ASTRONOMY IRELAND MAILING LIST - www.astronomy.ie (The all-Ireland astronomy Club, Magazine and Shop) --------------------------------------------------- 1. AURORA TONIGHT A flare (explosion) on the Sun on Friday is expected to cause an aurora some time tonight (Saturday). It's not certain if it will be before or after midnight so watch all night long! If you see it please do TWO things: First TEXT 086 081 99 86 when you first see it giving your name and location (town and county). Second, when you are finished watching please email a brief report to observe@astronomy.ie and we'll include you in our magazine report of what Ireland saw. See www.sec.noaa.gov/SWN : depending how red the round feature in the Auroral Map is we will get a strong or weak aurora. It only has to be close to Ireland for us to see a display in the north sky remember. 2. CHRISTMAS TELESCOPES Beware of the cheap (and not so cheap!) telescopes on sale this Christmas. You can tell the "JUNKSCOPES" easily, they are the ones that are advertised by how many times they magnify. Follow our rule: if you ever see a telescope advertised on the basis of how many times it magnifies then do not touch it! The real criteria are: optically quality and diameter. Most people in Ireland buy Celestron and they virtually all get them from our Astronomy Shop - that's what we set it up for after all. So many people buy from mail order catalogues, camera shops and the like and call us after Christmas when they can't see anything through them, even if they have spent hundreds on a scope! And of course these outlets cannot advise them. There are a few photos of our telescopes on our website, apologies that it is so out of date but go to www.astronomy.ie and click "telescopes" on the Shop menu at the left. Many beginners get the Firstscope range. These have truly excellent optics and are guaranteed to be the best telescope by our experts (and we built the biggest telescope in Ireland a while back!). With 70% of our members living outside Dublin we deliver nationwide at low cost. SALE! SALE! SALE! All the prices on the website are very old. Please ignore them. The euro has improved. Prices to us have dropped. Etc. We are now offering up to 40% off some of the telescopes! As well as getting a quality telescope, with great after sales service (your national astronomy club!) we are not just a Shop, we are heavily involved in promoting interest in astronomy as well. So please support us. Please do not buy elsewhere if you want to support OUR GOALS to promote interest in astronomy, and if you want to have a Shop in Ireland staffed by experts in the hobby. Call (01) 847 0777 Monday to Saturday up to 5:30pm for any advice you need and get a proper quality telescope this Christmas that won't disappoint. Or visit us if you're coming to Dublin to see the only Telescope Shop in Ireland - we have thousands of accessories, plus books, videos, DVDs, etc in stock. Map is at www.astronomy.ie/map.html and there is a huge car park (or see list of public transport on the map). Merry Christmas! - David Moore, Chairman, Astronomy Ireland - your national astronomy club & magazine. Leinster area: Book your place at our CHRISTMAS LECTURE http://www.astronomy.ie/lecture0412.html --------------------------------------------------------