Wednesday 21 January, 7.15 for 7.30pm

To be presented (at Thames Chase) via Zoom

Dr David Clements will present:

'Venus, Phosphine and the Possibility of Life'

Outline:  In 2020 the discovery of phosphine, a potential biomarker, in the atmosphere of Venus was announced. This discovery was tested and challenged by a variety of astronomers which, in the public sphere at least, has left the status of this detection unclear. Since then, a major project has been underway at the James Clerk Maxwell telescope to monitor the atmosphere of Venus to better understand what is going on. Dr Clements will present some of the first results from this project, discuss the status of the phosphine detection and possible resolutions to the previous challenges. He will then look into some of the speculations regarding Venus cloud life and the prospects for future projects that can resolve the question of phosphine, and life in the clouds of our nearest neighbour planet.

Biographical details: David L. Clements is an Associate Professor of Astrophysics in the Physics Department of Imperial College London. He has a degree in physics and a PhD in astrophysics from Imperial College. He has worked at Oxford University, The European Southern Observatory Headquarters, near Munich, the Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale, near Paris, and at Cardiff University. His research is in the broad areas of extragalactic astronomy and observational cosmology, specialising in studies of dust in galaxies and the role that dusty galaxies play in galaxy formation and evolution. He has worked on the Herschel and Planck missions as well as other planned and operating space missions including SPICA, PRIMA and Euclid. He has most recently been working on astrobiology in our Solar System using millimetre telescopes to study the atmosphere of Venus. He is the author of over 400 scientific papers and also writes science fiction stories and popular science articles which have been published in Analog, Nature Futures, Shoreline of Infinity, and Astronomy Now, among others.

• Club members' slot - talk by Les Brand about solar image capture and processing.

Wednesday 18 February, 7.15 for 7.30pm

Dr Emma Curtis-Lake, University of Hertfordshire

Title tbc - likely to cover Emma's work on the JADES Survey (JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey).

Emma's research is based on studying galaxy formation and evolution in the Early Universe. She primarily uses space-based observatories to search for and characterise galaxies inhabiting the Universe in the first billions of years after the Big Bang. 

Emma is a member of the JWST (James Webb Space Telescope) NIRSpec guaranteed time observations (GTO) team. The team is observing two patches of sky that have been previously observed with many other observatories, including the Hubble and Spitzer Space telescopes. With the NIRCam GTO team, they are taking imaging and spectroscopy of objects identified with Hubble (and other observatories) and JWST. This is the JADES survey (JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey). Emma is co-lead of the target selection and data analysis sub work packages. With the data she will be investigating the stellar and gas properties of galaxies from cosmic noon to well within the Epoch of Reionisation (the time shortly after the Big Bang throughout which the Hydrogen in the Universe is being reionised by starlight). She is studying the star formation rates, stellar masses, dust content, presence of active galactic nuclei and chemical enrichment in these early galaxies.

• Club members' slot - talk by Steve Foster about the Cosmic Microwave Background, entitled “Not Pigeon Droppings” (to be presented via Zoom)

Wednesday 18 March, 7.15 for 7.30pm

Dr Richard Greenwood,

Senior Research Fellow, Planetary and Space Sciences, The Open University

Talk on the subject of meteors and meteorites - further details tbc.

Biographical details below. 

Biographical details - Richard Greenwood is a Senior Research Fellow at the Open University. He undertakes detailed studies of meteorites and their constituent components (CAIs, chondrules, matrix phases), with the aim of understanding the origin and early evolution of our Solar System. An important part of this work involves high precision oxygen isotope analysis of extra-terrestrial materials using the laser-assisted fluorination technique. Characterizing and classifying new meteorite samples is a particularly enjoyable part of his work.

    He is also responsible for the curation of the Open University’s extensive meteorite collection. He enjoys discussing the results of his work with a wide range audiences, and is currently leading an STFC-funded project to bring planetary science research to Keystage 2 and 3 students in schools located throughout the UK.

• Club members' slot - slideshow of members' images, covering March 2024 to Feb 2025

Wednesday 15 April, 7.15 for 7.30pm - Club anniversary meeting

Konrad Malin-Smith

Talk details tbc

Biographical details: Konrad is known with great affection by many as a founder member of the HAS, and a regular speaker to our club.  He is a retired senior schoolteacher of chemistry and physics, and was Head of Science for a number of years. He has been a peripatetic lecturer on various astronomical topics to adult education establishments (especially in Havering) and astronomical societies around South England since the early 1970s. 

   His interests include eclipse-chasing, astrophotography, DIY, classical music, church, golf and snooker. Avoids doing housework; and especially avoids dabbling with computers!

Wednesday 20 May, 7.15 for 7.30pm

Les  Brand - title tbc

To mark the 350th anniversary last year of Royal Greenwich Observatory, founded in 1675, Les will talk about 350 years of the ROG, and also about his role there.

• Club members' slot - talk by Jerry Workman on eclipses.

Wednesday 17 June, 7.15 for 7.30pm

Dr Matt Bothwell will present: 

'How fast is the Universe expanding?'

Further details to be confirmed.

Dr Bothwell is a Public Astronomer, in the Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge

• Club members' slot - Peter Morris will talk about his experiences with his Vaonis Vepsera

Wednesday 16 July, 7.15 for 7.30pm

Dr Lee Macdonald will present:

'Isaac Roberts, E. E. Barnard and the Nebulae'

Outline: pending.

Biographical details: Between 2020 and 2022, Dr Lee Macdonald held a research fellowship with Royal Museums Greenwich, which he used to research and write a book about the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, in the 1881-1939 period. It is hoped that the book will appear in 2025. From 2016 to 2020, he worked as Research Facilitator at the History of Science Museum, University of Oxford, running the Museum’s library and archives. He is the author of Kew Observatory and the Evolution of Victorian Science, 1840-1910, published in 2018 by University of Pittsburgh Press. A long-time amateur astronomer, he has also written How to Observe the Sun Safely (Second Edition, Springer, 2012)

No club meeting in August - Summer break

Perseids viewing might take place at Thames Chase in mid-August,

depending on the weather conditions - details tbc.

Wednesday 16 September, 7.15 for 7.30pm

To be presented (at Thames Chase) via Zoom

Paul Money will present:

'Atmospheres of the Solar System'

Outline: Paul will explore what makes up the wide variety of atmospheres we see in our Solar System, and how unique our own atmosphere is in comparison to the rest.

Biographical details: Paul Money is a Fellow of the RAS and BIS, and has been giving talks to societies since 1982 on a wide range of astronomical subjects. He was one of three Northern Lights Flights astronomers from 2004 to 2013, and until recently was the Reviews Editor for the BBC 'Sky at Night' magazine; a position he had held for 17 years.  He is also now a self-published novelist with 14 novels covering ghost mysteries, apocalyptic and Sci-Fi topics.