Chairman’s Log, Stardate 071007

And what we are left with?
Certainly not a black hole; more of a warm afterglow.

Not only was it an undoubted success, it was a resounding success! In fact, it surpassed all that we may dared to hope for, and every aspect went well.

There had to be many reasons for this:

First of all had to the large number of people who attended. It would all have been in vain if the public had not turned up – and in such unexpected numbers too.

The choice of speakers was really inspired and they each gave a talk on a pertinent and accessible topic, pitched exactly right for the audience. As with all good talks, they provoked more questions than answers and I had great difficulty in keeping the final exchanges between the audience and the speaker on schedule.

Bob Mizon got the proceedings off to a great start by giving us a tour of the solar system from the Sun outwards and beyond. He also did much for the Campaign for Dark Skies.

Benny Peiser gave us his thoughts on climate and energy issues – and everyone had their own stance of these topics. Some of his facts were very revealing and some of the potential solutions presented were both radical and enterprising.

Jay Tate had the audience enthralled as usual, again with a topic of concern to all. It doesn’t get more personal or serious that the potential for total extinction but he still manages to see the funny side! Afterwards many members of the public expressed to me their disbelief and disgust that his important work gets no Government funding.

And finally David Whitehouse reminded us all of the excitement of space travel and that, after so many decades of relative inactivity, it looks like manned exploration of space is about to recommence. It was a truly eloquent and inspirational account and a great way to conclude the four talks – looking forward.

It was a ‘blast’ for me to compere these meetings and the size of the audience was a very pleasant surprise. They came in droves.

But meanwhile things were also in full swing in the main museum hall. Every time I emerged from the Lecture Theatre there seemed to be more and more people milling around the CAS stand and the trade stands. What a wonderful sight! A large number of people now know first hand who we are and what we are about.

Many of the traders said they had primarily attended just to have a presence and were most pleasantly surprised by the number of attendees and the number of sales they made. Well I know I was over £300 poorer by the end! They all wanted to know when the next Astronomical Festival will be…………..

At the end many of us were almost embarrassed by the number of members of the public who just had to say how much they had enjoyed the whole festival and when is the next one?

Personally I was very impressed by the way that every single member of the committee and many other members just pitched in to help in whatever capacity throughout the day. This says something quite profound in their commitment to the Society. It would be wrong to pick out individual names in the light of this collective effort but obviously we are all very much indebted to David French for his thorough planning and preparation which was essential for such a smooth operation. Also Heidi and her team from the National Museum itself; all of whom were so efficient, helpful and accommodating. This relationship with NMW is something we would want to develop in the future.

The lasting impact – an increased interest in things astronomical and extra CAS memberships generated – has yet to be assessed. But in the meantime, well done absolutely everybody! We have a Society - which is a collection of individuals – of which we can be justly proud.

I am reminded of a T shirt that was on sale on one of the trade stands. It said ‘Astronomy’ but I would substitute ‘Cardiff Astronomical Society’ - ‘now you are looking up!’