astronomy Now, whose talks are always rich, information packed, not to be missed.
Yes, I’d be very happy to stand for re-election in my programme secretary role and to job-share the chairman role with Danny once again, if elected.
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Danny Thomas – Co-Chairman and Webmaster.
New articles have been published to the website during the course of 2019 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 continue. My thanks to Katherine Rusbridge, Kevin Pretorius and Steve Baker who continue to generate new articles and content.
There has been some technical effort required to maintain the website and I found a solution to the issue reported at the last AGM and installed a security certificate to prevent browser issues and maintain our**website s position in Google search pages. The challenge was more economic than technical, but fortunately I found a way to implement the certificate without adding significantly more cost to our hosting charges.
Having implemented GDPR in 2018 and gone through the major exercise of obtaining consents to the usage of personal data, our processes have been tested and refined during the course of the last year. New members now provide consent on joining and our GDPR policy was published on the website in March, to capture and document how we treat members’ personal data.
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.
Outside of my duties as Webmaster I have continued as the contact point for SAGAS and the society s contracts with the MOD and Grainger for the observatory and Alice Holt.
Unfortunately work commitments still 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 2020.
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Roberta Smyth – membership Secretary.
Good evening fellow members, I am glad to see you all gathered here once again, and once again. I hope you will find my report is interesting.
In December 2017, membership numbers were at ninety-one, and in December 2018, the number of members was ninety-two. In actual fact, many of you may have noticed me hunting through quite a long list of names at the start of this year, 2019, as it is very difficult to know who might and who might not, renew at the start of each year.
Sad to say quite a few members did not make a re-appearance this January or February, so that numbers initially fell to a level of seventy-five, and some sections of the list looked very threadbare, but I am pleased to say that in the last quarter of the year there has been a pleasing increase in new members, so that we are now a happy band of eighty-two.
I commend my report to you for your appraisal and once again by saying that I am happy to stand for another year, although on a mild note of caution, may I entreat you to pay your fees promptly next year in January or February if possible, because through an act of pure self-indulgence I will be absent for the March meeting, and am loathe to ask another committee member to shoulder the burden of prising you from your hard- earned.
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Eric Grieve – Librarian and Instrument Coordinator.
A reminder to members: At each meeting I place a Notice board with the full listing of FAS Books and loan equipment details, together with a small selection of the more popular books, at the back of the hall. Members may also request books titles or loan equipment at the monthly meetings. Or apply, between meetings, on the FAS Website which offers a direct link to me. To arrange for the loan of books or a Scope, you may find it easier to initially contact me at a meeting or at any time on 01252 518256. OR (telescopes@farnham-as.co.uk)
FAS Loan Equipment
Once again, we have a very quiet Sun this year – the PST has not been out on formal loan during the year.
Remember, the Society has: Binoculars, Telescopes- both reflectors and refractors: ranging in size from 90mm to 250mm and the PST – all available for loan. Full details and photographs of all these instruments are on the Societies’ website.
FAS Library
The 2019 spring book sale raised £4 for Society funds. 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 any one time.
Once again, I ask members to look at the Societies website book list or the notice board at the back of the Hall to see if there is not something that you may find of interest.
After 15 years in the post, I take this opportunity to ask if any member would be willing to take on the basic task of FAS Librarian. Perhaps someone else may be more able to encourage members to make use of this excellent facility. If you might be interested, please come and have a chat.
The Alexander Observatory
Andrew Collins has now joined the ranks of Observatory Key holders. He has been busy setting up a series of outreach visits by Scout/Guide groups this winter, all timed to a suitable Moon phase.
We have now installed a basic Red LED lighting system. Also, this year the Society purchased a 40mm eyepiece specifically use in the Observatory.
Steele’s Road crossing has now been reinstated; this provides us with additional safe car parking.
The Alexander Observatory Guidebook and the User Manual are to be updated this winter.
The Observatory received a level of publicity during 2019: A local paper reporter and photographer took our guided tour and published a good half page article in April. A follow up video also appeared on their website.
The National Public Heritage Open Day was held on Sunday 15th September & went very well. We were blessed by clear skies and had over 45 public visitors and 2 dogs in the afternoon.
Monday 11th November 2019: Transit of Mercury, The Observatory was opened to the general public for this event.
Regrettably I did not make it this time; but I look forward to the next transit in November 2032!
Thanks
I must once again thank John and Roberta Smyth and Andrew Collins, for their assistance throughout the year.
Finally, I offer myself up for re-election as the Society’s Instrument Coordinator and Librarian for 2020.
However, after 15 years I would prefer a new Member to take on the Librarian role in the near future.
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Andrew Collins – Outreach Coordinator.
This has been a busy year and I am setting out a summary of our activities for those occasions where we were not defeated by the weather.
January
Determined not to be put off by clouds we started the year with a session with Farnham cubs. The clouds did not part enough to view constellations, but they got to see the Moon for their astronomy badge. Also delighted to have some new faces supporting the event.
February
Finally blessed with the week of clear skies so had two great observing nights and talking about astronomy with the children. We used a new location – Calthorpe Park tennis courts made memorable by Gary climbing over the fences when the keys were not available.
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 highly successful.
We took a chance on clear skies with 3rd Farnham Beavers, but sadly it was not to be. Shame as Garners Field is a favourite location.
Steve Baker stepped in my absence for Rowledge Cubs with an excellent talk, but sadly not an opportunity for any observing.
March
Another new location in Frensham for some girl guides. Thank for to the volunteers as the feedback commented on our enthusiasm and knowledge.
November/December
To kick off the new season we have a visit to the observatory from some beavers, a school visit and a scout’s trip to Garners Field again.
2020
Outreach Coordinator
It is a privilege to be your representative in bringing astronomy to children, parents and the wider public. I am extremely grateful for the massive support you the members provide to these events. I hope very much that you will grant me the honour of another year in this role.
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Steve Baker – Observing Coordinator.
The lack of observing events this year has been deeply disappointing with only two events early in the year at Alice Holt and none at Bentley Playing fields. Neither of the Alice Holt events were well supported. This may be down to the weather. There were several occasions in the summer where the weekend weather forecasts were favourable right up until the Thursday/Friday but then changed to significant cloud.
I have obtained permission from Bentley Parish Council for FAS to use the Bentley Playing Field for observing sessions.
I have instigated “bite size” talks after the main presentation at our monthly meetings. Some of these have been quote popular. I would welcome you suggestions for topics.
I am happy to stand for re-election in 2020.
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Chris Reed – Secretary.
Good evening, I am Chris Reed. I have been the Society’s secretary for the last three years, with a lot of assistance from other committee members. As I have said previously it is a role that does not require any great skill or expertise. Mainly involving organising meetings, preparing agendas and writing up minutes.
Additionally, I have been producing the quarterly newsletter with the assistance of Steve Woodbridge’s sky notes, images from members such as Mike Stutters, Steve Fox and Kevin Pretorius and articles from Steve Baker and Eric Grieve. 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.
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John Rees – Treasurer.
John presented a summary of the accounts for the society and recommended no change in fees and an increased payment to ACC. The members approved the accounts.
3 Thank you to those working behind the scenes.
- John Rees presented Goz, the ACC barman, with a bottle of whisky as a thank you for all his efforts in organising the room and managing the bar.
- Roberta Smyth presented Lynne Watson and Joy Shenton with chocolates for organising the tea and biscuits at each monthly meeting and the AGM buffet.
- Chris Reed awarded an Amazon gift voucher to Steve Fox as a thank you for his articles and images for the newsletter during 2019.
- Chris Reed awarded an Amazon gift voucher to Katherine Rusbridge as a thank you for generating articles for the web site during 2019.
4 Changes to the Society’s Constitution.
Andrew Collins detailed the changes to the constitution which had been distributed to members on 13th November.
- Redefine a junior member as between 12 and 18 years old.
- Changes to committee roles including Outreach Coordinator and Co-Chair.
- The purpose of GDPR.
- Grant flexibility to the committee on New Member subscriptions.
- Minor changes to the Accounts to reflect the use of a savings account.
These changes were approved by the members.
5 Election of Officers and Committee Members.
There were no new volunteers for any of the committee roles and the members approved the re-election of all the current officers.
6 Any Other Business
None.
7 Buffet
The buffet was provided by Lynne and Joy with a delicious “Apollo 11” cake supplied by Madi and a chocoholics delight “Mercury transit of the Sun” cake by Roberta.
8 Observing if there are clear skies!
The evening was very cloudy so observing was impossible. However, Peter Wilcox displayed thin sections of various meteorites on a screen attached to his microscope. The microscope’s polarising filter provided fascinating views of chondrules in the stony meteorites and were much appreciated by many members.
Chondrules are tiny grains that originated in the Solar nebula and probably pre-date the formation of the planets in the Solar System.