In recent months we have pursued a policy of variety, which we hope will keep all members interested. In May we fantasised by moving, you could argue, into science fiction, when we looked at how humans could not only travel to Mars, but become self- sufficient and live there for long periods, even possibly eventually colonising the red planet.
June then ‘took us back to reality’ and we studied general stars before concentrating on the one that governs our solar system, namely the Sun, which is of course fundamental to life as we know it today; and we discovered some truly amazing facts about it.
In July we brought an external speaker Shaun Livsey to the group meeting, who gave a refreshing change with his talk titled ‘The Universe A – Z’ in which he looked at some amazing facts without the need for complex maths or science.
In August we go back to our solar system and look at the four Galilean Moons of the biggest planet Jupiter. They range in size between nearly half the diameter of Earth to slightly smaller than our own Moon, and in terms of appearance and properties they are vastly different.
We meet on the fourth Thursday of every month from 10am to 12 noon in the downstairs back room of Southwell Library. The dates of the next few meetings are 27 August, 24 September and 22 October. The group try to cater for beginners by not making the sessions too technical but with enough content to stimulate the more knowledgeable. After coffee the audience get the chance to ask questions, comment or offer views, which is, I think, an important part of our sessions.
I am pleased to report that we have maintained a healthy membership for 2026/27 and are rapidly approaching the stage when we will have to consider the group as ‘full’.
Please see the webpage Astronomy - Southwell u3a where you can contact me, Richard Peacock, Group Leader.