CDAA

Welcome to the Clacton and District Astronomical Association web site. We are a small informal group, meeting on the first Thursday of the month. CDAA is the only Astronomical Society serving the Tendring and Colchester districts.

Monthly Meetings

These meetings are held at "Friends Meeting House", Granville Road, Clacton-on-Sea at 7.30 p.m. on the first Thursday of each month (except August). The meetings conclude at 9.45 p.m. Find our Meeting Hall

In addition to the main events, there are also Monthly 'Night Sky' , 'Astro-News' presentations, Seasonal Constellations and a regular raffle.

We are a friendly bunch of amateurs where new members and visitors are always warmly welcomed. Annual membership is currently £15 adults, £6 juniors (under 18 years of age). This covers admission to all of the monthly meetings

Please note that although visitors are very welcome, they are charged an entry fee of £2.00

Outreach

As part of the lottery funded 'Outreach' programme, we offer speakers for local clubs, societies and schools. A small fee may be required to cover travel expences etc. Click the 'Contacts' tab to get in touch with an appropriate representative of our society. Outreach activities are outlined by clicking the 'Events' tab.

Find out more...

Our club secretary David Pugh, should be able to answer most queries about the Association itself, whereas I, Bob Leon can answer questions relating to the web site.

• The full meeting programme is listed on the “Events” tab but alternatively is available here to download in the following download options.

  Download Programme Pamphlet

  • Word 2007 format
  • Word 97 format
  • Adobe Acrobat (PDF) format

Special Guest Speaker

Solar Observing

by Peter Meadows

Peter is the solar editor of The Astronomer magazine and his solar observations are also submitted monthly to the solar section of the British Astronomical Association. Local Newspaper Report He has been solar observing for over 20 years and uses a modest 80mm refractor with the safe projection method to produce disk drawings. To help in analysis of these disk drawings, he has written three Windows® 95/98/2000/ME/XP/NT/Vista software programs, including Helio Viewer and Helio Creator.

Active Galaxies

by Mike Haynes

As the title suggests, Mike will discuss Active Galaxies Local Newspaper Report where the powerhouse for such activity is thought to be provided by the presence of massive black holes at their centres.

Nebulae

by Bob Leon

Intended as a non-techical presentation, Local Newspaper Report Bob will discuss the formation , types and appearence of nebulae.

Special International Guest Speaker

Observatories in South-West Finland

by Stina Ojala

Stina Ojala is our first ever International Guest Speaker. Local Newspaper Report She will be talking about the many world class observatories found in South-West Finland

Meet the Neighbours Part I by David Pugh

The Local Group Galaxies

David will give us a tour of the local galactic neighbourhood. Local Newspaper Report It will be a fully illustrated talk with some video content.

The Milky Way by Mike Haynes

Our Chairman Mike Haynes presentations have always been of a professional standard and very informative. Local Newspaper Report This time he plans to cover our own Milky Way Galaxy and no doubt, will throw up some surprises.