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February Meeting 27th - Galaxies


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Our next meeting is on February 27th at 6:00pm


 


James Cottell (Msci) from Nottingham University will be speaking about the effects of Merging Elliptical Galaxies. Just in time for the beginning of "galaxy season". Leo is beginning to rise in the night sky which heralds the start of our opportunities to observe galaxies. James (currently placed at the school as a student teacher) presented a paper on this subject as part of his studies in Physics and Astronomy, this will form the basis for what should be a fascinating talk.


 


Start time is 6:00pm with refreshments from 5:45pm. All are welcome, under 16's must be accompanied by an adult. Members free, visitors are asked for a donation of £2 towards refreshments etc.


 


Memberships are now due, forms available t any meeting for £10 per annum. Memberships run January to January.


 


After the main talk there will be an opportunity to do some observing if clear, if not there will still be a chance to have a tour of the observatory. A shorter second talk will be presented after the main talk if time allows / weather is poor.


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  • 3 weeks later...

Looks like an interesting talk. I'll try and come, but I've got a hectic afternoon on Thursday.


 


Good luck with the event.


 


JD

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Another good meeting.

Started with a trip to the observatory with mike and a look at jupiter, which was nice; three moons on show and lots of clear detail on planets surface, despite the fact it was still quite light.

Whilst other members of the audience went for a look at jupiter whilst the weather was good the rest of us watched some nasa videos about the planet.

The main talk was about galaxies, and specifically about elliptical galaxies, and the theories of how they form and there place in hubble's schematic of galaxy classification. The speaker who has an msc in the topic talked about his msc research project in the topic and the tools he'd used to study these galaxies.

Fascinating.

Thanks and look forward to the next meeting.

Jd

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Thank you James for your kind words.


 


Yes, we had a great night. In a break from the norm we decided to take advantage of the clear spell and do some observing before the main talk. Since it was barely past twilight Jupiter was the focus of our attention for this session. Three of the four major moons were visible and banding showing nicely even though the seeing was quite choppy due to the atmosphere still cooling after sunset and the scope not being down to temperature.


 


As next week is National Astronomy Week and this years focus is on the planet Jupiter it seemed rather fitting to view the 5th planet whilst we could. We also ran the following video from NASA whilst members were waiting to go up into the dome:


 


 ;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s56pxa9lpvo


 


James Cottell then gave a fascinating insight into his study of merging elliptical galaxies.


 


After this we then had the rare chance of more clear sky so we observed M42 the Great Nebula in Orion. The trapezium was easily split and the gas and dust unmistakably visible.


 


All in all a great night and we were pleased to see a lot of new faces. We look forward to seeing you all next time on the 27th of March. (keep an eye on the blg and here for times as we may push back the start time a little both for traffic and to allow the sun more time to set.)


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