1. OCTOBER PUBLIC LECTURE ONLINE We got to touch the asteroid Vesta at Dr Ian Sanders' excellent lecture last Monday on "Meteorites and the Origin of the Solar System". A compressed version of his lecture is now online at www.astronomy.ie/webcast/webcast.html for you to download free. A high quality DVD (5euro) is available from our Shop(see below), or order online at www.astronomy.ie/lectureDVD.html Dr Sanders had just had an important paper published that day. He kindly sent us a copy which we can forward to anyone who wants a copy. Just email info@astronomy.ie 2. MAGAZINE POSTAL DELAYS Problems continue at An Post. Last month they took 2 weeks to deliver the October issue of our magazine! The November issue of A&S was posted October 11 and we are not aware of anyone who has received it yet, anywhere in Ireland. Formal complaints have been lodged in writing - and so far ignored by An Post. What can we do! 3. A.I. RADIO SHOW IN TOP TEN "PODCASTS" Tuesday's edition of the Astronomy Ireland Radio Show went online shortly after its 8pm transmission. Perhaps you have already downloaded it from www.astronomy.ie/radioshow.html Thanks to AI member James Sweeney from Athlone, AIRS is now available on the iTunes music store (the worlds largest online music store). James writes "People can freely access it. Do a search for "astronomy" and AIRS will show up. Listeners can then 'subscribe' to the show so that each week the show is automatically downloaded into their iTunes application and if they want to they can also transfer the show to their portable music player (iPod)." Early reports are that AIRS went straight in to the top 10 podcasts last week! Thanks James! Go to www.apple.com/itunes to download iTunes. Then go to the Podcasts on the left hand pane and Podcasts Directory at the bottom of the screen to see the full list of available podcasts. You can use the search bar at the top of the screen to search for particular types of podcasts. Every Tuesday at 8pm AIRS will give you all the latest news of discoveries made about our universe and tell you what to see in the sky each week. Online by 9pm Tuesdays! 4. HAMILTON WALK On Sunday October 16 the steps that Sir William Rowan Hamilton took from Dunsink to Broombridge, where he discovered and inscribed his famous equation for quaternions, will be re-traced by Nobel Prize Winner Steven Weinberg, who will be doing the annual Hamilton Walk. Meet at the gates to Dunsink Observatory at 2pm for the 45 minute walk in to the Royal Irish Academy on Dawson Street. This year is of course Hamilton Year celebrating the bicentenary of his birth with events all year long www.hamilton2005.ie I hope to make it to the walk myself in this auspicious year. Perhaps I'll see you there? Note that cars cannot be left at the Observatory as it will be closed shortly after the walkers set off. 5. PUBLIC LECTURE "What evolution tells us about extra-terrestrials" by Prof Simon Conway Morris, University of Cambridge, is taking place at 6pm on Tuesday October 18th at the Dublin Institute of Technology in Aungier Street, Dublin 2. Attendance is free and to register you should phone Dr Peter Kavanagh at 01-4024583 or email him at peter.kavanagh@dit.ie Full details including biography of the speaker and his books at: http://hamilton.dit.ie/18-10-05.html Sounds very stimulating, I hope to get along also. ===== David Moore BSc FRAS, Chairman, Astronomy Ireland Editor, "Astronomy & Space" magazine. www.astronomy.ie THE ASTRONOMY SHOP - open until 6pm SATURDAY (Mon-Fri 9:30-17:30) Ireland's biggest selection of telescopes SALE NOW ON! GET READY FOR MARS! Tel (01) 847 0777