Members Night

The 6th meeting of the 2011/2012 Session of the ASG will take place at 7:30pm on Thursday, 16th Feb. 2012 in Lecture Theatre R641, Royal College Building, University of Strathclyde. (Enter from Montrose Street).

As is tradition, our February Meeting is thrown open to any member who wishes to present a short 20 minute talk on a subject related to astronomy. As this gives much license to display the various talents in our Society, we have enjoyed, over the years, a variety of topics of great interest, presented with clarity, humour and occasionally, unintentional comedy.

This year’s presentations will, I’m sure, follow this try-and-tested format and to whet your appetite here is a virtual smörgåsbord of talent on show tonight.

N.B. Timings and running order may vary on the night.

19:30 The Dawn of the New Era - Chris O’Kane. (20 mins)

This is one for you film buffs out there. Chris is going to present a Super 8 film (yes real film) that he made when he was lucky to be in Florida for the first launch of the new Space Shuttle on April 12th 1981. This will be the last time this film will be shown to the public as it will be donated to the Scottish Screen Archive following our meeting tonight. Chris describes it as informative, nostalgic, historic and symbolic.

20:00 The Sun Worshipers - Eric Tomney (20 mins)

For thousands of years, man has worshiped the Sun. In more recent times, before the space age, observations of total solar eclipses provided many useful scientific discoveries. Nowadays, people chase eclipses for fun...

20:20 Refreshment Break - Eileen McLaughlin et al.

Juice & biccies for all those who missed lunch!

20:35 Sun, Telescope & Webcam - David Degan. (15 mins)

David will give a short presentation on entry-level webcam imaging including the equipment used, how it is set up and operated and some images taken using this type of observing technique.

20:55 President’s Quiz - Chris O’Kane & Lorna Napier

Some gentle brainteasers on all things astronomical. Not as competitive as some pub quizzes I’ve taken part in but there will be a prize for the winner on the night! Ed

21:10 ASG Time Machine - Brian Stark. (18 mins)

Brian travels back in time via the Society's video archive for a light-hearted look at some highlights from various summer outings and events down the years - including some moments when things didn't go quite as planned! He also takes a quick peek at what lies in store for the ASG, courtesy of a newscast transmission received from his future self ...

There will be no meeting prior to the main lecture to allow presenters to setup for their talks.

The map shows the location of the Royal College building on the University of Strathclyde John Anderson campus.