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Vectis Astronomical Society Monthly Meeting Free

Friday 22 7.30pmAugust
2014

Talk

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Vectis Astronomical Society Monthly Meeting Free

Source http://www.wightastronomy.org/

Earth like planets

Are We Alone? Stephen Tonkin

In 1961, Frank Drake introduced his eponymous equation. In the half-century since then, we have a much better idea of the likely values of some of the parameters. This talk examines the state of play with respect to SETI and potentially habitable exoplanets, and examines our current understanding of the likelihood of there being similar planets to Earth. It "reboots" the Drake Equation in the light of these developments.

Stephen Tonkin FRAS has been an amateur astronomer since childhood and now spends most of his working life doing astronomical outreach: He teaches astronomy courses both independently and for Brockenhurst College, and also in schools as a STEM Ambassador. He leads public observing sessions at local BBC Stargazing Live events. He has authored many articles and several books on practical aspects of astronomy and writes a monthly Binocular Tour for Sky at Night magazine. Stephen is a past-chairman of the Wessex Astronomical Society and a founder member of Fordingbridge Astronomers.

The Vectis Astronomical Society meets on the 4th Friday of every month, except for December. This event is open for non-members to attend. The speakers come from all over the country and give a presentation for around 45 mins. We then stop for a break with tea and biscuits, which gives an opportunity to mingle and chat.

The second half of the evening sees a presentation by one of our regular members showing us what to we could see in the sky over the coming month.

This always involves some great pictures projected onto the large screen. Entry to the event is free of charge, although as we run as a charity, donations are always welcome.

Newsletters are available at the entrance for a suggested donation of £2.00

Please see our website for contact and membership details.