Another year, another RAS diary…
It’s December 19th 2022 and my 2023 RAS Diary has arrived in Ireland, this time with an added Brexit bonus of a customs declaration!

The diary part of the RAS diary, being I suppose intended for academics, actually runs from October to December the following year. In previous years it has arrived in time to use it for Semester 1 but for the last three years it hasn’t arrived in the post until December, meaning that I couldn’t use the first three months in the new diary. The heavy delay of the diary is matched by that of the RAS house journal Astronomy & Geophysics which usually takes a couple of months to reach Ireland. I notice that this year’s wasn’t even sent out from Burlington House until 7th December…
Apparently about a quarter of all Fellows of the Royal Astronomical Society (including myself) are located “overseas”. Those in far-flung places presumably get everything even later than I do here in Ireland.
This year’s diary is a much brighter orange colour than the picture suggests. I’ve included a picture here along with various others from over the years.



Although many of my colleagues seem not to use them, I like old-fashioned diaries like the one above. I do run an electronic calendar for work-related events, meetings etc, but I use the paper one to scribble down extra-curricular activities such as concerts and sporting fixtures, as I find the smartphone version of my electronic calendar a bit fiddly.
December 19, 2022 at 12:14 pm
I received mine, in Wales, on 7th November.
December 19, 2022 at 12:16 pm
Did it have a customs declaration?
December 19, 2022 at 1:25 pm
No, there was no need for a customs declaration even though it was posted overseas (to Ynys Môn).
January 3, 2024 at 11:45 am
[…] haven’t received a Royal Astronomical Society diary this year, which I’m sad about as it has been a bit of a tradition. According to other sources, however, today (Wednesday 3rd January 2024) at approximately 00.38 […]