“Stars and their Consolations” Borough Theatre Abergavenny

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This Thursday, 26th March, there is a show which tells the stories of the stars to an electro-acoustic soundtrack 

Created by Daniel Morden, Hugh Lupton and Sarah Lianne Lewis it is described as:

“A majestic, intimate and hypnotic re-imagining of Greek myths and legends weaving ancient stories, cosmic projections and a spine-tingling electro-acoustic soundscape. Be transported into the night sky on the breath of stories that have lit up the darkness for thousands of years.”

Short notice I know but for more information and tickets check
https://boroughtheatreabergavenny.co.uk/shows/stars-and-their-consolations/

A reminder and further Information for 23rd March

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Our next meeting is a presentation by Dr Leo Jenner, ex CERN, on astroparticle physics. The time and venue is as usual. 7:30 pm at the Hen & Chicks in Abergavenny.  Dr Leo will be appearing by Zoom on the big screen in the upper room.
However, if you are unable to get to the H&C you can log on via Zoom.  The details are:-

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85058353034?pwd=csfxHzbbo9HOZcG30qaM5KpSakMpEs.1
Meeting ID: 850 5835 3034     Passcode: 419869

The field of astroparticle physics evolved out of optical astronomy.  It investigates things like high energy cosmic radiation and its research seeks to contribute to understanding dark matter and dark energy, among other questions.

As usual all are welcome, either “face to face” or on Zoom.  Details have also been sent to Usk AS and HOVAS.

Next Meeting, Monday 23rd March

KevinLeave a comment

The next meeting will be at the usual time and place, 7:30pm upstairs in the Hen & Chicks, Abergavenny

The speaker will be Dr Leo Jenner.  Inspired by Halley’s comet appearance in 1986 he later studied physics at University College London (UCL), starting with astronomy & moving to particle physics.
Dr Jenner has worked at CERN (large hadron collider), USA (Fermilab, Chicago and the high energy physics lab at Tower mine, Minnesota) and various projects in the UK and elsewhere.

The presentation will be on screen at the Hen & Chicks via Zoom.  Dr Jenner will talk about CERN and astroparticle physics.  This field grew out of the discovery of high energy cosmic rays from space in the early 20th Century.  You can read a bit more information about what this field is investigating, according to Wiki, LINK HERE

I’m sure that it will be an interesting talk, so I look forward to meeting up.  All are invited newcomers and regulars, all you need is curiosity.

How Dark is the Sky?

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Following on from our discussion in the Jan meeting re LEOs there was an Astrobites post last week

“Two satellite proposals threaten dark and quiet skies worldwide”.  (LINK HERE)

To quote from the article “The first proposal is from Reflect Orbital, a company with the stated goal of selling “sunlight after dark”. To achieve this, they propose to deploy a constellation of over 50,000 in-space mirrors by 2035 to redirect the sunlight back to Earth at night”. 
This sounds like a game changer to me!

In connection to this topic the campaign for dark skies is being re-launched, Nick is on the committee. More information on their website (LINK HERE)

Campaign for Dark Skies

Next Meeting  :  Monday 23rd February

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The next meeting will be a practical demonstration, led by Nick, looking at “Developments in optical glasses for modern telescopes”.  It’s sure to be both informative and entertaining.
The usual place & time; The upper room at the Hen & Chickens, Abergavenny at 7:30 pm.
I look forward to meeting up, all are welcome.                                                          

A reasonable number of people made it to the January meeting, our first AGM for some 6 years, despite the miserable weather. The draft minutes have been put on the website “Download” page, HERE.

We also had time for a general chat about the effect that the vastly increasing number of low earth orbit satellites (LEOs), eg Starlink etc, may have on observational astronomy.  The overall feeling was that although there is an issue for professional astronomy the impact on amateur observation is likely to be minor.  I guess time will tell.

Next Meeting Monday 26th January

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The next meeting will be a General meeting of the AAS.  The last General Meeting we had was 9th March, 2020, just before COVID forced us to suspend meeting for 2.5 years. I’m sure that no one can remember the details of that 2020 session but I have put an abbreviated copy of the draft minutes on the “Download” page : HERE.

Following the General meeting the plan is to have an open discussion on a relevant topic.  As mentioned in the last post we need someone to introduce a subject.  Nothing complex, just a topic of interest to them, ie a subject – video – or whatever that we could have a round table chat on.

So – who is willing to introduce such a topic??  If assistance is required don’t worry, I am more than happy to provide equipment, backup or whatever.

Usual time and place : 7:30pm, upstairs in the Hen & Chicks, Abergavenny.

See you there.