THE August monthly meeting of Sarum U3A hosted Robin Miller’s talk on Our Wonderful Solar System.

He led us through the history of ideas about the solar system from Aristotle's theory of the Earth, to the confirmation by Einstein that the sun is at its centre.

Mr Miller gave us a comprehensive look at the make-up of the universe and how it came into existence, with facts and figures to help our understanding.

He included the lifecycle of the sun and how it would develop in the next billions of years eventually expanding to swallow up the Earth.

The contrast between the planets with a solid surface (Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars) with those whose surface is not solid (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune) came over clearly.

We also discovered why life developed on Earth due to its size and type of the sun, surface temperature, its age, and volcanoes which produced nutrients.

The final area of the talk brought over clearly the future problems of finite water supplies, rising population as well as the possibility of meteor impact, climate change, ecological and man-made disasters.

All we had learned emphasised the vastness of the Solar System.

That, and the chilling quotation from Sir David Attenborough that we are slowly destroying the planet, left members with food for thought.

Further information about talks, activities and membership can be found on the website: u3asites.org.uk/sarum