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1.  Public Lecture: In Search of the Northern Lights

Over the next two years Irish skies are to be set ablaze with displays of the Northern Lights, and ejections from the Sun could knock out satellites and send power grids into overload plunging millions of people into darkness.
 
The surface of our parent star, the Sun, is bubbling with activity, forming giant dark sunspots and creating vast plasma flames, shooting gigantic clouds of material into space and towards our home planet. When these massive ejections strike, they can trigger the breathtaking auroral displays, but also cause havoc in other ways.
 
To explain what is going on on the Sun, why there are bursts of aurora for a couple of years every 11 years, and the dangers involved with the radiation from the Sun, Astronomy Ireland has invited leading space researcher Dr James Wild from Lancaster University to give a Public Talk on Monday September 10th about the famous Northern Lights.
 

The lecture, In Search of the Northern Lights, will take place on Monday, September 10th, at 8pm in Trinity College Dublin, and people are invited to bring friends and family. Tickets and DVDs of this lecture can be booked online at www.astronomy.ie or by calling (01) 890 11 11.

 

 
2.  BBC's The Sky at Night Comes to Ireland!
Sir Patrick Moore's world record TV series THE SKY AT NIGHT is back on BBC TV this week (transmission times below) with a show about the new Curiosity Mars Rover.
 
Pete Lawrence is Sir Patrick's right-hand man when it comes to telling the UK what to see in the sky each month and he has graciously accepted our invitation to be the main speaker at this year's Star-B-Q which has been Ireland's biggest annual star party for over a decade.
 
Star-B-Q takes place in the very dark skies of Ireland's highest village, Roundwood, Co. Wicklow.
 
From 1,000 feet above sea level in the depths of the Wicklow mountains the night sky is breath-taking, and on top of this there will be the country's biggest array of large powerful telescopes to show the wonders of the universe to the general public like few people on Earth have ever seen them.
 
So, get all your friends and family together and book your tickets to come and hear one of the BBC's top astronomers speak and see the universe like you have never seen it before.
 
FOR TICKETS:
Call (01) 890 11 11 or book online: www.astronomy.ie/sbq
 
THE SKY AT NIGHT ON TV
Sir Patrick Moore and the team discuss the Curiosity rover on Mars, and talk about what to see in the night sky.
 
Mon Sep 03 at 12:30am BBC 1 Northern Ireland
Wed Sep 05 at 07:30pm BBC FOUR
Thu Sep 06 at 12:20am BBC FOUR
Thu Sep 06 at 10:00pm BBC HD
Sat Sep 08 at 12:00pm BBC 2 Northern Ireland
Sun Sep 09 at 01:05am 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)
 
 
3.  Astrophotography Exhibition Opens
On September 6th, David Moore, Chairman of Astronomy Ireland, formally opened A View of the Cosmos, a new astrophotography exhibition by Tom O'Donoghue featuring some of the most stunning astrophotos you are likely to ever see!
 
One was featured on the prestigious Astronomy Picture of the Day website (Rho Ophiuchi) and another, of the Pleiades, is short-listed by the Royal Greenwich Observatory for the Astrophotographer of the Year award, for which we wish Tom the best of Irish luck.
 
That these photographs are taken by an Irishman from Irish skies (well, partially; they were also taken from Spain!) is even more remarkable and we highly recommend you drop by this exhibition over the weekend or early next week.
 
The exhibition runs for just a few more days, details on www.astrophotography.ie
 
For more details about last night's opening, please click HERE.
 
 
4.  The Moon Near Jupiter This Weekend
From 11pm tonight (Friday, September 7th) and from around midnight on Saturday look towards the eastern horizon to see the Moon rising with a very bright 'star' just to its left.
 
The brilliant 'star' just 6 degrees to the left of the Moon is in fact the planet Jupiter which has just become an evening object.
 
Jupiter will be visible in evening skies until April next year. So, dust off your telescope and start your 8 month viewing season of Jupiter this month!
 
For more information on this stunning sight, with a map and advice on how to view it and photograph it, please click HERE.
 
 

Astronomy Ireland

The world's most popular Astronomy Club
www.astronomy.ie

 

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