Welcome to the Astronomical Society of South Australia

As a conclusion to the series on Stellar Evolution, we will take a look at Variable Stars. This will include exploring such objects as cepheid variables, long period variables like Mira, eclipsing binaries and cataclysmic variables like Eta Carina.

This is not a talk about aliens (the clue is in the title!). Rather, it is a talk about strange astronomical observations that some people suggested might be 'aliens' but in fact are most likely to be unusual – but entirely natural – physical phenomena. This talk also tries to explain why 'aliens' is almost never the right explanation for weird and wonderful phenomena, but why it is nevertheless still very interesting to search for extraterrestrial life.

After exploring our own galaxy, The Milky Way, we will look at the Local Group of Galaxies and beyond. The various types of galaxies will be discussed and how they are classified using Hubble’s Tuning Fork diagram.