Public TalksMonthly Talks on Astronomical Topics of Interest |  |
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Monthly Public Talks
Our popular monthly talks are for members and the public to learn about some aspects of astronomy. These talks are aimed at ‘middle of the road’ level so the talk will appeal to members of the public with no prior knowledge, newcomers as well as those who have been interested in the subject for a number of years.
Topics from imaging the night sky, through to Cosmology, we invite speakers from all over the UK and the World.
We make a small charge on the door of £3.00 to cover our expenses. Unless otherwise stated, there is no need to book, simply turn up on the evening.
Our local venue:
Clanfield Memorial Hall,
South Lane,
Clanfield
Waterlooville
Hampshire
PO8 0RB
If you wish to view this location on MultiMap please click here
All talks start at 8:00pm unless otherwise stated
Wednesday, 8th December 2021
ESA PLATO Mission: Planetary transients and oscillation of stars
A talk by Don Pollacco
Cost: There is no charge for a Zoom event
We are delighted to add an extra talk this month. HAG member Don Pollacco will discuss the ESA Plato mission (Planetary transients and oscillation of stars). The PLATO mission is designed to detect Earth- Sun analogues in the local universe, so that these planets can be characterised in detail. Don will also talk about the ground based follow up observations that will be needed to meet the mission's aim
s.
Don Pollacco has held the position of Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Warwick since 2012, having held a similar role at Queen's University, Belfast. He was the co-founder and PI of the WASP (Wide Angle Search for Planets) Project which has been the most successful ground-based transiting Exoplanet discovery facility with some ~190 discoveries to date.Don is also PLATO Science Management Co-ordinator.
This will be a free Zoom meeting. If you want to attend, please email lindy.bryant@hantsastro.org.uk for your ZOOM link and "doors" will open at 7.30pm for a 8pm start.
Friday, 10th December 2021
Science of Santa
A talk by Dr Steve Barrett
Cost: No charge for members or non-members for a Zoom meeting
A short tongue-in-cheek 'stocking-filler' talk for the festive season. Is Santa Claus real? Can the myth be reconciled with scientific reasoning?
Our speaker tonight, on a return visit, is Dr Steve Barrett who is a Senior Researcch Fellow in the Department of Physics of Liverpool University, where his research interests span all aspects of imaging, image processing and image analysis. This includes medical imaging (biophysics), scanning probe microscopy of atoms, molecules and surfaces (nanophysics), microscopy of earth materials (geophysics) and astrophotography.
This will be a free Zoom meeting. If you want to attend, please email lindy.bryant@hantsastro.org.uk for your ZOOM link and "doors" will open at 7.30pm for a 8pm start.
Friday, 14th January 2022
Time in Einstein's Universe
A talk by Colin Stuart
Cost: No charge for members or non-members for a Zoom meeting
Fancy following in the footsteps of Marty McFly? In this talk you’ll discover the story of the greatest time traveller in human history, a man who has done it and lived to tell the tale. You’ll also discover how you likely rely on time travel every day of your life.
Not that it is easy to achieve. You can move through the three dimensions of space in any way you like. But you’re normally restricted to moving one way through time – forwards, at the steady rate of one second per second. It takes a significant effort to travel through time in any meaningful way, but as our technology improves it may become commonplace.
Colin is an award-winning astronomy author, writer and speaker who has talked to over half a million people about the universe, including schools, the public and businesses. My nineteen books have sold more than 400,000 copies worldwide and been translated into 21 languages. I’ve written over 200 popular science articles for publications including The Guardian, New Scientist, The Wall Street Journal and European Space Agency.
Due to Covid restrictions, this talk may be held via Zoom - changes to that status will be confirmed here if you want to attend, please email
lindy.bryant@hantsastro.org.uk
for your ZOOM link and "doors" will open at 7.30pm for a 8pm start.
Colin Stuart; image credit Colin Stuart.net
Friday, 11th February 2022
Appley Bridge meteorite - The Space Rock that Hit Lancashire
A talk by Russell Parry
Cost: No charge for members or non-members for a Zoom meeting
Join Russell Parry presenting the fascinating story of the fall and find of the Appley Bridge meteorite in 1914 as told through newspaper reports and archive documents of the time.
It tells the story of the confusion with enemy Zeppelins, the confiscation of the meteorite by the police and its subsequent release for analysis.
The presentation includes many previously unseen photographs of the meteorite and images provided by various organisations around the World.
Russell has appeared on several TV and radio programmes talking about the Appley Bridge meteorite, has presented talks on several voyages on Cunard's Queen Mary 2 and at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.
