1. 40,000
people are expected to throng to the RDS in Dublin for the annual BT Young
Scientist & Technology Exhibition Jan. 11-13. See the back page of our
January magazine.
Astronomy Ireland has a stand at the event so do go along
and say hello. There are special offers on membership and our
magazine, and you can win a superb pair of our 10x50 binoculars in our
FREE competition, plus lots more besides.
The Exhibition has over 500 stands with projects from
young people all around Ireland, including some on astronomy (which will be
featured in a coming issue of our magazine).
There are many science technology exhibitors to visit
also. So it's well worth a visit every year.
Admission is 10euro for adults, 5euro for
students/children and senior citizens, 25euro family (2 adult, 3
children).
2. Trinity
Astronomy & Space Society (TASS) invite you all to attend a lecture by Professor Lynden-Bell, Professor of
Astrophysics, Cambridge University on Thursday January 18th
at 7:30pm in the Physics Building, T.C.D. Same venue as Astronomy
Ireland's monthly meetings (www.astronomy.ie/events)
The
lecture is entitled " Flat disks and narrow jets in
Astronomy".
This is a very rare opportunity to hear such an
eminent speaker, so TASS would like to extend an invitation to you all to
attend as guests of theirs. Admission is free courtesy of TASS so
to advise of numbers could you email gillesjb@tcd.ie to say how many of you
are going.
3. We saw
Comet McNaught from the Astronomy Ireland Shop again tonight
(Friday). It was picked up in seconds around sunset looking out of the window
with Celestron 15x70mm binoculars through breaks in the clouds. Venus could not
be seen due to the clouds and the comet was very easy to spot, perhaps as easy
as Venus (magnitude -4)! Comet McNaught is now visible in SOHO's cameras
http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/hotshots
The comet will be visible just above the Sun the moment
the Sun sets tomorrow, Saturday, but do not sweep the sky above the Sun with
binoculars or telescopes until the Sun sets or you may be blinded by the
Sun!
For more details see our January magazine page 26, or the
list of links given in the last email, or download this weeks AIRS
(Astronomy Ireland Radio Show) and listen to David Moore's weekly round up
of what to see in Irish skies at www.astronomy.ie/AIRS (or set the show
up as a podcast and get the latest news EVERY week). Email the show at radio@astronomy.ie
Please send photos and sighting reports to observe@astronomy.ie for what has become
the brightest comet in over 3 decades and may be the brightest you will ever
see.
4. Don't forget
our Astronomy Evening Classes, aimed at beginners,
start soon (January 31st). So please enrol now.
5. Our New Year
Lecture on January 8 was packed solid with over 200 people trying to get in.
Sadly a few had to be turned away due to last minute publicity on RTE Radio
1
WARNING: our next speaker is ALREADY booked for a TV
appearance so book online for John Gribbin "The Universe - a Biography" (the
title of his new book out later this month) at:
For the thousands of you living outside Dublin, or who
were not able to get in on the night, the DVD of our New Year Lecture can be
ordered at:
This is an important service for everyone outside Dublin
and the cost is very low.
It takes a lot of effort by volunteers to bring you these
DVDs so please do avail of this service.
(You can even order the Feb. 12 DVD now if
you wish, at the same webpage!
ASTRONOMY IRELAND - for telescopes and
information
call (01) 847
0777