Observing Variable Stars is a fun, rewarding and scientifically useful way to spend your time observing the night sky.  This talk assumes no prior knowledge of variable star observing, and briefly describes the type of variable star you might encounter when starting out, how to make the observation - either with the eye or electronic […]

Professor Don Pollacco (Warwick University) is the head of the Science Management branch of the PLATO (PLAnetary Transits and Oscillations of stars) mission consortium, scheduled for launch in 2024. The main goal of the mission is the detection of terrestrial planets at distances up to and including the habitable zone of bright, Solar-like stars. The […]

Mary McIntyre FRAS Mary is an Oxfordshire based amateur astronomer and astrophotographer who has had a life-long interest in Astronomy.Throughout history astronomy has been very male dominated. There have been many trailblazing women, such as Caroline Herschel, who have worked to change that, but in addition there were countless women working in astronomy before Caroline. […]

An outline of some key aspects of Messier’s life and achievements, an illustration and assessment of the nature, distribution and discovery of the various Messier objects in the sky, and a demonstration of how they display the form of the Milky Way above our heads.Steve

A talk on how astronomy has influenced Masonic Ritual, with an overview of Freemasonry, its history, structure and rituals, including astronomers and astronauts who were, or may have been, Freemasons.

Many great civilisations flourished in the ancient Mediterranean. This talk takes us on an astronomical journey to Egypt, Greece, Mesopotamia and the empires of Byzantium and Arabia. We will also visit Europe during the Renaissance. These were very varied civilisations, each with their own interpretation of the night sky. Our modern view of the stars […]

Noisy Data: Listening to astronomical observations

Paul Pope Memorial free public lecture. Space - The Fuel Cell Frontier.The story of the development of the Hydrogen fuel cell from the discovery of Hydrogen through to future prospects. This event is open to all but you need to register for a FREE ticket via Eventbrite. https://paulpopelecture2023.eventbrite.com

Peter's talk 'Imaging from Light Polluted Cities' is a look at how to image from urban sky glow using a scope and specialist Astro camera. This will include the reasons for choosing a cooled monochrome camera and filters, image calibration, noise reduction, image capture and processing. The talk will be illustrated with many images taken […]

An evening of short talks presented by Wolvas members. Roger Metcalfe: Binary Stars. Duncan Willis: Astronomical Navigation - The history and application of astronomical co-ordinates.

Following on from part one, this talk looks at the trailblazing women working in astronomy after Caroline Herschel, through the Victorian era and into the modern day. It covers some of the challenges women faced during this time period, particularly around education. Due to unforeseen circumstances, the planned talk for this date has been postponedWe are […]

Black Holes - are they really that bad? Black holes have got a pretty bad rap from films and books, being looked on as terrifying objects that suck spaceships and astronauts to their doom. Are they really that bad? How are they made? Can you escape from one?

In 1705, Edmond Halley liberated humanity from the belief that comets were portents of doom; two centuries later, when Halley’s Comet returned to its perihelion, newspapers, misguided theorists, and shameless con men managed to reignite that fear. When astronomers announced that the earth would pass through the comet’s tail, opportunists exploited human anxiety—often with fatal […]