Format

Weekend format (physical event)

Note that each year the format varies slightly depending on speakers and activities planned but the following is a provisional guide to HAW.

HAW begins with arrival and registration from 5pm followed by the Friday evening meal around 6:30pm. The first talk of the weekend is the “William Fox Memorial Lecture” in honour of the founder of HAW and begins after the welcome and introduction at 8:30pm.

From 2015 the venue will now close and be locked at 11:00pm but if the sky is clear then anyone who has brought a telescope can set it up in the grounds of the Village Hall. Most observing lasts until around midnight.

Saturday has a busy schedule. This varies slightly from year to year but usually involves 2 morning talks up to an hour in length each before we stop for a buffet lunch. The Saturday afternoon session begins at 2:00pm with 2, hour long talks finishing the afternoon session off with the customary Observations Showcase where anyone can show off their best pictures taken since the previous HAW.

The evening meal takes place at 6:30pm and the final talk of the day takes place at 8:30pm. If skies are clear then observing may take place on the same basis as Friday night.

Sunday sees the final session starting again at 9am with up to three talks, 2 full hour long talks and an occasional ‘Astro Short’, usually of 20 or 30 minutes.

A photocall to commemorate the astro weekend usually takes place in one of the Sunday morning breaks. This is the 2019 photoshoot.

Both the Final Saturday talk and Sunday concluding talk are given by the renowned Dr Allan Chapman of Wadham College, Oxford.

The Astronomy Weekend finishes with the closing remarks and then a buffet lunch at 1pm.

Note that the above is only a provisional guide and that the event organisers retain the right to change the format /booked speakers if circumstances warrant.