ASTRONOMY IRELAND MAILING LIST - www.astronomy.ie (The all-Ireland astronomy club, magazine and Shop) --------------------------------------------------- 1. STAR-B-Q IS ON! With clear skies forecast for tonight our barbecue under the stars will go ahead as planned in Roundwood G.A.A. grounds tonight to see the wonders of the universe in powerful telescopes from a very dark sky site. It's Ireland's biggest annual viewing event and not to be missed. Hundreds of you have already bought tickets at 20euro and 25euro but you can still get them at the gate, however, you will have to queue and pay the increased price of 30euro. Call 086-8108155 to confirm availability if you're deciding to come at the last minute. 2. PERSEID REPORT It looks like AI's Hon. Sec. Tony Ryan was the only one to report seeing Perseids last night, the night of maximum as we have received no other reports so far. Tony was on Howth Head, Co. Dublin in slightly hazy skies with 50% or more cloud cover, but through the breaks he saw 8 Perseids and no sporadics in a one hour observing spell from 12:25am. Not bad under such adverse conditions. If you saw anything send your report to observe@astronomy.ie 3. NAKED-EYE SUNSPOT Another giant sunspot has erupted on the Sun. Use your AstroSolar filters (available from our Shop) to see them over the next week. They are so big that AstroSolar in front of the unaided eye will show them. Binoculars and small telescopes fitted with AstroSolar will give excellent views over the coming week. Watch out for possible display of the aurora too. If a display is predicted we'll announce it here, usually with 24 hours notice. Enjoy the sunspot in the meantime. The spot last month was absolutely amazing as it achieved a physical size comparable to Jupiter. Let's hope for a repeat performance. SURVEY: The September issue of our magazine was posted on Wednesday night. If you did not get yours in the post today can you quickly reply to this email and say so please as we are doing a mini survey. See you at Star-B-Q tonight. Regards and clear skies, David Moore, Chairman, Astronomy Ireland. Editor "Astronomy & Space" magazine. www.astronomy.ie Astronomy Shop: Tel (01) 847 0777 Mon-Sat