August 2008 - astronomy@lists.redbrick.dcu.ie

[Astronomy Ireland] Star-B-Q: beating the weather and Telescope Prize!, Eclipse Report, Lots to See
by AI Secretary 30 Aug '08

30 Aug '08

1. Annual Barbecue Tonight - win 1,500euro Telescope! There are still places left at Star-B-Q and the barbecue will go ahead regardless of weather tonight. Even if the weather is not clear we will bring the telescopes out again the following weekend(s) until we get a clear sky. This way we can guarantee you the amazing views of Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, galaxies, star clusters, and more! And remember one of you will take home that superb NexStar 8 SE telescope worth 1,500euro! So book your places now, there are lots of talks by our NASA scientist and others, the barbecue, demos, fire jugglers and more and you will get to see everything we promised regardless of weather: BOOK Star-B-Q HERE and be a part of Ireland's biggest annual star party! Hear David Moore describing Star-B-Q on radio here: www.astronomy.ie/audio 2. Lunar Eclipse Report 4 million people watched the Eclipse of the Moon with us on August 16th when Sky News London sent a camera crew to our Dublin Eclipse Watch to beam live pictures out from a satellite unit. This is the biggest audience we have ever brought an astronomical event to. A report of all the Eclipse Watches held around Ireland, and some of your photos (a full report will appear in our magazine www.astronomy.ie/sub) is now online at: www.astronomy.ie/ecl2008moon 3. Lots to see in the sky Remember, those of you who have bought computerised telescopes from us can easily find the planets Neptune and Uranus which are now well placed for viewing. Jupiter is of course the star attraction and there are loads of events involving its moons passing in front of and behind the planet, as well as its Great Red Spot (exact times of all these events every week are in the Sky Diary pages of our magazine). You can use cameras like our Celestron Neximage camera to get great photos too. Please email a brief report if you see Jupiter, Neptune or Uranus to observe(a)astronomy.ie and we will include you in our monthly magazine report. Astronomy Ireland The world's most popular astronomy club and Ireland's Only Astronomy Magazine www.astronomy.ie Call Our Telescope Shop Tel (01) 847 0777 Mon-Sat ( subscribe / unsubscribe here )

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[Astronomy Ireland] Star-B-Q: NASA Scientist, Fire Juggler and a chance to win a NexStar 8SE Telescope
by AI Secretary 28 Aug '08

28 Aug '08

1. Star-B-Q - NASA Scientist and Huge Telescope Prize Everyone in Ireland is invited to our biggest annual event, Star-B-Q, this Saturday. Some people fly in from abroad for this event so we expect those of you from the four corners of Ireland to make the trip to the extremely dark skies of the highest village in Ireland to look through some of the most powerful telescopes ever assembled for the general public in a dark sky anywhere in the world! As well as showing you the wonders of the universe we have a lot more for you: - NASA Scientist (from SOHO the Sun space telescope) - Professionally catered BBQ included in price - "The Universe" talk by David Moore - Amateur astronomy talk by Emlyn Jones from our magazine - 40 mile long Laser Beam to teach constellations - Binocular Astronomy Lessons - Fire Juggler for entertainment! See Jupiter, Neptune, Uranus, Andromeda Galaxy, Great Hercules Cluster, Ring Nebula, Dumbbell Nebula, Whirlpool Galaxy and more As well as every single one of you reading this we want you to get all your family and friends along for our barbecue under the stars. It's a spectacularly 'different' night out that they will remember for the rest of their lives! We have dedicated www.astronomy.ie to Star-B-Q this week as it is such a major and important event. Click there to see the colour leaflet we are distributing, and the magazine ad which has pictures of some of the wonders of the universe we will be viewing. Call if you want to distribute the leaflet in your area! Or why not print a few copies for friends and family? Tickets are 50 euro on the night but get up to 40% off by booking in advance online or by phone (adult: 40euro, under 16: 30euro): See our all new Star-B-Q webpage: www.astronomy.ie/sbq BOOK Star-B-Q HERE for the best night of your life! 2. Light Pollution Lecture & DVD Next month's Public lecture (available on DVD nationwide) is entitled "Light Pollution in Ireland" and will be given by Albert White of the Irish Light Pollution Awareness Campaign (ILPAC). Albert will tell us about the financial, environmental and astronomical cost of badly designed public lighting. More information HERE where you can also book tickets and order the DVD. Astronomy Ireland The world's most popular astronomy club and Ireland's Only Astronomy Magazine www.astronomy.ie Call Our Telescope Shop Tel (01) 847 0777 Mon-Sat ( subscribe / unsubscribe here )

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[Astronomy Ireland] Star-B-Q: NASA Scientist and win a NexStar 8SE Telescope
by AI Secretary 20 Aug '08

20 Aug '08

1. Star-B-Q - NASA Scientist and Huge Telescope Prize At last, after another year of waiting and planning, our annual fundraising Star-B-Q takes place again in Roundwood, Co. Wicklow on Saturday August 30. Star-B-Q is Ireland's biggest annual Star Party with people coming from all around Ireland, so don't be left out. "How the Sun Affects Our Lives" is this year's Keynote speech by Dr James McAteer who worked for NASA on the SoHO space telescope. The talk will be informal and will cover Solar Flares, Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) with lots of movies and pictures from SoHO, STEREO, and Hinode. This is your opportunity to see and see through some of the largest telescopes in the country AND for the first time ever, all attendees are entered into a free draw for a Celestron Nexstar 8SE worth nearly 1,500euro. Other prizes on the night are a Celestron SkyScout Personal Planetarium and a year's membership to Astronomy Ireland (total prizes worth over 2,000euro!). You can book online at www.astronomy.ie/sbq or call (01) 847 0777 to save 20% of the gate price on the night. Proceeds help us to promote astronomy throughout the country. Please bring all your friends and family and tell everyone you know. One of you will go home with a 1,500 Euro telescope! 2. Light Pollution Next month's Public lecture is entitled "Light Pollution in Ireland" and will be given by Albert White of the Irish Light Pollution Awareness Campaign (ILPAC). Albert will tell us about the financial, environmental and astronomical cost of badly designed public lighting. More information at www.astronomy.ie Astronomy Ireland The world's most popular astronomy club and Ireland's Only Astronomy Magazine www.astronomy.ie Call Our Telescope Shop Tel (01) 847 0777 Mon-Sat ( subscribe / unsubscribe here )

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[Astronomy Ireland] Moon Eclipse, Perseids, Star-B-Q
by AI Secretary 14 Aug '08

14 Aug '08

1. Lunar Eclipse The Full Moon of Saturday August 16th coincides with an almost Total Lunar Eclipse. The Moon will be partially eclipsed as it rises at about 8:30pm and mid-eclipse will occur at approximately 10:10pm when 80% of the Moon will be darkened by the Earth's shadow. The show ends at 11:45pm. Astronomy Ireland has organised no less than eight Eclipse Watches around the country, in counties: Carlow, Clare, Cork, Donegal, Dublin, Limerick, Louth and Mayo. Further details, including details of venues are available at www.astronomy.ie/lunareclipse0808.html and in the August "Eclipse Issue" of our magazine available for 5euro here. Everyone is invited along to any of the venues. STOP PRESS: The Irish Independent want any photos you take of the Eclipse or people at our Watches. Please email to observe(a)astronomy.ie by 1pm Sunday. 2. Perseid Meteor Shower Spectacular The recent poor weather broke and AI Chairman David Moore(*) saw 115 meteors in about 2 hours on the night of maximum activity. See his report at the top of this webpage www.astronomy.ie/perseids08. You should still see Perseids until the weekend, though moonlight will swamp the fainter ones. See our magazine for more background details, and the above webpage. If you even saw only 1 Perseid please email your location, date and time to observe(a)astronomy.ie for our magazine report. We have had fantastic media coverage of this shower and the August 1st solar eclipse - see our Media Archive (which is still being updated). (*)STOP PRESS: David Moore will be on radio nationwide at 10pm this evening on NewsTalk for 2 hours of current affairs. Tune to 106 FM or listen worldwide on www.newstalk.ie 3. Star-B-Q - NASA scientist and Huge Telescope Prize Our annual fundraising Star-B-Q takes place in Roundwood, Co. Wicklow on Saturday August 30. Star-B-Q is Ireland's biggest annual Star Party with people coming from all around Ireland, so don't be left out. We are delighted to announce that this year's Keynote speaker at Star-B-Q will be Dr James McAteer who worked for NASA on the SOHO space telescope. For the first time ever, all attendees are entered into a free draw for a Celestron Nexstar 8SE worth nearly 1,500euro. Other prizes on the night are a Celestron SkyScout Personal Planetarium and a year's membership to Astronomy Ireland (total prizes worth over 2,000euro!). You can book online at www.astronomy.ie/sbq or call (01) 847 0777 Please bring all your friends and family and tell everyone you know. Astronomy Ireland The world's most popular astronomy club and Ireland's Only Astronomy Magazine www.astronomy.ie Call Our Telescope Shop Tel (01) 847 0777 Mon-Sat ( subscribe / unsubscribe here )

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[Astronomy Ireland] Understanding the Universe, Meteors, Eclipse and Star-B-Q
by Astro Irl Director 07 Aug '08

07 Aug '08

1) President of Royal Astronomical Society to explain Universe On Monday next , August 11 at 8:00pm, Professor Michael Rowan-Roinson, will deliver a Public Summer Lecture "The Key to Understanding the Universe". This lecture is presented in association with The Irish Times and an article by Dick Ahlstrom on the lecture and Prof. Rowan-Robinsonwill feature in today's (Thursday 7th) Irish Times. Demand for tickets is already heavy and this extra publicity is sure to ensure a full house so book your ticket asap on www.astronomy.ie/lecture200808.html The venue is The Physics Building, Trinity College Dublin. For everyone who cannot make it to the lecture in Dublin you can order a copy of the DVD for €7(plus P&P) at www.astronomy.ie/lectureDVD.html 2) Perseid Meteor Shower The best meteor shower of the year peaks on Tuesday 12 August. David Grennan, the writer of the Sky Diary section of our magazine, Astronomy & Space has also written some excellent guidelines for meteor watching on www.astronomy.ie/perseids08/index.html We want you all to go outside to watch it and to please report your sightings in our Nationwide Watch. 3) Lunar Eclipse The Full Moon of Saturday August 16th also coincides with an almost Total Lunar Eclipse. The Moon will be partially eclipsed as it rises and mid eclipse will occur at approximately 10:10pm. Astronomy Ireland has organised Eclipse Watches in Carlow, Clare, Cork, Donegal, Dublin, Limerick and Mayo. Further details are available at www.astronomy.ie/lunareclipse0808.html and in the August "Eclipse Issue" of our magazine available for €5 4) Star-B-Q Our annual fundraising Star-B-Q takes place in Roundwood Co Wicklow on Saturday August 30. Star-B-Q is Ireland's biggest annual Star Party with people coming from all around Ireland, so don't be left out. Attendees are entered into a free draw for a Nexstar 8SE worth about €1,500. Other prizes on the night are a Celestron SkyScout Personal Planetarium and a year's membership to Astronomy Ireland. You can book online at www.astronomy.ie/sbq or call (01) 847 0777 Please bring all your friends and family. Astronomy Ireland The world's most popular astronomy club and Ireland's Only Astronomy Magazine www.astronomy.ie Call Our Telescope Shop Tel (01) 847 0777 Mon-Sat ( subscribe / unsubscribe here )

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