| Status: | Active, open to new members |
| Leader: | |
| When: | Monthly on Monday afternoons 4th week of the Month |
The Pillars of Creation
6,500 Light years from Earth. We'll never be able to visit, but here we can learn about the Pillars, and the science behind the Astronomy.
Earthrise
The most iconic image of our home - ever.
July 1969 The first manned landing on the moon
Our Science & Astronomy Group meets at the house of Ray Lawrence on the fourth Monday of each month, 2-4pm. If you would like to learn more about the Group, or would like to join us, contact Ray by clicking on the Link above.
In spite of the fact that Astronomy was part of our history long before Bank Holidays were instigated, our August get together was cancelled due to this clash of dates. But our September Astronomy Meeting date was free, which meant that Mel was able to give us a talk about Valentina Tereshkova , the first and only woman to fly a solo mission in space. In June 1963 Valentina spent three days in space, orbiting the Earth 48 times. She was twenty-six at the time and remains the youngest woman to fly in space and in Earth orbit. Thanks to Mel for a very interesting talk, and reminding us that women have played a significant role in exploration of space.
Our July meeting took the form of a discussion on whether the resources used for space exploration were justified. In general it was agreed that space exploration has benefited mankind in terms of knowledge and new technologies, however it was recognised that manned space flight was more for political prestige than technical development.
For our meeting in June the Group explored four features, which are thought to be left over from the formation of the Solar System, namely the Asteroid Belt, which lies between Mars and Jupiter, the Kuiper Belt, which lies beyond the orbit of Neptune and is the source of short period comets, and the Oort Cloud which is believed to be spherical cloud of material surrounding the Solar System and is the source of very long period comets.
Watch this space for latest Astronomy updates