Asteroid 16 Psyche
Embedded Files
Venus
The Perseverance robot.
ASTRONOMY & SPACE SCIENCE
ASTRONOMY & SPACE SCIENCE
Meets 2nd Tuesday of the month at 10am
CDC Room B
CONTACT: Ken M (u3acapcoast@gmail.com)
GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE ASTRONOMY GROUP
The U3A Astronomy and Space Science Group was started by Jack Cregan and was one of the CapCoast U3A inaugural groups 25 years ago. Later, amateur astronomer, Dr Tony Ward took over.
Ken Moore, the current Tutor, has an engineering background, with an interest not only in Astronomy and Cosmology but also in the technology employed in all things space. So the group name was changed to Astronomy and Space Science to reflect this.
The topics which may be covered each month include: interesting solar system events that are predicted, lunar or solar eclipses, new telescopes, interesting space station activities, updates on the many existing exploration missions on the Moon and Mars, future space missions, their goals and the technology employed.
We try to make it interesting and informative by including stories about major contributors to astronomical knowledge over the years and the astronomical significance of interesting archaeological sites. Then there are the topics which provide explanations of the technology involved in Astronomical research, in layman terms. Rather than baffle with science and maths, we aim to make it interesting.
Come and join us, we promise not to be too technical!
MARCH 2025:
In March we looked at the miniature satellite technology referred to as CubeSats.
OCTOBER 2024:
Numbers swelled recently to hear about Black Holes, those mysterious objects with such strong gravity that not even light can escape them.
In November, for a complete change, we will look into something that about 50% of people believe exist but has no actual or scientific support.
Aliens, are they here already? and why do we keep trying to communicate with them?
JULY 2024:
At the July General Meeting Ken reminded attendees that it was almost 55 years to the day since Neil Armstrong stepped on to the surface of the moon.
APRIL 2024:
Topics for this month included the largest black hole found so far and Mercury's tail.
MARCH 2024:
This month we considered what space smells like (not good!) and how ancient soothsayers could predict a solar eclipse.
FEBRUARY 2024:
In February we looked at a range of topics including a "lost tomato” and we looked at a space telescope called Euclid and it's possible role in finding Dark Matter.
NOVEMBER 2023:
We looked at Venus. It often appears as a bright light in the early evening sky.
OCTOBER 2023:
We looked at a special asteroid named after the goddess of the soul. Asteroid 16 Psyche is thought to be the core of a failed planet, maybe similar to Earth’s core. NASA have just launched a probe to visit and study 16 Psyche.
In November we will look at the fate of the International Space Station and some of the projects planned to replace it.
SEPTEMBER 2023:
We looked at the Man in the Moon phenomenon.
AUGUST 2023:
This month we looked at a star cluster named 'The Jewel Box' and the group talked anecdotally about a home-made telescope and how it compared to other telescopes.
JULY 2023:
In the last few months, we have been looking at telescopes, how they are made and what they do. Time now to look at the stars.
JUNE 2023:
We will be looking at the little known, but important 2.4 metre Sloan Digital Sky Survey optical telescope at Apache Point Observatory in New Mexico.
MAY 2023:
This month we will look at how The Giant Magellan Telescope, currently under construction, is being built.
APRIL 2023:
We will be following on with the discussion of problems of getting people to Mars. This month we'll look at the possibility of using nuclear powered rockets to decrease transit time.
MARCH 2023:
We looked at some of the difficulties to be overcome before we send people to Mars.
FEBRUARY 2023:
We discussed the Perseverance robot which is exploring the Jezero crater on Mars.
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