Astronomy before the telescope

Guest Speaker

Thursday, 7th April 2022 (19:45 - 22:00)

Venue: Virtual Meeting

There was Astronomy before the Telescope. Today, we're used to hearing about amazing discoveries made by astronomers using massive telescopes. Astronomers from all across the world have studied the night sky for thousands of years. They made a lot of amazing discoveries with very rudimentary equipment, but they also made a lot of mistakes. The story of their lives is told here.

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Speaker: Martin Lunn

In the 1970s, I worked as a guard on British Rail while studying for an astrophysics degree. I worked as the Curator of Astronomy at the Yorkshire Museum in York from 1989 to 2011, where I assisted in the organisation of significant educational activities for youngsters. In 1998, I was awarded an MBE for my contributions to astronomy and education. I had a mobile planetarium that I toured to hundreds of schools in the north of England prior to the epidemic.  am a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and currently sit on the council.

I give talks aboard cruise ships all over the world, as well as to numerous organisations and groups in Great Britain. On a community radio station called Drystone Radio, I have my own weekly Astronomy Show, which you may listen to online. I also provide a monthly 'What's in the Night Sky?' column to the Craven Herald, a Yorkshire Dales newspaper. In 2020, I appeared in an episode of the BBC's Antiques Road Trip to discuss Thomas Cooke, York's Instrument Maker.