1. Easter Lecture & DVD

On Monday, April 12th our Easter Lecture will take place in Trinity College Dublin (a DVD is available to order online for anyone who can't make it). Dr. David Rothery's lectures are fascinating and compelling and we are fortunate enough to be receiving our April Lecture from him! Senior lecturer with the Open University and author of several books, Dr.Rothery will give a talk entitled "Mercury - new insights".

Mercury is one of the most mysterious planets in our Solar System and in this fully-illustrated presentation Dr. Rothery will show that Mercury's origins and subsequent evolution close to the Sun have given it a complex volcanic and tectonic history, a dynamic exosphere, and an extremely unstable temperature range (from -173°C to 427°C!). To read more facts about Mercury click HERE.

The lecture takes place at 8pm on Monday, April 12 in the Mac Neil Theatre, Hamilton Building, Trinity College Dublin (click here for a map). For more information visit our webpage HERE. For anyone who can't make it on the night there is a DVD available to purchase online.

After the lecture there will be a social reception in The Lombard (corner of Pearse St. and Westland Row) where all are welcome to join us. Come along for a chat with Dr. Rothery, other lecture-goers, and Astronomy Ireland members, volunteers and staff. Food will be kindly provided by The Lombard.

BOOK TICKETS ORDER DVD

2. LHC Record

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN has produced the first record-breaking high-energy particle collisions. Scientists working on the European machine have successfully smashed beams of proton particles together at unprecedented energies. This marks the beginning of work that could lead to the discovery of fundamental new physics. The seven-trillion-electronvolt (TeV) collisions took place today at CERN, with cheering and applause in the control room as the first collisions were confirmed. The event was watched by people the world over via webcast. The ultimate aim for the LHC is to find the theorised Higgs Boson, a particle that gives mass to matter. To read more about this significant event click HERE. For more information about CERN and LHC click HERE.

3. Astronomy Tips

Mercury is visible to the lower right of Venus each evening just after sunset, making it easy to locate and observe. Due to Mercury's orbit around the Sun, it won't be visible for long so get out a view it while you can!
Saturn is visible in the East, and as it is around the equinox on Saturn too, a strange effect is causing its rings to light up brighter than usual - a great sight through telescope.
There is a Full Moon tonight, March 30.
For more information on what to see in the night sky this week check out the Sky Diary section in the March issue of 'Astronomy & Space' magazine.

Don't forget to email what you see to observe@astronomy.ie and we will try to publish your pictures and observations in forthcoming issues of the magazine.