Wells & Mendip Astronomers

28/08/2026

Maximum partial eclipse almost with us

14/08/2026

We were the catalyst for a truly amazing Wells community event on Wednesday evening. Probably 1500+ people joined us on the Cathedral Green to enjoy together the experience of the deepest partial solar eclipse in Somerset since 1999. We offered awe-inspiring views through solar telescopes, broadcast onto tablets and projected onto displays for people to gather around, and we shared eclipse glasses amongst the crowds - the expressions on faces young and old were wonderful. We sold space-themed cakes, had stickers for children (and grown-ups!), and chatted astronomy all afternoon. It was an unforgettable experience and thank you so much to all who helped in the sweltering heat - you know who you are! And when it was all over and we were packing up our kit alone once again on the Green, we noticed there wasn't a single piece of rubbish left behind - well done visitors and people of Wells!

11/08/2026

Just one more sleep until the greatest Somerset partial solar eclipse since 1999. Join us at the Wells Cathedral Green.

Everyone is invited to our Partial Solar Eclipse viewing party on the afternoon/evening of Wednesday 12th August. Just pop along the the Cathedral Green in Wells to see us.

Weather permitting, come and watch the UK’s best partial solar eclipse since 1999 with the Wells & Mendip Astronomers.

There will be safely filtered telescopes, eclipse glasses and astronomers to guide you.

Children’s activities and experts on hand to keep all the family entertained.

We’ll be there from 3pm for solar observing before the eclipse starts at 6:17pm

This free event is weather dependent. Even the best telescopes can’t see through clouds!

30/07/2026

Everyone is invited to our Partial Solar Eclipse viewing party on the afternoon/evening of Wednesday 12th August. Just pop along the the Cathedral Green in Wells to see us.

Weather permitting, come and watch the UK’s best partial solar eclipse since 1999 with the Wells & Mendip Astronomers.

There will be safely filtered telescopes, eclipse glasses and astronomers to guide you.

Children’s activities and experts on hand to keep all the family entertained.

We’ll be there from 3pm for solar observing before the eclipse starts at 6:17pm

This free event is weather dependent. Even the best telescopes can’t see through clouds!

29/07/2026

Please consider signing the petition to save Jodrell bank as a modern working radio observatory and get politicians to discuss why only astronomy, high energy and nuclear physics are the sciences being told to suffer when budgets are apparently tight... however record increases elsewhere.

SAVE JODRELL BANK – Protect a national treasure of science, heritage and inspiration

15/07/2026

The Campaign for Dark Skies have updated their website https://cfdsnetwork.org/ to advise you on light pollution issues and help direct you on helping to fight it locally.

You can Join the CfDS Network to keep up to date with the latest news.

Our community is losing something precious - the stars. Many nights, they are no longer visible above our towns and villages.

15/07/2026

Wells & Mendip Astronomers own Dr Ben Sutlieff is co-lead in a new exoplanet discovery - the lightest exoplanets ever observed from Earth at only 2.4 Jupiter masses and it's only 63 light years away. Find out more at: https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2609/

A team of astronomers have discovered a third planet orbiting the star Beta Pictoris. The new planet, Beta Pictoris d, is 100 times fainter than Beta Pictoris b — the first planet discovered in the same system — and is among the lightest exoplanets ever to be imaged from the ground. After spotting the planet using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT), the team found it had been hiding in archive observations spanning more than a decade.

“This was a serendipitous discovery,” says Ben Sutlieff, co-lead of the study published today in The Astrophysical Journal Letters and astronomer at the University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom. “We initially wanted to look more at a known planet in the system, Beta Pictoris b, to see how it changed over time,” he adds. However, when the team went to analyse their images of the system, they noticed something else, separated from Beta Pictoris b, that led them down an entirely new path.

Credit: ESO

Music: Stellardrone - To The Great Beyond.
Written by: E. Elkington.
Edited by: V. González
Footage and photos: ESO, L. Calçada, M. Kornmesser, C. Malin, P. Horálek

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeU_tE6yaz8

Astronomers have discovered a third planet orbiting the star Beta P...

15/07/2026

Dame Maggie Aderin will be appearing in Wells Festival of Literature in October talking about her new memoir.

Dame Maggie Aderin was inspired by TV animation The Clangers from the age of three and always dreamed of going into space.

She became a space scientist, presenter of The Sky at Night, and was knighted in the 2024 New Year's Honours list for her services to science education.

Her memoir Starchild is an account of her struggles, her determination and a lesson in never giving up on your dreams.

Full details will be on the website from the beginning of August and in print from 10th August.

Public Ticket Sales start 24th August. Just visit https://wellsfestivalofliterature.org.uk/