General Information
These reports appear in the last Thursday of the month (before our monthly meeting held on the first Thursday of the month) editions of the 'Clacton Gazzette' and 'Essex Evening Standard' in their 'Neighbourhood News' sections
40 Years of CDAA by Colin John
In our first meeting of the New Year held on 8th January 2009, Colin John gave the CDAA 40th Anniversary Lecture. It was on the subject of, appropriately enough, the 'History of CDAA' He presented about 260 photographs. Using these he was able to highlight many of the society's activities and events held over the last 40 years. One major undertaking was the building and construction of the CDAA's observatory sited in the grounds of the Clacton High School. Sadly, this no longer exists as, after a few years of use it was damaged beyond repair by vandals (a shot-put was thrown through the dome and expensive eyepieces from the telescope were stolen). More positive events were visits to the Winchester Astronomy Weekends, a visit to Clacton by Sir Patrick Moore and club meetings where professional astronomers gave lectures.
The Next Meeting
At our next meeting held on 5th February, we have a Special Guest Speaker - Tom Boles. He will give a presentation entitled 'Discovering Supernovae'. It will be held as usual at the 'Friends Meeting House' in Granville Road, Clacton. Please note that new members and visitors are always welcome at these meetings. Visitors are very welcome but are charged a fee of £2.00.