Lecture, Weds 24th January, 7.30 p.m. “The Cassini Mission to Saturn: The End of an Era” - Prof Carl Murray (Queen Mary, Univ of London)

Submitted by iaaadmin on Thu, 2018-01-18 13:02
Prof Carl Murray
 
The Cassini-Huygens mission to the Saturn system ended on 15th September 2017 when, the Cassini spacecraft was deliberately sent into the atmosphere of the planet and destroyed.  
 
It was one of the most successful planetary missions ever launched.  
 

Lecture, Weds 10th January, 7.30 p.m. "Einstein made (relatively) Simple." By Brian MacGabhann (GAC)

Submitted by iaaadmin on Sun, 2017-12-31 15:53
Brian Mac Gabhann
Einstein's Theory of Relativity represents the best and most complete explanation of the way the universe works which we currently have, and underpins all of modern cosmology, astronomy and astrophysics. The talk is aimed very much at the interested lay-person, and no previous knowledge of the topic is required. It will guide the audience through the core building blocks of the theory, and explain how Einstein arrived at the sometimes bizarre conclusions that he did. 
   

IAA New Year Party - Sat 6th January 2018

Submitted by iaaadmin on Sat, 2017-12-30 15:11
Tudor Cinema
The New Year Party will be held as usual in the Tudor Cinema, Drumhirk, Comber on Saturday 6th January 2018. A buffet meal will be available in McBrides the Square, Comber. Food will be served at 6.00pm, but it is advisable to be there at 5.30pm.
 
After the meal, members and guests will then make their way to the nearby Tudor Cinema for the feature film `Hidden Figures’ starting at 7.30pm and followed by a prize quiz.
 

Lecture Weds 29th Nov - Dr Stuart Sim (QUB) - "Anti-matter in the Milky Way"

Submitted by iaaadmin on Sun, 2017-11-19 11:57
Dr Stuart Sim

The 'missing antimatter' problem is one of the major mysteries in our understanding of the universe. All versions of the Big Bang model indicate that ordinary matter and antimatter should have formed in equal quantities, and then mutually annihilated each other. The very fact that we are here, in a universe made almost exclusively of ordinary matter (ignoring Dark Matter and Dark Energy in this context), indicates that there's something missing in the theory! But antimatter does exist, as occasionally single antimatter particles are created by cosmic rays in our atmosphere; and it has been created in the lab in very small quantities, so it's real.

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