DACE 2012
We've teamed up with Glasgow University's Department of Adult and Continuing Education (DACE) to bring you a series of lectures under the glittering stars of our planetarium. Each talk lasts approximately one hour with time for discussion and questions afterwards.
Tickets cost £10 and include entry in to the Science Mall for the day of the lecture.
All tickets must be BOOKED IN ADVANCE via DACE online or by calling 0141 330 1835
Saturday 21st January 2012 - 11.30-13.00
Alexander MacKinnon BSc PhD FRAS
Rock Stars: Asteroids and the NASA Dawn mission
Asteroids and the NASA Dawn Mission Dismal, cold lumps of rock, starlike in all but the largest telescopes, the asteroids, or "minor planets" might seem an Astronomy niche interest. This is not the case: they tell us about the history of the solar system and are fascinating little worlds in their own right when seen up close. A look at several sides of asteroid science will be rounded off with results from NASA's Dawn space mission.
Saturday 4th February 2012 - 11.30-13.00
Lyndsay Fletcher BSc PhD FRAS
Solar Maximum 2013
In 2013 we expect to see the next Solar Maximum, when sunspots, prominences, flares and all the other manifestations of the Sun's magnetic field will reach their most numerous. Using images from the latest space missions we will take a close look at these exotic and beautiful phenomena, answering questions like, "Why do they look the way they do," "Why are there solar maxima and minima" and "How do they influence events here on Earth?
Saturday 10th March 2012 - 11.30-13.00
Martin Hendry BSc PhD FRAS
Captain Cook and the cosmic yard stick
In June 2012 the planet Venus will cross the Sun's disk for the last time in 105 years. A similar event in 1769 took Captain Cook to the South Pacific, a voyage of discovery on Earth and the first step towards our modern knowledge of the size of the Universe. We will look at the hazardous journeys of Cook and his contemporaries, at how they led to knowledge of the size of the solar system, and at global attempts to repeat this discovery in 2012.
Saturday 17th March 2012 - 11.30-13.00
Andrew Conway
What happens when a comet crashes into the Sun - something that happens much more often than planet collisions (though an earth impact may have wiped out the dinosaurs)? Recent theory and observations of "sun-grazing" comets, particularly the spectacular Comet Lovejoy, make these explosive events even more interestinging.
We will learn enough about comets and the Sun to describe what happens when these "giant supersonic snowballs" encounter the "hell" of the Sun's outer layers.
