The talk will provide a basic understanding of JWST and why it looks the way it does along with a look at some of the results obtained during the first year of science observations. John retired in May 2013 after over 30 years working in the space industry, mainly involved in spacecraft engineering and project […]

The Digital Telescope (DT) is a large array of small stationary telescopes which, in essence, produce a movie- like data stream of the entire visible sky.

This talk will take you on a tour of many popular night sky objects using images captured with smart phones and the latest Smart Telescopes, the SeeStar S50 and the Vaonis Vespera II.

A selection of short talks, some of which are audience participation via little quizzes.Note: The speaker will be presenting this remotely via zoom. - Meteorites and Craters- Astronomical Rogues- Bigger, more massive? Eris or Pluto?- Photographing Transient Astronomical Events Dr Keith Moseley FRAS, C Phys, M Inst P, Brief bio:Former Head of Physics, Monmouth School 1983-2015, […]

A summary of all the elements of the Drake Equation. What are their effects on the solution to the Equation.Simply put, What are the chances of life elsewhere in the Galaxy or even the Universe.

NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory was launched on 23 July 1999 by the Space Shuttle Columbia. Now in its 25th year of operations, Chandra continues to be an indispensable tool for expanding the frontiers of knowledge throughout astrophysics. Chandra's uniquely high (sub-arcsec) spatial, and spectral resolution have facilitated the deepest and sharpest images of the X-ray […]

Mark presents a talk on his visit to the Wabar Meteorite craters of Saudi Arabia. Bio: I have been an active amateur astronomer for many years. Originally from Keighley, West Yorkshire, I moved to Dorset with my wife in summer 2018, having spent the previous thirty years living overseas in Germany, Belgium, USA, Hong Kong, […]

After a very brief review of how telescopes work, we look at some of the existing telescopes, both visible and other wavebands, and consider why they are so big, what they can and can't see and what the telescopes planned for the next few years will deliver. NOTE: This talk has been moved from the […]

Due to the planned speaker being unwell, Doug has stepped in to present a talk on Lord Wrottesley. Lord John Wrottesley (Second Baron of Wrottesley) contributed to 19th‐century astronomy as an enthusiastic observer and as an effective administrator of scientific organizations.  He was educated at Corpus Christi College, Oxford and married Sophia Elizabeth, third daughter of Thomas Gifford in […]

NOTE: Lucie will be presenting this talk via Zoom, not in person at the University. Seeing a total solar eclipse is an experience that you never forget. For a brief moment in time, the extended atmosphere of the Sun becomes visible as the bright disk of the Sun is entirely covered by the Moon. Day […]

Beagle 2 was an extraordinary project in so many ways and like no other in terms of organisation and execution.  It was primarily looking for signs of extinct and/or extant life on Mars and was way ahead of its time in terms of the integrated science package.  It was remarkably small physically and had the […]

A talk given from the VLT on Paranal, what we do as a support astronomer working at the European Southern Observatory in Chile. Followed by a live showing of the control room, the telescope platform and with a bit of luck inside one of the telescopes using a tablet.

Gaia is a European Space Agency satellite that has been mapping individual stars in our Milky Way Galaxy since its launch in 2013. I will explain how its 3 trillion measurements of 2 billion stars is causing a revolution in astronomy. Science highlights will include the most recently discovered black hole (Gaia BH3) and how […]