Dear all



Birmingham Astronomical Society is delighted to welcome David H Levy
to our City from 7 -11 March and invites you to come along to hear:



A Nightwatchman's Journey:  My Adventures as a skywatcher and comet
discoverer over half a century
A talk by renowned comet hunter David H Levy - co-discoverer of Comet
Shoemaker-Levy 9, the comet that collided spectacularly with Jupiter
in 1994.

Sunday 8 March, 2009
3.15 pm
Thinktank Theatre
Adults £4, children and concessions £2

Seating is limited so booking is essential. Please contact Gill
Pilfold (gill.pilfold@...).

About Dr David Levy:
"I was on the way to my high school French Oral exam in October 1965
when I decided that I wanted to begin a search for comets.  Although
I began the search on December 17 that year, it was not until 1984--
19 years or 917 hours at the eyepiece later-- that I discovered my
first comet.  Twenty-one finds later, I still feel that comets are
more than just targets to be catalogued. Thanks in part to one co-
discovery, Shoemaker-Levy 9, we know more about the role that comet
collisions have played in the origin and evolution of life on this
planet. I am still searching for comets both visually and with an
automated CCD program. This talk will be about my observing career
and how my childhood fascination with the night sky led to a highly
satisfying time under the night sky"

Thinktank also houses a 70 seater digital planetarium for those of
you who have not visited the venue before. See:
http://www.thinktank.ac/PlanLanding.asp?
section=28&sectionTitle=Planetarium  for more details. Why not make a
day of it?
Thinktank is located within Millennium Point, Curzon St, Birmingham
(not far from Aston University).
See: http://www.thinktank.ac/page.asp?section=000100020001  for map.



I look forward to hearing from you!



Kind regards,

Gill

BAS

Dear All,

The 12th "Patrick Moore" lecture (www.talkandtelescope.org.uk)

  "Mirror images, antimatter and time reversal" by Prof Peter Kalmus
OBE

OPEN TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC

The talk starts at 7:30pm on Thursday 4th Dec Poynting Physics S02
(LLT) Birmingham University.
Snacks and tea in the coffee lounge from 7pm before the talk If
clear, sky viewing with telescopes with the help of Astrosoc members
after the talk

Talk synopsis:
We explore, without mathematics, the three symmetries implied in the
title. These are important in science, particularly in particle
physics. At the microscopic level, the laws of mechanics and
electromagnetism appear to be perfectly symmetrical, but the symmetry
is broken by the weak interaction, the force that allows the Sun to
shine. We explain how symmetry breaking could help us to avoid being
annihilated by a science-fiction antimatter alien from another world.
Again at the microscopic level there is a small asymmetry between the
forward and backward directions of time. On larger scales however the
direction of time is crucial, and time-reversed systems generally
lead to absurd situations.

Speaker Bio:
Peter Kalmus has carried out experiments at accelerators in the UK,
USA,Germany and CERN. He has taught physics from A-level up to
postgraduate courses. He received the Rutherford Medal for his
contributions to the discovery of the W and Z particles, which
provided the experimental evidence that electromagnetism and the weak
interaction were aspects of the same force. He has also received the
Kelvin Medal, and the European Physical Society Outreach Prize.

This series of talks is funded by STFC http://www.scitech.ac.uk/,
(PublicUnderstanding of Science grant), and is organised by the
School of Physics and Astronomy http://www.ph.bham.ac.uk and the
Astronomical Society of UoBAstroSoc http://www.astrosoc.org.uk

Hello all,

I have just got back from an FAS Council meeting in London at the RAS.

This year's Convention in Cambridge was a great success and it's time
to choose a venue for 2009. There have been a few suggestions for a
new venue, but Cambridge is a strong candidate. If anyone has an
excellent idea for 2009, say so now - please!

Has anyone got plans for IYA 2009 events yet?

Birmingham AS is planning to get David Levy [of Shoemaker-Levy 9]
over from the US for a few days in March 2009.

The IYA regional group funding scheme is going to be extended for a
few more months. If you have an idea that will help our regional
group be more active and cohesive, you can apply for up to £200 to
help fund it. Please bring any ideas to the group. Applications need
to be made to the Council on behalf of the group, individual
societies are not likely to be successful in this scheme.

Dave Evetts
MidFAS & MSS

Forwarded from AstroSoc at Birmingham University:


Dear All,

Our next public talk is to take place on Thursday 21st Feb.

The 9th "Patrick Moore" lecture
www.talkandtelescope.org.uk

Dr Martin Hendry (University of Glasgow)

"Did we really land on the Moon?"

OPEN TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC

The talk starts at 7:30pm on Thursday 21st February
Poynting Physics S02 (LLT)

Snacks and tea in the Study lounge from 7pm before the talk

If clear, sky viewing with telescopes with the help of Astrosoc
members after the talk

Talk synopsis:

Did Neil Armstrong really walk on the Moon? Almost 40 years on from
Apollo
11 a surprising number of people believe that Armstrong's famous "One
small step" was an elaborate hoax, filmed in secret here on Earth.
Conspiracy theorists point to a range of "evidence" to support their
claim: waving flags, strange shadows, no stars in the sky, deadly
solar
radiation. In this talk, using real Apollo video footage and a series
of
simple demonstrations, we will take a closer look at the science
behind
"moon hoax" claims, and ask whether we really did land on the Moon.


This series of talks is funded by STFC http://www.scitech.ac.uk/,
(Public
Understanding of Science grant), and is organised by the School of
Physics
and Astronomy http://www.ph.bham.ac.uk and the Astronomical Society
of UoB
AstroSoc http://www.astrosoc.org.uk)


For more information about our outreach activities visit:
www.talkandtelescope.org.uk