In April we studied our near neighbour and ‘sister planet’ Mars, looking firstly at their histories since creation, when in the early days they were very similar water worlds full of promise for future life. We journeyed through to modern times where the differences could not be more contrasting. In May we then fantasied, looking at not only man travelling to Mars, but living there for long periods, even possibly colonising the red planet. In June we studied the most important body in our solar system, which is vital for creating and maintaining life as we know it on Earth. Yes, this is our Sun, and we looked at the life of stars in general before moving onto the properties and to some degree the peculiarities that it displays.
For July we have an external speaker Shaun Livsey, whose talk is titled ‘The Universe A – Z’ which promises to be a lively, interesting presentation, requiring virtually no maths!
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 23rd July, 27 August and 24 September.
As a group we 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.