"Star-B-Q" Friday
August 26
Ireland's biggest annual telescope gathering
takes place this weekend and everyone in Ireland is
invited!
It takes place in the extremely dark skies at Roundwood,
Co. Wicklow, just a short drive from Dublin city.
MARS is already a great sight in late
evening skies and it will be a special attraction at the Star-B-Q as this year
it comes closer to Earth than it will until 2018!
(note: Mars is near the Moon this Wednesday - see page 28
of our August magazine for details or tune in, or download, this week's A.I.
Radio Show)
There will be talks aimed at beginners to
kick the Star-B-Q off - or you can start with food from the barbecue, or watch
the telescopes being assembled on the playing fields.
Food will be served all night until midnight by
professional caterers.
But the main attraction will be the huge array of
telescopes pointing at all manner of objects like:
- star clusters
- galaxies
- stars in their death throes
- stars being born
- and of course the planet Mars on which you will
see surface features
Very few people in the world have ever seen the
wonders of the universe from such a dark sky in such large
telescopes.
But we will also teach you how to find the constellations
with the naked eye, pointing out them out with the most powerful hand
held laser in Ireland
We'll show you how to use binoculars to find fascinating
objects that you cannot see with the naked eye!
Get a demo of CCD cameras taking images and throwing them
on to a large screen.
It's a great night out for all the family, and
friends so please get as many people to come as possible.
Admission is 35euro for adults and 25euro for Under 16s
which includes all food and drinks, talks, demos and unlimited viewing through
Ireland's biggest telescopes
Venue is GAA grounds, Roundwood (directions including
interactive map on the website, or call).
There will be loads to see and do so don't miss
Star-B-Q this year, book online (secure) as soon as
possible:
Or call (01) 847 0777 up to
5:30pm
This is Astronomy Ireland's main fund-raising event of the
year and proceeds help us to promote interest in astronomy so please
forward this notice on to everyone you know.
- David
Moore,