This month Professor Chris Allton from the Department of Physics at Swansea will be talking to us about the the forces that operate in Neutron Stars.

 

Chris is an Australian by birth, education (and outlook!). He is a professor of theoretical particle physics in Swansea University where his research involves using some of the fastest computers in the world to simulate the properties of quarks at temperatures 100,000 times that of the core of the sun.
He is also very interested in the public engagement of science and is the Director of Oriel Science, Swansea University’s outreach project.

 

 

All the matter we know about in the universe is comprised of just 19 particles.  Quarks are the most massive and they combine together to form neutrons and protons to make atomic nuclei. Quarks are bound together by the Strong Force – and this Force is incredibly strong, each quark is held to its neighbour by a force equivalent to the weight of three elephants!  At high temperatures and pressures, around a trillion degrees, quarks can become free. 
The talk explores how this new phase of matter and neutron stars are related.

Everyone is, as always, very welcome.

Usual time and place, 7:30pm at the Kings Head, Abergavenny, next to the Town Hall.

Our next meeting is the Annual General Meeting of the Society.

If you want to hear about the events of the last year, have any suggestions as to how the AAS can develop and prosper or wish to volunteer then please do come along on the 25^th.

We are a bunch of amateurs with varying levels of understanding that wish to share our fascination with the comos, so come along and join with us.  As it says on the web-site home page : No knowledge necessary, just a curious mind.

The draft minutes of last year’s meeting can be read at AGM 2018 minutes 

Usual time and place; The King’s Head, Abergavenny, at 7:30pm

Next Monday Professor Jane Greaves, Astronomy Group, Cardiff School of Physics and Astronomy, will present her work on nano-diamonds.  As well as having published over 170 peer reviewed papers she received the IoP Fred Hoyle medal in 2017 for her contribution to astrophysics.

 

Her topic is “Spinning Space Diamonds”.
“I will talk about the sparkling trail of diamonds from exploding stars to the birth of the solar system. My team recently found diamonds orbiting a few very young luminous stars, and I will discuss how this chance discovery came about and how it helped to solve a problem of mystery radio waves that has existed for over 20 years”.

 

 

 
The usual time and place: 7:30pm at the Kings Head, Abergavenny.

Come along to be entertained and informed.  All are welcome.

Exploring the Universe; a HoVAS event in association with Usk & Abergavenny Societies.
Tabor Centre, Brynmawr. 23rd March 2019, 12:00pm/5:00pm plus evening talk 6:30/7:30 pm.

For our next meeting Jenifer Millard from Cardiff University School of Physics and Astronomy will be talking about GALAXIES.
Jenifer is an amateur astronomer and also co-presents the blog @AwesomeAstroPod.

Usual time and venue, The Kings Head, next to Abergavenny Town Hall, at 7:30pm

Should be an interesting and informative evening.  All are welcome.

A question was asked at our January discussion group about the evolution of the Solar System and planetary migration.  So, at this meeting we can explore the issue in a bit more depth.  I am hoping I will be able to show a short video, or videos, illustrating the Grand Tack Hypothesis.

If we have some time left over there are other topics that have piqued my interest in the last month that we can look at.

All are welcome and all input is appreciated.

Suggested Topics:-
1          Formation of the Solar System  –  planetary migration
2          Did a collision trigger life on earth
3          Mining the Moon
4          Black Hole spinning as fast as it theoretically can.
5          Dark Matter: The milky way halo & another low DM galaxy discovered.
6          The Hubble Constant confusion: using quasars to estimate it’s value.

If there are any topics that anyone wishes to talk about do bring them along or let me know by email or at a meeting.  

Usual time and place: 7:30pm in the upper room at the King’s Head, Abergavenny