*1. Irish Planet Hunters speak about Celtic Rock* On Monday June 8, the first in a series of A.I. Summer Lectures will be given by David McDonald and David Grennan, two of Ireland's leading 'Planet Hunters'. At this Public Lecture, both David's will speak about their whopping discovery of five asteroids. Only six asteroids have ever been discovered from Irish soil, making their discoveries over the course of a few months, even more remarkable. David Grennan and David McDonald will discuss the asteroids, now commonly referred to as 'Celtic Rock', and how it feels to make Irish history. To hear their stories, and to learn how you too could become a 'Planet Hunter', come to the lecture on Monday, June 8 at 8pm. Moredetails are available HERE <http://www.astronomy.ie/lecture200905.html>. *TELEVISION COVERAGE* RTE News covered the story last year with Leo Enright<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_J._Enright>and Astronomy Ireland Chairman, David Moore <http://www.astronomy.ie/dmbio.html>. Click HERE<http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/1009/6news_av.html?2434151,null,230>to watch their report. *RECEPTION AFTERWARDS* There will be a social reception at 9:30pm in The Lombard following the lecture, all are welcome to attend, and food will be kindly provided by The Lombard. Tickets are 7euro (non-members) or 5euro (members and concessions). To book your tickets for this lecture click *HERE*<http://www.astronomy.ie/lecture200906.html> A DVD of the lecture will be available for everyone all over Ireland. Order DVD *HERE* <http://www.astronomy.ie/lectureDVD.html> ** *2. What to See in Irish Skies* There are several special events in *Irish skies* for the next few days: - *Saturn* still remains high in the Southern sky, well-placed for viewing after sunset. Even through a small telescope, you should be able to see its rings which are as close to edge-on as they will be for 15 years. - Saturn's larger moons, including *Titan*, are also visible. See magazine *Sky Diary* for times to watch! - The *Full Moon* on June 7 will be the lowest of the year, always a spectacular sight. - Before the Full Moon however, the terminator (the *line between the bright and dark sides of the Moon*) is an excellent place to point your binoculars or telescope. You will be able to see huge mountains and deep valleys, and shadows cast by big craters along this line. - Jupiter, Neptune and Comet Kopff are all close together. See magazine<http://www.astronomy.ie/sub>for more details. For diagrams and lots more details all month long, see Sky Diary pages of our magazine <http://www.astronomy.ie/sub> (only 5euro inc. p&p). *IMPORTANT:* Email what you see to observe@astronomy.ie for our monthly magazine report. *3. Solar Phenomena* We've had a number of reports of solar phenomena such as Sun dogs and Sun pillars. A Sun dog appears as a rainbow-like blob either side of the Sun, and a pillar is a long beam of light extending from the top of the Sun. They occur when sunlight bends around ice crystals in the atmosphere, and are best seen in the mornings and evenings. If you see any of these phenomena, please send your sightings to observe@astronomy.ie. *4. Saturn Watch a Fantastic Success* Clear skies graced all of our 8 Saturn Watches nationwide. About a thousand people came to our Dublin Watch, a hundred in Cork, and large crowds at all the other venues. Thanks to the great media coverage that we got. Click HERE<http://www.astronomy.ie/mediaarchive.html>to listen to the interviews on our audio page. A preliminary report with pictures appears HERE <http://www.astronomy.ie/saturnwatch0609report.html>. NEXT EVENT: STAR-B-Q <http://www.astronomy.ie/sbq/index.html>, Saturday, August 22nd in Wicklow. ** *Astronomy Ireland* <http://www.astronomy.ie/> *The world's most popular Astronomy Club AND Ireland's Only Astronomy **Magazine* <http://www.astronomy.ie/sub> *www.astronomy.ie* <http://www.astronomy.ie/> *Call Our Telescope Shop* <http://www.astronomy.ie/shop> *Tel (01) 847 0777 Mon-Sat* *( subscribe / unsubscribe **here*<http://lists.redbrick.dcu.ie/mailman/listinfo/astronomy> * )*