Saturday 4pm Feb 12 1. SATURN & TITAN IMAGES DRAW BIGGEST CROWD EVER! Make sure you book your place at our Public Lecture on Monday Feb 14 at 8pm when Prof Carl Murray from the Cassini-Huygens probe shows the latest pictures from Saturn and Titan. We already have over 300 people coming from all parts of Ireland for this event, making it the biggest lecture we have ever run in D.C.U. Members of AI who cannot attend will be able to order a DVD of the lecture at modest cost as a service to the majority of you who live outside Leinster and cannot easily get to these lectures (details will be announced here later). This lecture has been so popular that we have had to move to larger lecture theatres to cater for the demand and we are now in the BIGGEST in D.C.U: the TERENCE LARKIN LECTURE THEATRE - a stand alone circular building next to The Helix and right in front of the multi-storey car park. Map: http://www.astronomy.ie/images/DCUmap.gif PAT KENNY SHOW (RTE RADIO 1) MONDAY 10am-12pm Our speaker will be interviewed by Pat Kenny live in studio on the TODAY WITH PAT KENNY SHOW on the morning of the lecture. Not sure of the time slot within the 2 hour show so tune in from 10am to 12pm or listen online www.rte.ie/radio1 This will be of interest to our members ALL AROUND IRELAND. Also, watch the RTE 1 television news at 9pm that night (while the lecture is on!) as they are pre-recording an interview with Prof Murray. SCOPE, RTE 2's weekly science TV programme will also record a piece with our speaker for transmission later. Tune in every Tuesday at 7pm (remember, Tuesdays are 'science night' with SCOPE at 7pm RTE 2 TV, and the AI Radio Show at 8pm on 103.2FM and on our website a few hours later). BOOKING: Tickets are 5euro (3euro to members - just bring along the Feb issue of our magazine to prove membership) You can book places for yourself and friends/family on our website or by emailing lecture@astronomy.ie with subject "Feb14Dublin" and just say how many tickets you require. Then you will be on our list and you can pay at the door, but do come along at 7:30pm when doors open so we can start the lecture on time. Alternatively, drop in to our Shop (up to 6pm Saturday, and 9:30-17:30 Monday) and buy tickets so you can walk straight in to the lecture without queuing. More details of the lecture, maps of DCU campus, and how to get there from anywhere in the world(!) are on our website: www.astronomy.ie Please book before the Pat Kenny Show airs in case there is a huge rush for tickets! 2. NEW STAR IN CYGNUS! A nova has been found by Japanese astronomer S. Nakano on Feb. 10. It seems to have brightened from magnitude 9.7 to 8.9 in 24 hours (although details are sketchy this soon after discovery), but it should be visible at least in binoculars. It's very easy to find just 2.5 degrees West of Gamma Cygni (the 'centre' star in Cygnus). Remember the field of view of the 10x50 binoculars which lots of you have bought from our Shop is 7 degrees so the nova is well inside the same field of view as the star. The AAVSO have produced a detailed chart at: http://www.aavso.org/cgi-bin/shrinkwrap.pl?path=/charts/CYG/N_CYG_05/NCYG05-... I'll put up a simpler chart myself later at www.astronomy.ie/NovaCyg05.gif showing the whole constellation. The nova is 20 degrees up in the Northwest at the end of evening nautical twilight(6:47pm) and 45 degrees up in the East at the start of morning nautical twilight(6:30am) The position for those of you who have good star maps or CD-ROM packages (call Shop for advice) is: RA 20h 09m 19s, DEC +39 48' 53" (2000) That makes it circumpolar from Ireland (i.e. it never sets), but it is only 3 degrees when at its lowest, due North, around 11:00pm, so view early (or before dawn!) If the nova is brightening it could reach naked eye visibility but we cannot guarantee that at this early stage. We'll keep you posted and do check for yourself! Regards and clear skies, David Moore. Chairman, Astronomy Ireland Tel: (01) 847 0777 Visit www.astronomy.ie Please support our club, magazine, and the ASTRONOMY SHOP at Unit 75, Butterly Business Park, Kilmore Road, Artane, Dublin 5. IRELAND'S BIGGEST TELESCOPE SHOP