News
DVD Set Now Available : Cosmic Threats to Earth Public Lecture Event
GRAND FINALE TO EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL SCIENCE FESTIVAL 2011
Three members of the Society who attended the event were able to film the proceedings , with kind permission of the speakers involved . A set of three DVDs is now available from the Shetland Astronomical Society .
Please allow 2 - 3 Weeks delivery time !
DVD 1
Welcome and Overview - Prof . John Brown
How Often Do Comets and Asteroids Hit Earth? - Prof . David Hughes
What Happens During and After a Massive Extraterrestrial Impact? - Dr . Penny Barton
Meteorites - Jamie Shepherd (Astronomical Society of Edinburgh)
( Running Time approx 2 hours 50 min )
DVD 2
Observing Meteors, Asteroids and Comets - Dr . David Gavine
Threats from the Sun - Dr . Lyndsay Fletcher
Stars of Life and Death - Tom Boles
Roving SAS Reporter - Paul Bendix
( Running Time approx 2 hours 50 min )
DVD 3
Surviving the Next Century - Prof . Lord Martin Rees
Plans and Prospects for Asteroid Deflection - Dr . Max Vasile
Please see the SAS Edinburgh DVD trailer ( SAS - Shop ).
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Edinburgh : Cosmic Threats to Earth
A few members of the Shetland Astronomical Society were able to attend this event which was held on Easter Saturday in Edinburgh.
Despite it being the Easter weekend, the day was very popular and the hall nearly full to capacity .
Professor John Brown (Astronomer Royal for Scotland) introduced and chaired the event, which included nine speakers who each presented their expert views of various aspects of 'end of the world scenarios'. One of the speakers was Lord Martin Rees (Astronomer Royal) who gave his insight into current global problems which might well threaten the world as we know it. Lord Rees then answered questions from the audience and also from members of the press in a clear and authoratitive manner.
Other speakers included David Gavine who gave an introduction to observing meteorites and Dr Max Vasile who gave insights into methods for deflecting a possible asteroid threat to earth, a topic currently being researched by his team at Strathclyde University .
The speakers spoke on topics ranging from threats of radiation from 'nearby' supernovae to the consequences of solar storms or a large asteroid impact on Edinburgh .
The talks were all extremely informative and delivered by experts in their field and in very good humour - despite the dark nature of the subject matter...!
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Colin
Our friend and colleague Colin Stewart passed away on Monday night (24 January 2011).
Colin was a founder member of the Shetland Astronomical Society and was our Vice President for a number of years .
We will miss you Pal !!!!!
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Shooting the sky
Chris Brown explains how to take your own stunning astro photos !
Feel free to bring your camera / tripod along . Beginners welcome !
Venue : Shetland Museum and Archives , Lerwick
Date : 11 September 2010
Report :
The evening was very informative .
Chris Brown gave a presentation introducing some basic techniques for creating
astro photos.
What have we learnt ?
Anyone can take interesting photos using even basic digital cameras , with basic techniques,
a willingness to learn and time . (If you don`t have a camera stand , you can still use a fence post !)
Chris showed us a selection of photos and explaned how he (and his colleagues)
achieved the results .
Hi introduced techniques such as stacking and mapping photos for better results .
Links to appropriate software can be found under software recomendations on this web site .
Chris emphasised that taking astrophotos is a learning process !
Members of the audience took their equipment outside , to try this out for themselves .
Anyone who would like to share their astro photos is welcome to email them to Mike who can
post them to the website .
It will be interesting to see the resulting photos
Thanks for your input Chris , and your hard work putting an impressive slideshow together !
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18 June 2010 . NAFC , Port Arthur , Scalloway , Shetland
Event :Prof. John Brown Astronomer Royal for Scotland talked about Black Holes , Black Magic and Interstellar travel .
Despite a number of other events being held at other locations in Shetland, the talk was extremely well attended with not a seat to spare!!
Chris McGinlay opened the evening by welcoming everybody and introducing the speaker - Prof John Brown. John had already held two talks at schools in the Northern Isles and this was the last event of his visit to Shetland.
John began his talk by considering what would be required to enable one person to travel to the nearest star at half the speed of light (~150 000km / s). The resources required were increadible - the total amount of energy used by everyone on earth for a whole year!!
He mentioned the possibility of using a black hole as a gateway to another point in space - (something which has been discussed but not proven) and outlined some of the properties of a black hole, which he illustrated with magic tricks.
John also explained gravity, gravitational lenses, pulsars (neutron stars) and how astronomers measure distances in space.
The talk was followed by a question and answer session in which a number of interesting points were discussed. Members of the audience came from as far away as Holland and America.
A big thanks, John, for the great show!!
Thank you to Chris and everyone who helped make the evening such a success.
A special thanks to everyone who attended!!
The SAS Team
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SAS AGM 20 March 2010
We held our AGM at the Shetland Museum , 14 members attended.
The President and Secretary both stepped down from their positions of many years .
On behalf of all members we would like to thank both Peter Kelly and Reg Hussey for all their hard work and
perseverence over the past decade ( or so ) : ) Thanks Guys !!!!! : )
As both are continuing as Telescope Coordinators / Observing Directors we also look forward to
working with them in their new roles over the coming months !
Chris McGinlay was voted in as new President by members and will be supported by Paul Bendix .
Janet Kelly and Colin Stewart will continue in their roles as Treasurer and Vice-President respectively .
Mike Breimann agreed to look after the Website for another year : (
Newcomer David Spence will be our new Secretary . Members at the meeting promised to support him in this
new role as much as necessary .
The President , Secretary and Treasurer gave their reports for the previous year . All recognised that the SAS had successfully organised a number of public events and had taken part in both the Moonwatch and Scottish Solar System projects in 2009-2010 . They felt that this new impetus could and should continue in the coming year .
The SAS had also successfully applied for grants to purchase two 5" Cassegrain and two 12" Dobsonian telescopes . One 12" telescope was on display at the meeting .
A formal programme of events will be decided later in the year .
No decision has yet been reached on where the Dall Kirkham telescope will be housed in the future . Members were asked to make their views known to the President .
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Observing Sessions for 2009
We recently hosted two Autumn lectures at the Shetland Museum on 24 October (with Dr Frazer Pearce - Nottingham University) and 21 November (Dr John Baruch -Bradford University).
Can be found under Images.
We also held a Star Gazing evening at Asta Golf Cub on 13 December 2009
21 November 2009
On 21 November the Society hosted an event with Dr John Baruch at Shetland Museum and Archives. Unfortunately, the planned Moonwatch was not possible due to bad weather. There were, however, models of space probes on display and Chris Brown brought astrophotos along for visitors and members to look at.
John Baruch gave an informative presentation about the moon, discussing lunar and solar eclipses and the relative movement of sun, earth and moon.
John went on to discuss future moon landing missions and the possibility of spending holidays on the moon in the not too distant future. There was a discussion on where and how hotels might be built on the moon and which sports would be best suited for a possible 'lunar olympics'. Lunar swimming was definitely favourite as it would be the same as swimming on earth - the moon also has water available! There were a great many questions asked - and answered.
The event was well attended and it was an informative and enjoyable evening, despite the bad weather.
Thank you to everyone who attended and helped to make the evening such a success.
John was our last speaker for this year and brings our Moonwatch activities to a close. We hope to organise other public lectures in the near future.
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13 December 2009
The club held a star gazing evening at the Asta Golf Club. As usual, we didn't get a chance to see the stars, as the sky was completely clouded over... We did have an informative evening though.
Chris Brown showed us his latest astrophotos. He had used the two cloudless night last week to produce impressive results with his DSLR camera and just one minute's exposure time! He told us that the equipment set up and subsequent processing took much longer... Chris let us into a few of his secrets as to how he arrives at the results and gave tips on how to fnd the North America and California nebulas. He also showed off his new cut-off gloves with two incomplete fingers for more comfortable camera operation in cold weather! (Chris McGinley went one better - his gloves are more advanced, with three fingers free!)
Next, Chris McGinley introduced Celestia and Stellarium software. Both are free to download from the net - please see the software section of our website for links.
Mike and Reg brought along card models of various NASA / ESA probes and landers with brief information about each. The newest model is the Lunar Ranger 9, which was used by NASA to take photos of the lunar surface in preparation for the Apollo moon landings. Mike hopes to include some models of Russian space probes at future events.
This was the last SAS event in 2009.
Thanks to everyone for your support at all events this year.
(The SAS Team)
Further information on these events can be found in the Picture Gallery under Events.
Information on forthcoming Shetland events will be posted here .