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BASIL April 2026

The front cover shows photos from the Wales & West Spacefest, 7 Mar 2026, held at Aerospace Bristol.  Coordination of the event was led by the Bristol Astronomical Society together with the Bath Astronomers and the Cardiff Astronomical Society. The front cover shows a talk in progress in the lecture theatre and the BAS volunteers who helped run the event on the day.

Key topics for the month include:

• Imaging opportunity on 20 April: Ganymede and Callisto transit events on Jupiter.
• 22 April: peak of the Lyrid meteor shower.
• It's a good month for observing Venus and Jupiter.
• Observe the 'Pink Moon' and the Crater Plato - best observed just after the First Quarter Moon or near Last Quarter.
• 35 DSO observing targets are listed for the month.
• Constellation of the month is Ursa Major, which is well placed to observe, including its many spectacular DSOs.

Members' Images this month are:

• Lunar images by Andrew Grasemann.
• Seestar S50 images of IC417 and galaxies in Leo by Andrew Grasemann.
• Seestar S30 images of IC405 and galaxies in Ursa Major by Stephen Price.

Society News includes:

• Donation of a 10-inch Dobsonian mounted Newtonian telescope by Jim Smith.
• The roles of the new BAS Committee for 2026/27.
• Talk by Dr Lucy wright on "Titan's Crooked Atmosphere".
• Allan McCarthy receives the FAS Outreach Award for 2026.
• BAS outreach at the RWA Cosmos Exhibition.

The BAS programme of meetings to November 2026 can be found on p30.