1. Monday July 14 Astronomy Ireland Public Lecture and WebCast. "My Home-Built Observatory" by Kevin Sweeney. 8pm in main lecture hall of the Henry Grattan Building, Dublin City University. Doors open 7:30pm. All welcome. SUMMARY: Astronomy Ireland member Kevin Sweeney will describe how and why he built an inexpensive observatory at his home in Co. Meath to house his 10-inch telescope and CCD equipment. Kevin is managing director of Agilent Ireland (Hewlett-Packard's former test and measurement division) which can keep him very busy so grabbing a quick chance to observe when skies are clear means being 'ready to go' all the time - hence an observatory. Also, many telescopes do not get used after the initial excitement of acquiring a scope wears off, probably due to the daunting effort of unpacking, setting up, and re-packing, usually at night after a hard day's work when you are tired. An observatory solves all this and need not cost an arm and a leg as Kevin will explain. So, whether you want to consider building an observatory or just want to enjoy seeing how amateurs do it, make sure you get along to Dublin City University next Monday. There is ample parking in the multi-storey car park just a very short walk from the Henry Grattan Building. Excellent public transport too. Everyone is welcome so do bring friends. WEBCAST: If you are one of our many members who live outside Dublin then the Lecture will be video-taped for you to watch on our website a few days later: go to www.astronomy.ie and click on "Webcasts" on the left-hand side-bar. Then click "July" (note: the "July" link will not work until the Lecture is put online, which we will announce with another message to this list in due course, but you can watch the past 11 month's lectures by clicking on any other month. Install RealPlayer if you do not have it installed already). This is a unique service offer by Astronomy Ireland to the Irish astronomy community and we are most grateful to our friends at D.C.U. for helping to make this happen. 2. Star-B-Q News About 100 people have already bought tickets for our August 22nd Star-B-Q - Ireland's biggest annual gathering of astronomers from all around the country. This is already a record breaking number given how much time is left to go. Remember, you can book tickets at the reduced rate only until July 31st. This year Mars being closer than at any time in the past 60,000 years is an added attraction to the wonders of the universe we will see in Ireland's largest portable telescopes. All tickets are sure to sold out in the next few days or weeks (2,000 booking forms have just been posted for instance!) but we are seeking a new larger venue in the Wicklow mountains so we do not have to limit the numbers to 250 as in previous years, but don't wait to see if this happens, book your ticket now to avoid disappointment as there will not be another Star-B-Q until summer next year and then you have to wait 284 years for Mars to come closer than this summer! Further details and pictures are on the Star-B-Q page (click the Star-B-Q link on our home page www.astronomy.ie). Booking details (and a booking form) are available on that web page or just call the number below Monday to Saturday up to 6pm. 3. The August issue of our magazine "Astronomy & Space" was posted last night (July 10). Paid-up members should get their copy by Monday July 14. We have a lot of news about Mars, from observing details, Ireland's involvement in the Mars Express mission now on its way to the red planet, and some amazing recent images from amateur astronomers. If you don't get the magazine yet, or have let your subscription expire, then click on www.astronomy.ie/sub and support Irish astronomy by continuing to be a member of Astronomy Ireland. 4. Sir Patrick Moore's "Sky at Night" television programme was broadcast last Sunday night, but you can still catch the repeat on Saturday July 12th at 12:45pm (that's for BBC N.Ireland - if you receive a different region then check time variations on the main BBC website www.bbc.co.uk ). You can watch the programme online at www.bbc.co.uk/skyatnight (usually! I just checked and the link is broken, and so is June's episode, but I could watch May's programme - I have reported this to the BBC so it may be fixed by the time you read this). This month's programme is "Space Scouts" and is about all the probes on their way to planets - inspired by the recent launch of Mars Express and Beagle 2 no doubt. Just so I don't forget to tell you in time, the next episode is on Sunday night August 3 on BBC 1 and repeated Saturday on BBC 2 August 9. Mark your diary now - I just did! P.S. Remember that because Sir Patrick is an honorary life member of Astronomy Ireland we are offering his new auto-biography "80 Not Out" at 23% off normal price - just 25euro. See the ad in the July issue (page 32) and the review in the June issue or call the number below 6 days a week. 5. Reports of a dust storm brewing on Mars have been confusing me. Several dust storms have been seen this year so far (see the Mars Global Surveyor website www.msss.com and browse around all the images there) but one reported by ace amateur astronomer Don Parker on July 1st got a lot of press recently. It appeared between Syrtis Major and Hellas and the fear is that it could spread planet-wide and spoil our views closer to perihelion around late August. I don't think this will happen. Most people seem to think that such a planet-wide dust storm is more likely in September. Let's hope so. In the meantime watch Mars every chance you get. It now rises soon after midnight and several people who have seen it with the naked eye have remarked on how bright it looks already. The disk is 19 arc seconds across by the time of next Monday's lecture and 20 arc seconds a week later (maximum will be 25.1 arc sec on August 27). So get your scopes turned Mars-ward soon in case this dust storm gets any worse. In 2001, the last time Mars was close, it only took 1 month for a dust storm to complete cover the entire planet. If you haven't got a good quality scope yet then call us for advice. Don't delay! 6. I hope to see many of you on Monday at Kevin Sweeney's lecture, but don't forget that the rest of you can watch the lecture at http://www.astronomy.ie/webcast.html hopefully by end of week Then I hope we will see ALL of you at the August 22 Star-B-Q. Best regards and clear skies, ===== David Moore BSc FRAS, Chairman, Astronomy Ireland, P.O.Box 2888, Dublin 5. Editor, "Astronomy & Space" magazine. ASTRONOMY SHOP: open Mon.-Fri. 9am-6pm and Sat. noon-6pm. Tel (01) 847 0777. Fax (01) 847 0771. WWW: http://www.astronomy.ie (Subscribe FREE to AI's Events emailing list) Email: info@astronomy.ie