Meeting Recordings (2021/2022)

Our speakers at the Virtual Talks have allowed us to record and share their talks for society members to view if they missed the meetings. We've started a HAS YouTube channel here where you can visit or subscribe to and watch these talks.

Thursday 2nd
June 2022

A talk given by Dr Ann Bonell, President of Leicester Astronomical society.

"Percival Lowell and the Canals of Mars" - Ann describes some early observations of the Red Planet and then concentrates on the life of Percival Lowell and his tireless fervour for the canals of Mars.

[Our May talk was held at the Kindle Centre and was not recorded]

Thursday 7th
April 2022

A talk given by Bob Mizon MBE FRAS.

"Comets in History" - Bob traces our relationship with these intriguing night visitors, from ancient superstition to modern scientific exploration.

[Please contact the website manager if you would like to view the recording]

Thursday 3rd
March 2022

A talk given by Hugh Allen (Wells & Mendip Astronomers).

Hugh's talk demystifies amateur spectroscopy and shows how it offers a unique way to observe the Universe.

Thursday 3rd February 2022

A talk given by Dr Steve Barrett (University of Liverpool).

Steve entertains us by examining the evidence for and against the claims that the Apollo moon landings of the late 1960s and early 1970s were faked by NASA.

Thursday 6th January 2022

This was our Annual General Meeting followed by a talk by Francis Milsom. Francis talked about building a 16" telescope.

The talk was not recorded.

Thursday 2nd December 2021

A talk given by Dr Diego Altamirano (Associate Professor at the University of Southampton).

Diego helps us get our heads around "powers of tens", in the process taking us through 44 orders of magnitude in 44 seconds, then launches into the extreme world of neutron stars.

Thursday 11th November 2021

A talk given by Dr Julian Onions (FRAS, Nottingham University Astronomy Department)

Julian tells us all about galaxies - what they are, how they are classified, how they are formed, what we understand about their lives. And lots of pretty pictures.

Thursday 7th October 2021

A talk given by Steve Richards (Sky at Night magazine)

Steve's talk is an introduction to deep sky imaging for beginners and for observational astronomers making the move to the slippery slope that is astrophotography. It covers equipment choices and techniques.

Thursday 1st
July 2021

Russell Parry FRSPH

Russell tells us about the Appley Bridge Meteorite.

[Please contact the website manager if you would like to view the recording]

Thursday 6th
May 2021

Pete Williamson FRAS (Shropshire AS)

Pete's fun talk looks back over time to see how many aspects of music and space / astronomer intertwine.

[Due to the copyrighted music that Pete played in this talk we're unable to post the recording to YouTube. Please contact the website manager if you would like to view the recording.]

Thursday 1st
April 2021

J R Tate FRAS, The Spaceguard Centre

Jay tells the story of how Near Earth Objects came to be, what they've done in the past, what they'll do in the future and what we are and are not doing about it ... The End is Nigh?

Thursday 11th March 2021

Dr Lee MacDonald - Annual Webb Lecture

"Greenwich Observatory in 1900: reshaping an old observatory for the twentieth century"

[Apologies for the intermittent audio quality - technical gremlins]

Thursday 4th February 2021

Ezzy Pearson - Planetary Rovers

Ezzy takes us on an historic tour of the robotic emissaries humanity has sent to traverse their way across other worlds.

Thursday 3rd December 2020

Steve Tonkin - Ten Ways the Universe Tries to Kill You

A light-hearted, but scientifically robust, look at a lot of fundamental cosmological processes, from stellar evolution to galactic interaction.

Thursday 5th November 2020

Christianne Wakeham - Life in Hell?

The mystery in the cloud decks of Venus

Thursday 23rd

July 2020

Julian Onions - Cold Dark Matter

Monday 22nd

June 2020

Jeremy Shears - An introduction to variable star astronomy and cataclysmic variables

Thursday 28th

May 2020

Gerard Gilligan - 12th Annual Webb Lecture - William Lassell