Astronomy Ireland is investigating an explosion that occurred shortly after midnight Saturday night April 4th over Ireland. Currently, we believe that the fireball may have started over the UK and came down in the northern half of Ireland, but this is not yet certain. At present, we have received over one hundred detailed eye witness reports, but we need many more in order to triangulate the exact location where any meteorite may have landed. Astronomy Ireland is urgently requesting that anyone who saw the explosion should report their sighting at www.astronomy.ie/fireball.html so we can predict where any meteorite fell. We will post out findings on this email list in the next few days.

This event has attracted a storm of media interest, with Astronomy Ireland Chairman David Moore giving interviews to BBC, Sky News, RTE's The Gerry Ryan Show and many local radio stations. There were also print articles published in the Irish Independent, the Irish Mirror, a front page article and headline in the Metro, and many others. Click HERE to listen to these interviews on our media page, especially Gerry Ryan who spent 16 minutes talking to David about the fireball, telescopes, ISS and more.

Astronomy Ireland's Easter Public Lecture will be given by Denis O' Sullivan, Professor Emeritus at the Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies (DIAS). Professor O' Sullivan will discuss an exciting piece of research which he is currently involved in, called Matroshka - an experiment concerning human absorption of radiation aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Prof O' Sullivan has sent missions to Mars, Halley's Comet and on the Apollo Moon Missions.

The lecture takes place Monday, April 20 at 8pm (Please note change of date) in the Schrodinger Theatre, Fitzgerald Building, Trinity College Dublin. Tickets are 7euro (non-members) or 5euro (members and concessions) and are available HERE or by calling (01) 847 0777. If you can not make it to Dublin on the night, a DVD of the lecture can be ordered now HERE.

From April 2 - 5 Astronomy Ireland took part in 100 Hours of Astronomy, a global event. This was a Cornerstone Project for the International Year of Astronomy where groups in 140 countries all over the world set up telescopes for the biggest public astronomy event that has ever taken place. Astronomy Ireland set up telescopes in locations all across the country for this groundbreaking event. To read reports of all 4 nights from all our locations click HERE.

Do you have any mobile phones you are not using? We want to be contactable during events outside of office hours. If you have any to donate, please email sec@astronomy.ie or call us on (01) 847 0777. We greatly appreciate any donations.

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