[Friday 6pm March 4] After the Dublin Saturn Watch tonight, around 9:30pm, we hope to be able to see Rosetta swing past the Earth. The star chart promised in the last email is now online. Due to a volunteer having severe computer problems last night we had to draw one by hand today in the midst of intense interest from the media and the public for our Nationwide Saturn Watches. The chart revealed a very useful 'trick' from Ireland as you will see if you click http://www.astronomy.ie/rosetta.gif There you will see Saturn, and just 3 degrees to its lower right is the magnitude 3.6 naked eye star Lambda in Gemini. Look how close Rosetta passes to this star at 9:39pm (21:39UT)!!!
From Dublin it is 14 arc minutes (half a Moon diameter) above the star so all you have to do is point a telescope or good binoculars at this star and wait! I'm not sure how accurate the time is so watch several minutes before and after. Rosetta is likely to be magnitude 9 at this time.
I did a calculation for Cork and the path is just three quarters of a degree above the line show on the chart. If you are north of Dublin look a little below the line! Aim a camera at Lambda and you could get a short trail passing the star. Good luck and clear skies (it will certainly be clear in some parts of Ireland for the Rosetta pass so let's hope an amateur astronomer is there peering up!). Hope you get along to your nearest Saturn Watch, we've had tremendous interest from the media in the past few days. For the list of venues see www.astronomy.ie and a big thank you to all our volunteer members for hauling out their own personal equipment for the general public to use. Don't forget that if you join Astronomy Ireland now you are in with a chance to win a superb 2 night B&B + dinner in Meadowlands Hotel, Tralee. See www.astronomy.ie - David Moore, Chairman, Astronomy Ireland. Tel: (01) 847 0777 Visit www.astronomy.ie Please support our club, magazine, and visit the ASTRONOMY SHOP at Unit 75, Butterly Business Park, Kilmore Road, Artane, Dublin 5. ONE OF EUROPE'S BIGGEST TELESCOPE SHOPS.