1. Curiosity Landing on
Monday
The
Mars Science Laboratory, also known as Curiosity, will land on the
surface of Mars at approximately 6:30am Irish time on Monday morning, August
6th.
The
car-sized robot will land after an ambitious and exciting seven-minute descent
through the Martian atmosphere, and will commence its mission to find out if
Mars was ever home to microbial life forms in the past (or if it could be
habitable in the present!).
You
can watch a special video produced by NASA on YouTube called Seven Minutes of
Terror, explaining how Curiosity will overcome
technological obstacles in its descent during a radically new landing
procedure.
On
Monday morning, you can watch NASA TV at www.astronomy.ie/nasatv for live
coverage of the landing of the craft on
Mars.
2. Public Lecture: Ancient Astronomical
Alignments
Ireland
is home to a number of well-known ancient monuments built by ancient
astronomers, the most famous being Newgrange, located near the bank of the River
Boyne. Newgrange is famous because on the morning of the Winter Solstice each
year, sunlight enters the passage and illuminates the chamber within the
monument. Other
monuments around the country, such as standing stones, are known to be aligned
with both with other terrestrial objects and with celestial bodies in the
sky.
These
ancient alignments give modern scientists clues to the understanding of the
Universe as we knew it thousands of years
ago.
For more information, tickets,
and DVDs of the lecture, please click HERE
or call (01) 890 11 11
3. Star-B-Q
2012
The
country's biggest annual telescope night takes place this year on September 15th
and will feature BBC's The Sky at Night presenter Pete Lawrence. The UK
astronomer is an expert in solar astronomy and space weather, and his keynote
talk at this year's event will explore the amazing northern lights, which are
becoming regularly visible over
Ireland.
As
well as some great speakers, the Star-B-Q will also have dozens of powerful
telescopes to give visitors an opportunity to see the wonders of the Universe
from some of Ireland's darkest skies in the Wicklow Mountains, serve delicious
barbecued food freshly prepared by professional caterers, and much
more!
If
you book your ticket before August 15th you can avail of the early bird rate on
adult tickets at only €29 (normal price after this date is
€39).