Thu, 21 Dec
|London
Eclipses of the Sun – The Ultimate Experience
By Richard Westwood From the awe and fear in the ancient world to our present understanding of this amazing spectacle, we trace the personalities who discovered the science and art of this natural event; included are the Antikythera machine. The philosopher, Thales, Astronomer Edmund Halley
Time & Location
21 Dec 2023, 19:00 – 21:00
London, 90 Mycenae Rd, London SE3 7SE, UK
About the Event
Artist Etienne Trouvelot, photographer Warren De La Rue, physicists Sir Arthur Eddington and Albert Einstein, astronomers Bernard Lyot, Jules Janssen and Astronomer Royal George Biddle Airey.
We also look at the first eclipse to be televised and a feature film using this event as a major part of the narrative.
The last part of the presentation asks ‘Now we can view solar eclipses on almost any device – is it worth going to see the real thing?’
Bio:
I became interested in the night sky in Nature Study at Junior School in 1956 when I was eight. I bought my first telescope (a Tasco 60mm refractor) in 1967. I quickly graduated to a 6” reflector the following year. I am an observer (basically an ‘Astro Tourist’), with an interest in Astronomical history (I am also a member of the Society for Astronomical History).
I’m a member of the South West Herts Astronomical Society, and recently retired from the committee after thirty years.
From 1998 to 2008 I conducted WEA courses in Recreational Astronomy
I am also interested in Planetaria and conducted the sessions for the SWHAS meetings, also visitor sessions
I am a lifelong railway enthusiast and a tour Guide and archivist at the Paper Trail, the home of machine-made paper in Apsley, Hertfordshire.