1. DCU Lecture December 1 Our Colleagues in DCU invite you to this lecture: With the coming of the Christmas season also comes a new Astrophysics Colloquium Series. There will be a total of four talks this academic year, details of which can be found at www.astrophysics.dcu.ie . Come and join us for the opening one and spend an hour on an otherwise ordinary Thursday afternoon thinking about things astrophysical. Details are given below: Speaker: P R O F E S S O R K E N N I C U T T Plumian Chair, Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge University Title: The Spitzer Space Telescope Nearby Galaxies Survey (SINGS) Time/Date: 2 pm on Thursday 1 December Venue: Room S209 in the Research and Engineering Building A wine reception will follow the talk. All are welcome to attend, and we very much look forward to seeing you. All the best, Brenda Frye and Turlough Downes 2. Belfast Lecture December 7 Public Lecture DEEP IMPACT Professor Mike F. A'Hearn University of Maryland 7:00pm Wednesday 7th December Larmor Lecture Theatre, Queen's University Belfast This summer the NASA Deep Impact mission spectacularly achieved its primary goal of hitting comet Tempel 1 with a spacecraft at 22,000 mph. Prof. A'Hearn is the Principal Investigator for Deep Impact, in charge of ensuring the mission achieves its objectives. In this lecture Prof. A'Hearn will explain why the mission was important, what happened during the encounter and what scientists have learned so far. This lecture will be free, but we expect interest to be high, so admittance will be through registration with the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Queen's University. If you wish to attend this lecture, please register either via e-mail to physics@qub.ac.uk, or by phone on 02890 973941, giving your name and the number who wish to attend. 3. Astronomy Ireland CHRISTMAS LECTURE December 12 BBC television's "Sky At Night" co-presenter (with Patrick Moore) CHRIS LINTOTT will give Astronomy Ireland's 2005 CHRISTMAS PUBLIC LECTURE: "COSMOLOGY - FROM BEGINNING TO END" Monday December 12 at 8pm in Dublin City University Henry Grattan Building, lecture theatre CG12 A fascinating account of the Big Bang, Dark Matter, and Dark Energy to name but a few of the topics he will explain. Everyone is welcome to attend this lecture which is aimed at the general public who want to know what the current understanding of our universe is. More details, including maps, at: www.astronomy.ie/lecture0512.html To book, simply email lecture@astronomy.ie saying how many tickets you want to book and state clearly it is for the Christmas Lecture. You then collect and pay for your tickets at the door on the night. Doors open 7:30pm. Admission is 5euro (3euro to members, students, under 18s, over65s, unwaged, DCU staff) ALL WELCOME CHRISTMAS PARTY There is a tradition of having Christmas drinks after our Christmas Lecture. This will take place at 10pm on the night in The Comet pub Map to pub here, click on the "zoom" button to get closer: http://multimap.com/map/browse.cgi?lat=53.3881&lon=-6.2457&scale=200000&icon=x 4. Venus & Moon Venus is a prominent sight to the naked eye in evening skies. We've had many emails and calls asking what is the bright object low in the southwest for an hour or so after sunset - Venus of course!. It'll be prominent from now until the last few days of December. The Irish Times will run a piece on December 8. Venus viewing details are in the Sky Diary pages of our magazine "Astronomy & Space" (order/subscribe www.astronomy.ie/sub). In a telescope Venus is a superb crescent, getting larger and thinner as the days pass. Get ready for Sunday (Dec. 4) when the crescent Moon will lie just below Venus - a spectacular naked eye sight. See the diagram on page 23 of the December issue of "Astronomy & Space" magazine. Please send any photos to observe@astronomy.ie Astronomy Ireland www.astronomy.ie Tel (01) 847 0777 Your national astronomy society and also the biggest telescope shop in Ireland - call for special Christmas Telescope offers (01) 847 0777