The Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IAA), Department of Physics of the University of Malta organised an astronomy event at Stella Maris College, Gzira, which featured the lunar crater Copernicus.

The event was in honour of Victor E. Sammut, now residing in Keilor Downs, Australia, and consisted of presentations by Leonard Ellul Mercer, Alex Gatt and Sandro Schembri. A small exhibition displayed the crater, Copernicus the astronomer, Mr Ellul Mercer’s astro-images and a section involving Dr Sammut.

Mr Schembri’s superb scale model of the crater and Mr Ellul Mercer’s two fantastic animated photopresentations (Copernicus Crater and Moon Encounter) were, no doubt, the focal point of the evening. Guests for the evening included Brian States and his wife Rosemary from the Guildford Astronomical Society, UK.

The general public is cordially invited to attend the next meeting to be held at Stella Maris College, on Friday 2 November at 6pm, where Prof. Simon White, director of the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, Germany, will give a public talk entitled Out of the Big Bang: how our universe got its structure.