AstrotalkUK – Amateur astronomy in the UK

Astrophotography: Terry Platt from Starlight Express talks about his early days of vidicon and photo multiplier tubes. Terry describes how his passion in astronomy in the 60s resulted in Starlight Express.
About 6 years ago, Steve Chambers came up with a nifty way to rewire a Phillips Toucam webcam so that it could be used by astronomers. Something that cost well under £100 and it could still be used for non Astro purposes as well. Details of the postings were available and still are on the web. It was a mini revolution in low cost astrophotography. Steve has now moved on to bigger and better things with ArtemisCCD

Jonathan Maron in his role as the marketing manager for astronomy cameras at The Imaging Source, describes some of the features of this relatively new source of cameras for astrophotography.

David Ratledge has been observing for decades and is one of the most experienced astrophotographers in the country. He is also the chairman of Bolton Astronomical Society and the editor of Digital Astrophotography – The State of the Art . I spoke to him, via the telephone so excuse the audio quality as he prepared retreat for quiet break .. and no doubt some astrophotraphy.

 

 Episode 4 : Astrophotography [34:15m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

David Levy recounts the momentous event of July 1994 and talks about his current preoccupations. Did you know he has his own pod cast called letstalkstars.

David Paul talks about the Campaign for Dark Skies which was established in 1989, what progress has been made and how the amateur astronomy community can still contribute.

Alison Gibbings describes what students do when not attending lectures, no they’re not in the pub. They have got themselves organised take a look at UKSEDS. The website does require an update though.

 

 Episode 3 : Astrofest 2008 Part 2 [28:25m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Astrofest is a unique event for amateur astronomers for the UK and Europe. Keith Cooper, Astronomy Now’s editor provides some background to how and when it started.

Nik Szymanek an accomplished astrophotographer shares his experiences of capturing some spectacular images. See some of them on his website.

Dr Allan Chapman talks about the tradition of amateur astronomy. He identifies some of the key figures from the past and speculates on its future. Read more about Allan on Wikipedia.

 

 episode2 [28:35m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download