Programme of events makes the most of the stars

Nov 30 2009 by Tony Henderson, The Journal

She said: “Winter is a good time to interest more people in astronomy because of the dark nights.”

A new North East astronomical society, Luna, has been set up and meets at the Centre for Life.

Tomorrow at 7pm the society hosts Weather and the Planets, a free talk by Look North’s lead weather presenter Paul Mooney.

Paul said: “Here on Earth, we like nothing better than to complain about a chilly winter’s night or a bit of Monday morning drizzle, but how much would we grumble if we had to contend with Mercury’s range of temperatures which spans 610 degrees Celsius or the thunderstorms thought to originate in Venus’ sulphuric acid clouds?”

Coming up

A NEW show called Christmas Star begins tomorrow the Centre for Life’s planetarium and will run until January 3.

It explores the myth and the scientific mystery behind the star as a symbol of Christmas.

On Saturday at 4pm there will be a show looking at the Newcastle sky above the Centre for Life to see the planets and constellations.

Starting on January 21, Mini Astro is an astronomy course with weekly speaker presentations. Book on (0191) 243-8210 .

The sessions are:

January 21: Signposts in the Sky with Newcastle University’s Dr Adrian Jannetta, training officer at Northumberland Astronomical Society.

January 28: Asteroids, comets and meteorites - destructors or creators? with Graham Darke, chairman of Sunderland Astronomical Society.

February 4: The Hubble Space Telescope with Gary Fildes, director of the new Kielder Observatory.

February 11: The search for Extrasolar planets; Is there anybody out there? by David Hughes, a founder of the new Luna society.

February 18: Revealing the dark side of the Universe, with Dr Pete Edwards, who manages the science and society programme at Durham University.

February 25: Written in the Stars: Astronomy v Astrology by Steve Owens, UK coordinator for the International Year of Astronomy.