Open Dome IN PERSON - Interstellar Visitor

Will we ever be visited by visitors from outside our solar system? If we are talking about interstellar objects entering our solar system, then the answer is yes and now!

Join Dr Daniel Brown (NTU) for his talk An Interstellar Visitor - Comet 3I/ATLAS. Here visitors will find out what is so special about comets and why astronomers are so keen on analysing them. But we will also hear how some do not originate from inside our solar system but from beyond, like the currently visible 3I/ATLAS. This will also include the rather bizarre theories of what it could have also been, which are now all clearly put to rest.

We are running two versions of this event, an in-person and a virtual talk. This in-person event will be held in Lecture Theatre 4 (LT4) of the Teaching and Learning Building on Clifton Campus.

Booking is required if attending in person and when you reserve your place, you will be sent a link to confirm payment. The ticket costs £5 and includes an Observatory tour. There is no charge if you are under 18 or an NTU student.

While attending, you consent to filming, photography, and sound recording, and their use in publication or advertising distribution, either printed or online, without payment or copyright.

The event will start at 8.00 pm with the talk following shortly after an introduction of Dr Daniel Brown (NTU).

Refreshments will be offered from 7.45 pm in LT4 in the Teaching and Learning Building.

After the talk, visitors will be allowed to enter the NTU Planetarium and receive a tour of the NTU Observatory. This is a chance to see many interesting objects in the Winter sky using the observatory's telescopes, small telescopes and binoculars, but is subject to good weather conditions.

If the weather is not good, the planetarium session will still go ahead, but we will focus more on pointing out objects of interest instead.