Astronomy Ireland's very own David Grennan has discovered a main belt asteroid from his observatory in Raheny, Dublin. This discovery follows hot on the heels of Dave McDonald's discovery earlier this month from his home in Celbridge, Co. Kildare. So, after waiting 160 years for an asteroid to be discovered from Ireland we now have two that have been discovered less than a month apart. This is only the third asteroid to be discovered from Ireland. That old adage about waiting for a bus comes to mind. Many congratulations to David on his discovery. David will be guesting on The Astronomy Ireland Radio Show on 11 November to talk about his amazing discovery from his suburban Dublin home. Truly an amazing feat. David Grennan was also part of the team that was responsible for Dave McDonald's earlier discovery and you can check out what he, Andreas Doppler and Dave McDonald had to say about the earlier discovery at www.astronomy.ie/AIRS

You can e-mail your congratulations to David Grennan at skydiary@astronomy.ie and come and learn how the team did it at Astro-Expo 2008, see below.

2. Mercury in morning skies

Checking out the Sky Diary page of our October magazine you will see that the elusive planet Mercury is on view in morning skies. Astronomy Ireland officers David Moore and Tony Ryan saw it next to the Moon on Bank Holiday Monday morning from Bull Island in Dublin. James O'Sullivan in Limerick saw it the next morning also. This is an extremely rare sight, but even though the Moon is now gone from morning skies you can still see Mercury with the naked eye around 6am onwards, low in the East, before the Sun rises. If you do spot it please email your sighting to observe@astronomy.ie for publication in our magazine and remember, less than 1% of Earth's population has ever seen Mercury so you'll be joining a very elite club! Mercury will be back in April 2009 so keep your subscription to our magazine up to date here.

3. Become A Celestron Dealer for Astronomy Ireland

Do you own, run or work for a Shop anywhere in Ireland? If so, would you like to sell the prestigious line of Celestron telescopes? We are now distributing telescopes to the trade and any Camera Shop, Chemist Shop or Pharmacy can become a Celestron dealer by contacting David Moore at Astronomy Ireland on (01) 847 0777.

4. Astro-Expo 2008

Our 19th annual space and telescope exhibition takes place during Science Week on Saturday 8th November in the superb new Science Gallery at Trinity College Dublin. We will have incredible displays and a huge range of telescopes on display. There are also major Public Lectures organised for the Science Gallery's incredible lecture theatre:

Discovering Asteroids From Ireland (Dave McDonald and David Grennan, Ireland's only living asteroid discoverers)

How China Will Beat America to the Moon (Brian Harvey, author)

The Wrath of Ra! (by NASA scientist Dr. James McAteer)

Further details in a future email and on www.astronomy.ie/astroexpo08.html so make your travel plans now as this is the annual gathering of all our members and an event not to be missed.

5. Public Lecture and DVD

Astronomy Ireland's November Public Lecture (and DVD) takes place on Monday 10 November in the Physics Building, Trinity College Dublin at 8pm. The talk is entitled "Smoking Stars" and will be given by Dr. Simon Jeffrey of Armagh Observatory. Simon will explain how and why some stars also emit black soot as well as light. He will also talk about his research and the giant leap forward in the last few years in our understanding of how stellar systems work.

You can book tickets and the DVD HERE