"Variable Stars" by Bryn Davies

Venue: Newchurch Pavilion (next door to the IW Observatory) Watery Lane, Newchurch, Isle of Wight (nearest postcode is PO36 0LX

A summary of the presentation: An Introduction to the Study of Variable Stars. * What are Variable Stars? * The history of the study of Variable Stars and how it brought about the Scientific Revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries. * How do we measure the magnitude of the luminosity of stars and how it might vary? * What causes this variation and how might they vary in the variation of their luminosity? * How can we observe them? * Finally some examples by an esteemed member of the Vectis Astronomical Society.

About the speaker: Bryn has been an amateur astronomer for several decades and currently has two telescopes for observing, a 5 inch Meade and an 8 inch Celestron. His interests are in photographing and drawing the craters of the moon among other things. He is also interested in the history of astronomy. He has been a member of VAS since 2006 and is currently Chairman.

This event is open to the general public. Entry for Vectis Astronomy Society members is free and a suggested donation of £2.50 is invited from visitors.

The Vectis Astronomical Society (http://www.wightstronomy.org) 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 minutes, with a chance for questions and answers afterwards.

[The cover image is a comparison of two images of Betelgeuse taken by the VLT-SPHERE instrument at the Very Large Telescope in Chile]