Public Lecture: Constellations in 3D

An in-person presentation by Danny Thomas at the Whittle Theatre

Please click here to respond if you wish to attend.

Danny followed the Apollo missions as a child, developing a very early interest in space, astronomy and science, which lead to a degree in Physics from Nottingham University. His career took him into the semiconductor industry and has worked in many fields including computerized car displays, early home computers, satellite TV decoders, telecommunications and more recently patent portfolio management.

He maintained his interest in astronomy and owns a couple of small telescopes along with a restored home built 10inch Dobsonian. He enjoys both visual observing and astrophotography, particularly using DSLR cameras to take wide-field images of the night sky and the many targets it has to offer. As a result, he has regularly been invited to talk on "Imaging the Night Sky" at camera clubs and even the Royal Photographic Society’s digital imaging section.

He still dabbles in electronic design and builds his own wide-field camera mounts that rotate a camera at the same speed as the stars to extend exposure times. 

Danny can program in more languages than he can speak, and in 2015 wrote his own code to recreate the constellations using 3D coordinates. The ability to turn a constellation "on its side" and animate movement over time brings a new perspective to our view of the stars. Danny uses a live demo of the program in this talk to reveal some interesting facts behind the well-known constellations in both the Northern and Southern hemispheres.