August 2026
Dear All,
August brings a welcome turning point for stargazers across the UK as the prolonged twilight of late spring and mid-summer finally gives way to rapidly expanding windows of true night. After months of short observing sessions limited to midnight hours, the sky darkens significantly earlier each week, allowing for far more comfortable and prolonged sessions at the telescope. August skies are historically celebrated for their warm, pleasant atmospheric stability, which frequently offers superb transparency and steady astronomical seeing conditions. The late-summer night sky carries a distinctively deep, velvety texture, inviting both casual visual observers and seasoned astrophotographers to dust off their equipment and step outside into the garden to enjoy the shifting celestial panorama under increasingly cooperative skies.
We are still awaiting the NOVA in Corona-Borealis so keep your eyes peeled and on the sky!
Don't forget to send us any images you have taken or post them on the Facebook Group!
On Thursday 6th August, we have an external lecture by:
Dr Tyler Bourke about the Square Kilometre Array
About Dr Tyler Bourke:
Dr Tyler Bourke is a Project Scientist for the Square Kilometre Array Organisation, which is building the world’s largest radio telescope, where his area of focus with the SKA is on the Cradle of Life, and Our Galaxy, covering exoplanets and SETI. He has over 26 years of professional experience and more than 100 refereed scientific publications in the world of Astronomy. Starting off his career as a Research Assistant for the Australian National University, Tyler has worked on various projects including the Spitzer Space Telescope Legacy Programme, Chandra X-Ray Observatory and the Submillimeter Array, before moving to the US to work for the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory at the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics. Tyler’s scientific interests lie in the area of Galactic star formation, young stars, and the dust and gas clouds from which they form, within our Milky Way galaxy, and he has been hooked on astronomy since the 3rd Grade!
Look forward to seeing you all!
Warm Regards,
Walsall Astronomical Society
