1. TV Thursday 5:55pm RTE
2
Astronomy Ireland Chairman, David Moore (www.astronomy.ie/dmbio.html), will
be on RTE 2 television this Thursday June 1 around 5:55pm to explain why anyone
in Ireland thinking of going to university really must be thinking of taking a
degree in astronomy or nothing at all!
Yes, it really is that simple and about 100 billion euro a
year is at stake to Ireland's economy! It's a crisis that is looming and
astronomy CAN save the Celtic Tiger. Tune in or set your video for
more.
Thinking of studying astronomy? For details of AI's
October Evening Classes and EVERY astronomy degree course for full time students
in Ireland see www.astronomy.ie and click
"Study Astronomy" in the left-hand side menu.
2. RECORD YOUNG MOON and VIEWING
THIS WEEK
In the May issue of our magazine, Sky Diary author David
Grennan (www.astronomy.ie/DG1bio.html)
challenged you to spot the youngest Moon ever seen from Ireland.
Declan Meyler from New Ross, Co. Wexford smashed David
Moore's 21.7 hour record set in 2003 by viewing the Moon last Saturday just 15.6
hours after New Moon, using a telescope from our Shop!
Declan writes: On the evening of Saturday the 27 of
May I decided to try locate a very young Moon. I had read in the A&S
SkyDiary that a 15.5 hour old Moon could be visible in large binoculars or
telescopes. The north-western sky was very clear so shortly before 10pm I first
located the planet Mercury, which was only 4 degrees to the left of the Moon,
using my Celestron NexStar 11 and a 22mm Nagler eyepiece. The planet was easily
visible through the eyepiece and also visible through the finderscope. I then
selected the Moon on the hand control unit of my telescope and pressed enter.
The telescope moved slightly to the right of Mercury and as I looked through the
eyepiece I could only see the yellow-orange colour of twilight. Then after about
30 seconds I spotted an extremely thin sliver of light which took on the same
colour as the twilight itself, the time was exactly 10pm(2100UT). I could trace
an arc of about 20% of the Moon's circumference of which small sections would
appear to brighten and fade, this was due to the atmosphere and low altitude. By
10:10pm the Moon was slightly easier to see and I followed it for another 10
minutes before it disappeared behind some distant low cloud. Few people in the
world have seen the planet Mercury and fewer again such a young Moon, so it was
nice to see them close together in the sky.
See pages 27-28 of the May issue of our magazine (still
available by post at www.astronomy.ie/sub) for more details
and diagram.
Congratulations to Declan on setting a new Irish record.
The world record is 11h 40m by the way and we'll keep you posted of future
opportunities to see very thin crescent Moons in the SkyDiary of our
magazine.
THIS WEEK's viewing highlights
include:
MARS - low in West each evening near
Castor & Pollux and closing in on Saturn. Sets 1am. Disk very small in a
telescope now.
SATURN - low in West each evening but
passing very close to Beehive star cluster this week - an amazing and rare
sight! Moon nearby Wednesday. See magazine!!!
JUPITER - brightest 'star' in the sky in
the south all evening. Times to see Great Red Spot every evening are in
magazine. New red spot one hour behind GRS! Details in July magazine, out
soon.
MOON - crescent early in week, First
Quarter on Saturday. Visible in evening sky all week. Superb sight in a
telescope this week therefore. Very near Regulus Friday!
Some BRILLIANT viewing events this week
therefore!
Check out our magazine Sky Diary pages for details and
diagrams and tune in to our Radio Show on Tuesday nights.
Always send your sightings, like Declan did, to observe@astronomy.ie and be recorded for
posterity in our magazine.
3. Lecture June 12 "ADAPTIVE
OPTICS"
Prof. Chris Dainty will give a PUBLIC LECTURE for
Astronomy Ireland on Monday June 12 about the fascinating developments in
sharpening the images produced by large ground based telescopes. Prof Dainty is
a world authority in this area and he came to Ireland (NUI Galway) to continue
his research in adaptive optics.
Those in the Leinster area should book tickets now at www.astronomy.ie/lecture0606.html
where you will also find more details of the talk and speaker, and maps of how
to get there.
All welcome at 8pm on Monday June
12 in Dublin City University (Henry Grattan Building)
4. NEW ASTRONOMY SHOP OPENING
HOURS
Note that from this week our Shop opening hours will
be:
Monday to Friday: 9:30am to 5:30pm
Saturday: 12noon to 6pm
Sunday: closed
You can call (01) 847 0777 during these times to place
orders and for all the advice you may need.
Note there is FREE delivery on all
telescopes to everywhere in Ireland and full after sales service
guaranteed.
HUGE CLEARANCE SALE NOW
ON: there are some fantastic bargains in our huge clearance sale.
Hundreds of items must go. See www.astronomy.ie for a list or call the Shop
staff.
Do call for advice on which telescope to
get to see the "Viewing Highlights" listed above and much more.
Don't forget to tune in to RTE 2 tv on
Thursday !!!
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Astronomy Ireland (01) 847
0777
ASTRONOMY SHOP - Ireland's
biggest telescope shop - huge sale NOW ON !!!
Unit 75, Butterly Business Park,
Kilmore Road, Dublin 5.
Tel (01) 847 0777
Mon.-Fri. 9:30am-5:30pm and Saturday 12noon to
6pm