Meeting Information

Date

Talk

Speaker

19:30

19:30

All of the bodies in the Solar System that contain silicates have some proportion of radioactive elements in their interiors acting at heat sources. The elements influencing the terrestrial planets at the present time are long-lived isotopes of uranium, potassium and thorium, but in the very early history of the Solar System, at the time some asteroidal bodies were accreting, short-lived isotopes of aluminium and iron were more important. On all of the bodies large enough to undergo significant internal temperature rise, the transfer of heat from the interior to the surface has been the major factor driving large-scale geological processes, and the most obvious of these processes is volcanism.

Three decades of planetary exploration have shown us that the most common molten rocks (magmas) produced by the partial melting of planetary mantles are basaltic magmas similar to the ones produced on oceanic island volcanoes on Earth, such as the Hawaiian islands.

We find similar rocks on Mars, Venus, our Moon, and Jupiter's satellite Io, and we strongly suspect their presence on Mercury. Furthermore, even some meteorites, the ones derived from early-forming differentiated asteroids such as 4 Vesta, consist of these rocks. Examples of the lava flows found on various bodies will be compared with those observed on Earth and used to show how the lengths of lava flows can tell us something about the rates at which magma is produced in the interior and erupted at the surface.

A second theme teaching us much about the physics of volcanic eruptions is the way the pressure of a planet's atmosphere controls the style of eruptive activity. Atmospheric pressure controls the release of volatiles (like water, carbon dioxide and sulphur gases) from magmas as they reach the surface – the lower the pressure, the more gas is released and the more that gas expands, providing energy to drive explosive activity. A high atmospheric pressure suppresses volatile release, and we are not even sure that Venus, with its dense carbon dioxide atmosphere, can have had explosive eruptions. On bodies like the Earth and Mars, explosive eruptions produce convecting clouds that disperse ash laterally over enormous distances. In contrast, the rapid expansion of gas into the vacuum that surrounds Io produces umbrella-shaped plumes in which particles travel ballistically, reaching impressive heights but not in fact travelling as far from the vent as they would if there were an atmosphere.

Finally, the most recent radar data from the Cassini spacecraft appear to show evidence of cryovolcanism on Saturn's satellite Titan: here ice replaces rock, with the melting of solid ice to form water substituting for the melting of mantle rocks to form magma. Understanding how this may work, and how it may relate to the water-vapour-rich plumes being discharged from Saturn's smaller moons, Enceladus, is opening up a whole new field of investigation.

Lionel Wilson obtained his BSc in Physics at the University of Birmingham and his PhD in Planetary Science at the University of London. His thesis, written just before the Apollo landings on the Moon, was concerned with the mechanical stability of the lunar surface and its ability to support heavy weights – a rather important issue for the Apollo astronauts. He stayed on at the University of London Observatory to conduct postdoctoral work and became intrigued by the lunar volcanic features discovered by the Lunar Orbiter and Apollo missions. On attempting to compare lunar lava flows with those on the Earth he soon discovered that little was known about the basic physics of volcanic processes, and this became the central theme of all of his subsequent research. He took up a post at Lancaster University in 1970 and has been based there ever since. However, as spacecraft began to explore other bodies in the Solar System he quickly established links with the US space programme, becoming an associate investigator on the Mariner 10 mission in 1974 and a principal investigator in the Voyager data analysis programme in 1988. He has worked on the analysis of data from almost every planetary mission in the past 35 years and most recently became a member of the High Resolution Stereo Camera team on ESA’s Mars Express mission. He has had very close links with the planetary science research groups at Brown University (since 1978) and the University of Hawai’i (since 1984); he is currently a visiting professor at both universities and spends up to 4 months of each year in the USA. Although technically only part-time at Lancaster now, he continues to head the Planetary Science Group there.

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19:30

The talk will focus on observational cosmologists’ attempts to find answers to questions such as: When and how did the first stars and galaxies ‘switch on’? How have structures formed and evolved in the expanding mix of dark and luminous matter? What is the nature of the dark matter that appears to make up the overwhelming bulk of matter in the Universe but which, so far, has not been detected directly? What is the nature of dark energy, which appears to be the dominant constituent of the present-day Universe and which is thought to be responsible for its accelerating expansion? Will the Universe continue to expand forever, tear itself apart in a Big Rip or collapse into a Big Crunch?

The talk will describe some of the multitude of recent and ongoing observational programmes that are exploring the Universe at wavelengths ranging from gamma-ray to microwave, and will emphasize the increasingly important role of gravitational lensing in mapping the evolving distribution of luminous and dark matter, and the role that searches for remote supernovae is playing in charting the expansion history of the Universe. It will touch on the efforts of particle physicists to hunt down, identify and even create the so-far undetected dark matter particles, and will look ahead to what future ground-based instruments such as the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, and space missions such as Herschel, Planck and, in the longer term, the Joint Dark Energy Mission, have the potential to reveal.

• High Energy Physics and Supernova Explosions

• This talk illustrates the complementary relationship between particle physics and astronomy, by looking at the role played by the elusive, mysterious subatomic particles called neutrinos. The past ten years have seen great advances in the under- standing of neutrinos, in part derived from astronomical observations. Conversely, neutrino physics is helping scientists to understand astrophysical phenomena.
• In the first 20 minutes or so of the talk, we’ll cover the particle physics background that explains how neutrinos relate to the ‘ordinary’ particles that make up the day-to-day world (protons and neutrons in atomic nuclei, electrons around them, and photons of light). Then we’ll move on look briefly at experiments to study neutrinos from nuclear reactions in the sun’s core and what they reveal.

• Neutrinos are also emitted in prodigious quantities in supernovae; in 1 second a supernova emits 1000 times more neutrinos than the Sun does in its entire 10 billion year lifetime. We’ll show how theoretical studies and simulations indicate that neutrinos are a key factor in allowing a collapsing supernova to throw its outer layers off into the interstellar medium, expelling the heavy elements formed in nuclear reactions; if you have any gold, this is how it got here!

• In a further illustration of the relationship between particle physics and supernovae, we’ll see how the surprising result of a Nobel-Prize-winning experiment in the 1950s, measuring the radioactive decay of cobalt nuclei in a magnetic field, and what it revealed about the fundamental properties of one of the four forces of nature, might provide an explanation for the observation that the neutron star remaining after a supernova explosion is often travelling at high speed.

Graham Bate has been interested in physics and astronomy since the age of 6. He has an MA in Theoretical Physics from Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and briefly did research in quantum theory and solid-state physics at the Cavendish Laboratory, until the world of earning money in computer systems development beckoned. Until illness intervened a couple of years ago, he was co-founder and director of a systems engineering consultancy company in Battle. Graham was once mentioned on page 3 of The Sun, but you’ll have to come to the talk and ask to find out why.

19:30

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The Royal Observatory, Cape of Good Hope: A history, with emphasis on the 19th century and the recent installation of the South African Large Telescope (SALT)

and

The International Astronomical Union and Its Work,

The main talk will describe the founding of the observatory in the 1820s and its work during the 19th century, with discussion of some of the interesting characters who worked at the observatory, including Fearon Fallows (the first Director), Thomas Henderson (measurer of stellar parallax), Thomas Maclear (the third Director), Charles Piazzi Smyth (Assistant, later Astronomer Royal for Scotland) and David Gill (the fifth Director and pioneer of wide-field astrophotography, among many other things). And after skipping fast through the 20th century, the concept and successful construction of the SALT, at 11 metres aperture the largest single-mirror telescope in the southern hemisphere, will be described. After the refreshments break, Brian will briefly outline the history of the IAU and describe its work.
 

Date

Talk

Speaker

19:30

The talk, which will be at an elementary level accessible to anyone new to astronomy, will showcase some of the most spectacular Hubble Space Telescope images of the dust and gas that lies between the stars. Dr Crawford will explain how such images can be interpreted to explore the turbulent story they reveal of the lives of stars, explaining the science behind their beauty.

Dr Carolin Crawford holds a Royal Society Research Fellowship at the Institute of Astronomy (IOA) in the University of Cambridge, and is a Fellow of Emmanuel College. She is an observational astronomer, who collects data from the optical, near-infrared and X-ray wavebands to study how active galaxies can influence their environment. Carolin combines her research in astronomy with the job of Outreach Officer at the IOA, conveying her enthusiasm for her subject to as wide an audience as possible through talks, videoconferences and radio.

19:30

Comets have been objects of fascination for millennia and were originally regarded at portents of doom, disease, death and disaster. They became astronomical bodies when Isaac Newton calculated the first cometary orbit and then Edmond Halley discovered the first periodic comet. Comets vary in brightness hugely as they pass close to the Sun and lose gas and dust.
Comet Halley's return in 1986, some 29 years after the start of the space race, triggered the space exploration of these bodies. To date spacecraft have visited four comets and the results of these mission are discussed in detail in the talk. Future mission are also reviewed.

David W. Hughes is Professor of Astronomy at the University of Sheffield. He has spent his academic life teaching astronomy and researching into the minor bodies of the solar system. His special interests are: comets and their decay into meteoroid streams; asteroids and their origin and size distribution; and the history of astronomy. He is an former Vice President of the Royal Astronomical Society. Asteroid 4205 is named in his honour. He lives in Sheffield with his wife Carole Stott (who writes on astronomical and space topics), and has two children and a dog. He spends his spare time collecting uniform buttons, ceramics and railway cast iron signs.

19:30

19:30

Sir  Arnold  Wolfendale
Emeritus  Professor  of  Physics  at  Durham University and Astronomer Royal 1991–1995

19:30

19:30

Dr  Lucie  Green
Mullard Space Science Laboratory, Holmbury St Mary, Surrey

19:30

19:30

19:30

A talk on that highlights what has happened to the Earths Climate in the past, what appears to be happening now (without media hype!) & the problems of climate forecast.

Peter began his career as an apprentice electronic engineer.  He rose through the ranks to be a deputy Chief Inspector for a well known electronics firm.  He then joined the European Space Agency.  Peter spent several years working in a team which developed the first European Communications Satellite ~ OTS.  Peter also spent 8 years working on the ESA parts of the Hubble Space Telescope, before working on the final stages of the Hipparcos Spacecraft.  He worked on the design and manufacture of the Huygens Probe to Saturn's Moon Titan.
Peter is a Fellow of The British Interplanetary Society, a Fellow The Royal Astronomical Society and a Member of The Royal Meteorological Society.

19:30

(Extra Special Lecture!)

A talk on the latest discoveries about Saturn from the Cassini spacecraft by Dr Stephen J. Edberg, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

After only two years in orbit around Saturn, Cassini is forcing the complete revision of textbook entries on this fascinating planet, its weather, rings and satellites. The talk will describe recent results from the mission and options for its extended mission.
 

On Saturday 30 September 2006 at 19.30, the Eastbourne Astronomical Society will be holding a special meeting at Willingdon Memorial Hall, Church Street, Willingdon, at which Dr Steve Edberg of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory will be giving a talk on ‘Saturn During Cassini’. Anyone is most welcome to attend (free of charge). 

Please note - there will be no lecture on the 7th October

Stephen J. Edberg has been an active amateur astronomer since 1966 and has worked professionally in the field since 1970, initially in solar physics through college (University of California, Santa Cruz), grad school (University of California, San Diego and University of California, Los Angeles) and his first job, at San Fernando Observatory. He joined NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), at Pasadena, California, in 1979, where he has worked on the Galileo mission to Jupiter (serving as spacecraft/ground co-ordinator for the impact of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9) and the Cassini mission to Saturn, for which he is now on-call as Remote Sensing Discipline Scientist for the Cross Discipline Target Working Team. He is also System Scientist on the Space Interferometry Mission (SIM) PlanetQuest (a 9-metre optical interferometer intended to search for extrasolar planets to be launched in 2015 into an Earth-trailing orbit around the Sun). In 1981 he became Co-ordinator for Amateur Observations of the International Halley Watch (for which he wrote the ‘Amateur Observers’ Manual for Scientific Studies’ and edited the newsletter). He is an astrophotographer and telescope maker, and his photography, research, instruments and writing have appeared in professional journals, popular periodicals and several books (including Observing Comets, Asteroids, Meteors and the Zodiacal Light, which he wrote with David Levy). He is heavily involved in astronomical education and co-ordinates the annual RTMC Astronomy Expo (previously known as the Riverside Telescope Makers Conference), which is held in the San Bernardino Mountains over the US Memorial Day weekend (late May). He is an avid total solar eclipse-chaser, organizing and leading expeditions for serious amateur observers, and has successfully observed 15 eclipses. He has been honoured by NASA with an Exceptional Service Medal and a JPL Award for Excellence and by the International Astronomical Union with the naming of a minor planet, 3672 Stevedberg.


 

Date

Talk

Speaker

Bob Mizon

Dr John Rogers

Dr Mike Dworetsky

Professor Martin Turner

Professor David Southwood

Professor Ian Robson

followed by
 

'Chaos in the Heavens - What happens when the giants join forces and act together'

Peter Mata

Dr Robert (Bob) Fosbury

Date

Talk

Speaker

Peter Hingley

Gilbert Satterthwaite

Dr Ian Waddington

Norman Walker

Mr Storm Dunlop

Dr Lilian Hobbs

Peter Gill

Peter Mata

Professor Brian Warner