As far back as 1982, Prof Southwood recalled, he was present at the meeting at which the Cassini mission to Saturn stemmed. David remembers the date well – June 30th – his birthday.
David was founder of what became the Space and Atmospheric Physics group, part of the team arguing for a ‘bolt on lander’ which eventually would be funded by ESA as NASA was reluctant to do so. The lander was not destined for Saturn, but its mysterious and largest moon Titan. Huygens was born. Prof Southwood was also leader of the team which developed the magnetometer on the main Cassini spacecraft... [Read more about Astromeet 2017 Talk Summary: Prof David Southwood "Cassini-Hyugens and Rosetta/Philae"]
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In our Solar System we find to kinds of planets: small rocky planets closer to the sun, and ice giants further out. The rocky planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars) have only three moons among them, whereas the ice giants (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Saturn) have around ninety. This month's video article by '
Five society members, Andi, Andy, Lee, Mark and John from Westerdale made the journey over to Leeds Astromeet this year. With Andi at the helm, we seemed to make good time, arriving at the venue with almost half an hour to spare before the first lecture... 
As of going to press, 8 people have so far booked for the society Christmas meal at the Hare and Hounds on Friday 9th. Menus choices must be made by December 6th - the night of our monthly meeting, which is the cut off date for anyone wishing to book a seat at the festive table. Travelling arrangements will be finalised then. The meal has been provisionally 
In theory, a moon can have a moon. The region of space around a satellite where a sub-satellite can exist is called a 'Hill sphere'. Outside the hillsphere the sub-satellite would be lost around the satellite, and therefore orbiting the planet or the sun instead of the moon itself... 