South African Library Week (SALW) will be observed from 11 to 21 March 2016 with the theme '#libraries4lifelonglearning'. In the spirit of lifelong learning we are inviting you to learn more about our solar system.

Date: Wednesday, 16 March 2016

Time: 10:30 – 11:30

Venue: Auditorium, Level 3, Merensky 2 Library, Hatfield Campus

RSVP electronically by Tuesday 15 March 2016 by clicking on this link.

Enquiries: [email protected]

UNISA Astronomy Outreach Programme contact:  [email protected]

Abstract: 

We start off by looking at our home planet, Earth, and then move out to the Moon and events associated with it, before heading out to explore the other objects in the Solar System. Our Sun is a typical star, just one of billions that make up our home galaxy, the Milky Way. We look at where stars are born, how they live out their lives, and how they end up as sedate white dwarfs or as spectacular supernova explosions, seeding the interstellar medium with metal-enriched material from which new stars are made. Our Milky Way is a spiral galaxy but there are a variety of shapes that a hundred thousand billion stars can form themselves into. Clusters of galaxies have been found, and clusters of clusters form the largest known structures in the Universe, all of which can be seen in stunning images captured by instruments such as the Hubble Space Telescope.