Public talks

We meet approximately every two weeks for talks on astronomy and related topics. These talks are open to the public - no need to book.

After Easter, starting on Friday 2nd May 2025, our meetings will move to the small hall, Shirley Methodist Church, Eldon Avenue, CR0 8SD and will be held on the first and third Friday of each month. Our meetings will run, as now, from 7:30 – 9:30.

Shirley Methodist is within walking distance of Trinity School and is easily accessible by bus from East Croydon. There is parking on site but, if it is full, there is ample parking on nearby roads.

Programme

The dates for the rest of 2026 will be the 1st and 3rd Fridays of the month:

January 2nd & 16th, February 6th & 20th, March 6th & 20th.

We will not meet on Good Friday 3rd April.

April 17th, May 1st & 15th, June 5th (AGM) & 19th, July 3rd & 17th..

February 20th.

Graham's new toy.

Using a home made spectroheliograph to image the sun in narrow band light.

Ever since he first looked through a Hydrogen Alpha telescope at the sun, Graham has been interested in solar observing. The surface of the sun, and the prominences, are great to look at and notice how they change over an afternoon.

And solar observing has the benefit of being able to be done in the daytime when you can see what you are doing, it isn’t cold and it doesn’t get in the way of an early night.

But narrow band telescopes (such as the Coronado PST, or the Lundt solar telescopes) are expensive. They cost several hundred pounds – even several thousand pounds to get a good one.

The home-built spectroheliograph that Graham will demonstrate is no more expensive that the cheapest solar telescope but is so very much better. Graham will explain how it works and demonstrate some images which, he assures us, will match the detail and quality of images obtained from much more expensive equipment.

March 20th

Tonight we welcome back William Bottaci, who continues his series of talks about how the elements were formed.

Stellar evolution:
Stars evolve much like life forms - birth, life, and death. We look at the early stages of birth and life, specific processes, and with particular emphasis on the Sun. We also see how from early days we gained the amount of knowledge we now have; the tools, techniques, and understanding the principles behind our learning; a particular challenge as we're not able to go to the stars let alone probe their depths.

Location

The church is between Wickham Road and Eldon Avenue, but the entrance is in Eldon Avenue.

If driving from West Wickham turn right down Shirley Avenue then first left to Eldon Avenue.
If driving from Croydon or London Eldon Avenue is a turning on the left off the dual carridgeway.
If driving from New Addington go right at the roundabout into Wickham Road, then left into Shirley Avenue then left into Eldon Avenue..

There is a small parking area in the church grounds, otherwise park on the local roads (Barnfield Avenue, Eldon Avenue or Shirley Avenue for example).

These buses stop close by and all of them connect with East Croydon Railway Station and tram stop.

119: Croydon Airport to Bromley Catch the bus at stop E1

194: West Croydon to Lower Sydenham Catch the bus at stop E1

198: Shrublands to Thornton Heath Catch the bus at stop E1

466: Caterham-on-the-Hill to Addington Village Catch the bus at stop E3

If coming from East Croydon get off at Valley Walk. This stop is on the dual carriageway. Walk up the slight hill, left into Eldon Avenue, and the church entrance is on the right.

(Note that to go back to East Croydon you will need to go to stop M (named Upper Shirley Road) in Wickham Road and catch the 119, 194 or 198 )