Talks in September

I’m giving two talks in September. The first is on Tuesday September 14 when I’ll be opening this season’s series of lunchtime lectures at the Royal Astronomical Society in Burlington House. The subject is Comets, in which I’ll be explaining how astronomers learned the true nature of these ghostly visitors to our skies and how they helped us understand the Universe about us. I’ll end by looking forwards to the approach of comet Hartley 2, which should be visible with binoculars or even the naked eye in October and will be visited by NASA’s EPOXI mission (dreadful name) in early November. The talk starts at 13.00 and doors open around 12.30.

I’ll be giving up my lunch for the second time in that same week when I kick off the Royal Society’s autumn series of lunchtime lectures on Friday September 17. This time it’s my favourite subject, Pictures in the Sky, about the origin and history of the constellations. It’s at the Royal Society headquarters in Carlton House Terrace, starting at 13.00 (but aim to get there around 12.30).

Both are free, and you can reserve seats for the Royal Society talk in advance.

Ian