The Dundee Astronomical Society was formed in 1956 and is affiliated to both the British Astronomical Association BAA (to whom we send observations) and to the Scottish Astronomers Group SAG. In addition the Society has a number of honorary members throughout the country.

The Society possesses a number of telescopes which members may arrange to borrow .The Society also has a library available for members at the Mills Observatory. By coming along to meetings people have the opportunity to meet others interested in astronomy as well as enjoy the varied lecture syllabus. The list of speakers includes professional and amateur astronomers.

Weather permitting some members occasionally meet for informal observing at a dark site outside Dundee. Any member is welcome to join in these activities.

We now have a complete list of dates, speakers and subjects for our 2009 summer meetings. Click here for full details.

14th - 17th July 2009, 1pm – 5pm.

2009 has been designated as the International Year of Astronomy (IYA). The aim of IYA is to use local events to spread the awareness of astronomy to the general population so that the place of the Earth in the universe is more widely understood. The Sun is vital to life on Earth and has been watched and revered from ancient times. It is, however, a very ordinary star when compared to many others in the night sky and will have a finite life span. With more than 5 billion years of fuel left, we need not worry at present, but it will eventually burn out with disastrous consequences for the Earth. This event will explain the birth and life of the Sun in a talk entitled 'Enjoy the Sun – it Won't Last Forever!' and, given favourable conditions, the Sun will be projected so that visitors will be able to see any spots on its surface should they be present. The Sun will also be viewed in Hydrogen alpha light which will show solar prominences. Great care should be used when observing the Sun and precautions for observation with be demonstrated.

Talk by Ken Kennedy to be given at 2pm on Tuesday 14th July and Thursday 16th July entitled 'Enjoy the Sun – it Won’t Last Forever!'

The Society has made good progress so far with installing an observatory at the SCRI Invergowrie. With the help of SCRI and a contractor a 9 foot square concrete base has been laid for a very modest outlay. Labourers/site supervisors Mike Fenwick and Ken Kennedy filled a hole with two tons of metal (stones) and then the contractor poured a substantial concrete slab. The next stage is to dismantle the dome at it's existing location and transport to the new site for re-assembly. Following a period of time to ensure the dome is weather proof we will install the 11 inch SCT. We hope to complete this over the summer.

Click here to view the full history of the project update reports.