Want some insight into outer space? Would you like a fun evening with a world-renowned astronomer, who is also an author, a radio personality and plays a mean blues guitar?
Then you are in for a treat when Ryde Library Services presents Space Farers of the New Millennium - an evening with Dr Fred Watson, Astronomer-in-Charge at the Anglo-Australian Observatory, on Thursday 14 February, 6.30pm, at North Ryde Community Hall.
Fred will talk, sing and strum his way through the evening while posing the question: ‘What is driving man’s feverish activity to understand the nature of the Solar System?’.
Fred regularly appears on ABC 702 and is the author of several books including Universe, Stargazer: the life and times of the telescope and Why is Uranus upside down? He has been a guest speaker at venues ranging from Parliament House and The Australian Museum to Science in the Pub.
Fred will be available for a chat and book signing during supper, following his talk, which is guaranteed to be informative and entertaining! Bookings essential Phone 9878 3270 by 7.02.08
Ends
Media contact: Lee Kirkland, City of Ryde, T 9952 8083 M 0434 306 444
|
Biographical Note – Dr Fred Watson |
| Fred Watson comes from a long line of Freds, but seems to have been the first in the family to become an astronomer. He now says he has spent so many years hanging around large telescope domes that he has started to look like one. Fred has worked at both of Britain’s Royal Observatories, and at their overseas telescopes in Hawaii and the Canary Islands. In Australia during the 1980s, he helped to pioneer the use of fibre optics in astronomy, paving the way for today’s large-scale surveys of stars and galaxies. He is now Astronomer-in-Charge of the Anglo-Australian Observatory at Coonabarabran in north-western NSW. Fred is also an award-winning writer and broadcaster on astronomy, and an occasional performer of the galactic blues with the help of his old Gibson guitar. |
