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The article presents a report on the observation of Venus transit on January 8, 2004 in Egypt. Around 300 transit chasers flew to the Red Sea resort of Sharm el Sheikh for a guaranteed view of the event. The author reports that the central part of the transit progressed slowly which gave him plenty of time to walk round and see what other equipment was being used. He even had time to cross the road to visit the famous astronomer Nigel Evans at the next-door hotel where he had set up his own private roof-top observatory.

The article reports on the discovery of the comet C/2009P1 by astronomer Gordon Garradd in Australia on August 13, 2009. It observes that the comet brightens slowly as it moved through the southern skies, and it continues its northerly track throughout 2010 and emerged from conjunction with the Sun for the second time to become visible in Aquarius. Garradd describes the comet as a tailless object with an approximately circular coma of diameter 15 inches.

The article reports on the discovery of comet, designated C/2011 W3, by amateur astronomer Terry Lovejoy in Brisbane, Queensland on November 27, 2011. It determines that the comet was a member of the Kreutz group of comets, which are presumed to have come from a single parent object and all of the group follow a similar orbital path. It predicts that the comet will pass a mere 180,000 kilometers from the solar surface during its perihelion passage on December 16, 2011.

The article reports on the transit of Venus, one of the planets of solar system on June 8, 2004. It passes directly between the Earth and the Sun only rarely, due to the relative inclinations of the planets orbits. Before June 8 last year, there was no-one alive who had seen such a transit, for the previous one occurred on 1882 December 6. The whole of last year's event was visible, weather permitting, from almost all of Europe and from the whole of the British Isles. Many local astronomical societies arranged hugely successful public viewing sessions, and elsewhere groups of friends came together with telescopes and refreshments to savour the occasion.

President Guy Hurst, opened the fifth Ordinary Meeting of the 113th session of British Astronomical Association, and asked Dr. Nick Hewitt, secretary, to read the minutes of the previous meeting, which were duly approved. Mr. Hurst was happy to ask the audience to confirm the election of 238 new members who had joined the Association. The President then said that the second Observers' Workshop, which was held as part of the recent Winchester weekend, had been a great success with over 120 attendees.