20-March-08 : Professor John Brown, Astronomer Royal for Scotland RHESSI and our High Energy Sun.

Professor Brown and society secretary, Mr. Alf Petty, attempt the traditional kick-starting of the laptop ceremony.
Professor Brown began with a brief description of the launch of the space shuttle, Endeavour, which he had witnessed earlier in the week.
RHESSIM: Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager. An introduction to RHESSI and the goals of the mission.
RHESSI is a NASA 'small' probe that was launched on February 5th 2002 to study the basic physics of particle acceleration and explosive energy release in solar flares. Professor Brown discussing the mission objectives
For more information on RHESSI, please visit http://hessi.ssl.berkeley.edu.
The large and appreciative audience nearly filled the lecture room to capacity.
Vigourous post-lecture discussion between Professor Brown and Society Treasurer, Alasdair Charles.