ASTRONOMY IRELAND MAILING LIST - www.astronomy.ie (The all-Ireland astronomy club, magazine and Shop) --------------------------------------------------- 1. SKY AT NIGHT (BBC2 12:45pm SAT.) Patrick Moore's monthly television show will be going out on BBC 2 on Saturday (July 10) at 12:45pm. This month's subject is the Cassini mission to Saturn. You'll be able to watch it online soon also at www.bbc.co.uk/skyatnight 2. INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION I.S.S. will be visible every night starting tonight Friday July 9th until July 24th. It looks like a VERY bright star, up to 10 times brighter than the brightest stars in the sky, so it's plainly visible to the naked-eye. On board are two astronauts, Gennady Padalka and Mike Fincke. Read the I.S.S. column in our magazine every month to find out what they do on I.S.S. This is the only manned space ship and, at 200 tonnes, the biggest man-made object in space. It's not yet finished and will be worth about 100 billion euro! You can see it for 1 or 2 minutes crossing the sky, but at a DIFFERENT time each evening. So, call our NEWSLINEs (any time after 12noon each day) to get the exact time to watch that evening: Call 1550-111-442 (calls cost 95c/min), or in the U.K. call 09001-88-1950 (calls cost 60p/min) It's an amazing sight so please pass this number on to everyone you know and let's get the whole country out watching the night sky! There are some background details on our website at www.astronomy.ie/iss.html 3. NOCTILUCENT CLOUDS James Adamson (near Ballina, Co. Mayo) and John Fahy (near Headford, Co. Galway) both sent in photos they took of Noctilucent clouds on July 7. These will appear in the magazine in due course, but for a sneak preview click: www.astronomy.ie/JamesAdamsonMayoJuly7NLC1.jpg www.astronomy.ie/JamesAdamsonMayoJuly7NLC2.jpg www.astronomy.ie/JohnFahyGalwayJuly7NLC1.jpg NLCs are clouds at extremely high altitude, about 85 km, that literally (as the name suggests) shine at night. They form in the cold, summer polar mesopause and are believed to be ice crystals. Because of their high altitude, in a very dry part of the atmosphere, noctilucent clouds are rather an enigma and are being studied by a number of people around the world. (I got that description from http://lasp.colorado.edu/noctilucent_clouds check it out for more details) If you snap any NLCs do send them in for publication to observe@astronomy.ie Or email any reports of sightings also. 4. STAR-B-Q OFFER ENDS TUESDAY Quite a few more of you availed of the offer for 5euro off adult ticket price for our August 13 Star-B-Q. As I may not email again before next Tuesday this may be the last reminder you have to get this offer. See www.astronomy.ie/sbq.html for details, SECURE online bookings, and a postal booking form. Don't miss Ireland's BIGGEST annual viewing event on August 13 (Perseid Meteor Shower is the special attraction this year). 5. "INTERNET TELESCOPES" Don't forget to get along to our July Public Lecture by Bart Busschots next Monday: Details and map at www.astronomy.ie/lecture0407.html Regards and clear skies, David Moore, Chairman, Astronomy Ireland Editor "Astronomy & Space" magazine www.astronomy.ie Astronomy Shop: Tel (01) 847 0777 open SATURDAYs 12-6pm!