Thanks to Bob Wharton for taking
on the role of reporter at the monthly meetings. His
first report is as follows:
Summary of the meeting
held on 9 October 2002.
Sean gave a brief report
on the last observing session, which had been very successful
with fifteen people attending. He also displayed some
Sky maps that will no doubt be of great use to others
in future observing sessions.
The Chairman announced
that in the New Year the meetings would be held on the
third Wednesday of each month. He then introduced the
speaker for the evening, Pam Spence.
Pam's talk
was on "The Story of Cosmology"; the first
part of the evening was devoted to the history of Cosmology
which was well illustrated by slides, and covered the
story of Cosmology from the time of the Babylonians
and Greeks
and brief accounts of the roles played by the major
contributors to the subject, listed here in chronological
order: -Aristotle,
Copernicus,
Tycho
Brahe, Kepler,
Galileo,
Newton,
Olber
and in more recent times Einstein,
Hubble,
Gamow
and Hoyle.
Pam emphasised that little real progress was made from
the time of Aristotle until Kepler proved the elliptical
orbits of the planets, due principally to the belief
that the Earth was the centre of the Universe.
The
second half of the evening Pam spoke on the more modern
aspects of cosmology, much of which was demonstrated
with a balloon
to represent an expanding Universe, however she said
that we must always remember that the Universe has no
edge and no centre, as the Universe looks the same from
any point within it.
A fascinating story was told
of the history of the Universe from shortly after the
Big Bang. From the Planck time 10^-43 seconds after
the BB with an estimated temperature of 10^30 K, after
1 second the temperature 6x10^9 K, at 10^6 years 1000
K and after 10 million years a temperature of about
3 K.
Pam also spoke of the contribution of Post
war
radio astronomers who had discovered the cosmic
microwave background, forecast in Einstein's general
theory of relativity.
Pam concluded her talk with
a brief outline of the work of Alan
Guth on strings
and clusters;
A very successful evening concluded
with Pam answering a number of questions on her fascinating
subject.
Note by your reporter.
Cosmology is
a pretty massive subject. So here are a couple of Web
sites if any of you would like to delve a bit further
or perhaps refresh your memories.
Fairly
basic
More
advanced
R A Wharton
The Next meeting of the society is to be held on Wednesday November 13. Remember the doors open at 7.15 and the meeting will start at 7.30 prompt. The speaker this month is our very own Murray Barber and the subject is the recent trip to
The next observing session is due to be held on Friday 1 November. Again members will meet in the Crow & Gate Pub at Crowborough, at around 8 pm. The group will then move onto the Forest for the observing session. 15 people for the first session last month was really good but all members are most welcome to come along. For further details please contact Sean on 01892 667092.
As mentioned in the last Newsletter,
there was a committee meeting held on 30 September.
The main item on the agenda was a proposed change of
date to the society meetings and after much discussion
it was agreed that the meetings night should change
from the second to the third Wednesday of each month.
This change will take place from January next year.
Meetings will also now start promptly at 7.30 each month
with the doors opening at 7.15. The subject of an Exhibition
for next year was raised but nothing has yet been decided,
if any member has any ideas for a place to hold an exhibition
please contact any of the committee. Duncan gave an
update on the situation at the Isle of Thorns Observatory.
Things are now looking more promising with the Cats
Protection League having taken over the site. It is
also possible that the society may be able to have an
exclusive organised visit to the observatory once a
year, more details when available.
On the subject
of committee members, Murray has decided to continue
as Chairman for the present time. I am sure all members
will agree that this is good news for the society. Peter
Prince has had to stand down as custodian of equipment
and Sean has taken on this role for the time being.
Ian King has agreed to take over the role of Secretary
of the society. We are however, still looking for a
member to take over the role of treasurer. If any member
wishes to offer their services please make yourself
known as soon as possible. All of these changes will
be officially made at the AGM subject to members support.
Various other items were discussed but I have listed
them all separately under other news.
All members are reminded that subscriptions for society membership are due from November 1. The cost remains the same this year, £15 per member or £20 for joint membership. Please send your payments to the treasurer at Broadwater Lodge, Stone Cross Road, Wadhurst, TN5 6LR. Alternatively, bring your payment with you to the November meeting.
The society has very kindly been given a DVD player for fund raising use. It was decided that the best method of raising funds was to have a sealed bid auction. There is a minimum reserve price of £50 and all bids need to be with the treasurer by the AGM on 11 December, (send them with your subscriptions!). The player itself is an LG DVD 3200E for playing DVD video and audio disks. Features include 3D virtual surround sound and an on screen Graphical User Interface. Place your bids in a sealed envelope and get them to the treasurer before the AGM.
Just a reminder to all members that the society scope is available for hire by all members. There is a £30 refundable deposit and a £5 fee per month. the only other condition of loan is that each hirer fills out the log book supplied! The scope is an 83/4" f5.8 dobsonian reflector, with a focal length of just under 51". There are three eyepieces that come with the scope which give magnifications of 51x 72x and 204x. If anybody wishes to hire the telescope please contact Sean on 01892 667092 or speak to him at the meeting
One final item from the recent committee meeting, the Pantiles Camera Centre are offering a discount to all Wadhurst Astronomical Society members. They are willing to give 15% off complete telescope systems and 10% of ancillaries (excluding film). The address is 22 The Pantiles, Tunbridge Wells, TN2 5TN and their telephone number is 01892 527082. Obviously to avail yourself of this offer you will need to be a current member of the society and have an up to date membership card with you. As well as telescopes, they stock a comprehensive range of Cameras, SLR's, Compacts & the new APS (advanced photo system), together with their accessories. They can also supply used equipment, Slide Projectors, Binoculars and Spotting Scopes. They are also stockists of Night Vision equipment including scopes, binoculars and goggles.
Chairman: Murray R. Barber 01892 654618 murray.barber@virgin.net
Secretary: Tim Bance 01732 832745 timbance@hotmail.com
Treasurer: Ian Reeves 01892 784255
Editor: Peter Bamblett 01732 368656 pbamblett@hotmail.com
Publicity & Web Site: Michael Harte 01892 783292 michael@greenman.demon.co.uk
Dir. of Obs.: Sean Tampsett 01892 667092 sean_tampsett@hotmail.com
Librarian: Joan Grace 01892 783721
Custodian of Equipment: Peter Prince 01892 836284