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
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 7:45pm unless otherwise stated
Friday, 8th February 2019
The search for Planet Vulcan
A talk by Paul Fellows
Cost: £3 for non-members
This talk looks at the science and scientists involved in the prediction, search and reported discovery of planet Vulcan - a planet that never was.
We will look into just why it was predicted, and ask “Why did so many people firmly believe that it must be out there?” and “Why had it not been seen before?”. The talk covers a mixture of the observations and the theory of this tale over a period of 100 years, culminating of course in the story of how eventually of it needed a genius to come along and resolve things and revolutionize all of physics to explain what was going on.
Then we will take a more light-hearted look at other examples of mistaken discoveries and surprises in the history of the moons and planets. Did you know for instance that the Earth has two moons?Paul Fellows is chair of the Cambridge Astronomical Association and co-presenter of the public observing season at the University of Cambridge leading the live outdoor shows every week (or giving indoor presentations when the clouds get in the way!). Either way these attract audiences of 200+ on a regular basis and are aimed to appeal to people of all levels from the complete beginner who wants to know where to start, yet hopefully adding something even for the more knowledgeable. He is also a regular speaker on board Queen Mary 2 for Cunard Line.
However he has always retained an interest in astronomy since building his first telescope aged 14 and experiencing the “wow” moment of seeing the rings of Saturn for the first time. He has been stargazing for some 40 years and has his own private observatory where he images the sky, taking pictures of galaxies, clusters, nebulae and planets and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society in 2006. Many of his own images will appear in his talks.
Paul Fellows is an old friend of Hampshire Astronomical Group, having been a member back in the days when we were the Portsmouth Astronomical Group.
Image from lithographic map of 1846
Friday, 12th April 2019
Gravity, dark energy and the dance of galaxies with Euclid
A talk by Dr Seshadri Nadathur
Cost: £3 for non-members
Friday, 10th May 2019
Multimessenger Astronomy
A talk by Dr Stephen Webb
Cost: £3 for non-members
Almost everything we know about the universe came from observing electromagnetic radiation.- charged cosmic rays,
- neutrinos,
- and gravitational waves.
By combining signals from the four different messengers we can gain new insights.
This talk looks at how multimessenger astronomy recently shed light on a decades-old puzzle, and it looks forward to what we might learn next.
Friday, 14th June 2019
Ten Ways the Universe Tries to Kill You
A talk by Stephen Tonkin FRAS
Cost: £3 for non-members
From gamma-ray bursts to asteroid impacts, an overview of cataclysmic events. This light-hearted but scientifically robust approach incorporates a lot of fundamental cosmological processes, from stellar evolution to galactic interaction. It is appropriate for both beginning and intermediate amateur astronomers.
Friday, 11th October 2019
Wonders of the Universe: A TripAdvisor Top 10
A talk by Professor Brad Gibson
Cost: £3 for non-members
The Universe never ceases to amaze… over the course of an hour, we’ll wander through the darkest (and brightest!) recesses of the cosmos, stopping for visits at the most jaw-dropping sites imaginable. Rather than re-visit the popular tourist destinations, we’ll go off the beaten path, and focus our travels on some of the lesser-known wonders of the Universe. Join us for a rollicking adventure, led by your tour guide, Professor Brad Gibson, Director of the University of Hull’s E.A. Milne Centre for Astrophysics, delivering this year's Ray Bootland Memorial Lecture.
Professor Gibson joined the University of Hull in 2015 and established the E.A Milne Centre for Astrophysics. One of the country's most influential scientists, his 300 publications have amassed 20,000 citations from his peers. His research was named a Top 10 News Story of the year by National Geographic; with the Hubble Space Telescope, he determined the expansion rate of the Universe, for which his team was awarded the Gruber Prize in Cosmology. Brad discovered that our Milky Way is cannibalising its neighbours, the Magellanic Clouds. A world-renowned expert in using supercomputers to model the distribution of chemical elements throughout the Universe, Gibson's team are Hull's research stars.
Friday, 8th November 2019
The Consequences of Contact with ET
A talk by Martin Griffiths
Cost: £3 for non-members
We have been searching deliberately for extraterrestrial signals since the 1960’s. Although so much thought, effort and technology has been invested in the search for ETI, little consideration has been given to the consequences of such contact and how discovering that we are not alone in the universe will affect our society and culture here on Earth. This talk will cover some of the most important aspects of our human response to finding life elsewhere in the cosmos.
Our speaker tonight, Martin Griffiths, was a founder member of NASA’s Astrobiology Institute Science Communication Group, active between 2003-2006 and managed a multi-million pound ESF programme in Astrobiology for adult learners between 2003-2008. He has been an adviser to several museum projects on the interface between science and science fiction, including exhibitions on the science of Star Trek and the Science of Aliens.
Martin is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society; a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy; a member of the British Astronomical Association; the Webb Deep-Sky Society; the Society for Popular Astronomy, The Astronomical Society of the Pacific and the Astronomical League. He is also a local representative for the BAA Commission for Dark Skies.
