| Abbreviation | BAA |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1890 |
| Legal status | Non-profit company |
| Purpose | Amateur astronomy |
| Location |
|
Region served | UK and Worldwide |
Membership | Amateur astronomers |
President | Janice McClean |
Main organ | BAA Council |
| Website | BAA |
The British Astronomical Association (BAA) was formed in 1890 as a national body to support the UK's amateur astronomers.
Throughout its history, the BAA has encouraged observers to make scientifically valuable observations, often in collaboration with professional colleagues. Among the BAA's first presidents was Walter Maunder, discoverer of the seventeenth century dearth in sunspots now known as the Maunder Minimum which he achieved by analysing historical observations. Later, this spirit of observing the night sky scientifically was championed by George Alcock, who discovered five comets and five novae using nothing more than a pair of binoculars.
The BAA continues to contribute to the science of astronomy, even despite modern competition from space-based telescopes and highly automated professional observatories. Modern digital sensors, coupled with techniques such as lucky imaging, mean that even modest amateur equipment can rival what professional observatories could have achieved a few decades ago. The vastness of the night sky, together with the sheer number of amateur observatories, mean that BAA members are often the first to pick up new phenomena. In recent years, the Association's leading supernova hunter, Tom Boles (President 2003–5), has discovered over 150 supernovae. He now holds the world record for the greatest number of such events discovered by any individual in history. [1]
More recently the BAA has worked increasingly with international partners. Modern communications allow astronomers in different time zones around the world to hand over the monitoring of variable stars and planetary weather systems to colleagues on other continents as the Sun comes up, resulting in a 24-hour watch on the sky. For example, the Association's Variable Star Section works closely with the American Association of Variable Star Observers, meanwhile its Jupiter Section works with a global network of planetary observers through the JUPOS collaboration.
The Association's longest standing publication is its journal, published six times a year and sent to all members. Once a year, the Association also publishes a handbook which comprises an almanac for the following year. Electronic bulletins are issued to give more immediate notice by email of discoveries, astronomical news and BAA meetings.
The Association operates a wide range of observing Sections which specialise in particular branches of astronomy, welcoming observers and astronomy enthusiasts of all abilities in a spirit of collaboration and mutual help.
It also founded and supports the Campaign for Dark Skies, a UK-wide campaign against excessive light pollution.
In 2022, after seventy-nine years of leasing office space from the Royal Astronomical Society, in Burlington House, Piccadilly, London the association moved out. [2]
In October 1890, the BAA was formed to support amateur astronomers in the UK. In many ways it is a counterpart to the Royal Astronomical Society - which primarily supports professional observers - and the two organisations have long shared the same premises. The idea for this organisation was first publicly proposed by Irish astronomer William H. S. Monck in a letter published in The English Mechanic on 12 July. [3]
Playing a significant role in the founding of the Association was English astronomer E. Walter Maunder, with the help of his brother Frid Maunder and William H. Maw. The first meeting of the Association was held on 24 October 1890, with 60 of the initial 283 members in attendance. [4] Initially it was decided to run the association with a provisional 48-member Council [5] that included four women: Margaret Huggins, Elizabeth Brown, Agnes Clerke and Agnes Giberne. [5] [6]
The society formed several observing Sections for specialised topics in astronomy. Elizabeth Brown, possibly the only woman in England at the time to own her own observatory, became Director of the Solar Section. [7] The Association was presented with or bequeathed various astronomical instruments, but lacked the funds to build their own observatory. A total of 477 instruments were acquired during the first 117 years since the Association was founded. [8]
In addition to members making independent arrangements there have been several more or less officially organised expeditions to observe several total solar eclipses in various parts of the World. These include:-
The Association held monthly meetings in London, but also established branches to cater for members who could not attend London activities and desired to meet in their own areas.
The first of these was the Northwestern Branch which served members in the Northwest of England, centred on Manchester. [21] The Branch was formed in 1892, in 1903 it seceded from the BAA to form the Manchester Astronomical Society. [22]
In 1891, a group of amateurs in Australia began discussing the idea of setting up branches of the BAA in their own country. What would become the New South Wales Branch was established in 1895 [23] and would be the only one to survive for more than a brief period. This branch became the second oldest astronomy organisation in Australia [24] and is still in existence. It is an affiliate organisation now called Sydney City Skywatchers to better reflect its location and membership.
A West of Scotland Branch was established by an inaugural meeting held on 23 November 1894, to be based in Glasgow. [39] In 1905 authority was granted to enrol members from the whole of Scotland, but it was not until 1937 that the name was changed to "Scottish Branch". In 1954 the Branch seceded from the BAA to form the Astronomical Society of Glasgow.
In 1896 an East of Scotland Branch was formed. This Branch was dissolved due to lack of support on 3 October 1902.
In 1897 a second Australian Branch was formed by 13 members living in Victoria. At the London AGM of 1907 the President noted that "the Victoria Branch appears to be in a moribund condition".
The Victoria Branch was re-established in 1951 (as 'The Victorian Branch'), but only lasted until 1963.
In 1901 at a meeting of the Birmingham Natural History and Philosophical Society it was proposed to form a Midland Branch of the BAA. Support proved to be less than had been envisioned and there are no reports of any activity after 1903.
What would become the BAA Western Australia Branch started as the Western Australian Astronomical Society in 1912. When difficulties were encountered in the mid nineteen-twenties Prof. Ross highlighted the advantages of restarting within the BAA. The inaugural meeting was held on 29 March 1927. However support was still lacking and there is no recorded activity after September 1929. [51]
Sir Joseph Norman Lockyer was an English scientist and astronomer. Along with the French scientist Pierre Janssen, he is credited with discovering the gas helium. Lockyer also is remembered for being the founder and first editor of the influential journal Nature.
Sir Frank Watson Dyson, KBE, FRS, FRSE was an English astronomer and the ninth Astronomer Royal who is remembered today largely for introducing time signals ("pips") from Greenwich, England, and for the role he played in proving Einstein's theory of general relativity.
Edward Walter Maunder was an English astronomer. His study of sunspots and the solar magnetic cycle led to his identification of the period from 1645 to 1715 that is now known as the Maunder Minimum.
Andrew Claude de la Cherois Crommelin was an astronomer of French and Huguenot descent who was born in Cushendun, County Antrim, Ireland. He was educated in England at Marlborough College and Trinity College, Cambridge. After a spell teaching at Lancing College he found permanent employment at the Royal Greenwich Observatory in 1891. He joined the Royal Astronomical Society in 1888 and was its president from 1929-1931. In 1895 he joined the British Astronomical Association and was president from 1904-1906 and directed its comet section 1898-1901 and 1907-1938.
William Frederick Denning was a British amateur astronomer who achieved considerable success without formal scientific training. He is known for his catalogues of meteor radiants, observations of Jupiter's red spot, and for the discovery of five comets. Outside astronomy, as a young man, Denning showed prowess at cricket to the extent W G Grace invited him to play for Gloucestershire. However Denning's retiring nature made him decline the offer.
A transit of Mercury across the Sun takes place when the planet Mercury passes directly between the Sun and a superior planet. During a transit, Mercury appears as a tiny black dot moving across the Sun as the planet obscures a small portion of the solar disk. Because of orbital alignments, transits viewed from Earth occur in May or November. The last four such transits occurred on May 7, 2003; November 8, 2006; May 9, 2016; and November 11, 2019. The next will occur on November 13, 2032. A typical transit lasts several hours. Mercury transits are much more frequent than transits of Venus, with about 13 or 14 per century, primarily because Mercury is closer to the Sun and orbits it more rapidly.
Leslie John Comrie FRS was an astronomer and a pioneer in mechanical computation.
Nathaniel Everett Green FRAS was an English painter, art teacher and astronomer. He professionally painted landscapes and portraits, and also gained fame with his drawings of planets.
The Reverend Thomas Henry Espinell Compton Espin or T. H. E. C. Espin was a British astronomer. His father Thomas Espin was Chancellor of the Diocese of Chester and his mother was Elizabeth.
William Sadler Franks was a British astronomer.
Mary Adela Blagg was an English astronomer and was elected a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1916.
Annie Scott Dill Maunder was an Irish-British astronomer, who recorded the first evidence of the movement of sunspot emergence from the poles toward the equator over the Sun's 11-year cycle. She was one of the leading astronomers of her time, but because of her gender, her contribution was often underplayed at the time. In 1916 she was elected to the Royal Astronomical Society, 21 years after being refused membership because of her gender.
Reverend John Mackenzie Bacon, FRAS was an English astronomer, aeronaut, and lecturer.
Arthur Robert Hinks, CBE, FRS was a British astronomer and geographer.
Mary Acworth Evershed was a British astronomer and scholar. Her work on Dante Alighieri was written under the pen name M.A. Orr.
Alice Everett was a British astronomer and engineer who grew up in Belfast. Everett is best known for being the first woman to be paid for astronomical work at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, when she began her employment at the observatory January 1890. In 1903 she was the first woman to have a paper published by the Physical Society of London. She also contributed to the fields of optics and early television.
Reginald Lawson Waterfield was a British hematologist known for his work in amateur astronomy, specialising in astrometry and the photography of comets. He was elected to the British Astronomical Association on 25 November 1914 and to the Royal Astronomical Society on 10 November 1916. Both elections being at the proposal of W H Steavenson. Waterfield served as Director of the British Astronomical Association Mars Section from 1931 to 1942 and its president from 1954 to 1956. For his work in astronomy he won the 1942 Jackson-Gwilt Medal. After World War II he had to use a wheelchair due to polio. The minor planet 1645 Waterfield is named jointly for him and his cousin William Francis Herschel Waterfield (1886-1933), who was also a member of the British Astronomical Association and Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society.
Charles Thomas Whitmell was an English astronomer, mathematician and educationalist.
Aloysius Laurence Cortie was an English Jesuit astronomer. He served as director of the Stonyhurst College Observatory and contributed to the study of the Sun, including through observing solar eclipses.
George Frederick Chambers was an English barrister, amateur astronomer and author, who wrote a number of popular books about science.
'2009ij' in August 2009 ... number 125 or '2009io' a few nights later
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