Nicholas Booth – Mars: The Clearest View
OnlineWith three new missions heading to Mars, Nicholas Booth will discuss our changing perceptions of the Red Planet. For the first time in forty years, NASA will be looking directly towards life - and Nick will tell the story of how people have thought they have discovered life in recent years. He will set the ... Read more
Dave Eagle – Out of the Darkness – Pluto, New Horizons and Ultima Thule
OnlineA historical look at our lost planet and all the latest results from the fantastic mission of NASA's New Horizons encounter with Pluto and Ultima Thule.
Doug Bickley – Voyager: The Interstellar Phase
OnlineThe story of the Voyager missions. Both spacecraft have now reached interstellar space and continue their journey through the universe. This talk will take you from the planning stages through to their current status and position. Buckle up, it's a long ride.
Linda Manas – The History of the Calendar
OnlineLinda looks at calendar developments from the ancient Metonic Cycle to the early Roman and Julian calendars and discusses methods of calculating the date of Easter Sunday from the advent of Christianity to Gregorian reforms and the Computus.
Julian Onions – Galaxies: One Gigayear At A Time
OnlineWhat are galaxies, how are they classified, how are they formed, what we understand about their lives, and how many pretty pictures can I fit in one talk.
Mary McIntyre – Reflection, Refraction and Excitation
OnlineThe Hunt For Atmospheric Optical Effects - Mary has been passionate about hunting for atmospheric optics for many years. In this talk she will show us lots of the common things seen from the UK, plus some more exotic phenomena, from arcs and sundogs to noctilucent clouds and aurora.
Mark Townley – Cycles on the Sun: Space Weather & the Earth-Sun Environment
OnlineMark Townley looks at how activity on the sun varies through time and the implications for us all on Earth.
John Pitchford – Dr David Morgan’s Project and RETRAM
OnlineDr Morgan and RETRAM are both working on the Recognition and Trajectories of Meteors using alternatives to Graves, Brams and Iper. This talk is an introduction to this topic and takes an historical approach to Radio Astronomy and the use of Passive Radar. You will meet the musical ‘Cats’ and the ‘Terminator’ on the way!
Russell Parry – The Appley Bridge Meteorite
OnlineThe fascinating story of the fall and find of the Appley Bridge Meteorite in 1914.
Mark Gibbons – Black Holes
OnlineFrom being theoretical curiosities predicted by mathematics, to objects we now have direct observational evidence of: black holes. They have a surprisingly wide-ranging effect on the structures we see in the Universe. We have some idea about what goes on inside a black hole, and a better idea what goes on around one. This talk examines how we first ... Read more
Mike Frost – Isaac Newton and The Surrey Pumas
OnlineAn offbeat look at Newton's theory of gravity - featuring hollow Earths, counter-Earths Trojan asteroids, Kirkwood gaps, Lagrangian nodes, the three-body problem, and those mysterious beasts rumoured to haunt Surrey playing fields and Bodmin Moor. Already delivered on two continents!
Paul Pope Lecture: Chris Lintott – The Crowd and the Cosmos
OnlineWolverhampton Astronomical Society is proud to present it’s annual free public talk, the Paul Pope Lecture. This year we are delighted to welcome Chris Lintott, co-presenter of the BBC’s Sky at Night program to talk to us about The Crowd and the Cosmos. Astronomer Chris Lintott explains how you could help astronomers sort through galaxies, explore the ... Read more
Paul Fellows – Children of Another Sun
OnlineIt is only in the last twenty years that we have been able to prove that the Sun is not unique in having a family of planets. This talk takes up the story of the discovery of planets beyond the solar system and described how we have gone about tracking down planets orbiting other stars ... Read more
Damian Hardwick – Inventor, Investigator and Innovator: The life of Sir John Herschel
OnlineThis talk looks back at the life of one the true greats of nineteenth century astronomy. An astronomer who was an inventor, he also investigated scientific problems, and found solutions as well as being an innovator and pioneer.
Paul Money – Why Are There No Green Stars?
OnlineWe often look up at the night sky and our first impression is one of white stars until we realise a few are actually coloured. Astro images clearly show coloured stars but one things stands out as being absent: Green stars. In this talk Paul takes a look at how we see colour, why we ... Read more
Robin Hague – Skyrora: Making space sustainable
OnlineRobin Hague is the Head of Launch at Skyrora
Andy Briggs – How to photograph a Black Hole: the Story of the Event Horizon Telescope
OnlineFREE PUBLIC TALK In 2019, humanity's first image of a black hole was revealed to the world. Join Andy Briggs as he reveals exactly how the image was acquired by the Event Horizon Telescope, and the technological challenges involved in producing what is undoubtedly one of the most iconic scientific images of all time. Andy ... Read more
Dr Steve Barrett – The ABC of Galaxy Evolution
OnlineWhat are the three factors (the ABC) that determine how galaxies form and how they grow? A = Accretion – Galaxies were formed by matter accreting; B = Black Holes – Supermassive black holes are at the centres of galaxies; C = Collisions – Galaxies grow by colliding and merging.