Membership

Membership of the society is open to all.

You do need:

  • To be interested in astronomy
  • Friendly
  • Curious
  • Enthusiastic

You don’t need to:

  • Be an expert in telescopes, the night sky, sciences, astrophotography or optics.
  • Own a telescope

Benefits

  • Join our astronomy club to connect with like-minded individuals who share your passion for the stars. Whether you’re interested in deep-sky observation, planetary studies, lunar and solar astronomy, or visual and photographic work, you’ll find others who share your interests.
  • As a member, you can borrow telescopes, eyepieces, and other equipment to experiment with various setups before making a purchase or an upgrade.
  • Additionally, our club features a remarkable 20” computerised reflecting telescope housed in a dome at a Dark Sky Discover Site. Members have access to this telescope for both visual and photographic projects.
  • Our extensive astronomy library offers a plethora of books for loan.
  • Attend members’ observing nights and observing sessions after our monthly talks. Share the enthusiasm of a group of astronomers looking at the night sky, moving from telescope to telescope and seeing what everyone is looking at. 
  • You can also contribute to our open evenings and outreach efforts, witnessing the awe of newcomers as they view Jupiter or the Orion Nebula for the first time.
  • Members should keep an eye out for our newsletter, Extra Terrestrial, for the latest astronomy news and members’ articles and photographs.

Fees

The current costs are:

  • Family Membership (two adults and children under 18 years):  £22 per annum
  • Single Adult Membership: £18 per annum
  • Junior Membership (under 18 years):  £5 per annum

Fees are due on 1st January. If you join after June, fees are 50% for the remainder of that year.

Join Us

You can join us at our regular meetings or an open evening. If not, you can contact our membership secretary using the form below and he will send you an email copy of the membership forms. Please feel free to ask any questions and we’ll try to help.

Renewal

You can renew at any of our meetings, by bank transfer, or Paypal (although for this method we do ask for  £1 extra for Paypal’s processing fees)

Membership Forms

We require a standard membership form, but additionally:

  • A GDPR form. This is a separate signed form to get your informed consent on how we protect and use the small amount of information we store about each member. See privacy.
  • A Gift Aid form. We are a registered charity, so if you are a UK taxpayer, we can claim back the tax you have paid on your subscription.