Mars & I'ts Spiders ( David Bowie was right)

Society Meeting

Thursday, 1st June 2017 (19:45 - 22:00)

Venue: swmcmeet

Or more accurately, Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. Where Ziggy Stardust is David Bowie's alter ego, a rock star who acts as a messenger for extraterrestrial beings. Unfortunately, no extraterrestrial beings have been found on Mars (at the time of writing, at least). But spiders have definitely been discovered...

This talk is based around the Zooniverse Planet Four Project. This is active research, which this MSAS Member has been involved in through active collaboration with a team of international researchers.

The presentation shall be focused on a preliminary discussion about Mars in general, before focusing on results from the HiRISE (High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment). This has photographed hundreds of targeted swaths of Mars' surface in unprecedented detail. Many images have not been seen before by human eyes. HiRISE's camera operates in visible wavelengths but also can make observations at near-infrared wavelengths therefore obtaining information on the mineral groups present.

Part 1: Material supplied courtesy of Dr. Meg Schwamb, Planetary Scientist, Astronomer, Assistant Scientist at the Gemini Observatory's Northern Operations Center in Hilo, Hawaii.

Speaker: Peter Jalowiczor

Peter Jalowiczor is an amateur astronomer living in Rotherham. He is primarily known for co-discovering four exoplanets at home using data released to the public by the University of California's Lick-Carnegie Planet Search Team. At University he completed research confirming that k=2 (the delta effect) for comets from work on Halley's Comet. Since 2017 he has been involved in research on brown dwarfs - objects between exoplanets and stars.

He has had four books published: two about football and two about WWII. He is also the founder of a football club, known as the Polish Millers. Registered in the Polish Football league. It was mirrored on Rotherham United with a regular feature in the match programme they played in Rotherham United strip! This has also been recognised at the highest level of the Polish Football league.