Your chance to meet the stars

tdk25 — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 13:20:28 +0000

A free evening of stargazing at the Institute of Astronomy in Cambridge has been announced to coincide with the return of the BBC show, “Stargazing Live”, in January 2013.

Running from 6pm to 9.30pm on 9 January, the event will give people the chance to use astronomical equipment, meet astronomers from Cambridge, and watch as information is transmitted back from telescopes. There will also be a range of activities for families and younger visitors, as well as talks for adults.

̽��ֱ��event is free but people wishing to attend will need a ticket. These can be booked from today (30 November) by visiting the BBC Shows and Tours website at www.bbc.co.uk/showsandtours. Tickets will be allocated by random draw.

It is one of a range of different stargazing events which are being run around the country at the same time as “Stargazing Live” is being shown on the BBC.

Visitors to the Institute of Astronomy, on Madingley Road, Cambridge, will be able to use two historical telescopes to peer at the night sky, and watch a floorshow as output from the Institute’s equipment is transmitted back on to large screens. Members of the Cambridge Astronomical Association will be on hand to provide some expert commentary.

As well as constellation and star-spotting, there will be opportunities to find out how rockets and telescopes are built and learn about the Big Bang. Younger visitors will be able to meet and write a message to an alien, and there will be slideshows and meteorite displays, plus a variety of stunning photographic and scaled planet exhibitions.

“Stargazing Live” itself begins on BBC Two on 8 January and will run over three consecutive nights. It is hosted by Professor Brian Cox and Dara O’Briain. In this series the team will be hunting for asteroids and strange, “spider”-like features on Mars. While the TV show is being broadcast, different astronomy organisations and other institutions around the UK will be hosting their own events, including the Institute of Astronomy at Cambridge.

Around 113,000 people took part in Stargazing Live events around the UK last year. Dr Carolin Crawford, from the Institute of Astronomy at Cambridge, said: “We are incredibly excited to be working with BBC Learning to put on a fantastic event for all the family in celebration of Stargazing Live 2013”.

Further details about the programme can be found at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b019h4g8 from early December. ̽��ֱ��Institute of Astronomy also runs a wide range of public activities, including open evenings every Wednesday during the winter. For more details, visit https://www.ast.cam.ac.uk:443/

Experience a free night of stargazing in Cambridge to coincide with the BBC’s “Stargazing Live” when it returns to our screens in January.

We are incredibly excited to be working with BBC Learning to put on a fantastic event for all the family in celebration of Stargazing Live 2013.

Carolin Crawford

Graham Green.

Venus, Jupiter and the Moon viewed from Earth.

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Yes

Cambridge academics head for Hay

bjb42 — Thu, 31 May 2012 15:00:16 +0000

A series of talks and debates by Cambridge academics on pressing contemporary issues kicks off this week at the Hay Festival.

This year is the 25^th anniversary of the Festival and the fourth year running that the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge has run a series of talks there as part of its commitment to public engagement.

This year's line-up includes Paul Cartledge, A.G. Leventis Professor of Greek Culture, who will be participating in three of the 10 sessions on in the Classics series on Herodotus, the “Father of History”, on Plato and on the aspirations and concepts of civilisation, democracy, drama, virtue, victory, liberty and xenia and what the study of Classics has meant in the wider world.

For the first time, Cambridge academics will take part in a series of debates about contemporary political and social issues, including Europe, democracy and urban violence. Among those taking part in the Europe debate is Professor Robert Tombs who has written a blog on the implications for France and Europe of the election of Francois Hollande as president of France.

Another debate covers the broader cultural implications of current events, with Professor Adrian Poole, Professor Alison Sinclair and Jennifer Wallace discussing the modern meaning of tragedy and literary representation of current events. Other speakers include Professor Susan Golombok on alternative family structures, Professor Martin Jones on the archaeology of food, Carolin Crawford on the birth and death of stars, Dame Patricia Hodgson on media regulation in the shadow of the Leveson Inquiry, Professor David Spiegelhalter on our risk society and Professor Stefan Collini on what universities are for.

Professor Lawrence Sherman will talk about how science is transforming policing in a session entitled “ ̽��ֱ��new police knowledge”. ̽��ֱ��session will be introduced by Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary Sir Denis O’Connor.

Brendan Burchell, senior lecturer in the Sociology Department, will be in conversation with Julia Hobsbawm, honorary visiting professor in networking at Cass Business School, about the future of work.

Other Cambridge academics speaking at Hay are Professor John Thompson, Professor Robert Macfarlane, Professor Martin Rees, Professor John Barrow, Dr Julian Allwood and Professor David MacKay.

Nicola Buckley, head of public engagement at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge, said: “ ̽��ֱ��Cambridge series is a wonderful way to get the fascinating research being done at the ̽��ֱ�� out to the public. ̽��ֱ��Hay Festival draws an international cross-section of people, from policy makers to prospective university students. It is a fantastic platform for our research and this year’s debates aim to highlight the broad range of what we do at the ̽��ֱ�� and its relevance to the key issues we face today.”

Peter Florence, director of the Hay Festival, said: “What’s thrilling about this year’s series is how exacting it is about society. ̽��ֱ��Cambridge experts cut through the political and media spin on big issues and look at them with real attention and intellectual rigour - from policing to European integration and 21st century family structure and risk. It’s a timely reminder about the value of authority; an aspiration that ‘policy’ might be formed by the best ideas and analysis rather than doctrinaire inclination or what’s easiest to sell. What else would you want from the world’s greatest ̽��ֱ�� but the best thinking on subjects that matter?”

Cambridge is fielding a series of talks and debates by leading academics on a range of global challenges at this year's Hay literary Festival.

̽��ֱ��Cambridge experts cut through the political and media spin on big issues and look at them with real attention and intellectual rigour.

Peter Florence

Hay Festival.

̽��ֱ��main site at the Hay Festival.

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Yes

̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge - Carolin Crawford

Your chance to meet the stars

Cambridge academics head for Hay