1. SHOP OPEN LATE Our Astronomy Shop is open until 9pm Thursday and Friday this week, and until 6pm on Christmas Eve for all your last minute gift ideas:- Telescope packages from 199euro (telescope, starter pack, extra eyepiece, book, free delivery) Books, many at HALF PRICE in our sale (cheaper than Amazon.com!) DVDs, CD-ROMs, Videos, Posters, Slide Sets, etc etc Drop in and see one of the biggest astronomy shops in Europe in Butterly Business Park, Artane. Map at: www.astronomy.ie/map.html Or call (01) 847 0777 for mail order. OPEN HOURS OVER HOLIDAY SEASON: 9:30am to 9:00pm : Wednesday December 21 to Friday December 23 10:00am to 6:00pm : Saturday December 24 9:30am to 5:30pm : Wednesday December 28 to Friday December 30 10:00am to 6:00pm : Saturday December 31 9:30am to 5:30pm : Tuesday January 3 onwards with business as usual 6 days a week 2. CHRISTMAS VIEWING Venus is blazing in the southwest every evening after sunset. It is a brilliant naked eye sight for an hour or so from 4:30pm. By the New Year it will be getting too low to view anymore so enjoy it over Christmas. If you got a good quality telescope from us for Christmas you'll see Venus is a thin crescent - this is a very rare sight so don't miss it. Email photos or comments to observe@astronomy.ie Mars is still a fine sight high in the South each evening over Christmas. Its disk is about 13 arcseconds so its not that much smaller than when at its closest (20 arcsec) in October/November. Again good quality telescopes (if you got our FS70, FS80 or FS114 for example) will show surface detail. See Mars viewing guide in magazine. Saturn is on show by 8pm rising in the East but give it an hour or two to rise higher if trying to view detail in a telescope. The New Year will see Saturn at its best. We plan viewing opportunities nationwide. Stay tuned. Jupiter is a 'morning star' not rising until about 5am, but by dawn it can be seen low in the South easily with the naked eye. More next year. THE MOON will not rise until after midnight from now until the end of the year so only those who stay up late will see it. New Moon is on December 31. More details of all the above, and more, are in David Grennan's excellent Sky Diary pages in our magazine every month. Please send a report of anything you see to observe@astronomy.ie so we can share it through the "Observers Log" pages of Ireland's astronomy magazine "Astronomy & Space" Details and GIFT SUBSCRIPTIONS at www.astronomy.ie/currentissue.html 3. MORE TO COME We have a fantastic programme lined up for you in 2006 and a massive expansion of the society's activities nationwide with all the new staff we have already hired - and we're still recruiting! And book your holiday of a lifetime on the biggest extravaganza Astronomy Ireland has ever organised, for the total eclipse of the Sun March 29 www.astronomy.ie/turkeyeclipse.html Don't be left behind - next eclipse trip is not until 2017!!! Don't forget to drop in and see us (or call) for those last minute bargains (see Shop open hours above)! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from Astronomy Ireland ---------------------------------- David Moore BSc FRAS, Chairman, Astronomy Ireland, P.O.Box 2888, Dublin 5. Editor, "Astronomy & Space" magazine. Tel (01) 847 0777. Fax (01) 847 0771. www.astronomy.ie info@astronomy.ie