NRF|SAAO Cape Town Open Night
December 21 @ 8:00 pm - 10:00 pm
The NRF|SAAO invites you to join our final Open Night of the year in Cape Town during the December period.
All Open Nights will start with a presentation on topics of astronomy or related science fields. Visitors will then be given an introduction to the history of the observatory, library, museum, and the 120 year-old McClean telescope. If the weather permits, stargazing will take place with McClean and smaller telescopes.
Please email cptbookings@saao.ac.za or call +27 21 447 0025 if you have any queries regarding bookings.
Speaker: Christian Hettlage
Christian Hettlage is a software engineer at the SAAO, developing tools for the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT). He came to Cape Town in 2006 after completing his Ph.D. in astronomy at the University of Göttingen, Germany.
Abstract:
The Star of Bethlehem: An Astronomical Whodunnit
A key ingredient of many a Christmas card, one wonders what the Star of Bethlehem might have been. A comet? Venus? A supernova? A miracle? Just a literary invention? The presentation goes through the various theories put forward, looking at the fascinating science behind the celestial events involved. Along the way we’ll come across dating issues, a murderous king (and his relation to a lunar eclipse), astrologers, stars with an unhealthy lifestyle, planets going backwards and astronomical records which are thousands of years old.