<http://www.astronomy.ie/christmaskids2011.php> New Year Sale <http://www.astronomy.ie/lectureDVD.php> DVD <http://astronomy.ie/sub/index.html> Membership <http://astronomy.ie/shop/CPC/index.html> Shop 1. 'Astronomy for Beginners' Evening Classes Our extremely popular Evening Classes <http://www.astronomy.ie/class/class1011.php> begin this Wednesday, February 15th in Dundalk, Cork, Sligo, Letterkenny, and Waterford. The classes are aimed at the beginner and cover everything you ever wanted to know about the Universe. There are eight classes in total and content covered includes an introduction to the night sky, the Sun and the Moon, planets and stars, history of astronomy, deep sky objects, the Big Bang and even a class on telescopes and how to use one. For more information call us on (01) 890 11 11 or visit www.astronomy.ie/class. Remember, it's not too late to enrol for the Evening Classes, if you are unable to attend any of classes you allow a friend to attend in your place. DUBLIN EVENING CLASS SPECIAL OFFER Our Dublin evening classes began last week, but don’t worry it is still not too late to register for this location. If you sign up for this week you can avail of our evening class special offer, You can still enrol now and you can do the whole course again in October for FREE! 2. Public Lecture “Robots in Space” Cassini engineer Dr Leah-Nani Alconcel will give Astronomy Ireland's February Public Lecture “Robots in Space”, in which she will explain how robot spacecraft can provide important scientific data without risking the lives of human astronauts and at much lower cost. Robots are taking over space. They've already gone to the planets, and may even go to the stars without humans ever leaving Earth. On Earth we are protected by the planet's magnetic field, but in outer space astronauts can be exposed to cosmic rays and radiation from the Sun. With big risks of damaged DNA and cancer, future human space travel to other planets very risky business. But robots can do this dangerous exploration for us. Not only can spacecraft be protected from radiation much easier, but they are cheaper to put into space, and can survive decades travelling to other worlds in that extreme environment. One such spacecraft is the Cassini orbiter, which is currently traveling around Saturn: a planet with a dangerous environment full of ionised plasma created by both Saturn itself and its moons. The challenges of designing, constructing and operating them remotely require years, often decades, of commitment by large numbers of highly skilled personnel. In this talk, Dr Alconcel will examine the process of overcoming these challenges from historical and personal perspectives to try to understand the abilities and limitations of robotic exploration. The February Lecture, “Robots in Space”, will take place at 8pm on Monday, February 13th, in Trinity College Dublin. A social reception will take place after the lecture in the nearby Lombard Inn where lecture attendees can meet Dr Alconcel and other astronomy enthusiasts. Details of the February Lecture and tickets for it be found at www.astronomy.ie <http://www.astronomy.ie/> or by calling (01) 890 11 11. <http://www.astronomy.ie/> Astronomy Ireland The world's most popular Astronomy Club <http://www.astronomy.ie/> www.astronomy.ie ( subscribe / unsubscribe <http://lists.redbrick.dcu.ie/mailman/listinfo/astronomy> )