Classes    Membership    DVD

1.  Astronomy Evening Classes

Thousands of you have taken our ever-popular ‘Astronomy for Beginners’ evening classes to date, and the demand for them is as strong as ever! The evening classes commence again next month on Wednesday, February 5^th.

In the ‘Astronomy for Beginners’ classes you will learn about finding your way around the night sky, how telescopes work, the Sun and planets in the Solar System, and much more! Everyone should do these classes, is they will help you keep up to date with the exciting celestial events taking place over the coming year:

·         Solar maximum has just passed so we can expect more northern lights displays

·         Mars will be at its closest to Earth early this year

·         The Rosetta spacecraft will place a lander on a comet

·         Jupiter is blazing brightly in the evening sky

·         And maybe we’ll even have our first Irish astronaut!

Enrolling on the evening classes also includes a year’s membership to Astronomy Ireland with a 12-month subscription to our magazine. So, with the classes, you’ll be able to follow all the latest news and events in space and astronomy!

Enrol on ‘Astronomy for Beginners’ and find out more by clicking on www.astronomy.ie/class

These classes are a great activity to get you started in astronomy, so be sure to bring family and friends, too!

2.  Comet-Chaser Rosetta Wakes Up

Today, the Rosetta spacecraft is “waking up” after a 31-month slumber as it made its way through space. The craft is due to rendezvous with Comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko in August of this year to map its surface, and place a lander on the surface of the icy body in November. This exciting mission will study the comet as it makes its way around the Sun, giving us a fantastic opportunity to study an example of some of the strangest and oldest objects in the Solar System.

Astronomy Ireland’s Christmas Lecture in 2013 was delivered by the ESA Director of Science and Robotics who oversees this mission and others. In his lecture he talked about the various space missions – including Rosetta – being undertaken by the European Space Agency, of which Ireland is a member. You can order DVDs of this talk at www.astronomy.ie/DVD

As Rosetta continues towards the comet, we will cover the latest news about the mission in Astronomy Ireland magazine throughout the year. Be sure to pick up a copy in your local Dunnes Stores branch, or become a member of Astronomy Ireland and get the magazine delivered to you each month at www.astronomy.ie/join

Astronomy Ireland

The world's most popular astronomy club

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