All, Since announcing Kevin Sweeney's lecture for this past Monday on Astronomical Imaging, a number of people have requested a copy of Kevin's image of the Horsehead Nebula. I have therefore uploaded a copy to www.astronomy.ie/horsehead.jpg for all to view. The Horsehead is a dark globule of dust and non-luminous gas, obscuring the light coming from behind. As you've guessed, it is the horse-head shape of this non-luminous gas that lends the nebula its name. That's a horse's head roughly 2 light years across! It is situated an estimated 1400 light years away in the direction of constellation Orion. Astronomy Ireland's Neil English did a piece on the Horsehead in our April 2006 issue. Kevin's lecture Monday was an astronomical success. But if you are interested in how you can make such wonderful pictures yourself it is not too late! You can order a DVD copy and view it at your own pace. Just log onto www.astronomy.ie/lectureDVD.html. For those of you planning to join us on our popular Star-B-Q on Saturday, August 26, you have until only July 31 to book before the price goes up! In addition to stimulating lectures led by Astronomy Ireland Chairman David Moore, and professionally catered barbecue, we will have some of Ireland's most powerful portable telescopes trained on the most beautiful galaxies and star-clusters in the sky. Book today at www.astronomy.ie/sbq. Best, ============ Bernard Gaffney Executive Secretary Astronomy Ireland P.O.Box 2888, Dublin 5. Tel: (01) 847 0777 Fax: (01) 847 0771 www.astronomy.ie sec@astronomy.ie