May 2012 - astronomy@lists.redbrick.dcu.ie

[Astronomy Ireland] Transit of Venus Watch, Summer School Offer Ends Tonight, Membership Offer
by AI Secretary 31 May '12

31 May '12

Spring Sale DVD Membership Shop 1. Transit of Venus Watch - June 6th Astronomy Ireland, Dublin Institute of Technology, and the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, are coming together at Skerries Harbour, North Dublin, on the morning of Wednesday, June 6th, to watch the Transit of Venus as the Sun rises. The general public are invited to come along at 5am as the Sun rises, where they can use telescopes fitted with special safety equipment under the guidance of experienced astronomers from Astronomy Ireland, DIT, and DIAS. For more details and a map of Skerries Harbour, please click HERE. 2. Get €20 Off An Introduction to Astronomy Summer School An Introduction to Astronomy is a new set of classes developed by Astronomy Ireland to give newcomers to astronomy a good grounding in observational astronomy. Students will learn about the constellations, the Moon and the Sun, the history of astronomy, how telescopes work, and what to see in the night sky. The Astronomy Ireland Summer School will commence in Trinity College Dublin on July 18th and run each Wednesday for four weeks. Get €20 Off Your Enrolment Fee If you book before midnight tonight, Thursday, May 31st, the enrolment fee is only €120, which includes membership to Astronomy Ireland, and €80 for current members (normal price after this date is €140 for non-members and €100 for members, so don't delay!). For more information on these classes and to enrol, please visit www.astronomy.ie/class 3. Summer Membership Offer The coming year is full of exciting astronomy, from the last Transit of Venus for over a century to the spectacular northern lights visible over Ireland. We have renamed our magazine to Astronomy Ireland, which will focus strongly on space and astronomy news from Ireland as well as updates from around the globe. Between now and June 30th we are offering all new members 15 months membership for the price of 12 - that's three months extra free! If you're already a member, you can renew your membership now and we'll add on 15 months for your next year's membership. Astronomy Ireland wants to reach out to people all over Ireland to get them excited about astronomy! Why not join Astronomy Ireland today and become part of the world's most popular astronomy club? Find out more about Astronomy Ireland and joining the organisation HERE. Astronomy Ireland The world's most popular Astronomy Club www.astronomy.ie ( subscribe / unsubscribe )

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[Astronomy Ireland] Upgrading Humans, New Summer Classes, Astronomy Ireland on Newstalk
by AI Secretary 29 May '12

29 May '12

Spring Sale DVD Membership Shop 1. Public Lecture: Upgrading Humans: A User Guide In a slight change from our usual topics, we have invited former cyborg Professor Kevin Warwick of the University of Reading to deliver Astronomy Ireland's June Public Lecture. Prof Warwick is a leading cybernetics expert will talk about new technology and electronic implants can diminish the effects of neural illnesses and enable human enhancement. His talk will also consider the future in which robots have biological brains, even potentially consisting of human neurons, and where neural implants link the human nervous system with technology and the internet. Upgrading Humans: A User Guide will take place in Trinity College Dublin on Monday, June 11th, at 8pm. Order tickets and DVDs HERE. 2. Astronomy Ireland Summer School: An Introduction to Astronomy An Introduction to Astronomy is a new set of classes developed by Astronomy Ireland to give newcomers to astronomy a good grounding in observational astronomy. Students will learn about the constellations, the Moon and the Sun, the history of astronomy, how telescopes work, and what to see in the night sky. The Astronomy Ireland Summer School will commence in Trinity College Dublin on July 18th and run each Wednesday for four weeks. Get €20 Off Your Enrolment Fee If you book before May 31st the enrolment fee is only €120, which includes membership to Astronomy Ireland, and €80 for current members (normal price after this date is €140 for non-members and €100 for members, so don't delay!). For more information on these classes, please visit www.astronomy.ie/class 3. Astronomy Ireland on Newstalk's Talking History Last Sunday, May 27th, David Moore, Chairman of Astronomy Ireland, joined a panel of scientists, astronomers, and historians will celebrate the life of Galileo Galilei on the Newstalk show Talking History. If you missed it, you can listen to it on the Newstalk website HERE (it will also be placed on www.astronomy.ie/audio in the coming day). Astronomy Ireland The world's most popular Astronomy Club www.astronomy.ie ( subscribe / unsubscribe )

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[Astronomy Ireland] Astronomy Ireland Summer School: An Introduction to Astronomy
by AI Secretary 24 May '12

24 May '12

Spring Sale DVD Membership Shop Astronomy Ireland Summer School: An Introduction to Astronomy An Introduction to Astronomy is a new set of classes developed by Astronomy Ireland to give newcomers to astronomy a good grounding in observational astronomy. Students will learn about the constellations, the Moon and the Sun, the history of astronomy, how telescopes work, and what to see in the night sky. An Introduction to Astronomy is ideal for those who want to get more out of their stargazing sessions, how telescopes can be used, and where to find celestial objects in the sky, without being going into the more complex details of astrophysics and cosmology. The Astronomy Ireland Summer School will commence on July 18th and run each Wednesday for four weeks. Get €20 Off Your Enrolment Fee If you book before May 31st the enrolment fee is only €120, which includes membership to Astronomy Ireland, and €80 for current members (normal price after this date is €140 for non-members and €100 for members, so don't delay!). For more information on these classes, please visit www.astronomy.ie/class Astronomy Ireland The world's most popular Astronomy Club www.astronomy.ie ( subscribe / unsubscribe )

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[Astronomy Ireland] Venus Watch, New Summer Classes, Astronomy Ireland on Newstalk, New Merchandise Shop
by AI Secretary 22 May '12

22 May '12

Spring Sale DVD Membership Shop 1. Venus Watch On its way to the historic transit of the Sun in June, Venus will swell up into a huge crescent as it blazes in the evening skies every night in May . For one night only, Astronomy Ireland will set up telescopes at its Shop in Dublin to show you Venus as it comes spectacularly close to Earth. The Venus Watch will take place this week on Wednesday, May 23rd, at 8pm. Note that this event is in daylight, but Venus is so bright you can see it with the naked eye while the Sun is still shining, showing just how spectacular an event this is! Please click HERE for more details on this event, or call us on (01) 890 11 11. 2. Astronomy Ireland Summer School: An Introduction to Astronomy An Introduction to Astronomy is a new set of classes developed by Astronomy Ireland to give newcomers to astronomy a good grounding in observational astronomy. Students will learn about the constellations, the Moon and the Sun, the history of astronomy, how telescopes work, and what to see in the night sky. An Introduction to Astronomy is ideal for those who want to get more out of their stargazing sessions, how telescopes can be used, and where to find celestial objects in the sky, without being going into the more complex details of astrophysics and cosmology. The Astronomy Ireland Summer School will commence on July 18th and run each Wednesday for four weeks. The enrolment fee is only €120, which includes membership to Astronomy Ireland (€80 for current members). For more information on these classes, please visit www.astronomy.ie/class 3. Astronomy Ireland on Newstalk's Talking History 370 years ago the Father of Modern Science passed away. This Sunday, May 27th, David Moore, Chairman of Astronomy Ireland, will join a panel of scientists, astronomers, and historians will celebrate the life of Galileo Galilei on the Newstalk show Talking History. This programme will be broadcast between 7pm and 8pm on Newstalk (106-108MHz FM, and www.newstalk.ie) If you miss it, however, we will have the show on our website at www.astronomy.ie/audio soon after. 4. Astronomy Ireland Merchandise Shop We have just opened our new and growing fundraising shop online at www.astronomy.ie/merchandise where you can get Astronomy Ireland t-shirts, hoodies, and more! We'll be adding more goodies on an ongoing basis so keep checking back! We hope you like what you see, and if you'd like to order something you can do so through that website. Astronomy Ireland The world's most popular Astronomy Club www.astronomy.ie ( subscribe / unsubscribe )

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[Astronomy Ireland] Venus Watch, Join Astronomy Ireland, Sun Watch, Facebook & Twitter
by AI Secretary 17 May '12

17 May '12

Spring Sale DVD Membership Shop 1. Venus Watch On its way to the historic transit of the Sun in June, Venus will swell up into a huge crescent as it blazes in the evening skies every night in May . For one night only, Astronomy Ireland will set up telescopes at its Shop in Dublin and around Ireland to show you Venus as it comes spectacularly close to Earth. Venus Watches will take place on Wednesday, May 23rd, at 8pm. Note that this event is in daylight, but Venus is so bright you can see it with the naked eye while the Sun is still shining, showing just how spectacular an event this is! Please click HERE for more details and a list of locations. Please note that the list will be continually updated as locations are confirmed, so keep checking back. 2. Astronomy Ireland is Looking for New Members! The coming year is full of exciting astronomy, from the last Transit of Venus for over a century to the spectacular northern lights visible over Ireland. We have renamed our magazine to Astronomy Ireland, which will focus strongly on space and astronomy news from Ireland as well as updates from around the globe. Astronomy Ireland wants to reach out to people all over Ireland to get them excited about astronomy! Why not join Astronomy Ireland today and become part of the world's most popular astronomy club? Find out more about Astronomy Ireland and joining the organisation HERE. 3. Daytime Sun Watch Each Saturday from 1pm we will hold a Sun Show at the Astronomy Ireland Shop, allowing the general public to view the Sun in safety to see magnificent solar flares and planet-sized sunspots. This is an excellent opportunity to try out some daytime astronomy with the help of experienced astronomers. Get more information on the Sun Shows HERE. 4. Facebook and Twitter Keep in touch with Astronomy Ireland online by following us at www.facebook.com/AstronomyIRL and www.twitter.com/AstronomyIRL Astronomy Ireland The world's most popular Astronomy Club www.astronomy.ie ( subscribe / unsubscribe )

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[Astronomy Ireland] Lecture Speaker on RTE News This Evening
by AI Secretary 14 May '12

14 May '12

Spring Sale DVD Membership Shop Spaceguard UK on RTE Six One News Tonight's lecture speaker, Jay Tate of the Spaceguard Centre, is due to feature on the Six One News this evening on RTE One. He will speak about the dangers of asteroids from space and how we might be able to protect ourselves from the cosmic threat. If you miss it, we will have it on our website at www.astronomy.ie/tv soon after. The lecture - The Science of Armageddon - takes place tonight at 8pm in Trinity College Dublin. More information, tickets, and DVDs HERE. Astronomy Ireland The world's most popular Astronomy Club www.astronomy.ie ( subscribe / unsubscribe )

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[Astronomy Ireland] World-Class Speaker: "Threat From Space"
by AI Secretary 11 May '12

11 May '12

Spring Sale DVD Membership Shop World-Class Speaker: "Threat From Space" It's not often that Astronomy Ireland can get a world-class speaker to come and address you in Ireland so I wanted to make sure you come along (or order the DVD) and hear Jay Tate speak next Monday, and try to bring as many friends as you can as it's a fascinating "popular level" talk. The threat from space is very real. Every year we estimate two small rocks from space land on Ireland. Few are found but major fireballs light up the sky several times as year. Larger objects are less common and a "dinosaur-killer" (roughly 10km across) comes along every 100 million years. So far, a survey has been done to find most of the 1,000 or so 1km or larger rocks in space that might his us and 1950 DA is biggest threat known but it will not come close until 2880 AD. But a half kilometre asteroid would cause untold devastation and a survey to find all objects 150 metres across won't be completed until 2020, and there are a lot more of them. Even in 2020 even this survey is complete there were at least two 50 metre sized objects that struck the Earth causing significant damage. The famous Tunguska event in 1908 which flattened 2,000 square kilometres (about the size of one Irish county) of forest, fortunately it hit an unpopulated in Siberia, but had it hit 5 hours later it would have destroyed the city of St. Petersburg killing millions. And remember, a 50 metre size object has 27 times less material in it than the 150 metre objects being surveyed. At least we can predict asteroids if well into the future. Comets come from much further out and there could be perhaps half as many of those that threaten us, and no survey would help us. We'd need a system in place today to respond to such a threat. So, many people say we are wide open to the threat from space, and we will be for a long time to come. It's hardly surprising then that some scientists are trying to highlight the threat, gauge how big the threat is, and do something about, while we have time. Jay Tate is a world leader in all this so his talk next Monday will be fascinating, thought provoking, and bring you right up to date with the threat and what can be done. It will obviously have mass appeal so please circulate this notice and why not book several tickets for yourself and friends, or order the DVD (same price as a ticket) today and watch the talk that way. BOOK TICKETS and/or DVD HERE See you there! David Moore Astronomy Ireland Chairman, and Editor "Astronomy Ireland" magazine Astronomy Ireland The world's most popular Astronomy Club www.astronomy.ie ( subscribe / unsubscribe )

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[Astronomy Ireland] 876 St Patrick's Days Left, New Look Astronomy Ireland Magazine, The Sky at Night
by AI Secretary 09 May '12

09 May '12

Spring Sale DVD Membership Shop 1. Only 867 St Patrick's Days Remain! Some of the world's top astronomers believe that life on Earth is likely to suffer a huge catastrophe following a massive impact by an asteroid on March 16th, 2880, the day before St Patrick's Days, leaving "only" 867 of the Irish holidays left! This disaster will be caused by asteroid 1950AD, a 1.1km asteroid which will impact with an energy of 100 million tons of TNT - almost 7,000 times stronger than the atomic bomb used on Hiroshima in 1945. The Spaceguard Centre and Observatory in the UK is a privately-owned facility that monitors the sky for potential killer asteroids. Astronomy Ireland's May Public Lecture will be delivered by the Centre's director, Jay Tate, where he will explore the threats from space and what we can do about them in order to protect life on Earth as best we can. The lecture, The Science of Armageddon, will take place on May 14th at 8pm in Trinity College Dublin, and tickets and DVDs can be ordered online HERE. 2. New Look Astronomy Ireland Magazine We have renamed our magazine Astronomy & Space to make it stand out as the magazine for Irish astronomy. Of course, it will still cover international discoveries and news from around the globe. See the new cover HERE and read David Moore's editorial HERE. The magazine will be out next week, so if you'd like to subscribe (only €48 per year) or to order this first issue of Astronomy Ireland, simply go to www.astronomy.ie/join and type 'start with June issue' in comments box, or select 'single issue' and type 'June issue'. 3. The Sky at Night In this episode, Sir Patrick Moore and the team continue to celebrate 55 years of The Sky at Night. Tue 12:05am BBC 1 Northern Ireland Thu 07:30pm BBC FOUR Fri 01:00am BBC FOUR Fri 01:00am BBC HD Sat 12:00pm BBC 2 Northern Ireland Sun 12:40am BBC FOUR Note that the BBC1 and BBC2 programmes are shorter versions(20 minutes). Try to watch BBC FOUR or BBC HD transmissions(30 minutes) Also, the 700th show is being repeated on BBC FOUR: Thu 08:00pm BBC FOUR Fri 01:30am BBC FOUR Astronomy Ireland The world's most popular Astronomy Club www.astronomy.ie ( subscribe / unsubscribe )

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[Astronomy Ireland] Supermoon Tomorrow, Bank Holiday Astronomy, The Science of Armageddon
by AI Secretary 04 May '12

04 May '12

Spring Sale DVD Membership Shop 1. 'Supermoon' Tomorrow Night Tomorrow night - Saturday, May 5th - sees a very special kind of Full Moon commonly known as a 'supermoon', when observers will have a chance to see a bigger and brighter Moon than usual. Click HERE for more information. David Moore spoke on radio yesterday and today about this celestial event, and you can listen to the interviews at www.astronomy.ie/audio. He will also feature on RTE Radio 1 this evening on 'Drivetime' from 5pm. This interview will also be put online soon after. We are urging people to take photographs of the Moon this weekend and email them to observe(a)astronomy.ie to be included in an upcoming issue of Astronomy & Space magazine. 2. Astronomy This Bank Holiday Weekend Tonight, the Moon will act as a "signpost" for finding Saturn, which will be located just above the Moon and the bright star Spica. A telescope will not only reveal the moons of Saturn, but also its famous rings that Galileo saw in 1610. On Monday, May 6th, the extremely bright planet Venus will be placed less that a degree from the second-magnitude star Alnath, in the constellation Taurus. While Alnath is a distant star around 130 million light-years away, Venus is much closer, and a telescope will reveal its crescent shape. Over the coming weekend stargazers will see the two objects move gradually closer together each night. Be sure to send your observation reports and photos of this weekend's astronomy to observe(a)astronomy.ie 3. Public Lecture: The Science of Armageddon 65 million years ago a 10km wide object travelled through space and hit what is now the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, releasing 2 million times more energy than the Soviet Tsar Bomba, the most powerful nuclear weapon ever built, and leaving a crater 180km in diameter. It was this event that is thought to have killed off the dinosaurs. The Spaceguard Centre and Observatory in the UK is a privately-owned facility that monitors the sky for potential killer asteroids. Astronomy Ireland's May Public Lecture will be delivered by the Centre's director, Jay Tate, where he will explore the threats from space and what we can do about them in order to protect life on Earth as best we can. The lecture, The Science of Armageddon, will take place on May 14th at 8pm in Trinity College Dublin, and tickets and DVDs can be ordered online HERE. Astronomy Ireland The world's most popular Astronomy Club www.astronomy.ie ( subscribe / unsubscribe )

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[Astronomy Ireland] The Science of Armageddon, Supermoon This Saturday, Daytime Sun Watch
by AI Secretary 02 May '12

02 May '12

Spring Sale DVD Membership Shop 1. Public Lecture: The Science of Armageddon 65 million years ago a 10km wide object travelled through space and hit what is now the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, releasing 2 million times more energy than the Soviet Tsar Bomba, the most powerful nuclear weapon ever built, and leaving a crater 180km in diameter. It was this event that is thought to have killed off the dinosaurs. The Spaceguard Centre and Observatory in the UK is a privately-owned facility that monitors the sky for potential killer asteroids. Astronomy Ireland's May Public Lecture will be delivered by the Centre's director, Jay Tate, where he will explore the threats from space and what we can do about them in order to protect life on Earth as best we can. The lecture, The Science of Armageddon, will take place on May 14th at 8pm in Trinity College Dublin, and tickets and DVDs can be ordered online HERE. 2. 'Supermoon' This Saturday This Saturday, May 5th, sees a very special kind of Full Moon commonly known as a 'supermoon', when observers will have a chance to see a bigger and brighter Moon than usual. We are urging people to take photographs of the Moon this weekend and email them to observe(a)astronomy.ie to be included in an upcoming issue of Astronomy & Space magazine. More information on the supermoon can be found HERE. 3. Daytime Sun Watch Each Saturday from 1pm we will hold a Sun Show at the Astronomy Ireland Shop, allowing the general public to view the Sun in safety to see magnificent solar flares and planet-sized sunspots. This is an excellent opportunity to try out some daytime astronomy with the help of experienced astronomers. Get more information on the Sun Shows HERE. Astronomy Ireland The world's most popular Astronomy Club www.astronomy.ie ( subscribe / unsubscribe )

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