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2009 is the International Year of Astronomy (IYA2009), celebrating four hundred years since Galileo Galilei looked through a rudimentary telescope and saw wonders that changed Man's understanding of the Cosmos. Since then we have learned much more about the Universe in which we live, brought about through observations provided by astronomical instrumentation, in turn driven by technology. This talk will give an overview of our understanding of the Universe in which we live, the major observational advances since the time of Galileo and how they have gone hand-in-hand with technological innovation. I will conclude with examples of how the International Year of Astronomy is celebrating the excitement of astronomy today.

"Love Under the Stars"

Programme highlights
"Love is in the Air" (Dr Alex Johnstone, Rowett Institute for Nutrition and Health)

"The Many Variables in Romance" (Dr Marco Thiel, Mathematician and Systems Biologist)

New Moon & Dark Sky Talk (Torquil Torrance, AAS)
 
Cosmic Dome

More details

14 February 2010, 18:00 - 21:00 
Venue:  Satrosphere Science Centre 

Host: University of Aberdeen, Satrosphere and TechFest-SetPoint

Celebrating the New Moon this Valentine's Evening with a diverse mix of Astronomy and The Science of Love - featuring top University of Aberdeen Academics, the Cosmic Dome Planetarium, Aberdeen Astronomical Society and Satrosphere Science Team. 

This Valentine's Day, we're celebrating International Year of Astronomy and the New Moon with an opportunity to view Mars and Orion against a dark sky. Telescopes will be out in force, as will top researchers from the University of Aberdeen. On arrival, you will be greeted with a glass of pink champagne - so come along for an evening of science with a romantic twist."

Admission is Free and there is no need to book 
- just come along on the evening

Astronomer Royal for Scotland and Professor of Astronomy at the University of Glasgow 

Woodend Barn, Banchory , 7.00pm

February's CTO meeting (moved to Tuesday 16th Feb) is to be convened at Woodend Barn, Banchory as the John Brown, Astronomer Royal for Scotland is giving the first in a series of Cafe Scientifique talks

Free entry. Held in Buchanans Restaurant.

John Brown, Astronomer Royal for Scotland and Regius Professor of Astronomy at the University of Glasgow. His interest in astronomy began in 1957, age 10 when the first Sky at Night programme was aired and Sputnik went into orbit. His interests in magic also started then, inspired by a magic set he got for Christmas. Although now a prominent astrophysics theorist, as a young amateur he started a school astronomy club and made several telescopes. Some of astronomy's big questions will be on the agenda, ensuring a lively event to mark the climax of International Year of Astronomy!

Woodend Barn, Burn o' Bennie, Banchory AB31 5QA

Travelling west from Aberdeen on the A93 Braemar road, just before you reach Banchory, take the turning on the right signposted B977 Hirn & Echt, there is a brown tourist board sign for the Woodend Barn Arts Centre. Due to the new road lay-out, The Barn is now clearly visible up on the right hand side. The road to the Woodend Barn Arts Centre is the first on the right and first right again. 

Woodend Barn is conveniently placed a short walk up-hill from the A93 and the main Aberdeen/Braemar bus route 201. There are other local routes too.

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MARS EXPLORATION : For centuries mankind has been fascinated by the planet Mars. This talk will cover the early observations of Mars from Kepler to Huygens' first drawing of the disc of Mars to the 19th Century "Mars Mainia" culminating in Percival Lowell and his Martian canals. We'll look at; the dawn of the space age with the work of Hohmann who in the 1920s developed the concept of the Hohmann Transfer Orbit, the first detailed proposals for human Mars exploration in the 1950s, unmanned Mariner and Viking missions of the 1960s and 1970s, Wernher von Braun's 1969 Manned Mars program NERVA, Soviet proposals of the 1980s, current Mars exploration Sojourner, MRO, Mars exploration Rovers, Phoenix and the future of Mars exploration.

Traditionally, astronomers have raced to determine more and more distant galaxies in order to understand the earliest epochs of galaxy evolution. Since these galaxies are at such incredible distances the samples tend to only include the very brightest and largest galaxies. By investigating the history of more local galaxies, we have been able to probe the history of galaxy evolution over all mass ranges

Talk Cancelled due to bad weather, but rearranged  for Apr-14th

(Also separate AAS members only event at Dark Sky Site)

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  (directions to CTO  , Bettridge Centre )

The highly illustrated talk will outline our place in the Universe, describe the key points about active galaxies, give a nicely simplified overview of black holes, how they form and how they power active galaxies, and will show how activity in galaxies may be a natural part of evolution. The talk will also include a look at our own Milky Way Galaxy and the evidence for a supermassive black hole at its centre.

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