Aurora Trip Membership DVD Shop 1. Public Lecture & DVD: Gaia: Mapping the Milky Way Gaia is a mission undertaken by the European Space Agency to accurately map one thousand million stars in 3D in our own Galaxy and beyond. Due to launch in 2013, Gaia is an enormous undertaking and comes on the back of ESA's Hipparchos mission to accurately map, measure distances and brightness of objects in our galaxy and nearby universe. Dr Nicholas Walton of Cambridge University will deliver Astronomy Ireland's November Public Lecture in Trinity College Dublin on November 12th at 8pm. For tickets and DVDs, please click HERE or call (01) 890 11 11 2. International Space Station and Space Chase The biggest and most expensive spacecraft ever put in orbit, the International Space Station (ISS), is currently visible in our night and early morning skies, and will continue to be visible until October 30th. Tonight (Tuesday, October 23rd) it will pass over Ireland at 7:52pm. Not only that, but today the Soyuz spacecraft successfully launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, and is currently making its way to the International Space Station. Watch the sky several minutes before and after the time for the ISS and you may spot the fainter Soyuz capsule travelling west to east in a special 'space chase'! The International Space Station is a fantastic sight for all the family, and we urge everyone to go out and see it! Each afternoon Astronomy Ireland will publish the times the ISS will be visible at www.astronomy.ie/iss and you can also receive daily reminders of this time by texting the word SPACE to 57003 (subscription service; one message will be sent each day the ISS is visible and it costs €1 per message received). 3. Northern Lights Tour to Norway - Still Places Left! Following this year's successful trip to Norway to see the northern lights, we have teamed up with Project Travel again to give you another opportunity to see this fantastic natural phenomenon! There is still just time to book a place on Astronomy Ireland's Northern Lights Tour to Norway from February 17th to 21st next year. Non-members are welcome to join the special Tromsø-based package which includes a full programme of Northern Lights related tours, flights and accommodation. On the trip we will visit Tromsø to explore its surroundings, its history, and of course, the northern lights. Travellers will have the opportunity to visit the Science Centre & Planetarium, to go dog-sledding, to take an aurora photography workshop, and much, much more! For more details, a full itinerary, and booking details, please visit www.astronomy.ie/norway Astronomy Ireland The world's most popular Astronomy Club www.astronomy.ie ( subscribe / unsubscribe )