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1.  Public Lecture Tonight: Robots in Space

Robots are taking over space. They've already gone to the planets, and may even go to the stars without humans ever leaving Earth. One such spacecraft is the Cassini orbiter, which is currently travelling 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 robotic spacecraft remotely require years, often decades, of commitment by large numbers of highly skilled personnel.

Cassini engineer Dr Leah-Nani Alconel will give Astronomy Ireland's October 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.

The October Public Lecture, Robots in Space, will take place tonight (October 14th) at 8pm in Trinity College Dublin.

Order tickets and DVDs of the lecture HERE or by calling (01) 890 11 11

2.  ‘Astronomy for Beginners’ Evening Classes – Late Registration

Did you miss the first class of our ‘Astronomy Beginners’ course, but still want to attend? You can still enrol now, but because you missed the first class, you will get a €20 discount, meaning the enrolment fee is only €160! You can then repeat the classes you missed next February, when the course is on again.

The classes take place in Trinity College Dublin each Thursday night and are ideal for people new to astronomy or for those who want to expand their knowledge on the subject.

For details and enrolment, please see www.astronomy.ie/class or call (01) 890 11 11

3.  Lunar Eclipse This Week

People in Ireland and all over the world will get to see a penumbral eclipse of the Moon on the night of Friday, October 18^th. During this type of eclipse, observers will be able to see the Full Moon darken slightly then return to normal over the space of a few hours. For more information on the eclipse, please click HERE or see page 29 of the October issue of Astronomy Ireland magazine.

Let us know what you see this Friday by emailing observe@astronomy.ie for inclusion in a report in an upcoming issue of the magazine!

4.  Theatre at Dunsink: The Life of Galileo

As part of the lead up to Science Week, Brecht's The Life of Galileo will be staged by the Greenwood Theatre Company in Dunsink Observatory in a specially adapted version by David Hare.

As the observatory is over 200 years old, it seems like the perfect venue in which to set the play. Most of the performance will be staged in the Meridian Room where "Dublin Time" was kept but the audience will have the chance to move into the South Dome (with its large Victorian Grubb Telescope) and the Solar System Room for a number of scenes. Seating is very limited for the 3 performances and tickets (€15) can be booked through the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies website www.dias.ie by following the links to The Life of Galileo.

The play takes place at Dunsink Observatory at 7:30pm on November 8^th, 9^th, and 10^th.

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