Yesterday evening, a number of us held an astronomy night at Dwejra for the general public, with the aim of observing the Perseid meteor shower. It is a much-loved semi-annual fixture (depending on the moon phase), and this year we were rewarded with a number of bright ones. By ensuring places like Dwejra stay dark, we can all continue to enjoy such breathtaking views of our night sky – a…
This week, the radio science programme ‘Radio Mocha‘ focussed the physics of diving and underwater exploration. In the interview with Danielle Farrugia, I spoke about the various physics concepts that come into play underwater.
Thousands of people flocked to St Elmo in Valletta to join us in observing the total lunar eclipse. The response was overwhelming. Below I am posting some pictures from the event.
Yesterday I had the pleasure to give a talk for the Malta Humanist Association (MHA) with the title “Astronomy and the Search for Meaning“. Below you may find a description of the topic of the talk, followed by some pictures (courtesy of the MHA). Description The Malta Humanist Association is proud to present its next public event titled “Astronomy and the search for meaning.” Presented by Dr. Joseph Caruana, Astrophysicist…
The ‘I Choose’ initiative is a programme of the Ministry for Education and Employment aimed for secondary school Form 4 & 5 students. It strives to provide them with an opportunity to explore career options. I had the opportunity to meet some aspiring scientists and talk to them about careers in science, and was joined by two of our past students, Deandra Cutajar and Byron Magri, who spoke about why…
We recently held a conference in Malta which brought to the islands some of the leading experts in galaxy dynamics and cosmology, fostering collaboration in theoretical, computational, and observational aspects to address questions on the role of gas in galaxy dynamics and evolution. Some of the topics addressed during this conference included: Scaling Relations Gas as a dynamical tracer at low z The role of gas in disk galaxies Gas…
Each May a group of students visit the islands from the U.S. to study environmental issues, working with various local NGOs over a period of around four weeks. Last night, Josef Borg (one of our PhD students) and I headed off to Dwejra to host an astronomy night for them, and viewed a large number of objects through a telescope, including the planet Saturn (marked in the picture). It was…
STEAM is a summer school in Science Communication that has the aim of fostering the building of communities that involved in science education, creating a bridge between researchers and the wider education sector. From the official description: “The STEAM team includes journalists, scholars and performers from Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Malta, and United Kingdom. We offer a unique opportunity to experience and share best-practices and experiences from all over Europe.…
Citadels are associated with cannons. And for the ‘Science in the Citadel’ festival, we did set up cannons of a certain kind atop the Gozo Citadel: telescopes to show the general public some of the wonders of the night sky. I would like to thank three of our students, Josef Borg, Karl Fiteni and Andrew Finch, who were as keen as ever to give a helping hand with this event, which was…
On the 27th of January I was invited to give the annual lecture of the Sir M.A. Refalo Sixth form. The talk carried the title: ‘Tracing our Origins: The Story of looking up at the Night Sky’. It was a very nice occasion on which I had the opportunity to engage with the general public and catch up with members of the school. I thank the council alumni society of the…