New Year Sale Membership DVD Shop 1. Record-Breaking Asteroid to Narrowly Miss Earth Tomorrow night, Friday, February 15th, people all over the world will closely watch an asteroid as it passes extremely close to Earth, closer even than geosynchronous satellites in orbit. If such a space rock collided with Earth, it could cause untold devastation to cities and countries. 50,000 years ago a meteorite impacted Arizona to form Meteor Crater, and in 1908 an asteroid or comet burst over Siberia, flattening thousands of square kilometres of forests. However, scientists are confident that such a collision will not happen this time round, and Astronomy Ireland is hosting a special Asteroid Watch to point some extremely powerful telescopes to the sky to observe the space rock as it passes. This event is free and is ideal for people of all ages and experience. It will take place at 8pm on Friday at the Astronomy Ireland Telescope Shop in Swords, Co Dublin. 2012 DA14 will be easily spotted with binoculars in the northern sky. If you see it, be sure to let us know by emailing observe@astronomy.ie For further information on asteroid 2012 DA14, its path through the sky, and the Asteroid Watch, please visit www.astronomy.ie or call us on (01) 890 11 11. TV AND RADIO David Moore, Chairman of Astronomy Ireland, will appear on RTE2's Elev8 at noon tomorrow. If you miss it, you can watch it later on at www.youtube.com/astronomyireland. David is also due to feature on a number of radio shows, so be sure to keep an eye on www.astronomy.ie/audio over the coming days. 2. Planet Cosmo: A New Children's TV Show We are delighted to announce that a new children's astronomy television show called Planet Cosmo will air on Monday, February 18th, at 9:10am on RTE2. Astronomy Ireland assisted in the show's development by helping with information on the planets. Planet Cosmo is new animated series with plenty of laughs, songs, fun and adventure! Cosmo and her family live on the Moon, and in each episode they travel through the Solar System and visit the eight colourful planets! Each one, in its own way, is totally amazing; even Earth, that little blue planet you call home! You can watch a trailer for Planet Cosmo HERE. Astronomy Ireland The world's most popular astronomy club www.astronomy.ie ( subscribe / unsubscribe )