The committee are committed to bringing AstroSoc members fun events and days throughout the University terms. From Quizzes, to Guest Lectures, even to Observing nights, you can be assured we will keep the events going and aimed to bring different areas of astronomy to you and to, most importantly, have some fun!
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Any planned or past events from the year will be posted here with links (when available) to related information wherever it may be. These events are primarily for AstroSoc members but you can come along and become a member of the society at any arranged event.
You must be a member of AstroSoc to attend the events we run, and it's only £2 to join! (£1 if you're already a member of PhySoc).
Freshers’ Week runs from Monday, 14th September to Sunday, 20th September 2009, where AstroSoc will have a stall in {insert area here} on the Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, where we will have various experiments and temptations on display. We will be twinned with the PhySoc stall where they will also have information available along with more experiments. You will be invited to and able to join either society at a fee of £2 or even join both at the marvellous offer of just £3!
The first and most traditional AstroSoc event will be our 'Beer and Doughnuts' night! This is held in the Kelvin Building and will take place with PhySoc on the 29th of September in the Common Room.
More than just an excuse to eat and drink, Beer and Doughnuts is a great way to get to know your fellow classmates or students, students from the years above and your AstroSoc committee. Also on offer will be soft drinks, other snacks and our Beer and Doughnuts Quiz!
With Beer and Donuts out of the way, our next event introduces our Guest Lecture Series.
Dr Martin Hendry will ask what would be different if our Moon (percentage-wise the largest satellite orbiting in our Solar system) did not exist. Yes, the tides would be gone, and surfers would be very upset, and the observers among us would celebrate as the sky would be much clearer...but what else would happen....?
Find out at 6pm on Tuesday the 6th of October in the Common Room of the Kelvin Building. Free pizza will be provided.
Dr Declan Diver of the University of Glasgow Astronomy Department goes into excrutiating detail on the formation and development of one of the most powerful phenomena in the universe: the pulsar.
On the second Tuesday of every month we hope to have organised nights at the Acre Road Observatory where (clear skies permitting!) we will have many scopes available to be trained on interesting areas of the sky. If all doesn't go according to plan, we will have other distractions available inside the Main Building to keep the night going if needed.
Dr Max Vasile of the University of Glasgow Aerospace Engineering Department asks why near Earth objects, why they are a threat, explores some possibilities for planetary defence, looks at some recent advances and discusses future and planned missions to asteroids.
Another evening at the Acre Road Observatory - depending on the popularity of the observation evenings, more may be arranged for second term.
A fantastic night of good food and poetry remembering the man that was Robert Burns. This night is one of those that is remembered years later, as the talks highlight that the lecturers and lab helpers actually do remember the silly stuff you get up to....and now take the opportunity to tell everyone else too!
Running slightly later the same evening is the AstroSoc, PhySoc and MacSoc ceilidh - both of these events are (hopefully) being subsidised by Nexus (the student branch of the Institute of Physics.
Dr James Biggs of Strathclyde University Physics Department presents us with an introduction to Solar Sail technology, along with theoretical applications for these sails in future scientific endeavours.
At the Acre Road Observatory
Doctor Giles Hammond of Glasgow University's Gravitational Wave Research group will host a workshop on various telescopes in the Common Room - this should help put all that's learned in Obsevational Techniques and Astrophysics cement itself with some nice practical know-how.
Dr Clare Parnell of St Andrews University Astrophysics Department
'Harsh Winters and the Quiet Sun' Is our current harsh winter a result of the Sun having had no sunspots for 2 years? Can the Sun really knock out the GPS tracking system? Would man survive a trip to Mars?
Also, as has become an expectation by most of you, there will be free pizza after this lecture!
At the Acre Road Observatory
Some in-house fun in the Kelvin Building. The level 2 lecture theatres and labs will be converted to a gaming centre using the wi-fi to play games versus the people in the other rooms
Lucinda Weisbach, Acting Executive Director of the Mars Society comes to talk about the many projects that the Mars Society is involved in across the world; from probes launched to quantify atmospheric conditions, to Artic and Desert research stations, which are all steps towards one final outcome: Colonising Mars.
Arguably the most important social of the year, as it marks the end of this committees reign, and the people here decide who follow. There shall be food, voting, and hopefully alcohol!!