TV interview on Light Pollution

TV interview on Light Pollution

On the 16th of April, 2025 I was invited for an interview on the subject of light pollution on the TVM programme Rasimbras presented by Glen Falzon. We discussed: – What is light pollution?– What are the effects of light pollution?– What can be done to mitigate light pollution? https://youtu.be/FnwyIs_uiG0

Lecture for the Malta Group of Professional Engineering Institutions

Lecture for the Malta Group of Professional Engineering Institutions

Lecture on the History of Celestial Navigation for the Malta Group of Professional Engineering Institutions It was a pleasure to be invited to give a lecture on the history of celestial navigation for the Malta Group of Professional Engineering Institutions (MGPEI), which was formed in the early sixties. The talk was held on the 13th of March. Since the audience had a technical background, I could focus on more scientific…

Lecture for Rotary Club Valletta

Lecture for Rotary Club Valletta

On the 14th of January, 2025, I was invited to give a lecture on astronomy for Rotary Club Valletta. The lecture was titled: “Looking up : A tour of the heavens from Babylonian times to the present day”. Despite the inclement weather, a nice crowd showed up for what turned out to be a wonderful evening. (Photos: Leanne Ellul)

Public talk on Celestial Navigation at Il-Ħaġar Museum

Public talk on Celestial Navigation at Il-Ħaġar Museum

It was a pleasure to be back at Il-Ħaġar museum in Gozo, this time round to speak about the history of celestial navigation. The details of the talk are found below.TITLEOf Sea and Stars: A History of Celestial Navigation ABSTRACT Humankind has been traversing the seas long before history started to be written. An enduring challenge through the ages was the matter of accurately finding one’s position at sea. This problem…

TVM News feature on solar eclipses

TVM News feature on solar eclipses

The total solar eclipse visible from Mexico and the United States instilled great interest amongst the general public. The TVM News programme RasimbRas hosted by Mario Xuereb interviewed me about the phenomena of solar eclipses. A feature article is available here and the full interview is available below.

Malta’s first Astronomical Observatory

Malta’s first Astronomical Observatory

At long last, the Maltese Islands have an astronomical observatory that can be used for the training of astrophysics students as well as to serve an outreach purpose to educate the general public about the beauty of our Universe. Along with others, I had long wished that the University would have a teaching tool available for students to be trained in observational astrophysics, and some years back. Since the observatory…

Perspectives from astronomy: public lecture at Il-Ħaġar Museum

Perspectives from astronomy: public lecture at Il-Ħaġar Museum

On the 4th of February, Il-Ħaġar museum in Victoria (Gozo) kindly invited me to deliver a public lecture about astronomy as part of their Saturday morning lecture series. It was a wonderful opportunity to engage with a really delightful audience, and discuss some of the most pressing questions in modern astrophysics and cosmology. (Photo courtesy of James Borg.) Click here to view media coverage of this event.