To kick of our 2025-2026 Astronomy Society season of talks with a bang, you are in for a real treat.
As part of 3 parts of a 6 part Series in Exploring the Solar System we welcome a good friend to SAS Dr Steve Barrett. In these 3 short talks Dr Steve Barrett (Liverpool University) will talk about various aspects of Exploring the Solar System using various Robots, Rovers, Spacecraft and Telescopes.
This will be a series of 3 short talks:
- Exploring the Solar System I – Robots on Mars.
- Rovers have been exploring the surface of Mars for over 25 years. The latest generation of rovers is looking for signs of past life and is collecting rock, soil and atmosphere samples for return to Earth.
- Exploring the Solar System II – Spacecraft.
- We have visited every major body in the solar system by sending spacecraft across billions of miles. These unmanned probes have mapped dozens of planets and moons and sent back incredible images.
- Exploring the Solar System III – Telescopes.
- Since Galileo first turned his telescope on the night sky, we have been using telescopes with ever larger apertures to observe and study all types of object in the solar system.
Between each talk we will propose an approx. 5 minute comfort/re-fuel break.
The following 3 parts Exploring the Solar System IV, V & VI will be given either later in the season or when our Dr Steve Barett’s time is available.
4. Exploring the Solar System IV – Exoplanets
5. Exploring the Solar System V – Solar Max
6. Exploring the Solar System VI – Origins
Talks in Person
This walk will be held at the Washington Wetlands Centre (Discovery Room).
The talk will also be broadcast via MS Teams (providing no technical and/or WIFI difficulties)
Please show you support to our Speaker and the Society in person if you can be there on the lecture night.
Hopefully we see you all at the Wetlands Centre (Discovery Room) , Raffle & Refreshments as usual.
When Where Who
- Date: Sunday 21st September 2025,
- Time: From 7 pm.
- Speaker: Dr Steve Barrett, Department of Physics, University of Liverpool.
- Venue: At the Washington Wetlands Centre (Discovery Room) and Via Teams (Video Streaming Link).
Our speaker
Dr Steve Barrett, Department of Physics, University of Liverpool.
Steve is a Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Physics, my research interests span all aspects of imaging, image processing and image analysis.
This includes medical imaging (biophysics), scanning probe microscopy of atoms, molecules and surfaces (nanophysics), microscopy of earth materials (geophysics) and astrophotography.
Honors & Prizes:
- Sir Patrick Moore Prize (British Astronomical Association, 2019)
- Greatest Contribution to the Student Experience (U Liverpool, 2017)
- Senior Fellow of the HEA (Higher Education Academy, 2015)
- Guild ‘Lion’ Award (Liverpool Guild of Students, 2010)
- Institute of Physics Prize (Institute of Physics, 2007)
- Sir Alastair Pilkington Award for Teaching Excellence (U Liverpool, 2004)
Talks at the Wetlands and via Teams
Talks at Wetlands Centre
The SAS is planning to run this lecture from the our base of operations Washington Wetlands Centre (in the usual Discovery Room) and via Teams (Access details TBC).
Suitable hand sanitisers will be located in the room and at the our observatory.
