Archive for the ‘News’ Category
Return to the Vinter Room
Tuesday, April 26th, 2011
That’s not the title of a movie sequel, but the news that we will be returning to the newly re-furbished Vinter Room for our May meeting!
Many thanks to Kevin and Bonita Ward at the Conservatory for their hospitality over the last few months.
February Meeting Reminder
Sunday, January 30th, 2011
Don’t forget that the February meeting is this week, Wednesday 2nd February. Mike Nichols will give a talk called "Astro Navigation in Aviation". Mike learnt to navigate by the stars when he was in the RAF (before GPS was invented!) and he will describe the history and techniques of astral navigation.
Please note that the venue for this (and next month’s) meeting will be the function room of the Conservatory, Chequers Lane, Papworth Everard (see the map above). As usual we will start at 7.30pm.
Venue for February and March meetings
Friday, December 31st, 2010
Because of the refurbishment of the Vinter Room, please note that our February and March meetings will be held in the function room of the Conservatory, Chequer’s Lane. The location of the April and May meetings will be confirmed nearer the time and posted on the Meetings page, where you can always check the details of the next meeting and find a write up of each meeting after the event. We’ll also continue to post reminders closer to the date on the Club News RSS feed.
Astronomical Calendar
Sunday, December 19th, 2010
A new astronomy website is available which provides up to date information on upcoming celestial events and is intended as a quick way to access a calendar of astronomy. One feature is a mailing list which sends a regular bulletin of the coming month’s events. You can access the site at http://astronomical-calendar.org.uk
The calendar information and other astronomy related matters are also announced on Twitter (http://twitter.com/AstroCalendar) and a monthly calendar is available by email by subscribing to the email list.
Peter Grego and David Mannion – ‘Galileo and 400 years of Telescopic Astronomy‘
Sunday, December 19th, 2010
Sunday 19th December 2010
You may be interested in a new book by Peter Grego (Editor of Popular Astronomy magazine) and David Mannion, entitled ‘Galileo and 400 years of Telescopic Astronomy‘.
The book is a description of astronomical discovery over the last 400 years and looks at what might happen to Telescopic Astronomy over the whole EM spectrum, plus the new astronomies of Neutrinos, Cosmic Rays and Gravitational Waves in the next 40 years! There are descriptions of many projects that can be undertaken by the reader and the Foreword is written by Sir Arnold Wolfendale FRS (14th Astronomer Royal).
The book is published by Springer and can be found at all decent bookshops, retailing at £26.99.
November Meeting Reminder
Sunday, October 31st, 2010
Sunday 31st October 2010
Don’t forget that the November meeting is this week, Wednesday 3rd November. Leonard Honey will present “Sundials, ancient and modern”.
As usual the meeting will be held at 7.30pm in the Vinter Room, Vinter Close, Papworth Everard. Check out the Meetings page for a map.
Colin Pillinger – “My Life on Mars (The Beagle-2 Diaries)”
Wednesday, October 20th, 2010
Wednesday 20th October 2010
Prof. Colin Pillinger has recently released his new book “My Life on Mars (The Beagle-2 Diaries)” documenting the story of Beagle-2. The boook is published by the British Interplanetary Society and available from most good book shops for about £20.
Colin visited Papworth to speak to the Club about the Beagle-2 project back in March 2001. The BBC Science Correspondent, Jonathan Amos, posted a review of the book and a discussion of the Beagle-2 legacy in his “Spaceman” blog. The blog includes footage of a rocket launch in which a copy of the book was blasted into the sky “high above Cambridgeshire”. It maybe a tenuous link, but I did wonder if the rocket was launched at an EARS event, in the fields between Papworth and Elsworth?
September Meeting Reminder
Tuesday, August 31st, 2010
Tuesday 31st August 2010
Don’t forget that the first meeting of our Autumn schedule is tomorrow evening, Wednesday 1st September. Dr Andy Martin from the Faculty of Modern & Medieval Languages at the University of Cambridge will present “Beware Invisible Cows”. He will talk about the Keck lab in Hawaii, LIGO (the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory in Washington State) and invisible cows.
As usual the meeting will be held at 7.30pm in the Vinter Room, Vinter Close, Papworth Everard. Check out the Meetings page for a map.
Papworth win the Annual Astronomy Quiz
Wednesday, May 19th, 2010
Wednesday 19th May 2010
Papworth were once again victorious in the Annual Astronomy Quiz, beating teams from Bedford, Sawtry and Nene Valley to retain the Admiral Smyth Trophy.
Papworth were represented by Ed Zanders, Janet Vialls and Gordon Carter; Bedford by Dave Eagle, Darren Jehan and Gordon Waller; Sawtry by Rob, Andrew and Malcolm; and Nene Valley by Matt Lane, Steve Williams and Ian Barrie.
The questions, set by Keith Tritton, proved to be a bit more difficult than last year’s. A slight deviation from the usual rules allowed questions to be passed on to the fastest “hand in the air” following an incorrect answer. This might have favoured the Papworth team slightly – with Ed Zanders picking up a few points with the fourth answer to a difficult question – but didn’t affect the final outcome.
Since this was Papworth’s third win in a row – and because we thought it would be nice for Keith to have a rest from writing the questions! – Bedford agreed to host next year’s quiz.
Thanks to all who took part, or came to support their teams!
May Meeting Reminder
Tuesday, May 4th, 2010
Tuesday 4th May 2010
Don’t forget that the May meeting is tomorrow evening, Wednesday 5th May. Professor Paul Murdin from the Institute of Astronomy will give a talk based on his latest book “Secrets of the Universe – how we discovered the cosmos” which was recently published by Thames and Hudson.
As usual the meeting will be held at 7.30pm in the Vinter Room, Vinter Close, Papworth Everard. Check out the Meetings page for a map.