1. SEE COMET BRADFIELD ON THE NET & IN THE SKY Comet Bradfield was an amazing sight over the last few days in the "LASCO C3" camera on board the SOHO spacecraft. It is just beginning to leave the camera's field of view today (Tuesday April 20), though it's unexpected large (though faint) dust tail could linger a little longer. SOHO astronomers promise to produce a special movie so watch the website closely http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov Comet Bradfield will emerge in to morning skies this week. It was so bright when it passed the Sun (perhaps magnitude -3) that some observers tried to spot it in daylight, without success however as it was dangerously close to the Sun for Earthbound observation. However, over the next few mornings the comet could be seen low in the East just before dawn, perhaps with the naked-eye. It rises about 5am BST slightly North of due East. The comet will fade rapidly and could even disintegrate. Here is a daily ephemeris of the Comet's position (at 1am BST on each date note): Date R.A. (2000) Dec. R r Elong Mag. Motion h m o ' (AU) (AU) o "/hr P.A. 2004 Apr 21.00 1 18.31 +16 56.5 0.841 0.234 10.5 3.3 444 333 22.00 1 13.18 +19 26.5 0.858 0.261 13.3 3.8 395 335 23.00 1 9.02 +21 42.2 0.878 0.290 15.9 4.3 349 338 24.00 1 5.71 +23 44.3 0.900 0.319 18.2 4.8 309 341 25.00 1 3.09 +25 34.5 0.924 0.348 20.2 5.2 274 343 26.00 1 1.07 +27 14.1 0.948 0.378 22.0 5.7 246 346 27.00 0 59.52 +28 44.5 0.973 0.407 23.6 6.0 221 348 28.00 0 58.38 +30 7.1 0.998 0.436 25.1 6.4 201 351 29.00 0 57.56 +31 22.9 1.023 0.464 26.4 6.7 184 353 30.00 0 57.02 +32 32.9 1.048 0.492 27.6 7.0 169 355 2004 May 1.00 0 56.70 +33 37.7 1.073 0.520 28.7 7.3 157 357 2.00 0 56.58 +34 38.1 1.097 0.547 29.8 7.6 146 359 3.00 0 56.62 +35 34.6 1.121 0.575 30.7 7.8 137 1 4.00 0 56.79 +36 27.6 1.145 0.601 31.6 8.1 129 3 If you do spot it let us know immediately! Try to estimate it's brightness, size of the coma, any tail and its length. If it clears up I intend going to Howth head in Dublin to look out over the sea for the comet rising at around 5am any morning this week. Anyone in Dublin interested tagging along should reply to this email and I'll give you details of the arrangements. 2. NEW SUNSPOT A nice medium-to-large new sunspot has rotated in to view on the Sun, and appears to be growing. Large sunspots can end up causing displays of the aurora (we'll email you if one is predicted) so keep an eye on the northern sky each evening. Remember, if you want to view the Sun in safety you must fit AstroSolar filters over the front of your binoculars or telescope - this you can buy at moderate cost from our Shop (call the number below for details). 3. GOLF AND ASTRONOMY The First Annual Astronomy Ireland Golf Outing and Astronomy Evening will be held on Friday April 23rd in Killerig Castle Golf Club, Killerig, Carlow between 6pm and 8pm (so you won't have to take the whole day off work). A 9-hole stableford competition is proposed for the golf event at 10euro per entry. This will be followed by an Astronomy evening with Ireland's largest mobile telescope (Astronomy Ireland's 21-inch Millennium reflector!) along with several others. Several planets and galaxies will be on view. The club house facilities will be open to all and a mini-barbeque will be on offer. For entry to the golf competition contact Astronomy Ireland's Carlow Branch Co-ordinator Gerry Moloney on 087-9184000. Leave a message if Gerry cannot answer and he promises to get back to you. http://www.astronomy.ie/Golf.html ===== David Moore, Chairman, Astronomy Ireland (www.astronomy.ie) Please support your national astronomy society and ONLY buy your Telescopes, Books, CD-ROMs etc. from OUR Astronomy Shop www.astronomy.ie/map.html Tel (01) 847 0777 six days a week (delivery nationwide)