The Sun and the Magic of Total Solar Eclipses
Dr Francisco Diego, University College London

1830 Wednesday 13 February 2008 (coffee available from 1800)
The Institute of Physics, 76 Portland Place, London W1B 1NT

The Sun is our most important celestial object. A long history and from all over the world, the Sun was identified as a main God, the source of all energy, light and heat. The talk will bring some of this historical context before describing the Sun as the nearest star, the only one that we can study properly with a variety of techniques from the ground and from space. We will witness the greatest spectacle in Nature, a total solar eclipse, so feared in the past and so admired today. We will see how the Sun works and its effects upon the Earth.

Admission is FREE but please register beforehand by sending an email to
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Organisers: The Institute of Physics