Amateur Scientifics

Notes for the talk - page 1 Page 2 here

Page 3 here

Let's begin with a sample brief:

'The solar system: its origin, development and eventual demise.'

Meanwhile:

'Where are all the "Little Green Men? "

Group organisers do feel free to vary it.

We will begin by looking at the Universe.

So that we understand the solar system in some small way, it is appropriate to look much wider into the nature etc of the universe.

The emphasis is on participation and questions and comments are fully welcomed at any stage. 5 & 7 here

Fascinated at school by a compass point being turned by a nearby low voltage electric wire, I went on to a more than a passing interest in technical astronomy and astrophysics. 7 here

My only "qualification" even remotely relevant here is a Boy Scout Astronomy badge. Much changed since then here.

The graft has been done for you.

Cat with the computer mouse. Stock Vector - 40261762

pagetop

We couldn't go wrong if Stephen Hawking were involved at this early stage.

ebook pdf free download Brief Answers to the Big Questions

His last book "Brief Answers to Big Questions" (pdf) opened with this text:

People have always wanted answers to the big questions.

1 Where did we come from?

2 How did the universe begin?

3 What is the meaning and design

behind it all?

4 Is there anyone out there?

Blue text and red text are taken from books or the internet.

We may not answer even one question today.

We can, however, aim to enjoy our time together!

Re question 4,

Is there anyone out there?

all we might say is 'There should be.'. Even if only little green men. We will look at the possibilities, theoretical as they are.

We are on one of several solar planets. The Sun is one of billions upon billions of stars. Surely one of them has a similar planet to ours(?).

The universe started about 14 billion years ago with a huge explosion.

pagetop

Galaxies which are collections of stars came later.

Our journey begins within an expanding universe.
This aspect is vital to understanding how it works.
It started expanding very soon after that huge explosion mentioned earlier, - , the Big Bang which is on our itinerary.
The eventual demise of the universe is thought to include the possibility that the universe may contract.
Another vital aspect to comprehend is the sheer number of space objects included in billions of galaxies (collections of stars).
Billions upon billions of stars in each galaxy (such as our Milky Way) are all within the process of birth, development and demise. 1 here

Remember Hawking and Is there anyone out there?

There should be.'. Even if only little green men.

Even if only 1% of billions and billions of stars had billions of planets and if just millions of them had one inhabitable planet there could be thousands of such planets with some form of intelligent life on them.

Depending on the agreed time available, by the time we conclude today, we'll have seen that billions of $ and £ etc have been spent on research and practical projects leading to the search for life, however low.

There is, of course, concern by researchers for the demise of our planet and where we could go. Even more $ and £ etc have been spent on this.

We have the opportunity to discuss various issues attached to all this.

pagetop

One aim is to lend listeners keen to follow up the talk, a tangible, hard copy of some of the material used during the talk.

This comes in a beautiful book ..... Two copies are available at the talk.

When you read red text on this website (apart from page and section titles) you'll know it's from the book.

Thinktank, Birmingham Science Museum
Millennium Point
Birmingham
B4 7XG

For Sat Nav use postcode B4 7AP.

pagetop

Many, if not most topics, use specialised meanings for perhaps everyday words. Astronomy is no different.

We left school understanding the very basics of gravity, that our planet travels along an orbit, and tidal flow has something to do with the moon.

We knew that light travels very fast.

Some quotations are stripped of unnecessary jargon and other less important text as shown by .... . You can see what they are by following up the source on the website.

pagetop

Possibly everyone has heard of the apple which fell on Isaac Newton's head. If it did, it set him asking himself why.

Your weight is the force you exert on the Earth.

Gravity stops you flying off into space.

If nothing else, this website and the talk aim to improve the prospect of members having more than an

"apples fall from trees" understanding of gravity.

.

Portrait of man in black with shoulder-length, wavy brown hair, a large sharp nose, and a distracted gaze

source

Sir Isaac Newton ... lived from 1642-1727.
The legend is that Newton discovered Gravity when he saw a falling apple while thinking about the forces of nature.
Whatever really happened, Newton realized that some force must be acting on falling objects like apples because otherwise they would not start moving from rest. #
Newton also realized that the moon would fly off away from Earth in a straight line . ....
Newton called this force "gravity" and determined that gravitational forces exist between all objects. e g balloon & pencil
source

pagetop

Let's throw some light on another difficult topic

Light travels extremely quickly. Its maximum speed is approximately 300,000,000 metres/second, when it travels through a vacuum. 186,282 miles per second source
The very large difference between the speed of light in air ... and the speed of sound in air (343 miles/s) explains why you:
see lightning before you hear it, ... see a distant door slam before you hear it - source
Light is immensely complicated (do I hear "It's all immensely complicated!" Anything to with space is complicated which is why Newton, Einstein and Hawking have all been in the limelight.

What can these telescopes find?

Researchers (not necessarily with these) can go back to the beginning of the Universe.

Something to ponder after the talk! Dali?

A rendition of the area surrounding the Local Void, with our galaxy at the center of the three arrows. source

Using a star chart you may be able to locate the Milky Way near Virgo.

See the larger image below.

The Local Void was discovered in 1987 by Brent Tully, an astronomer at the University of Hawaii ... and Richard Fisher, an astrophysicist at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Charlottesville, Virginia. The pair noted that while the Milky Way is surrounded by other galaxies and cosmic structures, our galaxy also sits at the edge of a large, empty region.

However, it was difficult to observe the Local Void since it is located behind the center of the Milky Way from our perspective here on Earth.

source

The image above is ready for projection. There is a larger one to study at the foot of the page.

A rendition of the area surrounding the Local Void, with our galaxy at the center of the three arrows. source

Using a star chart you may be able to locate the Milky Way near Virgo.

The Local Void was discovered in 1987 by Brent Tully, an astronomer at the University of Hawaii ... and Richard Fisher, an astrophysicist at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Charlottesville, Virginia. The pair noted that while the Milky Way is surrounded by other galaxies and cosmic structures, our galaxy also sits at the edge of a large, empty region.

However, it was difficult to observe the Local Void since it is located behind the center of the Milky Way from our perspective here on Earth.

source

pagetop Page 2 Page 3 here