1. SHOP OPEN LATE
Our Astronomy Shop is open until 9pm Thursday and Friday
this week, and until 6pm on Christmas Eve for all your last minute gift
ideas:-
Telescope packages from 199euro (telescope, starter pack,
extra eyepiece, book, free delivery)
Books, many at HALF PRICE in our sale (cheaper than
Amazon.com!)
DVDs, CD-ROMs, Videos, Posters, Slide Sets, etc
etc
Drop in and see one of the biggest astronomy shops in
Europe in Butterly Business Park, Artane.
Or call (01) 847 0777 for mail order.
OPEN HOURS OVER HOLIDAY SEASON:
9:30am to 9:00pm : Wednesday
December 21 to Friday December 23
10:00am to 6:00pm : Saturday December
24
9:30am to 5:30pm : Wednesday December 28
to Friday December 30
10:00am to 6:00pm : Saturday December 31
9:30am to 5:30pm : Tuesday January 3 onwards with
business as usual 6 days a week
2. CHRISTMAS VIEWING
Venus is blazing in the southwest every evening after
sunset. It is a brilliant naked eye sight for an hour or so from 4:30pm. By
the New Year it will be getting too low to view anymore so enjoy it over
Christmas. If you got a good quality telescope from us for Christmas you'll see
Venus is a thin crescent - this is a very rare sight so don't miss it. Email
photos or comments to
observe@astronomy.ie
Mars is still a fine sight high in the South each evening
over Christmas. Its disk is about 13 arcseconds so its not that much smaller
than when at its closest (20 arcsec) in October/November. Again good quality
telescopes (if you got our FS70, FS80 or FS114 for example) will show surface
detail. See Mars viewing guide in magazine.
Saturn is on show by 8pm rising in the East but give it an
hour or two to rise higher if trying to view detail in a telescope. The New Year
will see Saturn at its best. We plan viewing opportunities nationwide. Stay
tuned.
Jupiter is a 'morning star' not rising until about 5am,
but by dawn it can be seen low in the South easily with the naked eye. More next
year.
THE MOON will not rise until after midnight from now until
the end of the year so only those who stay up late will see it. New Moon is on
December 31.
More details of all the above, and more, are in David Grennan's excellent
Sky Diary pages in our magazine every month.
Please send a report of anything you see to
observe@astronomy.ie so we can share it
through the "Observers Log" pages of Ireland's astronomy magazine "Astronomy
& Space"
3. MORE TO COME
We have a fantastic programme lined up for you in 2006 and a massive
expansion of the society's activities nationwide with all the new staff we have
already hired - and we're still recruiting!
And book your holiday of a lifetime on the biggest extravaganza Astronomy
Ireland has ever organised, for the total eclipse of the Sun March 29
www.astronomy.ie/turkeyeclipse.htmlDon't be left behind - next eclipse trip is not until 2017!!!
Don't forget to drop in and see us (or call) for those last minute
bargains (see Shop open hours above)!
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from Astronomy
Ireland
----------------------------------
David Moore BSc FRAS,
Chairman, Astronomy Ireland, P.O.Box 2888,
Dublin 5.
Editor, "Astronomy & Space" magazine.
Tel (01) 847
0777. Fax (01) 847 0771.
www.astronomy.ie