1. Higgs Boson Lecture from CERN's Top Scientist

On Wednesday morning a team of scientists from CERN in Geneva - led by Professor Rolf Heuer, Astronomy Ireland's lecture speaker this month - announced the discovery of a new particle. It is widely believed that this particle is the long-sought Higgs Boson, sometimes dubbed the 'God Particle'.

Current results do not confirm that the new particle is definitely the Higgs Boson, but according to Prof Heuer having seen the current results, "In layman's terms: I think we have it." Further analysis of the new particle will now take place to establish the exact nature of the particle.

Professor Rolf Heuer, Director-General of CERN, will visit Ireland next week to meet with President Higgins and to deliver Astronomy Ireland's July Public Lecture. At this lecture in Trinity College Dublin, Prof Heuer will outline the work undertaken at the Large Hadron Collider that has led to this discovery, and he will explain the future steps that this amazing experiment will take.

The lecture, Understanding the Universe with the Large Hadron Collider, will take place on Friday, July 13th, at 6:30pm in Trinity College Dublin.

Tickets and DVDs available HERE or call (01) 890 11 11. Please note that there is a high demand for tickets for this lecture so be sure to books yours as soon as possible.

New Particle Discovery on Radio and in Magazine

Astronomy Ireland Chairman featured - and continues to feature - on radio stations around Ireland to talk about this amazing result which will doubtlessly result in a Nobel Prize for Professor Peter Higgs himself. You can listen to the interviews online at www.astronomy.ie/audio and be sure to keep an eye out in future issues of Astronomy Ireland for coverage of what is expected to be the most important discovery this century.

2. Aurora Alert and Sun Watch

The Sun's surface is bubbling with activity as planet-sized sunspots trigger massive ejections of material from the Sun, with several solar flares occurring this week. This material is due to arrive at Earth tomorrow morning (Saturday) which means that skywatchers in Ireland may be treated to a display of the northern lights Saturday night and into Sunday morning.

Try to watch the sky from when it gets dark on Saturday night to watch out for unusual glowing towards the northern horizon. Let us know what you see by emailing observe@astronomy.ie

From 1pm on Saturday, Astronomy Ireland will hold a daytime Sun Watch at Ireland's biggest telescope shop in Swords, Co Dublin. At this Watch, members of the general public can use very powerful telescopes fitted with necessary safety equipment to see the sunspots for themselves. Come along with some friends and family for an interesting day of solar astronomy (www.astronomy.ie/map)!

3. Astronomy Summer School

An Introduction to Astronomy is a new set of classes developed by Astronomy Ireland to give newcomers to astronomy a good grounding in observational astronomy. Students will learn about the constellations, the Moon and the Sun, the history of astronomy, how telescopes work, and what to see in the night sky.

An Introduction to Astronomy is ideal for those who want to get more out of their stargazing sessions, how telescopes can be used, and where to find celestial objects in the sky, without being going into the more complex details of astrophysics and cosmology.

The Astronomy Ireland Summer School will commence on July 18th and run each Wednesday for four weeks.

Get €20 Off Your Enrolment Fee!

If you book before midnight tonight (Friday, July 6th) you can avail of a €20 discount off the enrolment fee. This means you will pay only €120, which includes membership to Astronomy Ireland, or €80 for current members (normal price after this date is €140 for non-members and €100 for members, so don't delay!).

For more information on these classes, please visit www.astronomy.ie/summerschool

4. The Sky at Night

In this episode the team watches the Sun and the Transit of Venus from the far-northern archipelago of Svalbard.

Mon Jul 02 at 12:45am BBC 1 Northern Ireland
Mon Jul 02 at 12:45am BBC One HD
Thu Jul 05 at 07:30pm BBC FOUR
Fri Jul 06 at 01:40am BBC FOUR
Sat Jul 07 at 02:30pm BBC 2 Northern Ireland
Sat Jul 07 at 11:45pm BBC FOUR

Note that the BBC1 and BBC2 programmes are shorter versions (40 minutes).
Try to watch BBC FOUR or BBC HD transmissions (60 minutes).

Astronomy Ireland

The world's most popular Astronomy Club
www.astronomy.ie

( subscribe / unsubscribe )