May 2003 - astronomy@lists.redbrick.dcu.ie

[Astronomy Ireland]
by Astronomy Ireland 30 May '03

30 May '03

Email. Eclipse. Aurora. I.S.S. Banking. Join the Team 1. The computers that host astronomy.ie had a problem on Wednesday night and much of Thursday. We are assured this is a rare occurrence and all seems to be well now. If you sent email to info(a)astronomy.ie or subscribed online your email probably bounced back saying "no such user". Ignore this. We are, in fact, alive and well! During all this, our website http://www.astronomy.ie appeared to be working fine. Our apologies for any inconvenience caused. 2. ECLIPSE MAY 31 5am: In the meantime this gives me an excuse to remind you about the partial eclipse of the Sun coming up early on Saturday morning. The weather forecast looks good, and it will need to be as the Sun will be at maximum eclipse when it is on the horizon at sunrise as seen from Ireland. The table below may look a bit complicated but just work through it as follows: About 92% of the Sun (92% of its diameter that is) will be covered just before it rises. That means the morning twilight will only be generated by a very weak Sun (almost totally eclipsed!) so it could be quite an eerie experience before sunrise. I am expecting that it will be possible to see bright stars in a weak twilight almost until sunrise? Mars in particular will be very bright in the southeast at magnitude -0.7. The Sun rises in the northeast of course. The 'summer triangle' (Vega, Deneb, Altair) will be high overhead. In the table below, in the column headed "Max/%/alt" I have given "Max" as the time of maximum eclipse (even though the Sun will be out of view below the horizon), "%" the percentage of the Sun's diameter covered by the Moon at that time, and "alt" the altitude in degrees of the Sun at that time. Try to view 15 to 30 minutes before this time and let us know what you see (email observe(a)astronomy.ie) Then comes "Sunrise". This is the instant at which the top tip of the Sun peeks above the horizon, allowing for refraction i.e. it is the real time you should expect to see anything of the Sun. Of course, it assumes a perfect horizon like you really only get at sea. If you have mountains, hills or any other obstacle in the distance you still won't see the Sun at this time. However, if you can get up on a height (hill or mountain) you may be able to see the Sun even before this - don't forget though that there has to absolutely no cloud on the horizon and any mist or haziness will dim the Sun significantly at this low altitude. I have included the percentage of the Sun's diameter covered by the Moon at this time. The Moon takes a 'bite' out of the left side of the Sun so this 'bite' won't yet be visible as the top of the Sun has only peeked over the horizon at this time remember. Under "FullSun" I have given the time when the bottom edge of the Sun is now sitting on the horizon. At this time the entire solar disk is visible (assuming a perfect horizon remember). The percentage of the Sun's diameter covered by the Moon is also given. This is the same as the diagram on my editorial on page 4 of the June issue of our magazine (http://www.astronomy.ie/sub) [Aside: for the diagram in the magazine for Dublin I used a slightly less accurate computer program that gave 51%. The correct figure is 46% as per the table below which is very accurate having been calculated using professional astronomers' data.] Finally, I give the end of the eclipse "Ends", when the Moon finally moves off the Sun's disk and the eclipse is over. We then have to wait 2 years 4 months for the next partial eclipse of the Sun visible from here. All times give are summer time (BST) (View or print this table with a mono-spaced font like 'courier') Location Lat/Long Max/%/alt Sunrise FullSun Ends Belfast 54.6N,5.9W 4:43am/93%/-2.2 4:57am/72% 5:02am/64% 5:39am Birr 53.1N,7.9W 4:43am/93%/-4.2 5:14am/43% 5:18am/35% 5:38am Cavan 54.0N,7.4W 4:43am/93%/-3.2 5:06am/56% 5:11am/48% 5:39am Cork 51.9N,8.5W 4:42am/92%/-5.4 5:22am/25% 5:27am/18% 5:37am Derry 55.0N,7.3W 4:45am/93%/-2.4 5:00am/70% 5:05am/61% 5:41am Dublin 53.3N,6.3W 4:42am/92%/-3.4 5:06am/54% 5:11am/46% 5:38am Dundalk 54.0N,6.4W 4:43am/93%/-2.9 5:02am/62% 5:07am/54% 5:39am Galway 53.3N,9.0W 4:44am/93%/-4.4 5:17am/38% 5:21am/31% 5:39am Limerick 52.7W,8.6W 4:43am/93%/-4.7 5:19am/34% 5:23am/26% 5:38am Sligo 54.3N,8.5W 4:45am/93%/-3.4 5:09am/54% 5:14am/45% 5:40am Tralee 52.3N,9.7W 4:43am/92%/-5.4 5:25am/23% 5:29am/15% 5:38am Waterford 52.3N,7.1W 4:41am/92%/-4.6 5:15am/38% 5:19am/30% 5:37am SAFETY: Never look directly at the Sun without proper filters. You can still get Eclipse Shades from Astronomy Ireland and the AstroSolar filters for your binoculars and/or telescopes. You can project an image through binoculars or small telescopes but supervise such telescopes at all times and don't let heat build up and damage your optics. In an absolute emergency you can get a crude image by punching a hole in a piece of card with a pin and picking up the sunlight passing through the pinhole on a piece of white paper held a few inches away. Further details of the eclipse are on pages 28-29 of the May issue of Astronomy & Space magazine, and page 4 of the June issue. Good luck with the weather and do go out up to an hour before sunrise and let us know if the twilight is unusual that morning. 3. AURORA - a display of the Northern Lights, or aurora borealis, has been predicted for tonight Friday night. Keep an eye on the Northern horizon all night long. Check tomorrow night too. There are nice sunspots on view at present - yet another reason to get your sheet of AstroSolar from our Shop. 4. I.S.S. - Don't forget you can see the International Space Station blazing across the sky tonight, and every night until next Wednesday with Ed Lu and Yuri Malenchenko on board. Call our premium rate Newsline every day after 12noon for the time to see I.S.S. later that evening: 1550-111-442 (calls cost 74c/min). Those in U.K. can call 09001-88-1950 (calls cost 60p/min). Tell your friends! 5. BANKING - We want to set up a new direct debit system for the club but we are having some problems. If you are involved in banking can you email David Moore at info(a)astronomy.ie please? 6. JOIN THE TEAM - we are seeking more people to get involved in the running of Astronomy Ireland. If you think astronomy in Ireland is an important issue then please get in touch, be it promoting interest to the general public, in schools, or to government, there is a lot to do and we need people who feel passionately that things like the recent removal of astronomy from the Junior Cert syllabus should not go unaddressed by the national astronomy society. Or what about the fact that Irish professional astronomers now have no access to cutting edge telescopes with the loss of the La Palma telescopes - public support could help here. Or maybe you just want to help organise more events around the country, or you have other ideas of your own. These are the sort of issues we need to address, not just the internal running of our Society for its members (though this is of course our prime concern). Email info(a)astronomy.ie if you want to get involved in any way at all. ===== David Moore BSc FRAS, Chairman, Astronomy Ireland, P.O.Box 2888, Dublin 5. Editor, "Astronomy & Space" magazine. ASTRONOMY SHOP: open Mon.-Fri. 9:30am-5:30pm and Sat. noon-6pm. Tel (01) 847 0777. Fax (01) 847 0771. WWW: http://www.astronomy.ie (Subscribe FREE to AI's Events emailing list) Email: info(a)astronomy.ie

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[Astronomy Ireland] Discourse at the RIA by the Director of the European Southern Observatory, 29/5/03
by Astronomy Ireland 26 May '03

26 May '03

[ David Moore writes: Astronomy Ireland has received the notice below about a Lecture important to serious astronomical research in Ireland. To put it in context, there has been discussion amongst the professional astronomical community in Ireland about what sort of equipment Irish professional astronomers should have access to? Ireland currently has access to the telescopes (up to 4.2-metre) on La Palma in the Canary Islands at very little cost but much larger instruments are now in use around the world. Some of the suggestions I have heard of include: A large radio telescope, which could be networked with others across Europe and the world (weather is not a problem so it can be sited in Ireland), SALT (Southern African Large Telescope) a relatively inexpensive 11-metre telescope that can see the less studied southern hemisphere of the Sky: http://www.salt.ac.za/ Membership of the European Southern Observatory (http://eso.org/) which already has the four 8.2-metre telescope in Chile and is planning a Overwhelmingly Large Telescop (OWL) of 100-metre size! (http://eso.org/projects/owl/) As I understand it, E.S.O. membership requires a once-off down payment and an annual contribution thereafter. We reported on the U.K. joining E.S.O. in the the September 2002 issue of Astronomy & Space magazine (check it out before you go to the lecture). Astronomy Ireland will support the professional astronomical community in any way it can. If you are a student studying or intending studying astronomy in an Irish university, or have an interest in Irish professional astronomy or the E.S.O. then this lecture will be of interest to you. ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------ Dear Colleagues, On Thursday 29 May at 18h (pm), the ESO Director General, Prof. Catherine Cesarsky, will deliver a Discourse at the Royal Irish Academy on "The role of the ESO and its importance for European astronomy" The address of the Academy is 19 Dawson Street, Dublin 2. There will be a reception afterwards. I hope that many of you will be attending. Please let the RIA know that you intend to come, by calling 6764222 or sending an e-mail notice to Ms Hogan: a.hogan(a)ria.ie. I look forward to seeing all of you on Thursday evening, Evert Meurs ------------------------------------------------------------ Prof. Evert Meurs, Tel. +353-1-8387911 Director, Fax +353-1-8387090 Dunsink Observatory Castleknock Dublin 15, IRL e-mail ejam(a)dunsink.dias.ie ------------------------------------------------------------

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[Astronomy Ireland]ISS, Mars Lecture, Star-B-Q Photos wanted
by Astronomy Ireland 23 May '03

23 May '03

Below is part of a Press Notice we issued about the International Space Station being visible over the next two weeks. For those in the Dublin area, Kevin Nolan of the Planetary Society has organised a Lecture about Mars on the occasion of there being an unprecedented number of spacecraft at Mars or about to be launched to Mars. All welcome. Admission 3euro (1.50euro concessions). It's on Friday night May 23 at 8:30pm in the Bank of Ireland Arts Centre, Foster Place, just off Dame Street, Dublin 2. STAR-B-Q: This was a great success on April 26 with over 200 people. At the event we asked if everyone who was taking photographs could send in their results. So far we have received zero photos. If you were at the Star-B-Q can you post (or email info(a)astronomy.ie) any photos you got please? Now for I.S.S., keep calling those Newslines: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --- May 23 ASTRONOMY IRELAND Press Notice BIGGEST MAN MADE OBJECT IN SPACE VISIBLE NOW & UNTIL JUNE 4 The most expensive object ever built, the International Space Station, with 3 men on board, will blaze across the sky every evening starting this weekend and continuing until June 4th, and Astronomy Ireland is urging everyone to go outside and watch this amazing sight. "I.S.S. crosses the sky each night for only one or two minutes and can be seen by anyone with ordinary eyesight as an EXTREMELY BRIGHT star-like object, high overhead. It's an amazing sight" said David Moore, Chairman of Astronomy Ireland. "The Station can be up to 100 times BRIGHTER than even the brightest stars in the sky, so it is a wonderful sight to the naked eye." he said. COLUMBIA DISASTER CAUSES CUTBACKS On board I.S.S. at present are only 2 astronauts, normally there are 3. Unfortunately, the American space shuttle fleet is grounded since February 1st when the shuttle Columbia exploded over Texas killing all 7 astronauts on board. Now only a small Russian Soyuz craft, designed only as an escape pod, has to service the I.S.S. by bringing new crews and supplies. It can only do this every six months and it could not bring enough resources to keep 3 astronauts alive, hence the 2 man crew of Ed Lu and Yuri Malenchenko on board since the end of April. Shuttles cannot bring up the next pieces of I.S.S. to continue its construction nor all the science experiments planned for its laboratories. A significant part of the 100 billion Station has therefore been effectively mothballed. This must count as the most serious consequence of the February Columbia disaster after the tragic loss of human life. SPECIAL NEWSLINES FOR TIME TO WATCH SPACE SHIP Astronomy Ireland is urging every to go outdoors each evening to watch the huge space ship. Despite the trouble on board it will not make the craft any the less spectacular. The time to see ISS is different every evening so Astronomy Ireland has set up a special Newsline to give ACCURATE TIMES to go out and watch. Call 1550-111-442 each afternoon, before sunset. Calls cost 74c per minute. In the U.K. call 09001 88 1950 (calls cost 60p/min). "Call between noon and sunset and then go outside that evening, a few minutes before the predicted time and simply look up!" said David Moore. NEW MEMBERS SOUGHT Astronomy Ireland is seeking new members, all of whom receive the society's full colour magazine every month. Call (01) 847 0777 or visit our website www.astronomy.ie Subscribe iimmediately online at http://www.astronomy.ie/sub ===== David Moore BSc FRAS, Chairman, Astronomy Ireland, P.O.Box 2888, Dublin 5. Editor, "Astronomy & Space" magazine. ASTRONOMY SHOP: open Mon.-Fri. 9:30am-5:30pm and Sat. noon-6pm. Tel (01) 847 0777. Fax (01) 847 0771. WWW: http://www.astronomy.ie (Subscribe FREE to AI's Events emailing list) Email: info(a)astronomy.ie

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[Astronomy Ireland]June Issue of A&S Problem
by Astronomy Ireland 21 May '03

21 May '03

>----- Original Message ----- >From: "Brendan" <brendankward(a)eircom.net> >To: "Astronomy & Space" <info(a)astronomy.ie> >Sent: Wednesday, May 21, 2003 11:21 AM >Subject: June Issue of A&S > >Dear David > >I have just received a second copy of the May 2003 issue of A&S in the mail. I was expecting the June issue, which I don't yet have. Perhaps someone in the office put the wrong issue in the envelope. > >Brendan K Ward I am terribly sorry but one or some of the volunteers who came in to pack the June issue of the magazine accidentally sent out 2 boxes of the May issue without realising it! We are asking members WHO CAN to drop in to the office/shop in Artane over the next few days and swap the May issue you got for the June issue (good excuse to look around the Shop - we have Patrick Moore's NEW autobiography reduced by 23% as he is a member of the club, and you can pick up any Eclipse Shades or AstroSolar you might need for eclipse of the Sun on May 31st!). If it is NOT possible to drop in to swap the magazine I can post the June issue out, but keep in mind that my monthly pool of volunteers are not available and it will probably be me who has to post up to 250 magazines manually and goodness knows when I will get a chance as I have the July issue deadline with the printers bearing down on me already. I will also ask that you post back the May issue to P.O.Box 2888, Dublin 5 as we had a promotional project planned for all those magazines (linked to the 2-part CCD article in both the May and June issue). Please drop in to Artane if at all possible. Sorry about all this mess. It will be a major headache for me. Rest assured I have already taken action to ensure this does not happen again. I am CCing to the 1,000+ people on the AI emailing list as we are getting calls and emails already and the magazine only went in to the post 12 hours ago! Here is a map from our website showing how to get to the Shop if you have never visited us before: http://www.astronomy.ie/map.html ===== David Moore BSc FRAS, Chairman, Astronomy Ireland, P.O.Box 2888, Dublin 5. Editor, "Astronomy & Space" magazine. ASTRONOMY SHOP: open Mon.-Fri. 9:30am-5:30pm and Sat. noon-6pm. Tel (01) 847 0777. Fax (01) 847 0771. WWW: http://www.astronomy.ie (Subscribe FREE to AI's Events emailing list) Email: info(a)astronomy.ie

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[Astronomy Ireland]Public Lecture May 12 "Cannibals in Space!"
by Astronomy Ireland 11 May '03

11 May '03

ASTRONOMY IRELAND PUBLIC LECTURE "Cannibals in Space" By Dr. Simon Jeffery Date: 8pm Monday May 12 Venue: Dublin City University, Glasnevin, Dublin 9 (Main Lecture Hall, Henry Grattan Building) SUMMARY: The distances between stars and galaxies are vast, but they are always on the move. Its not exactly Shepherd's Bush roundabout in the rush hour; collisions in space are extremely rare. But when they happen, they happen big time. What happens when two galaxies collide? What happens when one star engulfs its companion? Where are the biggest star guzzlers to be found? This talk will explore the pathological situations that occur when stars and galaxies cannabalize one another. Deep space images and theoretical simulations will show what happens in stellar traffic accidents and cosmic pile-ups. BACKGROUND: Simon Jeffery was educated in Edinburgh and London, receiving his PhD in Stellar Evolution from St Andrews where he worked on extreme helium stars for 15 years. After spending one year (1986/7) at Kiel University, Germany he moved to Armagh Observatory in 1996 where he is currently a senior research astronomer. He has used many satellites and telescopes around the world including IUE and the Hubble Space Telescope. His main research interest is what happens to stars as they approach the end of their lives? Admission: 5 Euro (Concessions 3 Euro) Bookings: (01) 847 0777 ===== David Moore BSc FRAS, Chairman, Astronomy Ireland, P.O.Box 2888, Dublin 5. Editor, "Astronomy & Space" magazine. ASTRONOMY SHOP: open Mon.-Fri. 9:30am-5:30pm and Sat. noon-6pm. Tel (01) 847 0777. Fax (01) 847 0771. WWW: http://www.astronomy.ie (Subscribe FREE to AI's Events emailing list) Email: info(a)astronomy.ie

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[Astronomy Ireland] Transit of Mercury, Lecture and 2 eclipses to see this month!
by Astronomy Ireland PR 04 May '03

04 May '03

[ Thought you might all be interested in a Press Notice we dashed off for 4 events coming this month! See the May issue for more details, including the EDITORIAL which has lots of advice on books and equipment we have stocked up on so you can get the best out of these rare events. P.S. "The Sky at Night" on BBC1 tonight (1:10am Monday) is about the Transit, and the 2 eclipses also. Repeated next Saturday BBC2. P.P.S. If anyone is interested in organising a group trip (or knows of cheap flights/sailings) to Scotland for the May 31 annular eclipse then let me know! - David Moore Sunday May 4. ] ASTRONOMY IRELAND Press Notice May 3 Transit of Mercury across Sun May 7 Total Eclipse of Moon May 16 * Partial Eclipse of Sun May 31 Amazingly, no less than THREE rare and very special events take place during May and Astronomy Ireland is providing details and opportunities to see all three, from a public event to a special magazine. Given that previous eclipses have been front page stories on the major national newspapers there is sure to be great interest in these eclipses. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ TRANSIT OF MERCURY MAY 7 (Wednesday) Not since 1973 has Mercury been seen to cross the face of the Sun from Ireland. Nor will the sight be visible again from here until 2016. From 6:12am until 11:32am Wednesday the planet Mercury will be visible as a small black disk crossing the Sun through specially filtered telescopes. Note: Never look directly at the Sun without suitable eye protection. Special filters for telescopes are available from Astronomy Ireland, please call the society for details, or come along to: MERCURY TRANSIT WATCH IN PHOENIX PARK Astronomy Ireland will be setting up telescopes in Dublin's Phoenix Park on Wednesday May 7 from 10am to 11:30am to show members of the public the planet Mercury crossing the Sun in safety. Everyone is welcome to come along to the car park at the Papal Cross: Event : Astronomy Ireland MERCURY TRANSIT WATCH Date : WEDNESDAY MAY 7TH from 10am to 11:30am Venue : car park at Papal Cross in PHOENIX PARK Dublin Details : Tel (01) 847 0777 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ PUBLIC LECTURE MAY 12 "CANNIBALS IN SPACE" On Monday May 12 Astronomy Ireland is inviting EVERYONE to a special Public Lecture "Cannibals in Space " by Dr. Simon Jeffery, about stars that consume one another. Astronomy Ireland Chairman, David Moore, will also give details of the coming two eclipses on May 16 and May 31. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ TOTAL ECLIPSE OF MOON MAY 16 >From about 3am on Friday May 16, the first Total Eclipse of the Moon will occur since January 2001, two and a half years ago. This is an event which is visible to the naked eye from all parts of the country. Details from Astronomy Ireland on (01) 847 0777. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ PARTIAL ECLIPSE OF SUN MAY 31 May comes to a spectacular end with the first partial eclipse of the Sun visible from these parts since the great eclipse of August 1999. The eclipse is already in progress as the Sun rises in the East on that Saturday morning around 5am causing a rare and very eerie effect that morning until 5:40am. "Eclipse Shades" from the 1999 eclipse are all that is need to view this spectacular event. Details and supplies of "Eclipse Shades" are available from Astronomy Ireland on (01) 847 0777. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ SPECIAL MAGAZINE AVAILABLE THAT DETAILS ALL ABOVE A special edition of "Astronomy & Space" magazine has been produced by Astronomy Ireland and has already been distributed to thousands of astronomy fans around Ireland. Copies are available at larger newsagents or by post for 5euro donation by calling Astronomy Ireland (01) 847 0777. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ MEDIA CONTACT: For more information please contact: David Moore, Editor A&S magazine at Astronomy Ireland on (01) 8470777 __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo. http://search.yahoo.com

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