Flamsteed Astronomy Society

Astronomical objects emit light across the electromagnetic spectrum, which has led astronomers to build instruments to observe the Universe from gamma-rays to radio waves. For over 70 years from the mid-1800s, the largest optical telescope in the world was at Birr Castle in Ireland, which enabled the 3rd Earl of Rosse to see the spiral arms of galaxies for the first time. Recently, a new telescope has been built at Birr to explore the Universe at radio wavelengths. In this…

Chris Lintott is a professor of astrophysics at the University of Oxford, where he is also a research fellow at New College. His background is in work on the chemistry associated with star formation, but these days he thinks about galaxy formation. As Principal Investigator of the Zooniverse, he leads a team who run the world's most successful citizen science projects, allowing more than a million people to discover planets, transcribe ancient papyri or explore the Serengeti. A passionate advocate…

Professor David Rothery will give a talk on planetary science and the BepiColombo mission. Details of the talk to follow.  David is Professor of Planetary Geosciences at the Open University, based in Milton Keynes, where he teaches about planets, volcanoes, earthquakes, tsunamis and geology in general. His research interests centre on the study of volcanic activity by means of remote sensing, and volcanology and geoscience in general on other planets. Although he loves the icy moons of Jupiter and Saturn,…

Professor Michael Merrifield is Professor of Astronomy at The University of Nottingham. His main area of research is the structure of nearby galaxies, to try and reconstruct how they formed. Talk details will follow soon.