Mexborough & Swinton Astronomical Society

Welcome to Our Website

Mexborough & Swinton Astronomical Society (MSAS) is a registered charity its objects being:

"the advancement of education for the public benefit in astronomy and its associated sciences."

Formed in 1978 with just five members and meeting in members front rooms over the years the society has grown in to a group of about fifty members who meet every Thursday evening.

The Society also own and runs it’s own observatory at nearby Hoober Stand. The J. A. Jones Observatory is named after one of our members and houses a recently upgraded set of equipment. This includes a Paramount ME, 14 inch Celestron and a 5” Takahashi TOA Telescope. This gives society members an excellent set of instruments to observe the night sky.

The society’s weekly programme consists of lectures and talks given by a wide range of visiting speakers and members as well as training where more experience observers pass on their skills to new ones and where skills can be honed and updated.

We now meet in our long term home at the Swinton Working Men’s Club where we have our meeting room with an extensive library containing a wide range of reference material, general astronomical literature and historical books. In addition we hold several telescopes, including a solar scope for members to loan. We are also the proud owners of an upper stage of a Skylark research rocket!

The society has always been committed to encouraging an interest in astronomy with the general public. The public are welcome to come to any of our meetings and we open our observatory during the winter months and in the summer months on a Sunday afternoons for solar observing. Over many years we have developed many partnerships to bring observing opportunities to everyone.

These include working with Rotherham Metropolitan Council Parks Department, The Forestry Commission, and the RSPB to run observing sessions.

The Society is registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales as charity 1064103. The Society is a member of the Federation of Astronomical Societies.

We were formed in 1978 and have been working to promote astronomy since then. If you would like to know more about how we began and how we have developed over the years, take a look at Our History.

Serving Swinton, Kilnhurst, Mexborough, Wath upon Dearne, Bolton upon Dearne, Hooton Roberts, Thrybergh, Harlington, Barnburgh, West Melton, Rawmarsh, Conisbrough, Park Gate, Hickleton, Greasbrough, Aldwarke, Rotherham, Wombwell, Clayton, Marr, Wath, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, and beyond.

We became a registered charity in 1997. We are an unincorporated association governed by our Constitution & Rules and managed by an Executive Committee. Copies of our recent Annual Reports are available online or can be downloaded.