BASIL December 2025
The front cover shows our Outreach Coordinator, Allan McCarthy, who has won the Federation of Astronomical Societies’ Graham Bryant Memorial Award, which is a national award recognising significant contributions to the advancement of amateur astronomy by an individual. Many congratulations to Allan for winning this prestigious national astronomy award! See pages 32-33 for more information […]
BASIL November 2025
The front cover shows an image of the Orion Nebula, taken by BAS member Darren Brown. The image shows the intricate structure, colours and amazing dust clouds of the nebula. Key topics for the month include: The Orionid meteor shower in November. Imaging opportunity: Comet 24P/Schaumasse crosses the Beehive Cluster (M44) on 8-11 November. Observe […]
BASIL October 2025
The front cover shows an image of M81, Bode’s Galaxy, taken by BAS member Chris Lee. Post-image processing shows the exquisite structure and colours of the spiral galaxy. Key topics for the month include: The Draconid and Orionid meteor showers in October. Observe the Harvest Moon in October and craters Ptolemaeus, Alphonsus and Arzachel. 13 […]
BASIL September 2025
The front cover shows photos from the BAS Summer BBQ in August, including watching a sci-fi movie in the barn. Key topics for the month include: The September ε-Perseid meteor shower will be active from 5 September to 21 September, producing its peak rate of meteors around 9 September. Total lunar eclipse at moonrise on […]
BASIL August 2025
The front cover shows the dark matter distribution of a Milky Way mass halo in a Lambda-cold dark matter (LCDM) cosmological simulation (see p23 for more info). Key topics for the month include: The Perseid meteor shower will be active from 17 July to 24 August, producing its peak rate of meteors around 12 August […]
BASIL July 2025
The front cover shows BAS President Prof. David Southwood with BAS Vice Presidents Prof. Diana Worrall and Mel Rigby, at the Presidential Address on 20 June 2025. Members’ recent astrophotography has focused on the Moon: Strawberry Moon by Nigel Wakefield. Rupes Recta – the Straight Wall (or the Sword) by Chris Lee. ‘Thor’s Hammer’ by […]
BASIL June 2025
The front cover of BASIL shows an image of the Whirlpool Galaxy (M51, NGC 5194) taken by BAS member Robin Arnold. The quantity and quality of members’ recent astrophotography has been outstanding, as follows : Noctilucent clouds by John Huntley. M81 and M82 by Mikail Fahad. The Bubble Nebula (NGC 7635) by Robin Arnold. 40 […]
BASIL May 2025
The front cover of BASIL shows a photo of the recent visit by BAS members to the Herschel Museum in Bath and more photos and details of the visit are included. It’s again been a very busy month for members’ astrophotography and this month includes: Globular Cluster M3, by Jane Clark. Jupiter and Mars, by […]
BASIL April 2025
The front cover of BASIL shows a photo of the aurora, taken by BAS member Fiona Lambert in Venabu, Norway. It’s been a very busy month for members’ astrophotography and this month’s BASIL includes: The Sun, by Roger Steer. NGC 1514 and a group of Deep Sky Objects by Chris Lee. The Orion Nebula (M42) […]