1.  2 Billion Dollar Man Comes to Dublin
The man responsible for the furthest ever Moon landing, Professor John Zarnecki, will give Astronomy Ireland's exclusive New Year Public Lecture in Dublin on January 12th.
One of the world's most renowned space scientists, Professor Zarnecki will discuss one of his most famous missions, the Cassini-Huygens mission to study Saturn and its moon Titan, at a cost of 2 billion dollars and for which he was a chief scientist. John has been involved in numerous multi-million dollar space missions that have helped change the face of space science.

 

Having travelled a staggering distance of 1.5 billion km from Earth, the Cassini orbiter has studied Saturn and its moons in enormous detail over the past 4 years. It has sent back some of the most stunning images of the Saturnian system and has even revealed kinks and waves in Saturn's rings, amongst other amazing discoveries.

 

Tickets are selling out fast for what promises to be an amazing lecture, so book your tickets now to avoid disappointment. BOOK NOW

Astronomy Ireland will record this lecture and produce a DVD for those who cannot attend and this can be purchased at www.astronomy.ie or by calling our office at (01) 847 0777.

 
There has been huge media interest in John's visit to Dublin and he will be a guest on RTE 1's top-rated Gerry Ryan Show on Monday, January 12th between 10-11am. He will discuss his upcoming lecture for Astronomy Ireland as well as the amazing space missions he has been involved with.
Tune in live to 2FM (www.rte.ie/2FM/index.html) or if you miss the interview, listen to it in our audio archives at www.astronomy.ie/audio
 
 
2.  BT Young Scientist Exhibition
Astronomy Ireland will feature at this year's BTYSE exhibition which is open to the public from January 8th - 10th (9:30am-5:30pm) in the RDS, Dublin. This year the exhibition is astronomy based and is a perfect day out for all the family. This exhibition showcases the talent and ingenuity of kids today and encourages the younger generations to get involved in science and technology. There will be a wonderful array of exhibits on display so if you are planning to go, visit the Astronomy Ireland stand (no. 19) and show your support.
 
 
3.  Beginners Evening Classes
Our Beginner's Evening Classes are the perfect New Year's solution for those who want to exercise their brains. The classes run nationwide over 8 weeks and cover a huge range of topics from the history of astronomy, telescopes, cosmology and much more.
Your booking can include membership to our society and our magazine Astronomy & Space, and existing members can avail of a discounted rate.
Book your place at www.astronomy.ie/class or call our office at (01) 847 0777.
 
 
4.  BBC 4 Astronomy Night Jan 7th
BBC 4 will be screening a series of astronomy programmes tomorrow night, January 7th from 8pm. There will be a one hour Sky at Night programme on at 8pm, a documentary on the Hubble Space Telescope at 9pm, Blast at 10pm on the formation of the universe, and finally at 11:30pm 'Star Men' uncovering the world of the 40,000 amateur astronomers in England.
 
 
5.  Fireball, Moon in Pleiades, Comet & Saturn
 
FIREBALL:  Last Friday Jan. 2 at around 5:30pm a fireball brighter than the Full Moon was seen all across Ireland. Fireballs this bright can drop meteorites. If anyone saw it please fill out the online report form at www.astronomy.ie/fireball.html. A full report will appear in our  magazine in due course.
 
MOON EVENTS:  Speaking of our magazine, you will see from the Sky Diary pages that the Moon passes in front of the Pleiades star cluster Jan 7 (see page 22 for a description of this breath-taking event);  Moon is near Saturn Jan. 14; and the Moon is very close to Venus Jan. 30 (Watches Nationwide will be announced here)
 
NAKED EYE COMET LULIN:  There's also a new comet coming which should be visible to the naked eye in late January/February. Full details are in the February issue which you should have in the post by end of next week.
 
SATURN RINGLESS TIL 2038:  One amazing sight is 'Saturn with no rings', well almost. Right now the rings are as close to 'edge on' as we will see them for 30 years! A photo is on the front cover of the February magazine, but here is a quick view snapped from Dublin by A.I. Chairman David Moore on December 28 at 8:27am (here) and another view showing 6 moons at 7:31am here (these photos and details of which moon is which will be in the magazine).
 
MERCURY:  Is now visible in evening skies, we saw it tonight from our Shop in Artane. Details in our January magazine page 23.
 
PLEASE EMAIL US:  If you see anything at all please email observe@astronomy.ie so your sighting will be recorded for posterity in our so please subscribe now.
 
 
 

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