August 2007 - astronomy@lists.redbrick.dcu.ie

[Astronomy Ireland] Leo Enright to give Keynote Address at Star-B-Q
by AI Director 29 Aug '07

29 Aug '07

Leo Enright to give Keynote Address at Star-B-Q Astronomy Ireland is delighted to announce that Leo Enright has agreed to give the keynote address at the Star-B-Q on September 8. To add to the excitement, this will be Astronomy Ireland's first ever 3-D lecture. Leo's talk will be called " Mars 3-D ! ", and will feature high-resolution images from the surface of the red planet, which you can view in 3-D with special 3-D glasses supplied free at the event. This will give viewers the experience of being down on the surface of the red planet itself. As well as being Ireland's foremost space-science journalist, Leo is a highly accomplished speaker, and has an intimate knowledge of the latest developments in planetary exploration. He co-wrote a book with the legendary Carl Sagan, and is often heard on RTE and BBC covering space missions live from NASA. As you will be aware, our Autumn Star-B-Q will take place on Saturday 8 September in Roundwood, Co. Wicklow, starting at 8pm. Star-B-Q is Astronomy Ireland's principal annual fund-raising event, and revenues generated greatly help us to promote interest in astronomy in Ireland so we are asking all of you to spread the word and try to get as many people to book tickets as early as possible. This year we have pulled out all the stops to make this Star-B-Q the biggest and most exciting ever. We're bringing along far more telescopes than ever before. Larger telescopes too. We have a major key note speakers, and all the attractions we've had at previous events. Star-B-Q is aimed at the general public all across Ireland and it will be a fantastic night out for everyone who comes. It is by far the biggest annual telescope event in Ireland and we expect people from all over Ireland, and some from abroad will come to the event. Hundreds of people have booked already so don't be left out and book now at www.astronomy.ie/sbq Star-B-Q will feature - A 3-D Mars lecture (free 3-D glasses supplied) by space journalist Leo Enright. "The Universe" - a talk by David Moore, Ireland's best known astronomer A whole field full with 1/4 million Euro worth of telescopes See Jupiter, Mars, galaxies, star clusters, dying stars, gas clouds, and more! Amazing 60km-long laser beam pointing out the constellations Demonstration on photographing the planets (Eamonn Ó Fearcháin) How to Use Binoculars for Astronomy (with giant 25x100mm SkyMasters!) Professionally catered barbecue and soft drinks (included in ticket price) Extremely dark skies yet still within easy reach of Dublin city Lecture hall that an accommodate 1,000 people Shop and other information stands Celestron's new SkyScout to be demonstrated publicly first time in Ireland We are asking all of you to come along, and witness the splendour of the Universe at the largest annual astronomical gathering in Ireland, and please bring friends. But please don't leave it until the last day to book, as we need to tell our caterer how many of you to expect. It's going to be an amazing event! Please book tickets now at - www.astronomy.ie/sbq Or call - (01) 847 0777 office hours

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[Astronomy Ireland] Jupiter Watches, Hear AI on 2FM
by AI Chairman 21 Aug '07

21 Aug '07

1. JUPITER WATCHES As heard on RTE 2FM this morning and local radio all across Ireland, Astronomy Ireland will be setting up telescopes in Cork, Dublin, Dundalk & Letterkenny tonight to show you the planet Jupiter up close. Even if you cannot get along you will still see Jupiter with the naked eye as the brilliant 'star' just above the Moon (with Antares just to its upper left). See our new diagram at www.astronomy.ie/jupiterwatchaug2007.html where you will also find details of each Jupiter Watch. In the telescopes you'll be able to see Jupiter as a disk with its cloud belts and three of its four main moons (the 4th one is behind the planet tonight until 11:14pm). Moon details are in your magazine (August issue page 26 www.astronomy.ie/sub) By the way, there are loads of Jupiter moon events to watch in even the smallest telescope each week (see magazine page 26 for list). These are fascinating so don't waste any clear spells in the coming weeks if you have a telescopes, and if you don't have a telescope yet just call (01) 847 0777 or download the catalogue at the top of webpage www.astronomy.ie/shop.html Admission is free but we will be asking for a small donation of 2euro to help raise funds for the society, and everyone is welcome - please tell all your friends to come along. For tonight's "Jupiter Watch" no ticket is needed - just wrap up warm and get yourself along to one of the following at 9:00pm - Dublin - Papal Cross Car Park, Phoenix Park, Dublin. Cork - Centrepark Road, Cork. Dundalk - Millennium Statue, Blackrock, Dundalk. Donegal - Front car park, Letterkenny IT, Letterkenny 2. Global Warming Astronomy Ireland's Education Officer, Emmet Mordaunt, spoke on this morning's Gerry Ryan Show presented by Marty Whelan on 2FM. "Global Warming - it's Not the Sun" is the cover story on our September magazine (get a copy posted to you for 5euro at www.astronomy.ie/sub) Emmet and Marty pondered if Global Warming was "real", what are the causes and what, if anything, can be done about it. Emmet also compared Earth with the atmospheres and Global Warming on Venus and Mars. To hear the full interview go to www.astronomy.ie/audio As well as the Jupiter Watches Emmet announced the Evening Classes (enrol now at www.astronomy.ie/eveningclass.html) and that space journalist and broadcaster Leo Enright will give the Key Note Address, a 3-D lecture about Mars, to open the biggest Star-B-Q in history - details will be posted on www.astronomy.ie/sbq soon but you can book tickets there right now, hundreds of you have done so already - bring all your friends, we now have a fantastic line up of speakers, events, demos and a quarter-of-a-million euro worth of telescopes for you to view through on September 8th, at the highest village in Ireland - Roundwood, Co. Wicklow. Astronomy Ireland www.astronomy.ie Telescopes & Advice Monday to Saturday: Tel (01) 847 0777 Star-B-Q (Sept. 8) - Ireland's biggest telescope event. Everyone in Ireland welcome. Bring friends. Book now: www.astronomy.ie/sbq

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[Astronomy Ireland] Nationwide Jupiter Watch, 2FM, Star-B-Q, ISS-Shuttle, Perseid
by AI Chairman 17 Aug '07

17 Aug '07

1. "Jupiter Watch" nationwide Aug 21 Just after sunset on Tuesday August 21, everyone in Ireland will be treated to a rare celestial alignment involving the Moon, the planet Jupiter and the brightest star in the constellation Scorpius, known as Antares. All three are grouped very close together, and will be visible with the naked eye across Ireland. Astronomy Ireland will be assembling some of the largest portable telescopes in Dublin's Phoenix Park and several venues nationwide. Members of the public can get once-in-a-lifetime views of the Solar System's biggest planet by coming along to one of our "Jupiter Watches" on the night - see details below. Everyone is welcome. At present Jupiter is high in the south and is visible at very convenient times . The views will also include the planet's cloud belts and largest moons as indicated in the August issue of "Astronomy & Space" magazine. Further details and a picture of what the equipment on show can achieve is available at www.astronomy.ie and click on the link to "Nationwide Jupiter Watches" For Tuesday's "Jupiter Watch" no ticket is needed - just wrap up warm and get yourself along to one of the following at 9:00pm - Dublin - Papal Cross Car Park, Phoenix Park, Dublin. Cork - Centrepark Road, Cork. Dundalk - Millennium Statue, Blackrock, Dundalk. Donegal - Front car park, Letterkenny IT, Letterkenny Astronomy Ireland also has branches in Clare, Clonmel, Castlebar, Co. Down, Mullingar, Sligo and Waterford. If you'd like to set up a Branch in your area, please email director(a)astronomy.ie 2. Hear us on 2FM On the morning of the Jupiter Watches (Aug 21) tune in to 2FM's Gerry Ryan Show (hosted by Marty Whelan) to hear our own Emmet Mordaunt talking about the cover story on our September issue of "Astronomy & Space" magazine - Global Warming - it's not The Sun. You can order the magazine (with lots more stories, what to see, and more) at www.astronomy.ie/sub for just 5euro incl P&P or subscribe for a year and save 20euro at www.astronomy.ie/sub 3. STAR-B-Q If this spectacular celestial show whets your appetite, you can gorge yourself on the wonders of the cosmos at our "Star-B-Q" in Roundwood GAA Club, Co. Wicklow on 8 September. This is a professionally catered barbeque under very dark skies where we will be able to show you the wonders of the universe in all their glory and with even bigger telescopes, in fact, with the largest assembly of telescopes in the country. There will be talks on astronomy (in the adjacent GAA Hall) and much more. Tickets for the Star-B-Q can be booked by going to - www.astronomy.ie/sbq and we want you to get as many friends and family to come along. 4. Space Station & Endeavour There are still a few more nights to see the biggest man made object ever assembled in space crossing Irish skies: call 1550-111-442 (calls cost 95c/min) or text SPACE to 57003 (1euro per reminder, sent 1 hour before they fly over) 5. Perseid Reports Hundreds of Perseids have been seen but only a handful of you have emailed observe(a)astronomy.ie today if you saw even one so we can include you in our magazine report that will go on record as Ireland's sightings of the 2007 Perseids for all time. Astronomy Ireland www.astronomy.ie Telescopes & Advice Monday to Saturday: Tel (01) 847 0777 Star-B-Q (Sept. 8) - Ireland's biggest telescope event. Everyone in Ireland welcome. Bring friends. Book now: www.astronomy.ie/sbq

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[Astronomy Ireland] Events!! - ISS, Perseids, Cork, Galway, Dublin, AIRS, Jupiter Watch, Star-B-Q
by AI Director 12 Aug '07

12 Aug '07

There is so much happening, including some new events - please check each entry carefully and mark your diary! Aug. 12 to 19 ISS+Endeavour: biggest man made object ever blazes across the sky every evening, the Shuttle Endeavour and International Space Station with 10 astronauts. To get the time to see it text SPACE to 57003 (each text costs just 1euro and is issued around 9pm or 1 hour before they fly over) or call 1550-111-442 (calls cost 95cent/min) for times and brief daily report of spacewalks and news from the mission. Proceeds help us to promote interest in astronomy in Ireland. Details on www.astronomy.ie and www.astronomy.ie/iss.html (latter needs updating but our volunteer is in hospital, any other space experts want to volunteer?). One national newspaper asks that you email any photos to space(a)astronomy.ie Aug. 12 Perseids: Perhaps the best meteor ("shooting star") shower of the year peaks Aug. 12. See up to 20 times more meteors than normal. Lasts several days. See the link on our homepage www.astronomy.ie ("Naked Eye Shooting Stars...") for lots more details. Email observe(a)astronomy.ie telling us how long you watched and how many you saw and we'll include you in our magazine report. Aug. 13 CORK Lecture: "The Search for Life Beyond the Earth". You asked for more events outside Dublin so please show your support by going along. Details at www.astronomy.ie/stuartclarklectures.html. ALL WELCOME - please bring friends. Only 5euro in. Aug. 13 Dublin Lecture & DVD: "Building a Universe". We are flying in Prof Brad Gibson to talk about the formation of the largest structures in the universe, and some of the big unanswered scientific questions, such as the first objects in the universe, and how alternative theories of gravity may explain things better. He is a bit of a colourful character who has been all over the world: Australia, Canada, U.S.A. He won an award for building the biggest liquid mirror telescope ever - 2.7 metres - that's a bit little bigger than Hubble. That was built in Vancouver, and he has lots of other claims-to-fame as well. More details at www.astronomy.ie/lecture200708.html All welcome. Please come along and bring as many friends as possible, admission is only 5euro and so is the DVD of the lecture if you cannot get along (order it now at www.astronomy.ie/lectureDVD.html ) Aug. 14 GALWAY Lecture: "The Search for Life Beyond the Earth". You asked for more events outside Dublin so please show your support by going along. Details at www.astronomy.ie/stuartclarklectures.html. ALL WELCOME - please bring friends. Only 5euro in. Aug. 14 Nationwide: A.I. Radio Show (AIRS) listen online 8pm every Tuesday or download the show www.astronomy.ie/AIRS past guests include Sir Patrick Moore. Hear Prof Brad Gibson last week online. Aug. 19 ISS+Endeavour: last night to see the biggest man made object in space. See "Aug. 12 to 19..." entry above. Aug. 21 Jupiter Watches Nationwide: see the giant planet (near the Moon that night) in telescopes in Dublin's Phoenix Park and other locations around Ireland. (Got a telescope and want to run a Watch locally? If so reply to this email.) Details will be updated at www.astronomy.ie/jupiterwatchaug2007.html Sept. 8 STAR-B-Q: Hundreds of members of the public have already booked tickets for the biggest telescope show in Ireland each year. Everyone is welcome (please bring lots of friends). It's aimed at showing beginners and non-astronomers the wonders of the Universe, from Jupiter & Mars to distant galaxies and more. We've hired acres of space near Ireland's highest village (Roundwood in the Wicklow mountains just south of Dublin) to give you all an amazing experience in a really dark sky (even if it's cloudy we'll set up the telescopes again for you so don't worry). There'll be talks and demonstrations galore, a laser pointing out the stars. BBQ food and soft drinks all included in the price. Book here and see pictures of the sights at www.astronomy.ie/sbq People come from all around Ireland (and some from abroad) so how many people can you bring along so we can "wow!" them? More?: If the any of the above excites you and you want more details of what to see in the sky and all the latest news from around the universe why not subscribe to Astronomy Ireland's magazine today at www.astronomy.ie/sub we would be honoured to have you as a member. Beginners especially welcome. We need your support so please consider becoming a member today as it costs less than 4euro a month. Astronomy Ireland www.astronomy.ie Telescope Advice Monday to Saturday: Tel (01) 847 0777 Star-B-Q (Sept. 8) - Ireland's biggest telescope event. Everyone in Ireland welcome. Bring friends. Book now: www.astronomy.ie/sbq

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[Astronomy Ireland] Cork and Galway Lectures - Change of Speaker
by Emmet Mordaunt 10 Aug '07

10 Aug '07

Stuart Clark Suffers Injury in Holiday Accident As you may be aware, ESA's Dr Stuart Clark was due to visit Ireland next week on a book-promotion tour organised by Astronomy Ireland. Today we were informed that Dr Clark fell while on holidays in Cornwall, and suffered a broken collar bone. It is understood that his injuries are not life threatening, but he will be unable to travel for a minimum of two months. Luckily, we have another excellent speaker, in the person of our own Emmet Mordaunt, one of the country's most experienced science-communicators. Emmet will be speaking on "The Search for Life Beyond Earth" at Cork Millenium Hall on Monday and NUI Galway on Tuesday. He takes a layman's view of the prospects of discovering alien life in the coming decade - a discovery that may be much closer than you think, and just possibly may have been made already! He also debunks the "little green men" view of extraterrestrials, basing his ideas firmly within scientific reasoning. We all wish Dr Clark a speedy recovery, and hope to have him over to visit us when he recovers. The venues and times of the Cork and Galway lectures are unchanged - August 13 8pm Millenium Hall, Cork. August 14 8pm NUI Galway - Mairtin O Tnuthail Theatre (Arts Millennium Building). These lectures have been organised by Astronomy Ireland, in association with NUI Galway and Cork Institute of Technology. Speaker: Emmet Mordaunt Title: The Search for Life Beyond Earth Admission: 5 Euro (3 Euro to concessions) Organiser: Astronomy Ireland Tickets are available at the door or visit www.astronomy.ie or call Astronomy Ireland on (01) 847 0777 ALL WELCOME Tickets are available at the door or visit www.astronomy.ie or call Astronomy Ireland on (01) 847 07 77. DVD available at www.astronomy.ie/lectureDVD.html or by call (01) 847 07 77. Astronomy Ireland www.astronomy.ie Telescope Advice Monday to Saturday: Tel (01) 847 0777

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[Astronomy Ireland] ISS Shuttle Texts, new TV series, Cork+Galway, Lots to See
by AI Director 05 Aug '07

05 Aug '07

1. New TEXT service for rare ISS & Shuttle Chase!: To get the time to see I.S.S. simply: text SPACE to 57003 Each text costs 1euro (including VAT) and only 1 will be sent each day, 1 hour before I.S.S. flies over. Thanks to all of you who replied to our survey about setting this service up. 1 euro, and only 1 text per day, in the evening, was the 'average' suggestion, so we have pitched the service in this way as a trial. Hopefully you will find it useful? See the announcement at www.astronomy.ie where you will see you can send comments on what you think of this service to space(a)astronomy.ie The I.S.S. (International Space Station, see www.astronomy.ie/iss.html) is already visible and was seen passing over Ireland last night (Aug. 4) right on time. The Space Shuttle Endeavour's launch has been delayed 24 hours to give technicians extra time for launch preparations and will now take place on Wednesday night 11:36pm our time. You can watch the launch live from Florida online at www.nasa.gov/ntv and 18 minutes later Endeavour will fly over Ireland! For 2 nights after that we will see Endeavour 'chase' I.S.S. across our skies, an extremely rare sight! Once docked they will make the biggest man made object ever assembled in space and we can see them every night until August 19. So sign up for our TEXT service and we'll keep you informed. To get the time to see ISS & Shuttle: text SPACE to 57003 We are going to promote this rare 'space chase' heavily with the media and we have already done one national radio interview. We get a small percentage of each 1euro text and that will help us promote interest in astronomy in Ireland, so please tell everyone you know about this service and let's get the whole country out to watch space history in the making, as the shuttle helps build mankind's first major outpost in space! No mobile? You can still call our premium rate Newsline (call 1550-111-442 calls cost 95c/min) to get the time to watch each evening, and everything else to see in Irish skies that week as usual of course. For more on ISS see the monthly ISS column in our magazine and visit www.astronomy.ie/iss.html 2. Television: Sir Patrick Moore's record breaking SKY AT NIGHT TV show airs tonight (technically Monday morning Aug. 6 at 1:10am-1:30am on BBC 1). It's about Robonet, a robotic network of telescopes enabling round-the-clock scrutiny. If you miss it there will be a repeat on BBC 2 on Saturday Aug. 11 at 12pm (noon). Usually there is another repeat on BBC Four but we cannot find a listing of this (reply to this email if you know more...). A new BBC TV series "The Cosmos" starts on BBC 2 starts on Tuesday Aug. 7 (7:30pm-8pm). The first episode is about Life. 3. Printing Leaflets: We had practically no response to this request for help in our last email. Does anyone reading this work in the print business? 4. What to see: The two highlights of the coming week are the Moon passing through the Pleiades star cluster on Monday night, which should be stunning, and the annual Perseid meteor shower peaking on Sunday night August 12 in a moon-free sky. Perseids: See David Grennan's write up of the Perseids on page 27 of our August magazine (still available by post on www.astronomy.ie/sub) On maximum night you should see a dozen more meteors than normal. Not to be missed! Read up in the magazine and be ready. Moon, Pleiades & Mars: On Monday night (Aug. 6) the crescent Moon rises around 11:30pm and just to its left will be the lovely Seven Sisters star cluster (The Pleiades). The cluster should be visible to the naked eye but the view in binoculars will be stunning. As the night progresses the Moon moves closer to the Pleiades and by 1am it is starting to occult the brighter stars - they will disappear at the bright edge (left edge as seen in binoculars) of the Moon and reappear from behind the dark edge (right-hand side of the Moon). Mars will be just 5 degrees below the cluster too! For lots more information, diagrams and times of the occultations see pages 22 to 23 of our August magazine. Jupiter: Lots to see this week involving its moons for owners of even the smallest telescopes - don't miss all the events listed on page 26 of our August magazine. Please email all reports (and any photos) to observe(a)astronomy.ie Call (01) 847 0777 for telescope advice and sales, open 6 days a week. 5. Nationwide Lectures???: Bookings are going very slow for our talks around the country - is there no interest in events outside Dublin? Or is everyone away on holidays!? European Space Agency author Stuart Clark will be giving lectures for the society in Cork, Galway and Dublin in a few days time so book your tickets for "The Day the Sun Attacked the Earth" at www.astronomy.ie/stuartclarklectures.html today! He'll be signing copies of his new book "The Sun Kings" at the event. If you cannot get along you can order the DVD of his lecture right now at www.astronomy.ie/lectureDVD.html Survey (0 entries so far): If you live near Cork or Galway will you be going to the lecture? If no, why not? Email answer to director(a)astronomy.ie Thank you. Astronomy Ireland www.astronomy.ie Telescope Advice Monday to Saturday: Tel (01) 847 0777 Star-B-Q (Sept. 8) - Ireland's biggest telescope event. Everyone in Ireland welcome. Bring friends. Book now: www.astronomy.ie/sbq

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