Archive for the ‘Meetings’ Category

2005 Meeting List

Saturday, December 31st, 2005

Albert Einstein

2005

January 5th

Keith Tritton – “How Old Is The Universe”

February 2nd

Mike Stephens – “Einstein and Relativity – 100 Years In A Strange Universe”

March 2nd

Open Evening at Pendragon Primary School

April 6th

Antony Hewish – “The White Hot Universe”

May 4th

Alan Lawrie – “Secrets of Saturn V”

August 3rd

Ninth annual summer picnic

September 7th

Nick Achillios, Imperial College – “Magnetic Observations of Saturn During The Insertion Orbit of Cassini”

October 5th

Talks from Club Members

November 2nd

Ed Zanders and Lee Sproats – “The Sky Tonight”

December 7th

Peter Howell, Cambridge Astronomical Association – “Whistlers: Listening To The Earth’s Natural Radio Signals”

2004 Meeting List

Friday, December 31st, 2004

Earth seen from the Moon

2004 – 10th Anniversary of the Club

January 7th

Robin Catchpole, Institute of Astronomy – “From the Solar System To The Edge Of The Observable Universe”

February 4th

David Whitehouse, BBC – “The Moon – A Biography”

March 3rd

Monica Grady, Natural History Museum – “Voyage In Space And Time”

April 7th

Nik Szymanek, University of Hertfordshire – “Astronomical Imaging From Hawaii”

May 5th

Jonathan Shanklin, British Antarctic Survey – “An Astronomer In Antarctica”

August 4th

10th Anniversary Dinner at The Conservatory

September 1st

Derek McNally, ex UCL – “Between The Stars”

October 6th

Dave Eagle, Bedford Astronomy Club
Observing Evening

November 3rd

Neil Parker, Green Witch – “Arizona Sky Village”

December 1st

Dr Sarah Symons, Leicester University – “Ancient Egyptian Astronomy”

2003 Meeting List

Wednesday, December 31st, 2003

La Parma

2003

January 8th

Kevin Marshall – “From Technology To The Stars – And The Universe”

February 5th

Peter Howell – “The Sky Tonight”

March 5th

Mark Hurn, Institute of Astronomy – “The Story of Star Names”

April 2nd

Nik Szymanek, University of Hertfordshire – “Astronomical Imaging From La Parma”

May 7th

Lisa Wright – “Painting by numbers (galaxy formation)”

August 6th

Eighth annual summer picnic

September 3rd

Mike Stephens, PA Club – “Visitors From Earth”

September 19th

AstroQuiz

October 1st

Stephen Smartt, Institute of Astronomy – “Supernova Studies With The Hubble Space Telescope”

November 5th

Ed Zanders, PA Club – “From Eyes To Silicon Chips – A History Of Astronomical Imaging”

December 3rd

Bob Argyle, Institute of Astronomy – “Visual Double Stars And How To Observe Them”

2002 Meeting List

Sunday, December 15th, 2002

Artist's impression: Galileo probe

2002

January 9th

Derek Jones, Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge – “Longitude”

February 6th

Peter Howell and Peter Ingram, CAA – “The Sky Tonight”

March 6th

Club Open Evening – Robot building with OMEN

April 3rd

Talks from Club Members:

  • Fred Bastable “The Search For Planet X”
  • Mike Stevens “Where To Park In The Solar System”
  • Gordon Carter “Time”
  • Janine Eisegood “Pennies From Heaven – Gold”
  • Ed Zanders “The Kingston Pastures Observatory”
  • Janet Vialls “Messier Objects”
  • Georgio Rozario “The Leviathan of Parsons Town”

May 1st

Linton Guise, Bedford Astronomical Society – “Charles Piazzi Smyth”

August 7th

Seventh annual summer picnic

September 4th

Jerry Workman, Astronomical Society of Haringey – “The Galileo Mission To Jupiter”

October 2nd

Peter Howell and Peter Ingram, CAA – “The Sky Tonight”

November 6th

Monica Grady, Natural History Museum – “Strangers From Space”

December 4th

Peter Howell and Peter Ingram, CAA – “The Sky Tonight”

2001 Meeting List

Monday, December 31st, 2001

a space telescope

2001 Archive

January 3rd

Talks from Club Members

February 7th

Peter Howell and Peter Ingram, CAA – Demonstration Evening

March 7th

Club Open Evening
Prof. Colin Pillinger, Open University – “The Beagle 2 Project”

April 4th

Mike Leggett, Astronomy Lecturer and Writer &ndash “Neptune And The Outer Solar System”

May 2nd

Gareth Lloyd – “Stellarsphere”

August 15th

Sixth annual summer picnic

September 5th

Alex Barnett, National Space Centre – “The National Space Centre”

October 3rd

Peter Howell and Peter Ingram, CAA – “The Sky Tonight”

October 12th

AstroQuiz (Sawtry Methodist Church Hall)

November 7th

Bob Fosbury, Space Telescope Coordinating Facility – “The Next Generation Space Telescope And The Epoch Of Galaxy Formation”

December 5th

Peter Howell and Peter Ingram, CAA – “The Sky Tonight”

Professor Colin Pillinger – “The Beagle 2 Project”

Wednesday, March 7th, 2001

Colin Pillinger and Gordon Carter

Wednesday, 7 March 2001

Following is an excerpt from an article published in “Astronomy Now” in July 2001, describing Professor Colin Pillinger’s visit to Papworth:

Papworth Astronomy Club held their third open evening on Wednesday, March 7 in the splendid surroundings of the Bradbury Progression Centre, Papworth Hall. The even included a series of video presentations, a slide show by Keith Tritton entitled “Galaxies”, the opportunity to use a range of hands-on astronomy computer software, and a display of telescopes and accessories laid on by Green Witch from Cambridge.

This year, the special attraction was Colin Pillinger from the Open University, who demonstrated the British Beagle 2 Mars Lander, scheduled for launch in 2003. A capacity audience was enthralled by Prof. Pillinger’s talk about the search for life on Mars.

2000 Meeting List

Friday, December 15th, 2000

Artist's impression: Mars Direct

2000 Archive

January 5th

Dr Andy Robinson, University of Hertfordshire “Quasars – Monsters Of Deep Space”

February 2nd

Dave Eagle, Bedford Astronomy Club – “The Sky Tonight”

March 1st

Club Open Evening

April 5th

Neil Parker, Green Witch – “Cassegrains and Canaries”

May 3rd

Dr Ann Bonell, Leicester Astronomical Society – “Ladies Of The Night”

June

Astronomy Quiz

August 2nd

Fifth annual summer picnic

September 6th

Philip Dembo, Mars Society UK – “Mars Direct”

October 4th

Peter Howell, Cambridge Astronomical Association – Demonstration Evening

October 13th

Astronomy Quiz (Sawtry Methodist Church Hall)

November 1st

Paul Murdin, British National Space Centre – “Black Holes – An Update From Space”

1999 Meeting List

Friday, December 31st, 1999

astronauts

1999

January 1st

Dr Keith Tritton, PA Club member—“The Solar System”

February 3rd

Dave Eagle, Bedford Astronomy Club—“Introduction To The Night Sky – 2”

March 3rd

The first Club Open Evening, with Astronomy Roadshow

April 7th

Dave Eagle, Bedford Astronomy Club—“Introduction To The Night Sky – 3”

May 5th

Dr Barrie Jones, Open University—“Life In The Universe”

June 1st

Visit to The Mullard Radio Observatory, at Lord’s Bridge

June 2nd

Astronomy Roadshow—Visit of the Mobile Planetarium

June 4th

Annual AstroQuiz (Institute of Astronomy)

August 4th

Fourth annual summer picnic

August 11th

Visit to the CAA solar eclipse meeting

September 1st

Air Commodore Colin Foale—“How To Survive Being The Father Of An Astronaut”

October 6th

Dave Eagle, Bedford Astronomy Club—“Introduction To The Night Sky – 4”

November 3rd

Nobel Laureate Prof. Antony Hewish, Cambridge University—“The Pulsar Story”

December 1st

Dave Eagle, Bedford Astronomy Club—“The Sky Tonight”

Air Commodore Colin Foale—“How to Survive Being the Father of an Astronaut”

Wednesday, September 1st, 1999

Colin Foale and his diagram

Wednesday 1st September 1999

Papworth was delighted to welcome Air Commodore Foale who is the father of NASA astronaut Michael Foale. His talk was based on his recent book “MIR, Michael and Me”.

Using a drawing, Air Commodore Foale explained how the MIR Space Station was controlled and how in 1997 the station had major problems following a collision with a delivery craft. The routine of life on board the Space Station was also explained – eating, sleeping, exercising and performing scientific experiments. A lot of time is spent observing the Earth. Michael Foale has since been involved in servicing the Hubble Space Telescope.

Approximately 30 people from Papworth and the surrounding villages attended the talk.

1998 Meeting List

Wednesday, December 2nd, 1998

an observatory

1998

January 21st

Dr David Malin, Anglo/Australian Observatory—“A View Of The Universe”

March 4th

Night sky session

April 1st

Stan Trafford, Cambridge Astronomical Association—“The Night Sky And Your Camera”

May 6th

Night sky session

June 3rd

Peter Ingram and Brian Lister, CAA—“Spectroscopy – Is A Spectrum More Than A Squiggly Line?”

August 5th

Third annual summer picnic

September 2nd

Gordon Carter, PA Club member—“40 Years of NASA”

October 7th

Night sky session

November 11th

Dr Jasper Wall, Ex Director RGO

December 2nd

Dave Eagle, Bedford Astronomy Club—“Introduction To The Night Sky”