Kirkintilloch Astronomical Society

T – Minus 2 weeks

kasadmin — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 15:23:44 +0000

Nearly done with September and this is my first post of the month Film work’s stepped up a gear as we shoot in 3 weeks . Was going to write one the other week but I went off on a rather angry tangent about what was happening in the news at the time, not quite in the spirit of this chipper blog
Another reason is that the NFL season is in full-swing, which takes up a notable portion of my life

Anyway, it’s now merely 2 weeks until I begin the aforementioned journey I’ve been going on about. October 5th is day 1 of the 1460 it’ll take to get the BSc. (hons) portion of my mission to doctorhood (ok that’s not a word but once I’m nearer the doctor level I’ll hopefully have a better vocabulary) .

All the books have arrived now, admittedly I’ve had a gander or two through them, and I can’t wait till I get working though them. Word of advice for any other new students, don’t skip to the last chapter in a Maths (or Physics) book, the result is a combination of panic (at having no idea what it’s saying) and a low-level anyeurism at the prospect of having to know this stuff. My mate Glyn showed me his first homework assignment for calculus and my brain made an attempt to divide by zero, which, you can imagine, was a rather disconcerting moment (like the brain equivalent of the feeling you get in your stomach when a plane makes its first stage of descent in landing)

Once the course starts I’ll put it in my weekly plan to fire up a quick blog, because I know you lot just love reading me ramble on about nonsense

Anyway that’s just a quick post for now I’ll leave you with the wise words of Neil deGrasse Tyson

“Whether or not you can never become great at something, you can always become better at it…”

- Neil deGrasse Tyson

P.S. For guaranteed life enhancement I suggest you check out my mate Jamie Simpson’s amazing book “The Glasgow Survival Guide”
Available on Kindle, iOS and Android devices

iTunes

http://itunes.apple.com/book/id553976662?mt=11

Amazon

http://amzn.to/Q6AB3O

Enjoy

For Neil

kasadmin — Sun, 26 Aug 2012 18:34:04 +0000

I began writing this post on a device that belonged only in science fiction, traveling to work at a job that never existed where most of my colleagues weren’t alive at the time.
I am talking about 1969, some 43 years ago. A time when a computer was the size of a room, far less powerful that the mobile phone I have right now and infinitely less powerful that my computer at home.
Those who remember 1969 recall a time when only your imagination seemed to limit your ability to achieve. 1969 saw Woodstock, where peace, love and music were displayed in all their rustic glory, stages were botched together and artists played as long as they felt like. 1969 saw the maiden flights of the 747 (to which remains active today) and the supersonic, yet now inactive, Concord.
Human ingenuity was at it’s finest during this period, we had the combination of great ideas and the ability and desire to see them to the end.
Most importantly 1969 was a time when, for one moment, the entire planet shared the step of one man. A man who symbolised the human desire to explore, discover and understand our place in the universe. The first man to step foot on another world. A footprint that will outlast us all both literally and figuratively. That man, of course, is Neil Armstrong. Neil sadly passed away yesterday due to complications following heart surgery. He has, however, been immortalised by his achievement to which people will read about for a long time to come.
These days celebrities are given almost god-like reverence, in which they bask gladly, for the most mundane of accomplishments, others have such fame for accomplishing absolutely nothing and milk it for what its worth. Neil Armstrong was different.
In Neil Armstrong we had the quintessential humble man. A man who achieved the single greatest accomplishment in human history, after which he simply chose to go home to Ohio and enjoy his life in private, making very few public appearances. Neil was more than just a celebrity, he was a true figure of history. For as long as we can imagine people will learn of Neil Armstrong, about the mission to the moon and the man himself. Even when we set foot on Mars it will still pale in comparison to that one small step on the moon, the first time man stood on another world and looked back at our home planet.
I would go into his life and career but I can leave that for Wikipedia and historians to deal with. I simply just wish to convey my gratitude and respect for the man who symbolised human curiosity and wish that one day the world will once again share in the step of someone new, be that on another world or back to the moon.
Neil Armstrong has undoubtedly inspired generations of scientists, astronauts, free-thinkers and piqued the curiosity of millions around the world, and will do so for generations to come.

Thank you Neil

“There can be no great accomplishment without risk”

Neil Alden Armstrong (August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012)

Judge a book not by its cover, but by it’s sheer weight

kasadmin — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 16:39:51 +0000

So I have now received my books for the course and the enormity of the task is somewhat more evident (I got them last week but been busy with film work so excuse the lateness of this post)

For 1 section (of 2 this year) in the course, I received these

Now that’s a helluva lot of reading I sense in my future:( and that’s just for 1 section at the beginning of this journey.

At the same time as I shat the proverbial, I also found myself excited at the reality of it all. I am now a student, ready to learn all that is thrown at me (or at least give it a damn good shot)

My science background is in Physics (by that I mean I have a higher from 12 years ago and an obsession with the works of Brian Cox :S) with little knowledge of Biology or Chemistry. I’m excited at the prospect of learning these fields as I begin my journey to the stars (did that sound as cheesy to you lot as it did to me? Was gonna delete it but some cheese is always good)

Also got to speak to my Tutor for this course and have a wee chat with him about what to expect. He was highlighting the importance of having a study space (in my case that’ll be the Mitchell Library and my desk at work) and that it’s OK, if even encouraged, to scribble notes on your books. I think I’ll find that hard as they are so pristine (we’ll check back in a few months time to see if that’s still the case). Perhaps they encourage this to ensure the books are not punted on eBay once done with them.

Anyway that’s enough for now, need to get back to work (just on a cheeky 15 min break at the day job, hence the brief post). Next post I’ll talk about the ROV project Mark in work is doing that I’ve offered to help (whatever good that’ll do him )

Till next time

10957 Days later

kasadmin — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 18:46:16 +0000

So it finally happened, as much as I have tried to avoid it I have been unable to stop the inexorable journey towards my 30s.
This does now mean that the tagline at the top “Join the journey of a 30 something…..” is now factually correct.

This week has been quite eventful, not just for me but for the planet as a whole (and no this is not me being horribly arrogant and narcissistic)

The most expensive, complex and adventurous mission since the moon-landing was a great success. I am of course talking of the Mars Science Laboratory rover mission to Mars, commonly known as “Curiosity”.
I would go into detail about the mission but there are far more educated people who have already wrote in great detail about the mission (please visit nasa.gov/msl to find out everything you need to know)
So for at least the next 2 years we will gather some phenomenal data about the red planet, not just does/did it support life, but more about it’s history, and in turn, the history of our own planet and Solar System.
The next 2 years will be exciting and hopefully open more eyes to the wonders of the universe

Anyway Back to my initial train of thought before the Martian distraction

10957 days ago (well, actually its august 9th so 10964 days ago). The real journey began in the sleepy town of Bath, England (OK it’s a city but forgive me for some poetic license). The internet was a university toy that few people knew, used or understood. Synthesizers and crappy repetitive music were cool, and Blade Runner was the most technologically advanced film imaginable.
Fast forward 30 years and now the internet is an integral part of our everyday life, synthesizers exist only in the wheelchairs of world-renowned scientists, Blade Runner is “quaint” and, well, the music is still crappy but we had some good stuff in the early 90s.

Now what will happen in the next 30 years?

I’m quite the scientific romantic so forgive me for my Utopian views of the next 30 years, but this is what I think/hope will happen.

We will have finally got our collective fingers out and landed on the Moon again (before everyone that had previously performed this feat are dead)

We will have managed to commercialise space, this is an integral part of continuing our exploration. So we’ll me mining the moon, asteroids and possibly even other planets to make some terrestrial dollars.

We will have, or at least have on the cards, a manned mission to Mars. For this we will have developed ways to mine ice-water from nearby asteroids (Which will be needed for fuel, drinking water and oxygen supply). This is a technology that commercial companies are putting some heavy pennies into developing

Someone, possibly not even born yet, will invent something that will totally change the world (much in the same way as the internet has).

and…

Fingers crossed that those flying cars we have been promised in so many sci-fi movies comes to be a reality

Anyway that’s a fair amount for you to read and I need to save some stuff till my course starts

Till next time

Lets get the ball rolling

kasadmin — Thu, 17 May 2012 12:09:37 +0000

So it’s been a few weeks since the last blog post and since then there have been a few updates.

If you have been following us on the social networking sites you will have noticed the pages have become alot more active in the last week or two. In terms of the main website, the bare bones are pretty much there and we hope to add weather forecast updates, useful links and more gallery content over the coming weeks.

We are progressing in terms of find a dedicated hall. Unfortunately our options are in built up areas… not to great for stargazing however it gives us a starting point even just for talks and meetings. We will update you on this as we progress.

A few weeks back we received a helpful document from the Federation of Astronomical Societies (which can be downloaded at the bottom of this page). It is has been a great help in guiding us down the right path however we lack numbers in making it fully effective.

We are actively searching for more astronomers who would like to help us. Even if you have little or no experience, please do get in touch through our contact page.

FoAS .PDF

Welcome to The KAS

kasadmin — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 21:34:41 +0000

Mortal as I am, I know that I am born for a day. But when I follow at my pleasure the serried multitude of the stars in their circular course, my feet no longer touch the earth.
- Ptolemy,c.150 AD

We are only just taking our first steps in developing the Kirkintilloch Astronomical Society. This small group have enjoyed Astronomy for a number of years and now hope to bring the community together and create something that has never been tired before around our town.

A plan is currently being developed for the project and updates will appear here and our social networking sites. If you are interested in taking this journey with us, please get in touch.

Clear skies.