Welcome to the University of Birmingham Astronomical Society's website
We are a very active society based at the University of Birmingham. Our membership consists of students but we welcome members of the public along to our public events (see our events page). If you are a member of the University and you are interested in astronomy or any aspect of space then please feel free to come along to our meetings. We meet weekly during the academic term-time, every Thursday, and organise other events throughout the year. From Summer 2008 we have had to move our weekly meetings from Q12 to G17 of Nuffield. See our About Us main page for more information. Membership is open to all students of the University (not just physics students!), and we also welcome members of the general public along to our public talks. We also have a [facebook] group so search for Astrosoc on it and you will find us. 2009 is the International Year of Astronomy and we will be participating and running a number of events, a list of these will appear on our outreach pages but to give you a feel to the type of events take a look at our last big event, [Birmingham Space Day]
Mirror images, antimatter and time reversal - 04/12/2008
"Mirror images, antimatter and time reversal" by Prof Peter Kalmus - We explore, without mathematics, the three symmetries implied in the title. These are important in science, particularly in particle physics. At the microscopic level, the laws of mechanics and electromagnetism appear to be perfectly symmetrical, but the symmetry is broken by the weak interaction, the force that allows the Sun to shine. We explain how symmetry breaking could help us to avoid being annihilated by a science-fiction antimatter alien from another world. Again at the microscopic level there is a small asymmetry between the forward and backward directions of time. On larger scales however the direction of time is crucial, and time-reversed systems generally lead to absurd situations.
Living in the Sun's atmosphere 16/10/2008
Dr Lucie Green - "Living in the Sun's atmosphere" - The Sun produces huge and powerful eruptions called coronal mass ejections, which throw masses of charged particles into space with explosive force. Some of these inevitably reach the Earth, creating beautiful aurora in the polar skies, but also with the potential to wreak havoc with our telecommunications and electricity networks. You can hear a snipet of this talk [here].
Sirius Issues 17 released 04/10/2008
The 17th edition of Sirius Issues, the society newsletter, is available from [here]
Birmingham Space Day 04/10/2008
Forty two. That was the answer to Life, the Universe and Everything proposed by Deep Thought in Douglas Adams' book the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. But how much of the ultimate answer does the Universe actually contribute? Whilst astronomers at the University of Birmingham are likely unable to find the answer to that question, at their upcoming event, Space Day, they hope to be able to answer many other more day-to-day questions, such as how does a telescope work? What can I look at in the sky tonight? How did NASA get their rovers on Mars safely?
This event, aimed at all ages of the general public, will feature talks by researchers from the School of Physics and Astronomy, including Dr William Chaplin on the "Music of the Sun" and Dr Somak Raychaudhury on "Einstein's Outrageous Legacy - Black Holes, Cosmic Illusions and Dark Energy", as well as interactive workshops which tackle telescope making, air rocket creation and launching, and even making Mars rovers out of little more than cardboard and sellotape! Other activities such as a tour of the night sky in a mobile planetarium, a tour of the department's astronomical and space laboratory facilities, a chance to see how many cosmic rays pass through you every second and a raffle are planned for the day.
Space Day is currently planned to run from 10:00 am to 5:15 pm on Saturday 4th of October 2008. Entrance and all activities are free, but due to limits on numbers certain workshops will be on a first-come-first served basis. We hope to see you there! For more information check out our [spaceday minisite]
Partial Solar Eclipse 01/08/2008
On August the 1st a solar eclipse was be seen around the world. We manged to see about a 20% eclipse.
A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Sun and the Earth so that the Sun is wholly or partially obscured. This can only happen during a new moon, when the Sun and Moon are in conjunction as seen from the Earth. Our observations made it onto the local television (ITV Central):
(if you can't see the above goto [here] and [here].
Base of the Grubb back on the roof!
A morning of heavy lifting and the base of the Grubb telescope is ready to be put back together! The telescope will be ready to be used during the summer.
Annual Dinner 2008
The Astrosoc Annual Dinner is to take place on 5th June at the Astor Suite here at the University of Birmingham. We have the distinct pleasure in welcoming along Dr William Chaplin as our guest speaker. Tickets are £26 for members and £30 for non-members. All are very welcome, please drop us an email if you fancy coming along.
Dr Mike Hapgood - "Space Weather and Lunar Exploration"
"Space Weather and Lunar Exploration" - a talk about how space weather affects our lives and determines how we continue our manned exploration of space. Space is a dangerous place for humans, once we step beyond the protection of the Earth's atmosphere and magnetic field. Galactic cosmic rays and bursts of charged particles from the Sun damaging to health happen with alarming frequency - the Apollo astronauts were lucky. Understanding the physics of radiation from distinct source in space will be useful to help future space voyagers plan journeys in greater safety, and produce effective shields for these unavoidable events on journeys to Mars or beyond. - more at [www.talkandtelescope.org.uk].
Sirius Issues 16 released
The latest Astrosoc newsletter is now available [here]
Dr Martin Hendry - "Did we really land on the Moon?"
"Did we really land on the Moon?" - a talk about the Moon landings and some of the hoax theories that have arisen. Did Neil Armstrong really walk on the Moon? Almost 40 years on from Apollo 11 a surprising number of people believe that Armstrong's famous "One small step" was an elaborate hoax, filmed in secret here on Earth. Conspiracy theorists point to a range of "evidence" to support their claim: waving flags, strange shadows, no stars in the sky, deadly solar radiation. In this talk, using real Apollo video footage and a series of simple demonstrations, we will take a closer look at the science behind "moon hoax" claims, and ask whether we really did land on the Moon. The answer to the question was given quite clearly at the start with an emphatic, "yes!". - more at [www.talkandtelescope.org.uk].
Sirius Issues 15 released
The latest Astrosoc newsletter is now available [here]
New Grubb Assembly
The refurbishment work on the Grubb telescope is moving swiftly and it will hopefully be completed soon but here is a nice diagram (by Steve Brookes of the Physics workshop) of how the new Grubb telescope assembly will look.
Old Site
For the time been, at least, the old astrosoc site will be still up and running, this has loads of content including pictures and interesting historical documents of the society. Most of the pages have been integrated into the new design but there is lots of content and this will take time for it all to be copied over. Access to old site
Older front page items can be found here.