20 Months Membership Offer 2010 Events DVDs Shop "Giant Stars" Hubble Space Telescope's Irish Operator in Dublin Getting to use the most expensive telescope ever built is a rare privilege that Irishman Dr. Brian Espey was fortunate to experience. We are also fortunate enough to have Dr Espey present us with his fascinating lecture this Monday night (May 10th) for Astronomy Ireland's Summer Lecture. In his lecture Dr. Espey will teach us about the effects that the strong winds from huge stars within our Universe have on our planets. Stars with masses similar to our own Sun pass through an evolutionary Red Giant stage towards the end of their lives releasing a huge amount of gas in the form of a stellar wind. A Red Giant is a huge star hundreds of times the size of the Sun. Click HERE for an impressive visual aid which compares the size of our own star, the Sun, to Red Giants, Betelgeuse and Antares. Despite the importance of this process in the evolution of stars, and the next generations of stars, planets, and life, very little is known of the details of Red Giants and this cosmic wind. For example, did you know that; a.. A Red Giant is a star which is close to the end of its life. b.. When a star becomes a Red Giant it can expand to over 200 times it's previous size. c.. In about five billion years our Sun will become a Red Giant. d.. When this happens it will expand out to Earth's orbit, engulfing our planet. e.. The Sun will be 10 billion years old before it becomes a Red Giant, yet it will only spend a few million years in this stage. f.. Almost all of the elements in the Universe heavier than helium were made in Red Giant stars, including the oxygen we breath and the carbon we are made of. g.. At the end of its life a Red Giant will shed most of its outer atmosphere, creating a spectacular Planetary Nebula. Within the talk Dr. Espey will present results of his research detailing the process he uses - data from telescopes on Earth as well as data from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Dr Espey is a physics and astrophysics lecturer in Trinity College Dublin (TCD), as well as a research associate with the School of Cosmic Physics, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS). He has given lectures for Astronomy Ireland in the past which have proved to be a great success and extremely interesting, so don't miss this event! The lecture takes place at 8pm in the SNIAM Building, Trinity College Dublin (MAP HERE), on Monday, May 10. All are welcome to attend. For anyone who can't make it on the night, a DVD of the talk is available to order online. For more information about this public event click HERE. BOOK TICKETS ORDER DVD Astronomy Ireland The world's most popular Astronomy Club www.astronomy.ie ( subscribe / unsubscribe ) Our Online Telescope Shop