Martin Griffiths
Martin has been interested in astronomy from a young age. Although now retired, he volunteers for the BBNPA as the Director of the Brecon Beacons Observatory, a public educational resource in the Brecon Beacons National Park and consultant for Dark Sky Wales. He is also a Dark Sky Ambassador for the Brecon Beacons National Park and a researcher and contributor to the NASA Astrobiology Science Communication Guild.
Martin has taught astronomy for over 40 years and developed adult education programmes for Swansea University and taught undergraduate Astronomy and postgraduate Science Communication at the University of South Wales and the University of the Heads of the Valleys Initiative (UHOVI)
Martin is interested in all aspects of astronomy from observing with small telescopes to cosmology, but particularly enjoys observing and photographing the Milky Way and other astronomical objects.
Martin is available for lectures to astronomy clubs and interest groups. He is a member of the Cruise Ship Speakers and Lecturers Association and is also an experienced wedding photographer.
Forthcoming events
New Scientist Magazine
Astronomy Evening
at Craig Y Nos
9-10th September 2024
8:00pm
HOVAS Conference
Astronomy with a Seestar telescope
5th October 2024
11:15am
Knighton Literary Festival
Dark land Dark Skies
13th October 2024
2:00pm
Cunard Queen Victoria
12 day Canaries Cruise
4 lecture topics
19th November 2024
Image of the Moment
Videos of interest
In this University of Southern California program, Robert Kuhn hosts a group of distinguished panelists in a discussion of what may lie beyond our world. Humans have long wondered whether life exists beyond our home planet. In recent years, a host of new technologies are turning speculation into science. We now have the ability to discern the atmosphere of an extra-solar planet so distant we can't even see it, to detect the presence of dozens of new planets circling stars similar to our own sun. To top things off, recent discoveries of life in environments on Earth so extreme leads to the belief that it's not unreasonable to imagine that microbes -- or more -- may flourish elsewhere in the Universe. Panelists include: Neil deGrasse Tyson, director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History, Bruce Murray, professor of planetary science and geology at the California Institute of Technology and Shri Kulkarni, planetary astronomer at CalTech.
The Total Solar eclipse of April 2024
Eagle pass, Texas
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Canon 450D DSLR mounted on an 80mm f5 refractor
1/4 sec exposure at ISO 400
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