Crawley Astronomical Society – Annual General Meeting
Hello fellow stargazers,
Our next monthly meeting on **Friday 17th October** is our annual **AGM!**
We will be providing Zoom access to the meeting for our members who can’t make it in person – see details below.
This is when we come together and discuss what we hope to do in the coming 12 months and select a new committee.
It’s very important that as many of you as possible attend our AGM so you can have a voice in the planning for the coming year!
It’s your Society/Club, not the committee’s! 😊
The process is that the current committee will all step down and we are keen to see some new faces on the committee.
So if anyone else would like to volunteer for any of the Society’s roles:
• Chair
• Treasurer
• Secretary
• Outreach Secretary
• Programme Secretary
• Social Media and Webmaster
• Membership Secretary
… now is the time to say so!
We also welcome your ideas for outreach to friends, family and the wider public, ways of increasing our membership,
attendance at meetings and fund-raising!
The Speaker tonight
Our very own **Kabir Jami** will finally be giving his long-awaited talk on **Dyson Spheres**.
A Dyson sphere is a hypothetical megastructure that encompasses a star and captures a large percentage of its solar power output.
The first modern imagining of such a structure was by Olaf Stapledon in his science fiction novel *Star Maker*.
The concept was later explored by the physicist Freeman Dyson in his 1960 paper *“Search for Artificial Stellar Sources of Infrared Radiation.”*
In this presentation, Kabir will explore the concept of a Dyson sphere and its possible use in finding other intelligent beings.
Our MEETING PLAN
Teas, Coffees, Biscuits and chat! 7.00 for a 7:30 meeting start.
Zoom link: https://tiny.cc/caszoom
• Introduction and Welcome
• Annual Reports from the Chair, Treasurer, Outreach and Programme Secretaries
• Appointment of committee members
• Confirm the annual membership fee
• Discussion of the future plans of the society (outreach, membership, meetings, fund-raising)
• Observatory news – StarLab projects and future plans
• The Evening’s Talk (Kabir Jami – Dyson Spheres)
• Any other business
NEXT EVENTS
Here are our upcoming events for the remainder of the year:
• **Thursday 10th October (Zoom Workshop)** – *Choosing Your First Telescope*
A round table discussion to help beginners select the right instrument for their observing interests.
• **Friday 14th November (Zoom Workshop)** – *Filters in Visual and Imaging Astronomy*
Explore how different filters can enhance your observing and astrophotography results.
• **StarLab Inauguration (Date TBC)** – *Refreshed StarLab Opening*
We will celebrate the refurbishment of our observatory dome! (The 26th Sept and 3rd Oct sessions were cancelled due to weather.)
• **Friday 28th November (StarLab, 7pm)** – *Special Saturn Night*
Observation evening dedicated to Saturn and its moons, weather permitting.
Stay Connected
Keep an eye on the *Viewing Tonight* WhatsApp group for last-minute updates and outreach announcements.
More details and photos on our website:
https://crawleyas.co.uk/meetings/
You can also find videos of some of our previous talks on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/@crawleyastronomicalsociety5232/videos
Hope to see you there!
Regards,
**Steve Cookson**
Chair, Crawley Astronomical Society