Guest speakers
at LASA over the years
LASA was formally brought into
being on September 22nd 2003, however foreign guest speakers had
been invited to speak at Horncastle College for the benefit of the local Astronomical
societies prior to this, with most being organized by local Horncastle astronomer
Paul Money.
The first guest speaker was Canadian Astrophotographer Jack Newton who visited in 1998. This was initiated by Ian Farley of SoLAGS who then arranged with Paul for Jack to speak to all the local groups at the more central location of Horncastle. Jack was enthusiastically received by everyone and there was a general feeling after Jacks meeting that the groups should get together more often to hear such speakers. Unfortunately the idea lapsed as time went on and nobody seemed prepared to organize any further events.
The first guest speaker was Canadian Astrophotographer Jack Newton who visited in 1998. This was initiated by Ian Farley of SoLAGS who then arranged with Paul for Jack to speak to all the local groups at the more central location of Horncastle. Jack was enthusiastically received by everyone and there was a general feeling after Jacks meeting that the groups should get together more often to hear such speakers. Unfortunately the idea lapsed as time went on and nobody seemed prepared to organize any further events.
| Images of Jack Newton's
visit 1998: |
|
| Images to be scanned and added when possible! |
|
The situation ren=mained the same
until Paul received an e-mail from David Bell who was the speaker organizer
of the Irish Whirlpool Star Party (WSP) held at Birr Castle (of Lord Rosse
fame). He suggested that along with other UK societies including WYAS (West Yorkshire
Astronomical Society) that by combining together we could invite foreign
speakers over and spread the cost between us. Naturally the opportunity
to have such a speaker at Horncastle was too good to miss and when it was
suggested that non other than John Dobson (Dobsonian telescope fame) was
put forward then the offer was quickly taken up. On such times that the
WSP would fall close to the BAA Horncastle Astronomy Weekend (HAW) organized
by Paul then HAW would help with the costs of the speaker. Thus John Dobson
came over to Lincolnshire and gave both a talk to the HAW 2002 meeting on
the weekend of September 13th to 15th
2002 and then to the Lincolnshire groups on the Monday September 16th.
He was an instant hit! This page gives
an account with images of both events.
Early the following year David again e-mailed Paul suggesting the next speaker we could have could be none other than NASA's Mr Eclipse - Fred Espenak and sure enough this was agreed. Fred, along with his partner Pat, duly came along but as the WSP and HAW were too far apart then Paul decided to organize a separate Lincolnshire group meeting and this took place on September 22nd 2003. Because Fred would be over in the UK on official NASA business we had to give details of the organization and organizers of the event held - thus for the first time LASA came into being - so you could say it is NASA's fault for LASA becoming the official umbrella organization for visiting speakers to the Lincolnshire groups! Once again the meeting was a success and fully enjoyed by all. On a more personal note Fred encouraged Paul to look towards becoming a guest expert on a future Solar Eclipse trip and since then Paul has indeed helped Omega Holidays as a guest Astronomer for the Turkey 2006 Eclipse- thanks Fred!
Early the following year David again e-mailed Paul suggesting the next speaker we could have could be none other than NASA's Mr Eclipse - Fred Espenak and sure enough this was agreed. Fred, along with his partner Pat, duly came along but as the WSP and HAW were too far apart then Paul decided to organize a separate Lincolnshire group meeting and this took place on September 22nd 2003. Because Fred would be over in the UK on official NASA business we had to give details of the organization and organizers of the event held - thus for the first time LASA came into being - so you could say it is NASA's fault for LASA becoming the official umbrella organization for visiting speakers to the Lincolnshire groups! Once again the meeting was a success and fully enjoyed by all. On a more personal note Fred encouraged Paul to look towards becoming a guest expert on a future Solar Eclipse trip and since then Paul has indeed helped Omega Holidays as a guest Astronomer for the Turkey 2006 Eclipse- thanks Fred!
| Images of Fred Espenak's
visit: |
|
| We strangely didn't take
any pictures so if anyone has pictures of Fred and Pat's visit then please
let us have copies for this page. |
|
Fred with LASA regular Jayne Jevons (picture courtesy of Jayne
Jevons) |
Paul, Fred and the LASA audience (picture courtesy of
Jayne Jevons) |
Fred with Andy and Ryan at LASA (picture courtesy of Ryan Laird) |
|
For 2004 the WSP and HAW dates
came close enough for the next guest speaker to come over to HAW & LASA,
then travel on to the WSP. The speaker was non other than Stephen James
O'Meara of Sky & Telescope (at the time), a world renowned Vulcanologist
and noted Visual Astronomer. Stephen spoke at WYAS on the Friday night of
the first night of HAW (September 10th) before being
kindly brought over by WYAS organizer Ken Willoughby - a good friend of Pauls.
Stephen and Paul hit it off like two brothers and the whole weekend at HAW
and at the LASA meeting on the Monday Sept 13th
was over all too quickly. We in Lincolnshire are naturally quite proud of
our 'Lincolnshire Wolds' but when you come from Hawaii then they are just
mere bumps to Steve and it was a constant joke between Paul and him that
Lincolnshire was completely flat compared with Hawaii...
| Images of Steve's visit: |
|
The Guest Speakers at HAW 2004:L-R: Peter Rea, David Cook, Stephen James O'Meara, HAW organizers Paul & Lorraine Money, Neil Haggath and Mike Foulkes |
Nik Syzmanek and Dr Allan Chapman joins Paul & Steve
in a group photo as they could not arrive in time for the official HAW portrait. |
Steve O takes question from the HAW audience overseen by Paul
|
Paul thanks Stephen on behalf of the LASA audience after an enthralling
talk |
Andy and Ryan with Steve O at the LASA meeting (picture
courtesy of Ryan Laird) |
Paul and Steve at the LASA meeting (picture courtesy
of Ryan Laird) |
2005 arrived and so did the e-mail
from David Bell (a little later than usual) with the suggestion of hosting
the Vatican Astronomer, Brother Guy Consolmagno and once again the WSP and
HAW were too far apart so Paul arranged a LASA meeting for October 10th.
Br Guy's talk - 'Why does the Pope need an Astronomer?' was very enjoyable
and entertaining but we were a little disappointed at the lower than normal
turnout. Despite this Br Guy also enjoyed his visit and it was a pleasure
having him come to us.
2006 arrived and after several months thoughts turned towards the next possible HAW or LASA meeting. However our Irish contact David seemed unobtainable and as the year went by we discovered that he was no longer involved with the WSP. Thus 2006 had no foreign guest speaker and it looked like that was the end of our foreign guest speakers. 2007 changed that though when, out of the blue, Ken Willoughby of WYAS e-mailed Paul to ask if we would like to host NASA's Jack 'Triple' Nickel - NASA's Research Pilot and 'Vomit Comet' Pilot. You can guess the answer! 'Triple' as Jack likes to be called, came over and talked to the WYAS and local Students first and then on Sunday April 29th 2007 travelled over to Horncastle for his Monday evening talk to LASA. Because Triple was a Pilot for 25 years in the USAF and also had a period based over in Suffolk during the mid '70s, Paul took him to East Kirkby Aviation Centre on the Monday morning where he met Fred & Harold Panton who have lovingly restored parts of the former WWII airbase and also bought and restored the 'Just Jane' Lancaster. In a one off and wonderful guesture the brothers allowed Paul and Triple to go inside the Lancaster - much to the joy of Triple.
After an interview at BBC Radio Lincolnshire that afternoon and a quick tour round Lincoln, Triple was taken to Paul & Lorraine's favourite local resturant at the Durham Ox, Thimbleby (we've taken all the previous guest there except Jack Newton) and then on to Horncastle College where a good turnout meant we had a great time hearing Triple's talk. Talking for almost 2 hours he entertained everyone with what he does including one lady who nervously asked how the astronauts go to the toilet in space! The answer of how the toilet was developed - especially for Ladies usage had us all in stitches! Here is a great NASA article about Triple's work training the shuttle pilots - and to think we had him come over and visit us - Brill!
All in all another great LASA meeting and who knows who the next guest may be. So if you've enjoyed reading this summary of the wonderful speakers we've had to speak at LASA and you've never attended, then look out on the main LASA page/Astrospace web site for details of the next speaker and when it will take place.
| Images of Brother Guy's
visit to LASA on October 10th 2005: |
|
Lorraine, Brother Guy and Paul in our back garden. |
Brother Guy speaks to an eager audience gathered at Horncastle
College. |
Br Guy puts over his point on why the Pope needs an Astronomer |
After a great talk Paul thanks Brother Guy for coming to speak
to the LASA meeting |
2006 arrived and after several months thoughts turned towards the next possible HAW or LASA meeting. However our Irish contact David seemed unobtainable and as the year went by we discovered that he was no longer involved with the WSP. Thus 2006 had no foreign guest speaker and it looked like that was the end of our foreign guest speakers. 2007 changed that though when, out of the blue, Ken Willoughby of WYAS e-mailed Paul to ask if we would like to host NASA's Jack 'Triple' Nickel - NASA's Research Pilot and 'Vomit Comet' Pilot. You can guess the answer! 'Triple' as Jack likes to be called, came over and talked to the WYAS and local Students first and then on Sunday April 29th 2007 travelled over to Horncastle for his Monday evening talk to LASA. Because Triple was a Pilot for 25 years in the USAF and also had a period based over in Suffolk during the mid '70s, Paul took him to East Kirkby Aviation Centre on the Monday morning where he met Fred & Harold Panton who have lovingly restored parts of the former WWII airbase and also bought and restored the 'Just Jane' Lancaster. In a one off and wonderful guesture the brothers allowed Paul and Triple to go inside the Lancaster - much to the joy of Triple.
After an interview at BBC Radio Lincolnshire that afternoon and a quick tour round Lincoln, Triple was taken to Paul & Lorraine's favourite local resturant at the Durham Ox, Thimbleby (we've taken all the previous guest there except Jack Newton) and then on to Horncastle College where a good turnout meant we had a great time hearing Triple's talk. Talking for almost 2 hours he entertained everyone with what he does including one lady who nervously asked how the astronauts go to the toilet in space! The answer of how the toilet was developed - especially for Ladies usage had us all in stitches! Here is a great NASA article about Triple's work training the shuttle pilots - and to think we had him come over and visit us - Brill!
| Images of Triple Nickel's
visit to Lincolnshire and LASA on April 29th -30th
2007: |
|
Triple, Lorraine and Paul in our back garden. |
Triple in the Pilots seat of the 'Just Jane' City of Sheffield
Lancaster based at East Kirkby Aviation Centre. |
Triple is interviewed by William Wright for BBC Radio Lincolnshire
|
Posing with Lincoln Cahedral in the background as Paul took Triple
on a lightning tour of the city of Lincoln. |
Triple, Lorraine and Paul with Chrissie at the Durham Ox,
Thimbleby. The Durham Ox has played host to most of our visiting guests
and is highly recommended as they are able to cater for specialised diets
such as Lorraine's Gluten/wheat and diary free diet. |
Triple answers questions from the LASA audience |
Triple poses with Paul and Lorraine, Paul's Dad, Keith and our
good friends Kelly (L) and Jayne (R). |
After the meeting (and a stop off at the Angel Inn!) the WYAS
group and Triple came back to Paul & Lorraines and did a spot of observing
with Paul's 10" F5 Newtonian reflector. Ken Willoughby is at the
back and we thank Ken very much for arranging for Triple to spend some time
in Lincolnshire. |
All in all another great LASA meeting and who knows who the next guest may be. So if you've enjoyed reading this summary of the wonderful speakers we've had to speak at LASA and you've never attended, then look out on the main LASA page/Astrospace web site for details of the next speaker and when it will take place.
Webmaster ã Paul L Money 2007