Talks to Bromsgrove Astronomical Society

Note: The University of Liverpool has outsourced its video streaming service and no longer allows public access.
Recordings of talks made after 2020 are available via YouTube.






Science of Santa    15 Dec 2025
A short tongue-in-cheek 'stocking-filler' talk for the festive season. Is Santa Claus real? How many laws of physics does he break? Can his (alleged) feats be reconciled with scientific reasoning?


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Solar Max    7 Apr 2025
The activity of the Sun goes through an 11-year cycle and is at a maximum in 2025. Specialist instruments, both professional and amateur, have been able to capture detailed images of its surface features.


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JWST+3    16 Dec 2024
Three years after the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope on Christmas Day 2021, this short talk reviews some of the images and spectra released to date.


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Cosmic Rays    18 Mar 2024
High-energy charged particles are continually raining down on the Earth. Where do they come from and how do they gain so much energy? This talk includes a demonstration of a cloud chamber that allows cosmic rays to be seen.


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JWST+2    18 Dec 2023
Two years after the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope on Christmas Day 2021, this short talk reviews some of the images and spectra released to date.


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Fiat Lux IV    21 Aug 2023
Part four of the 'Fiat Lux' trilogy.

How we perceive colour is a complex mix of physics and physiology. We can see in colour because starlight (and hence sunlight) covers a spectrum of wavelengths. What can colours tell us about how the Universe works?


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Tri-band Tribulations    20 Mar 2023
Filters that transmit multiple wavelengths simultaneously allow colour cameras (such as DSLRs) to image astronomical objects despite the sky glow produced by street lights. This short talk shows some examples of how effective these filters can be.


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End of Everything    16 Jan 2023
Although it took only three minutes to make our Universe, it will take more than a trillion trillion years for it to come to an end. This talk looks at what will happen to the Earth, the Sun and the galaxy on timescales ranging from thousands of years to eternity.


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JWST+1    19 Dec 2022
One year after the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope on Christmas Day 2021, this short talk reviews some of the images and spectra released to date.


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Dark Matter    17 Jan 2022
Why is it dark? What is the evidence that makes us think that dark matter exists? What is dark matter made of? Does it matter? What are the consequences if dark matter does not exist?


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First Eye on the Sky    1 Nov 2021
A rough guide to buying your first astronomical telescope. The pros and cons of the different telescope types and a guide to the prices you can expect to pay.


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Wild Astronomy    20 Sep 2021
What is it like to go on safari in Africa? For anyone interested in wildlife, photography and astronomy it is a wonderful experience.

Wildlife by day ... stars by night.

( Sleep when you get home )


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Apollo 13    19 Apr 2021
In April 1970 the Apollo 13 mission "had a problem". The heroic efforts of mission control to rescue the three astronauts are well documented. This short talk covers some of the perhaps not-so-well-known aspects of the mission.


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Building a Tellurion    5 Apr 2021
A tellurion is a model of the Earth-Moon-Sun system that demonstrates the changing seasons, the phases of the Moon, and predicts eclipses.


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ABC of Galaxy Evolution    15 Feb 2021
What are the three factors (the ABC) that determine how galaxies form and how they grow?


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Science of Santa    21 Dec 2020
A short tongue-in-cheek 'stocking-filler' talk for the festive season. Is Santa Claus real? How many laws of physics does he break? Can his (alleged) feats be reconciled with scientific reasoning?


  Recording   Handout






Ancient Light    7 Sep 2020
The Universe is vast and ancient. Large telescopes have imaged galaxies that are billions of light-years distant. Is it possible to capture an image of one of these very remote objects without a telescope?

Appendix: How can the light ever reach us?


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Unidentified Flying Objects    20 Jul 2020
Are there any images of UFOs that need an extraterrestrial explanation? This talk looks at some images that may have more down-to-earth origins.


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Just a Second    15 Jun 2020
What is a second, what can happen in one second, and why do we need leap seconds?


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Beginning of Everything    17 Feb 2020
A brief description of the origin and the very early history of the Universe. It took about three minutes to kick-start the Universe. If this happened 13.8 billion years ago, how can we be so sure?


  Recording   Handout






Unidentified Flying Objects

BASoc Star Party  28 Sep 2019
Are there any images of UFOs that need an extraterrestrial explanation? This talk looks at some images that may have more down-to-earth origins.


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Astrophotography Without a Telescope

BASoc Star Party  27–28 Sep 2019
How to take astrophotographs using modestly priced star trackers that can be home built or bought commercially.


  Recording (Fri)   Handout

  Recording (Sat)






Great Moon Hoax    19 Aug 2019
As we all know, the Apollo moonlandings of the late 1960s and early 1970s were faked by NASA. What is the 'evidence' that supports this claim and does it stand up to scientific scrutiny?


  Recording   Handout






Building a Tellurion    15 Apr 2019
A tellurion is a model of the Earth-Moon-Sun system that demonstrates the changing seasons, the phases of the Moon, and predicts eclipses.


  Recording   Handout






Eclipse of the Sun    21 Jan 2019
Why do solar eclipses happen and what determines how often they occur? An explanation of the theory and an account of a trip to the Sahara Desert in 2006 to observe and photograph a total eclipse.

This talk was given to fill an unexpected gap in the programme of talks.


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200@70    17 Dec 2018
The 200" Hale Telescope on Palomar Mountain has been in operation for the past 70 years. This is the story of its design and construction.


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Lighter Side of Astronomy    16 Apr 2018
A light-hearted look at astronomy and astronomers, plus some of the weird and wonderful telescopes that they use.


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Fiat Lux III    15 Jan 2018
The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope will survey many billions of galaxies, stars and planets and will address the most profound questions concerning our solar system, our Milky Way galaxy, and enigmatic dark matter and dark energy.


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Fiat Lux II    16 Oct 2017
A sequel to Fiat Lux, this talk looks at how the nature of light has influenced the design and construction of optical telescopes.


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Fiat Lux    20 Feb 2017
A talk on the nature of light with measurements of the speed of light and the wavelength of light, and demonstrations of splitting light into its component colours and different types of polarisation of light.


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Star of Bethlehem    19 Dec 2016
A light-hearted look at the Gospel of St Matthew. What are the astronomical candidates for the Star of Bethlehem? How well do they fit the account? Do known events fit the timeline of the nativity?


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Ramble Through the Night Sky    15 Aug 2016
A general interest talk on astronomy and astrophotography. A description of what's up there, how you can find your way around, how you can see more and how you can photograph the night sky.

This talk was given to fill an unexpected gap in the programme of talks.


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Week Above the Clouds    20 Jun 2016
Every year astrophysics students from Liverpool John Moores University and the University of Liverpool are taken on an astronomy field trip to Teide Observatory on Tenerife.


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Warping Space and Time    15 Feb 2016
The science fact and science fiction of black holes. How are they formed, what are their properties and how can we 'observe' them? What about TV and the movies? Does Hollywood ever get it right?


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Legacy of the Hubble Space Telescope

20 July 2015
A brief history of the Hubble Space Telescope and a description of its legacy in terms of its scientific contributions to our understanding and the way that it touched the public consciousness.


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Dark Matter    19 May 2014
Why is it dark? What is the evidence that makes us think that dark matter exists? What is dark matter made of? Does it matter? What are the consequences if dark matter does not exist?


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ABC of Stellar Evolution    19 Aug 2013
A look at the birth, life and death of stars. What are the three factors (the ABC) that determine why stars are the way they are and why they evolve the way they do?


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Beginning of Everything    17 Sep 2012
A brief description of the origin and the very early history of the Universe. It took about three minutes to kick-start the Universe. If this happened 13.8 billion years ago, how can we be so sure?


  Recording   Handout






Building K2    16 Aug 2010
K2 is a low-cost star tracker that I designed, built, tested and then used to photograph the night sky.

A description of the components and the construction is here: https://www.liv.ac.uk/~sdb/Astro/K2.pdf


  Recording   Handout






Great Moon Hoax    16 Aug 2010
As we all know, the Apollo moonlandings of the late 1960s and early 1970s were faked by NASA. What is the 'evidence' that supports this claim and does it stand up to scientific scrutiny?


  Recording   Handout


Steve Barrett       December 2025

S.D.Barrett@liv.ac.uk 		Link to Bromsgrove Astronomical Society

Link to BASoc Info Sheet 		Back to top