After the sad news of Nick’s death we considered whether to go ahead with the September meeting.  In the end we concluded that we can best remember Nick at the next meeting which marks the return from our summer break.

Usual time and place, 7:30pm, upstairs in the Hen & Chicks, Flannel Street, Abergavenny

For this discussion session I thought nothing too complex but a bit controversial would do.  I did discuss the topic with Nick when I visited him in hospital and he seemed OK with my choice – well he didn’t say “silly idea”.
There are many speculative astro theories to choose from out there so I thought, why not pick up on one and explore it.
The choice is broad but I have settled on :

“Are we living inside a Black Hole?”  

Although the concept of Black Holes were first proposed in the 1700s it was only in the 1970s they were accepted by most scientists as real.  Now they seem to be everywhere, from small stellar collapse ones, twice the mass of our sun, up to the super massive ones sitting at the centres of galaxies, over 10 billion times the mass of the sun.
It has been suggested that there are also very small, primordial black holes from the early times of the universe so why not one that contains an entire universe!!

A week later than usual, due to my mess up, this Monday Philip will introduce a topic entitled:-
“Cosmic Rays : Messengers from the Extreme Universe”,

Usual time & place:-7:30pm, upper room in the Hen & Chicks, Abergavenny

I look forward to meeting up and learning from what Philip has investigated.

This will be the last meeting before the summer break – the next session will be in September – so come along, have a chat, ask questions, share your views or just pick up some new knowledge about our amazing universe.

See you Monday evening – ALL ARE WELCOME!

The usual time and place, 7:30pm upstairs in the Hen & Chicks, Abergavenny NP7 5EG

Philip Howell will be leading our discussion this month on the subject of

“Cosmic Rays : Messengers from the Extreme Universe”

Cosmic rays are high‑energy particles from space that travel at nearly the speed of light. Although it was known that there were ions in the atmosphere in the 18th Century it was over a 100 years later, in the 1900s, that it was shown that these rays came from outside the atmosphere.
Philip will explain what they are, where they come from and why they are important.

Come along and learn a bit more about these particles and share any thoughts you may have on their origin and importance.

“ALL ARE WELCOME” All you need is your curiosity!

Due to the Bank Holiday this month’s meeting will be a week earlier,
7:30pm, 18^th May, upper room in the Hen & Chicks, Abergavenny
Member Bob Lambert will introduce the subject entitled

“The Risk to Low Earth Orbit from Satellite Mega-constellations”

In 2023 there were some 7,500 active satellites in orbit.  Now there are more than 15,000 and companies are planning for 400,000 by the early ‘30s.

I look forward to Bob’s thoughts.  Come along and listen or join in with your own thoughts.
See you Monday evening – ALL ARE WELCOME!

Our next meeting is a presentation by Dr Leo Jenner, ex CERN, on astroparticle physics. The time and venue is as usual. 7:30 pm at the Hen & Chicks in Abergavenny.  Dr Leo will be appearing by Zoom on the big screen in the upper room.
However, if you are unable to get to the H&C you can log on via Zoom.  The details are:-

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85058353034?pwd=csfxHzbbo9HOZcG30qaM5KpSakMpEs.1
Meeting ID: 850 5835 3034     Passcode: 419869

The field of astroparticle physics evolved out of optical astronomy.  It investigates things like high energy cosmic radiation and its research seeks to contribute to understanding dark matter and dark energy, among other questions.

As usual all are welcome, either “face to face” or on Zoom.  Details have also been sent to Usk AS and HOVAS.