Duncan Lunan
Encyclopedia
Duncan Alasdair Lunan, who hails from Troon, born on the 24 October 1945 is a Scottish
author, with emphasis on astronomy
, spaceflight and science fiction
, as well as astronomer
, science reporter, and teacher
. (All this is sited by Duncan - please do not change)
His 1970s report of a possible space probe
orbiting around the Moon
, sent by the inhabitants of a planet orbiting Epsilon Boötis
brought him to international notice.
son of King Robert II of Scotland
, Alexander Stuart, who owned the "Lands of Lunaine" near Aberdeen
, and, more distantly, from the astronomers of ancient Chaldea
"who invented the calendar, hence making agriculture and civilisation possible".
Lunan was a founder of ASTRA
. He is a 1968 bachelor's degree
alumnus
of the University of Glasgow
, and is an M.A. with Honours in English and Philosophy, and has a postgraduate Diploma in Education. He was the Manager of the Glasgow Parks Department's Astronomy Project responsible for building the Sighthill
stone circle
, the first astronomically aligned megalith
built in Britain
in 3,000 years.
Lunan was also a founder and is still a member of the Glasgow Science Fiction Writers' Circle. He has also served with committee activities on the Argyle Local Housing Association
, which is linked to the GHA
, including serving as chairman from 2002 to 2006.
Despite his 1970s report of a possible space probe
of extraterrestrial
origins orbiting around the Moon
, he insists that he "doesn't believe in UFO
s". His interests include "ancient
and mediaeval
history
, jazz
, folk music
and hillwalking
".
, the magazine of the British Interplanetary Society
(BIS), he claimed to have identified and deciphered a hidden radio
message sent by an alien space probe
that had been caught but overlooked in the late 1920s by a collaboration of Norwegian
and Dutch
researchers who were studying the long delayed echo
effect. Published along with an accompanying editorial disclaimer, Lunan maintained that the putative message came from an object at the L5 point in the same orbit
as the Moon
, sent by the inhabitants of a planet orbiting Epsilon Boötis
.
He came to the conclusion that the message was, "Start here. Our home is Upsilon Bootes, which is a double star. We live on the sixth planet of seven, coming from the sun, which is the larger of the two. Our sixth planet has one moon. Our fourth planet has three. Our first and third planets each have one. Our probe is in the position of Arcturus, known in our maps."
The claim was reported in Time
and the CBS Evening News
. It was included in Rod Serling
's 1975 TV documentary In Search of Ancient Mysteries and, many years later, on George Noory
's Coast to Coast AM
radio show. The alleged message has been variously refuted but has also been inspirational.
From this theory Mark Brandis
was inspired to write his 1974 novel Raumsonde Epsilon (in English Spaceprobe Epsilon).
In 1976 Lunan withdrew his original Epsilon Boötis theory, presenting proofs against it and clarifying what had led him to formulate it. However, in 1998 he re-interpreted part of it, claiming support from positional astronomy
.
) in 1962. He was on the committee which drew up the Constitution of ASTRA (Association in Scotland to Research into Astronautics
) as an independent society in 1963, and redrafted it as the "Memorandum and Articles of a Company Limited by Guarantee" in 1974. He has been a Council member since December 1963 with only two short breaks, and has been Treasurer, President, Vice-President, Treasurer, President, Secretary, President, Treasurer and Secretary again during that time. He was re-elected Vice President in May 2010. He has been exhibition organiser and on the publications committee since 1970, editing ASTRA's publications in 1982 and between 1992 and 1996. Among many ASTRA conferences he organised one on archaeoastronomy
at the Third Eye Centre in 1978 and "Heresies in Archaeoastronomy" at the Edinburgh International Science Festival
in 1996.
Lunan and ASTRA have been at the forefront of the proposal of using a waverider
for re-entry of spacecraft in the Earth's atmosphere
.
In 1978–79 he was Manager of the Glasgow
Parks Department's Astronomy
Project.
He was Acting Curator of Airdrie Public Observatory
in 1979–80 and was Assistant Curator between 1987 and 1997, becoming a curator again in 2002 and continuing to 2008. ASTRA ceased to run the Observatory for North Lanarkshire
District Council in May 2009, ceding the running of the Observatory to the Airdrie Astronomical Association (A.A.A). In 2006 and 2007 Lunan ran astronomy education projects funded by the National Lottery
's "Awards for All", with outreach to schools and community groups, followed by a larger project funded by Heritage Lottery
for 2007–2008. His monthly astronomy column "The Sky above You" has appeared in various newspapers and magazines.
He resigned from ASTRA in 2011.
He is also an honorary member of the Clydesdale Astronomical Society.
He has been a Director of the Space Settlers' Society, a space-politics society founded by Andy Nimmo in 1980.
Along with his wife Linda, Duncan Lunan is running the "Astronomers of the Future" club for beginners who are keen to find out more about astronomy and space, for which he holds regular talks.
Duncan and Linda Lunan are in discussions about the possibility of helping create a public observatory on the Falkland Islands
, with support from the British Antarctic Survey
.
by agreeing to run the first of six science fiction
and fantasy short story competitions for the Glasgow Herald and to teach the first of six science fiction writing classes at the Glasgow University's Extra-Mural Department, later the Department of Adult and Continuing Education. He is still an active member of the Circle and took part to its spin-off spoken word
project Word Dogs.
in Britain
in 3,000 years in Sighthill
Park.
The conceptual inspiration for the circle came from Lunan's interest in the works of Professor Alexander Thom
and his son Dr. Archie Thom, who promoted the understanding of megalithic astronomy, and the subsequent expansion of their work by Dr. Ewan McKie and Professor Archie Roy
. The location of the stone circle, on a low hilltop between tower block
s, the M8 motorway and an incinerator
, at a first sight seems hardly ideal. However, Lunan has written that the clear sightline to the sky and a fine view of the city center met the project's objectives. Lunan has written that "In later research, I found that summer solstice fairs had been held on the Summerhill, from which the midsummer
Sun rises over the true Sighthill, until they were stopped by the church in the 17th century".
Once he had identified the best location, Lunan organised the transportation of the stones by a helicopter from HMS Gannet
. The Moon Stones, being too heavy, had to be transported by specially adapted lorries
.
The project was not completed due to criticism by the incoming Thatcher
government
in 1979, and four stones – two of which were intended to mark equinoctial sunrise and sunset, East and West – are still lying under a bush in Sighthill park. Lunan is at present campaigning to have the circle renovated and completed, including plans for wheelchair
access. The first initiative undertaken to draw attention to the megalith was a summer solstice gathering organised at the site on the evening of the 21 June 2010 preceded by a presentation on the circle given by Lunan. Lunan reported "positive discussions with Heritage Lottery
chiefs in relation to funding for the project, estimated at around 30,000 GBP
".
Lunan presented plans to make the stone circle a key feature of a city-wide astronomy map, including the entire Solar System
represented on the correct scale
within the city limits as first proposed by Gavin Roberts, who was the Arts and Photographic Supervisor on the original Project. If the stone circle represented the Sun
, Lunan said, Saturn
would be by the River Clyde
near the Glasgow Science Centre
, Jupiter
in the campus of the University of Strathclyde
, Uranus
on Maryhill
Road and Neptune
and the dwarf planet
Pluto
at Cathkin Braes, south of Castlemilk
.
The history of the stone circle was featured in the BBC Radio Scotland
show Out of Doors in January 2011.
In 2011, Duncan Lunan and his wife Linda founded the Friends of the Sighthill Stone Circle association.
books include Man and the Stars (published in the USA with the titles Interstellar Contact and The Mysterious Signals from Outer Space and translated into French by Jean Sendy as À l'écoute des galaxies and into Spanish by David Molinet as A la escucha de las estrellas), New Worlds for Old and Man and the Planets.
He was a science fiction critic for the Glasgow Herald between 1971 and 1985, and ran the paper's science fiction and fantasy short story competitions between 1986 and 2002, edited Starfield, Science Fiction by Scottish Writers for Orkney Press in 1989, to which he also contributed with a short story, "The Square Fella". He also contributed two stories, "'Tirra Lirra' by the River, Sang Sir Lancelot" and "Landscape Modification in the Vicinity of Highgate Cemetery", to the 1988 Drabble
Project of the Science Fiction society of the University of Birmingham
and published by Beccon. He also contributed reviews to Interzone
.
He lists amongst his inspirations Percy F. Westerman
, Arthur Ransome
, Nicholas Monsarrat
, Arthur C. Clarke
, Patrick Moore
, G. K. Chesterton
and C. S. Lewis
.
A short story, "The Comet, the Cairn and the Capsule", was included in the 1979 short story collection The Science Fictional Solar System
edited by Isaac Asimov
, Charles G. Waugh and Martin H. Greenberg
.
Some folk
songs he wrote have been published in a Scottish folk music anthology. A non-fiction book by Lunan, about the green children of Woolpit
and entitled Children from the Sky, is scheduled to be released in early 2012 by Mutus Liber.
article, Lunan speculated that the Green children of Woolpit
were mistakenly transported to Earth due to malfunction in a matter transmitter
. He also claimed that he can trace the Green Girl's descendants to the present.
Taking a lead from Robert Burton
's The Anatomy of Melancholy
, he suggests that the children were accidentally returned from a settlement of humans established by extraterrestrial
s on an earthlike world with a trapped synchronous orbit
rotation with unusual genetically modified
vegetation, which would allegedly explain their unusual skin color.
He presented his theory on the 9 November 2011 episode of Ground Zero Live conducted by Clyde Lewis
.
Scottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
author, with emphasis on astronomy
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
, spaceflight and science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
, as well as astronomer
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
, science reporter, and teacher
Teacher
A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...
. (All this is sited by Duncan - please do not change)
His 1970s report of a possible space probe
Space probe
A robotic spacecraft is a spacecraft with no humans on board, that is usually under telerobotic control. A robotic spacecraft designed to make scientific research measurements is often called a space probe. Many space missions are more suited to telerobotic rather than crewed operation, due to...
orbiting around the Moon
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
, sent by the inhabitants of a planet orbiting Epsilon Boötis
Epsilon Boötis
Epsilon Boötis is a double star in the constellation Boötes. It has the traditional names Izar and Pulcherrima....
brought him to international notice.
Background
Lunan, who grew up in Troon, claims descent from an illegitimateLegitimacy (law)
At common law, legitimacy is the status of a child who is born to parents who are legally married to one another; and of a child who is born shortly after the parents' divorce. In canon and in civil law, the offspring of putative marriages have been considered legitimate children...
son of King Robert II of Scotland
Robert II of Scotland
Robert II became King of Scots in 1371 as the first monarch of the House of Stewart. He was the son of Walter Stewart, hereditary High Steward of Scotland and of Marjorie Bruce, daughter of Robert I and of his first wife Isabella of Mar...
, Alexander Stuart, who owned the "Lands of Lunaine" near Aberdeen
Aberdeen
Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....
, and, more distantly, from the astronomers of ancient Chaldea
Chaldea
Chaldea or Chaldaea , from Greek , Chaldaia; Akkadian ; Hebrew כשדים, Kaśdim; Aramaic: ܟܐܠܕܘ, Kaldo) was a marshy land located in modern-day southern Iraq which came to briefly rule Babylon...
"who invented the calendar, hence making agriculture and civilisation possible".
Lunan was a founder of ASTRA
Association in Scotland to Research into Astronautics
The Association in Scotland To Research into Astronautics , is a spaceflight and astronomical society. The society adopted its constitution on November 20, 1963, and was originally known as the Association in Scotland for Technology and Research in Astronautics.ASTRA registered as a charitable...
. He is a 1968 bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
alumnus
Alumnus
An alumnus , according to the American Heritage Dictionary, is "a graduate of a school, college, or university." An alumnus can also be a former member, employee, contributor or inmate as well as a former student. In addition, an alumna is "a female graduate or former student of a school, college,...
of the University of Glasgow
University of Glasgow
The University of Glasgow is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ancient universities. Located in Glasgow, the university was founded in 1451 and is presently one of seventeen British higher education institutions ranked amongst the top 100 of the...
, and is an M.A. with Honours in English and Philosophy, and has a postgraduate Diploma in Education. He was the Manager of the Glasgow Parks Department's Astronomy Project responsible for building the Sighthill
Sighthill, Glasgow
Sighthill is a Housing estate in the Scottish city of Glasgow. It is situated north of the River Clyde.Sighthill is part of the wider Springburn district in the North of the city...
stone circle
Stone circle
A stone circle is a monument of standing stones arranged in a circle. Such monuments have been constructed across the world throughout history for many different reasons....
, the first astronomically aligned megalith
Megalith
A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. Megalithic describes structures made of such large stones, utilizing an interlocking system without the use of mortar or cement.The word 'megalith' comes from the Ancient...
built in Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
in 3,000 years.
Lunan was also a founder and is still a member of the Glasgow Science Fiction Writers' Circle. He has also served with committee activities on the Argyle Local Housing Association
Housing association
Housing associations in the United Kingdom are independent not-for-profit bodies that provide low-cost "social housing" for people in housing need. Any trading surplus is used to maintain existing homes and to help finance new ones...
, which is linked to the GHA
Glasgow Housing Association
Glasgow Housing Association is one of the largest social landlords in the UK, with more than 50,000 tenants and 26,500 factored homeowners across Glasgow....
, including serving as chairman from 2002 to 2006.
Despite his 1970s report of a possible space probe
Space probe
A robotic spacecraft is a spacecraft with no humans on board, that is usually under telerobotic control. A robotic spacecraft designed to make scientific research measurements is often called a space probe. Many space missions are more suited to telerobotic rather than crewed operation, due to...
of extraterrestrial
Extraterrestrial life
Extraterrestrial life is defined as life that does not originate from Earth...
origins orbiting around the Moon
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
, he insists that he "doesn't believe in UFO
Unidentified flying object
A term originally coined by the military, an unidentified flying object is an unusual apparent anomaly in the sky that is not readily identifiable to the observer as any known object...
s". His interests include "ancient
Ancient history
Ancient history is the study of the written past from the beginning of recorded human history to the Early Middle Ages. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, with Cuneiform script, the oldest discovered form of coherent writing, from the protoliterate period around the 30th century BC...
and mediaeval
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
and hillwalking
Hillwalking
In the British Isles, the terms hillwalking or fellwalking are commonly used to describe the recreational outdoor activity of walking on hills and mountains, often with the intention of visiting their summits...
".
Alien message
In 1973, in an article in SpaceflightSpaceflight (magazine)
Spaceflight is the monthly magazine of the British Interplanetary Society . It was first published in 1956, a year before the launch of Sputnik 1, and has been reporting on space exploration topics ever since....
, the magazine of the British Interplanetary Society
British Interplanetary Society
The British Interplanetary Society founded in 1933 by Philip E. Cleator, is the oldest space advocacy organisation in the world whose aim is exclusively to support and promote astronautics and space exploration.-Structure:...
(BIS), he claimed to have identified and deciphered a hidden radio
Long delayed echo
Long delayed echoes are radio echoes which return to the sender several seconds after a radio transmission has occurred. Delays of longer than 2.7 seconds are considered LDEs. LDEs are scientific anomalies of uncertain origin.-History:...
message sent by an alien space probe
Space probe
A robotic spacecraft is a spacecraft with no humans on board, that is usually under telerobotic control. A robotic spacecraft designed to make scientific research measurements is often called a space probe. Many space missions are more suited to telerobotic rather than crewed operation, due to...
that had been caught but overlooked in the late 1920s by a collaboration of Norwegian
Norwegians
Norwegians constitute both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway. They share a common culture and speak the Norwegian language. Norwegian people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in United States, Canada and Brazil.-History:Towards the end of the 3rd...
and Dutch
Dutch people
The Dutch people are an ethnic group native to the Netherlands. They share a common culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in Suriname, Chile, Brazil, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and the United...
researchers who were studying the long delayed echo
Long delayed echo
Long delayed echoes are radio echoes which return to the sender several seconds after a radio transmission has occurred. Delays of longer than 2.7 seconds are considered LDEs. LDEs are scientific anomalies of uncertain origin.-History:...
effect. Published along with an accompanying editorial disclaimer, Lunan maintained that the putative message came from an object at the L5 point in the same orbit
Orbit
In physics, an orbit is the gravitationally curved path of an object around a point in space, for example the orbit of a planet around the center of a star system, such as the Solar System...
as the Moon
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
, sent by the inhabitants of a planet orbiting Epsilon Boötis
Epsilon Boötis
Epsilon Boötis is a double star in the constellation Boötes. It has the traditional names Izar and Pulcherrima....
.
He came to the conclusion that the message was, "Start here. Our home is Upsilon Bootes, which is a double star. We live on the sixth planet of seven, coming from the sun, which is the larger of the two. Our sixth planet has one moon. Our fourth planet has three. Our first and third planets each have one. Our probe is in the position of Arcturus, known in our maps."
The claim was reported in Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
and the CBS Evening News
CBS Evening News
CBS Evening News is the flagship nightly television news program of the American television network CBS. The network has broadcast this program since 1948, and has used the CBS Evening News title since 1963....
. It was included in Rod Serling
Rod Serling
Rodman Edward "Rod" Serling was an American screenwriter, novelist, television producer, and narrator best known for his live television dramas of the 1950s and his science fiction anthology TV series, The Twilight Zone. Serling was active in politics, both on and off the screen and helped form...
's 1975 TV documentary In Search of Ancient Mysteries and, many years later, on George Noory
George Noory
George Ralph Noory is a Lebanese-American radio talk show host.As of 2010, he is the weekday host of the late-night radio talk show Coast to Coast AM. He is heard across the United States and Canada on many AM and FM stations as well as on XM Satellite Radio. His show is one of the most listened...
's Coast to Coast AM
Coast to Coast AM
Coast to Coast AM is a North American late-night syndicated radio talk show that deals with a variety of topics, but most frequently ones that relate to either the paranormal or conspiracy theories. It was created by Art Bell and is distributed by Premiere Radio Networks. The program currently...
radio show. The alleged message has been variously refuted but has also been inspirational.
From this theory Mark Brandis
Mark Brandis
Nikolai von Michalewsky was a German writer and journalist best known for a series of science fiction novels published between 1970 and 1987.-Biography:...
was inspired to write his 1974 novel Raumsonde Epsilon (in English Spaceprobe Epsilon).
In 1976 Lunan withdrew his original Epsilon Boötis theory, presenting proofs against it and clarifying what had led him to formulate it. However, in 1998 he re-interpreted part of it, claiming support from positional astronomy
Spherical astronomy
Spherical astronomy or positional astronomy is the branch of astronomy that is used to determine the location of objects on the celestial sphere, as seen at a particular date, time, and location on the Earth. It relies on the mathematical methods of spherical geometry and the measurements of...
.
Astronomy
He joined the Scottish branch of the BIS (British Interplanetary SocietyBritish Interplanetary Society
The British Interplanetary Society founded in 1933 by Philip E. Cleator, is the oldest space advocacy organisation in the world whose aim is exclusively to support and promote astronautics and space exploration.-Structure:...
) in 1962. He was on the committee which drew up the Constitution of ASTRA (Association in Scotland to Research into Astronautics
Association in Scotland to Research into Astronautics
The Association in Scotland To Research into Astronautics , is a spaceflight and astronomical society. The society adopted its constitution on November 20, 1963, and was originally known as the Association in Scotland for Technology and Research in Astronautics.ASTRA registered as a charitable...
) as an independent society in 1963, and redrafted it as the "Memorandum and Articles of a Company Limited by Guarantee" in 1974. He has been a Council member since December 1963 with only two short breaks, and has been Treasurer, President, Vice-President, Treasurer, President, Secretary, President, Treasurer and Secretary again during that time. He was re-elected Vice President in May 2010. He has been exhibition organiser and on the publications committee since 1970, editing ASTRA's publications in 1982 and between 1992 and 1996. Among many ASTRA conferences he organised one on archaeoastronomy
Archaeoastronomy
Archaeoastronomy is the study of how people in the past "have understood the phenomena in the sky how they used phenomena in the sky and what role the sky played in their cultures." Clive Ruggles argues it is misleading to consider archaeoastronomy to be the study of ancient astronomy, as modern...
at the Third Eye Centre in 1978 and "Heresies in Archaeoastronomy" at the Edinburgh International Science Festival
Edinburgh International Science Festival
The Edinburgh International Science Festival is a science festival which takes place each April in Edinburgh, Scotland. The festival features hundreds of talks, tours and exhibitions for children, families and adults in locations around the city...
in 1996.
Lunan and ASTRA have been at the forefront of the proposal of using a waverider
Waverider
A waverider is a hypersonic aircraft design that improves its supersonic lift-to-drag ratio by using the shock waves being generated by its own flight as a lifting surface. To date the only aircraft to use the technique is the Mach 3 supersonic XB-70 Valkyrie, which was waverider-like with its...
for re-entry of spacecraft in the Earth's atmosphere
Atmosphere
An atmosphere is a layer of gases that may surround a material body of sufficient mass, and that is held in place by the gravity of the body. An atmosphere may be retained for a longer duration, if the gravity is high and the atmosphere's temperature is low...
.
In 1978–79 he was Manager of the Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
Parks Department's Astronomy
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
Project.
He was Acting Curator of Airdrie Public Observatory
Airdrie Public Observatory
Airdrie Public Observatory is in the town of Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. The observatory is open to the public by request, and is housed in Airdrie Public Library...
in 1979–80 and was Assistant Curator between 1987 and 1997, becoming a curator again in 2002 and continuing to 2008. ASTRA ceased to run the Observatory for North Lanarkshire
North Lanarkshire
North Lanarkshire is one of 32 council areas in Scotland. It borders onto the northeast of the City of Glasgow and contains much of Glasgow's suburbs and commuter towns and villages. It also borders Stirling, Falkirk, East Dunbartonshire, West Lothian and South Lanarkshire...
District Council in May 2009, ceding the running of the Observatory to the Airdrie Astronomical Association (A.A.A). In 2006 and 2007 Lunan ran astronomy education projects funded by the National Lottery
National Lottery (United Kingdom)
The National Lottery is the state-franchised national lottery in the United Kingdom and the Isle of Man.It is operated by Camelot Group, to whom the licence was granted in 1994, 2001 and again in 2007. The lottery is regulated by the National Lottery Commission, and was established by the then...
's "Awards for All", with outreach to schools and community groups, followed by a larger project funded by Heritage Lottery
Heritage Lottery Fund
The Heritage Lottery Fund is a fund established in the United Kingdom under the National Lottery etc. Act 1993. The Fund opened for applications in 1994. It uses money raised through the National Lottery to transform and sustain the UK’s heritage...
for 2007–2008. His monthly astronomy column "The Sky above You" has appeared in various newspapers and magazines.
He resigned from ASTRA in 2011.
He is also an honorary member of the Clydesdale Astronomical Society.
He has been a Director of the Space Settlers' Society, a space-politics society founded by Andy Nimmo in 1980.
Along with his wife Linda, Duncan Lunan is running the "Astronomers of the Future" club for beginners who are keen to find out more about astronomy and space, for which he holds regular talks.
Duncan and Linda Lunan are in discussions about the possibility of helping create a public observatory on the Falkland Islands
Falkland Islands
The Falkland Islands are an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean, located about from the coast of mainland South America. The archipelago consists of East Falkland, West Falkland and 776 lesser islands. The capital, Stanley, is on East Falkland...
, with support from the British Antarctic Survey
British Antarctic Survey
The British Antarctic Survey is the United Kingdom's national Antarctic operation and has an active role in Antarctic affairs. BAS is part of the Natural Environment Research Council and has over 400 staff. It operates five research stations, two ships and five aircraft in and around Antarctica....
.
Teaching and tutoring
In 1986, he contributed to the launch of the Glasgow Science Fiction Writers CircleGlasgow Science Fiction Writers Circle
The Glasgow Science Fiction Writers’ Circle is a group of amateur, semi-professional, and professional fiction authors that has met regularly in Glasgow, Scotland since 1987....
by agreeing to run the first of six science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
and fantasy short story competitions for the Glasgow Herald and to teach the first of six science fiction writing classes at the Glasgow University's Extra-Mural Department, later the Department of Adult and Continuing Education. He is still an active member of the Circle and took part to its spin-off spoken word
Spoken word
Spoken word is a form of poetry that often uses alliterated prose or verse and occasionally uses metered verse to express social commentary. Traditionally it is in the first person, is from the poet’s point of view and is themed in current events....
project Word Dogs.
Sighthill stone circle
As Manager of the Glasgow Parks Department's Astronomy Project in 1978–79, Duncan Lunan supervised the building of the first astronomically aligned stone circleStone circle
A stone circle is a monument of standing stones arranged in a circle. Such monuments have been constructed across the world throughout history for many different reasons....
in Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
in 3,000 years in Sighthill
Sighthill, Glasgow
Sighthill is a Housing estate in the Scottish city of Glasgow. It is situated north of the River Clyde.Sighthill is part of the wider Springburn district in the North of the city...
Park.
The conceptual inspiration for the circle came from Lunan's interest in the works of Professor Alexander Thom
Alexander Thom
Alexander "Sandy" Thom was a Scottish engineer most famous for his theory of the Megalithic yard, categorization of stone circles and his studies of Stonehenge and other archaeological sites.- Life and work :...
and his son Dr. Archie Thom, who promoted the understanding of megalithic astronomy, and the subsequent expansion of their work by Dr. Ewan McKie and Professor Archie Roy
Archie Roy
- Career :Professor Archie Edminston Roy , was educated at Hillhead High School and the University of Glasgow. He is married to Frances with three sons; Dr. Archie W N Roy, Ian Roy and David Roy....
. The location of the stone circle, on a low hilltop between tower block
Tower block
A tower block, high-rise, apartment tower, office tower, apartment block, or block of flats, is a tall building or structure used as a residential and/or office building...
s, the M8 motorway and an incinerator
Incineration
Incineration is a waste treatment process that involves the combustion of organic substances contained in waste materials. Incineration and other high temperature waste treatment systems are described as "thermal treatment". Incineration of waste materials converts the waste into ash, flue gas, and...
, at a first sight seems hardly ideal. However, Lunan has written that the clear sightline to the sky and a fine view of the city center met the project's objectives. Lunan has written that "In later research, I found that summer solstice fairs had been held on the Summerhill, from which the midsummer
Midsummer
Midsummer may simply refer to the period of time centered upon the summer solstice, but more often refers to specific European celebrations that accompany the actual solstice, or that take place on a day between June 21 and June 24, and the preceding evening. The exact dates vary between different...
Sun rises over the true Sighthill, until they were stopped by the church in the 17th century".
Once he had identified the best location, Lunan organised the transportation of the stones by a helicopter from HMS Gannet
HMS Gannet SAR Flight
HMS Gannet SAR Flight is a Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm squadron based at RNAS Prestwick in Scotland. It operates three Sea King Mk5 helicopters in the military and civilian Search and Rescue role across Scotland, Northern England and Northern Ireland...
. The Moon Stones, being too heavy, had to be transported by specially adapted lorries
Truck
A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, with the smallest being mechanically similar to an automobile...
.
The project was not completed due to criticism by the incoming Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
government
Premiership of Margaret Thatcher
The Premiership of Margaret Thatcher began on 4 May 1979, with a mandate to reverse the UK's economic decline and to reduce the role of the state in the economy...
in 1979, and four stones – two of which were intended to mark equinoctial sunrise and sunset, East and West – are still lying under a bush in Sighthill park. Lunan is at present campaigning to have the circle renovated and completed, including plans for wheelchair
Wheelchair
A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, designed to be a replacement for walking. The device comes in variations where it is propelled by motors or by the seated occupant turning the rear wheels by hand. Often there are handles behind the seat for someone else to do the pushing...
access. The first initiative undertaken to draw attention to the megalith was a summer solstice gathering organised at the site on the evening of the 21 June 2010 preceded by a presentation on the circle given by Lunan. Lunan reported "positive discussions with Heritage Lottery
Heritage Lottery Fund
The Heritage Lottery Fund is a fund established in the United Kingdom under the National Lottery etc. Act 1993. The Fund opened for applications in 1994. It uses money raised through the National Lottery to transform and sustain the UK’s heritage...
chiefs in relation to funding for the project, estimated at around 30,000 GBP
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
".
Lunan presented plans to make the stone circle a key feature of a city-wide astronomy map, including the entire Solar System
Solar System
The Solar System consists of the Sun and the astronomical objects gravitationally bound in orbit around it, all of which formed from the collapse of a giant molecular cloud approximately 4.6 billion years ago. The vast majority of the system's mass is in the Sun...
represented on the correct scale
Scale model
A scale model is a physical model, a representation or copy of an object that is larger or smaller than the actual size of the object, which seeks to maintain the relative proportions of the physical size of the original object. Very often the scale model is used as a guide to making the object in...
within the city limits as first proposed by Gavin Roberts, who was the Arts and Photographic Supervisor on the original Project. If the stone circle represented the Sun
Sun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...
, Lunan said, Saturn
Saturn
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest planet in the Solar System, after Jupiter. Saturn is named after the Roman god Saturn, equated to the Greek Cronus , the Babylonian Ninurta and the Hindu Shani. Saturn's astronomical symbol represents the Roman god's sickle.Saturn,...
would be by the River Clyde
River Clyde
The River Clyde is a major river in Scotland. It is the ninth longest river in the United Kingdom, and the third longest in Scotland. Flowing through the major city of Glasgow, it was an important river for shipbuilding and trade in the British Empire....
near the Glasgow Science Centre
Glasgow Science Centre
Glasgow Science Centre is a visitor attraction located on the south bank of the River Clyde in Glasgow, Scotland. It is a purpose-built science centre composed of three principal buildings which are the Science Mall, an IMAX cinema and the Glasgow Tower...
, Jupiter
Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet within the Solar System. It is a gas giant with mass one-thousandth that of the Sun but is two and a half times the mass of all the other planets in our Solar System combined. Jupiter is classified as a gas giant along with Saturn,...
in the campus of the University of Strathclyde
University of Strathclyde
The University of Strathclyde , Glasgow, Scotland, is Glasgow's second university by age, founded in 1796, and receiving its Royal Charter in 1964 as the UK's first technological university...
, Uranus
Uranus
Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. It has the third-largest planetary radius and fourth-largest planetary mass in the Solar System. It is named after the ancient Greek deity of the sky Uranus , the father of Cronus and grandfather of Zeus...
on Maryhill
Maryhill
Maryhill is an area of the City of Glasgow in Scotland. Maryhill is a former burgh. The population of Maryhill is about 52,000. Maryhill stretches over along Maryhill Road...
Road and Neptune
Neptune
Neptune is the eighth and farthest planet from the Sun in the Solar System. Named for the Roman god of the sea, it is the fourth-largest planet by diameter and the third largest by mass. Neptune is 17 times the mass of Earth and is slightly more massive than its near-twin Uranus, which is 15 times...
and the dwarf planet
Dwarf planet
A dwarf planet, as defined by the International Astronomical Union , is a celestial body orbiting the Sun that is massive enough to be spherical as a result of its own gravity but has not cleared its neighboring region of planetesimals and is not a satellite...
Pluto
Pluto
Pluto, formal designation 134340 Pluto, is the second-most-massive known dwarf planet in the Solar System and the tenth-most-massive body observed directly orbiting the Sun...
at Cathkin Braes, south of Castlemilk
Castlemilk
Castlemilk is a district of Glasgow, Scotland. It lies to the south of the city adjacent to Rutherglen, Croftfoot, Simshill and the separate village of Carmunnock...
.
The history of the stone circle was featured in the BBC Radio Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland is BBC Scotland's national English-language radio network. It broadcasts a wide variety of programming, including news, sport, light entertainment, music, the arts, comedy, drama, history and lifestyle...
show Out of Doors in January 2011.
In 2011, Duncan Lunan and his wife Linda founded the Friends of the Sighthill Stone Circle association.
Publications
His non-fictionNon-fiction
Non-fiction is the form of any narrative, account, or other communicative work whose assertions and descriptions are understood to be fact...
books include Man and the Stars (published in the USA with the titles Interstellar Contact and The Mysterious Signals from Outer Space and translated into French by Jean Sendy as À l'écoute des galaxies and into Spanish by David Molinet as A la escucha de las estrellas), New Worlds for Old and Man and the Planets.
He was a science fiction critic for the Glasgow Herald between 1971 and 1985, and ran the paper's science fiction and fantasy short story competitions between 1986 and 2002, edited Starfield, Science Fiction by Scottish Writers for Orkney Press in 1989, to which he also contributed with a short story, "The Square Fella". He also contributed two stories, "'Tirra Lirra' by the River, Sang Sir Lancelot" and "Landscape Modification in the Vicinity of Highgate Cemetery", to the 1988 Drabble
Drabble
A drabble is an extremely short work of fiction of exactly one hundred words in length, although the term is often erroneously used to indicate a short story of fewer than 1000 words...
Project of the Science Fiction society of the University of Birmingham
University of Birmingham
The University of Birmingham is a British Redbrick university located in the city of Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Birmingham Medical School and Mason Science College . Birmingham was the first Redbrick university to gain a charter and thus...
and published by Beccon. He also contributed reviews to Interzone
Interzone (magazine)
Interzone is an award-winning British fantasy and science fiction magazine. Published since 1982, Interzone is the eighth longest-running science fiction magazine in history and the longest-running British SF magazine...
.
He lists amongst his inspirations Percy F. Westerman
Percy F. Westerman
Percy Francis Westerman was a prolific author of children's literature, many of his books adventures with military themes.-Biography:...
, Arthur Ransome
Arthur Ransome
Arthur Michell Ransome was an English author and journalist, best known for writing the Swallows and Amazons series of children's books. These tell of school-holiday adventures of children, mostly in the Lake District and the Norfolk Broads. Many of the books involve sailing; other common subjects...
, Nicholas Monsarrat
Nicholas Monsarrat
Commander Nicholas John Turney Monsarrat RNVR was a British novelist known today for his sea stories, particularly The Cruel Sea and Three Corvettes , but perhaps best known internationally for his novels, The Tribe That Lost Its Head and its sequel, Richer Than All His Tribe.- Early life :Born...
, Arthur C. Clarke
Arthur C. Clarke
Sir Arthur Charles Clarke, CBE, FRAS was a British science fiction author, inventor, and futurist, famous for his short stories and novels, among them 2001: A Space Odyssey, and as a host and commentator in the British television series Mysterious World. For many years, Robert A. Heinlein,...
, Patrick Moore
Patrick Moore
Sir Patrick Alfred Caldwell-Moore, CBE, FRS, FRAS is a British amateur astronomer who has attained prominent status in astronomy as a writer, researcher, radio commentator and television presenter of the subject, and who is credited as having done more than any other person to raise the profile of...
, G. K. Chesterton
G. K. Chesterton
Gilbert Keith Chesterton, KC*SG was an English writer. His prolific and diverse output included philosophy, ontology, poetry, plays, journalism, public lectures and debates, literary and art criticism, biography, Christian apologetics, and fiction, including fantasy and detective fiction....
and C. S. Lewis
C. S. Lewis
Clive Staples Lewis , commonly referred to as C. S. Lewis and known to his friends and family as "Jack", was a novelist, academic, medievalist, literary critic, essayist, lay theologian and Christian apologist from Belfast, Ireland...
.
A short story, "The Comet, the Cairn and the Capsule", was included in the 1979 short story collection The Science Fictional Solar System
The Science Fictional Solar System
The Science Fictional Solar System is a 1979 anthology of science fiction short-stories revolving around the solar system. Its editors are Isaac Asimov, Charles G. Waugh, and Martin H. Greenberg.-Contents:...
edited by Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov was an American author and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. Asimov was one of the most prolific writers of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000...
, Charles G. Waugh and Martin H. Greenberg
Martin H. Greenberg
Martin Harry Greenberg was an American speculative fiction anthologist and writer.-Biography:Dr. Martin H. Greenberg was born March 1, 1941, to Max and Mae Greenberg in South Miami Beach, Florida...
.
Some folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
songs he wrote have been published in a Scottish folk music anthology. A non-fiction book by Lunan, about the green children of Woolpit
Green children of Woolpit
The green children of Woolpit reportedly appeared in the village of Woolpit in Suffolk, England, some time in the 12th century, perhaps during the reign of King Stephen. The children, brother and sister, were of generally normal appearance except for the green colour of their skin. They spoke in an...
and entitled Children from the Sky, is scheduled to be released in early 2012 by Mutus Liber.
Green children of Woolpit
In a 1996 Analog Science Fiction and FactAnalog Science Fiction and Fact
Analog Science Fiction and Fact is an American science fiction magazine. As of 2011, it is the longest running continuously published magazine of that genre...
article, Lunan speculated that the Green children of Woolpit
Green children of Woolpit
The green children of Woolpit reportedly appeared in the village of Woolpit in Suffolk, England, some time in the 12th century, perhaps during the reign of King Stephen. The children, brother and sister, were of generally normal appearance except for the green colour of their skin. They spoke in an...
were mistakenly transported to Earth due to malfunction in a matter transmitter
Teleportation
Teleportation is the fictional or imagined process by which matter is instantaneously transferred from one place to another.Teleportation may also refer to:*Quantum teleportation, a method of transmitting quantum data...
. He also claimed that he can trace the Green Girl's descendants to the present.
Taking a lead from Robert Burton
Robert Burton (scholar)
Robert Burton was an English scholar at Oxford University, best known for the classic The Anatomy of Melancholy. He was also the incumbent of St Thomas the Martyr, Oxford, and of Segrave in Leicestershire.-Life:...
's The Anatomy of Melancholy
The Anatomy of Melancholy
The Anatomy of Melancholy The Anatomy of Melancholy The Anatomy of Melancholy (Full title: The Anatomy of Melancholy, What it is: With all the Kinds, Causes, Symptomes, Prognostickes, and Several Cures of it. In Three Maine Partitions with their several Sections, Members, and Subsections...
, he suggests that the children were accidentally returned from a settlement of humans established by extraterrestrial
Extraterrestrial life
Extraterrestrial life is defined as life that does not originate from Earth...
s on an earthlike world with a trapped synchronous orbit
Synchronous orbit
A synchronous orbit is an orbit in which an orbiting body has a period equal to the average rotational period of the body being orbited , and in the same direction of rotation as that body.-Properties:...
rotation with unusual genetically modified
Genetic engineering
Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification, is the direct human manipulation of an organism's genome using modern DNA technology. It involves the introduction of foreign DNA or synthetic genes into the organism of interest...
vegetation, which would allegedly explain their unusual skin color.
He presented his theory on the 9 November 2011 episode of Ground Zero Live conducted by Clyde Lewis
Clyde Lewis
Clyde Lewis is a talk radio personality and actor. He is the creator and host of Ground Zero, a talk radio show dealing with paranormal and parapolitical topics....
.