Wednesday 15 January, 7.15 for 7.30pm

Ian Ridpath will present:

'Pictures in the sky: The origin and history of the constellations'

Outline: In the days before writing, storytellers used the sky as a picture book to illustrate their tales of gods, mythical heroes and fabulous beasts. Those pictures among the stars were the origin of our system of constellations. Today, the entire sky is divided into 88 constellations of varying shapes and sizes. This talk, which includes illustrations from some of the world’s greatest star atlases, will trace the origin of the constellation system back to Greek times and explain who filled in the gaps between the ancient Greek figures, who decided on the official boundaries between constellations, and how the names of certain stars came about.

Biographical details: Born in Ilford, Ian Ridpath has been a full-time writer, editor, broadcaster, and lecturer on astronomy and space since 1972. Previously he worked for two years at the University of London Observatory and then in publishing. He is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society (Council member 2004–07) and a member of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). A particular interest is the Greek and Roman myths of the constellations, which he wrote about in his book Star Tales.

His website, http://www.ianridpath.com, is now a major online resource. Ian is editor of the authoritative Oxford Dictionary of Astronomy, and of the Collins and Princeton Stars & Planets Guide (UK and US), and lectures on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. He is a winner of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific's Klumpke-Roberts Award for “outstanding contributions to the public understanding and appreciation of astronomy”. He is also a noted UFO skeptic and is well-known for his investigation and explanation of Britain's leading UFO case, the Rendlesham Forest Incident.

• Club members slot: Steve Foster will present (via Zoom) a talk about recurrent nova T Coronae Borealis.

Wednesday 19 February, 7.15 for 7.30pm

This talk will be presented at Thames Chase, via Zoom

Sam Pearson will present:

'Planetary Mass Objects and JuMBOs in the Trapezium Cluster'

Outline:  In recent observations of the Trapezium Cluster with the James Webb Space Telescope, we have discovered and characterised hundred of planetary-mass candidates with masses down to, and below, the mass of Jupiter. In an unexpected twist we find that 8% of these planetary-mass objects are in wide binaries. The binary fraction of stars and brown dwarfs is well known to decrease monotonically with decreasing mass such that the binary fraction for the planetary-mass regime is expected to approach zero. The existence of substantial population of Jupiter Mass Binary Objects (JuMBOs) raises serious questions of our understanding of both star and planet formation. In this talk Sam will present the discovery of these JuMBOs and discuss the implications for our understanding of planet formation.

Biographical details:  Samuel Pearson is a European Space Agency Research Fellow based at the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) in the Netherlands. He obtained his PhD at the University of St Andrews.  His research focuses on the formation of low mass stars, brown dwarfs and planets. This means he spends the majority of his time observing nearby star forming regions, as this provides a unique window to study these formation processes in action.

Recently his work has been focusing on isolated Planetary Mass Objects (PMOs). These are objects below the deuterium burning limit of 13MJup. PMOs are not massive enough to sustain hydrogen fusion like a star. They are inherently faint and will cool over time, becoming fainter throughout their life. However, when PMOs are young they are still warm from their formation and are observable in the infrared. This provides a valuable window into a very exciting mass range that contains both the extreme lower limits of star formation (brown dwarfs) and rogue planets that have been ejected from their host star system. PMOs present a unique opportunity to study both star formation and planet formation at the same time.

• Club members slot: Cheryl Brice will present a talk entitled 'So the Moon isn't made of cheese?

Wednesday 19 March, 7.15 for 7.30pm

Professor Simon Green, Emeritus Professor of Planetary and Space Science, The Open University, will present:

'The Hera mission – validation of the DART asteroid kinetic impactor test'

Outline: In 2022 the NASA DART mission performed the first full-scale test of the kinetic impactor technique to change the orbit of an asteroid, successfully demonstrating the precise targeting required to impact within a few metres of the centre of Dimorphos, the 160 metre moon of the 800 metre near Earth asteroid Didymos, after a 500 million km flight. The moon’s 11.9 hour orbital period was reduced by more than 30 minutes, with thousands of tonnes of ejected material forming a long-lasting tail, and may have drastically changed the shape of the moon.

The ESA Hera mission, planned to rendezvous with Didymos in 2027, will provide critical measurements of the mass and physical properties of Dimorphos to quantify the efficiency of the test. In this talk Professor Green will explain how asteroids like Didymos, that formed between Mars and Jupiter, can become potential terrestrial impactors, and the role of missions like DART and Hera in preventing a future potential asteroid impact on the Earth.

If possible, Simon will bring the meteorite display which he brought in March 2023, which attracted much interest; but please note that this is currently tbc. 

Biographical details: Simon Green, Emeritus Professor of Planetary and Space Science at The Open University, has studied asteroids through ground- and space-based observations since his discovery of the unusual near-Earth asteroid (3200) Phaethon in 1983. He has worked on numerous space missions including Giotto, Cassini, Stardust and Rosetta, and most recently the DART and Hera planetary defence test missions.

• Club members slot: slideshow of members' images, taken over the last year

Wednesday 16 April, 7.15 for 7.30pm

The club's regular anniversary meeting

Further details to follow

Wednesday 21 May, 7.15 for 7.30pm

Dr James Kirk will present:

'Transiting exoplanet science with the James Webb Space Telescope'

Outline: Over the last 30 years, astronomers have detected over 5700 extrasolar planets. These discoveries have revealed that the population of exoplanets is incredibly diverse, with the solar system’s architecture being the exception and not the rule. Of these detected exoplanets, 75% transit in front of their host stars, periodically blocking out a fraction of the background star’s light. These transiting exoplanets enable atmospheric observations and thus, studies of a planet’s formation, evolution and, ultimately, habitability. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has revolutionised the observation of exoplanet atmospheres since its launch in December 2021.

James will present an overview of exoplanet science performed with JWST to date, including the ground-breaking first detections of previously unseen molecules and dynamics in exoplanet atmospheres. 

Biographical details:  James Kirk is an Imperial College Research Fellow who uses observations of transiting exoplanet atmospheres to test theories of planet formation and evolution. He obtained his PhD from the University of Warwick, where his thesis work focussed on using ground-based telescopes to observe clouds and hazes within the atmospheres of short-period gas giant exoplanets (hot Jupiters). He subsequently moved to the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics where, as a postdoc, he led new discoveries of escaping exoplanet atmospheres via measurements of exoplanetary helium and was a key member of the JWST Early Release Science Transiting Exoplanet Programme. At Imperial College he has continued his heavy involvement in JWST science, including directing a programme to test how the compositions of hot Jupiters depend on their evolutionary pathways and leading studies of whether Earth-sized exoplanets can retain their atmospheres in the face of intense stellar radiation.

Wednesday 18 June, 7.15 for 7.30pm



Paul Whiting - talk title and outline tbc

Short biography: Paul Whiting, FRAS, is one of our regular speakers and an outreach astronomer providing talks, activities and courses to schools, youth and adult groups. A major astronomical interest is travelling the world chasing eclipses and the aurora.  Paul is also Treasurer for Orwell AS (Ipswich).

Wednesday 16 July, 7.15 for 7.30pm

Professor Garry Hunt will present:

'A lifetime with Voyager'

Outline: Professor Hunt will introduce himself and talk briefly about his career.  Then, in a break from our usual format, members will get the opportunity to quiz him on more than half a century of being associated with a wide range of space activities. He suggests a “Michael Parkinson”-type discussion and then an open question session.  As Prof Hunt points out, this is a rare chance to speak to someone who has been involved in the space programme for a long time!

No club meeting in August - Summer break

Perseids viewing is likely to take place if the weather conditions are favourable - date (mid August) and details tbc

Wednesday 17 September, 7.15 for 7.30pm

Jerry Workman will present: 'Curiosity at Mars'

Outline: tbc.

Short biography: Jerry Workman has given over 1000 talks to various clubs over a 30 year-plus talking career. He has also been the Chairman and Meetings Secretary of a number of Astronomy clubs. For a number of years, he ran an Astronomy evening class at a school near Upminster Bridge. He currently works in a private girls school in Hammersmith, and has held this position for nearly 24 years.

Image (right): Self-portrait by Curiosity at the foot of Mount Sharp in 2015.  Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Wednesday 15 October, 7.15 for 7.30pm

Vladimir Brljak, University of Durham, will present a talk relating to his project 'When Did Space Turn Dark?' - title and further details tbc

• Club members’ slot: Tbc