Christmas Gifts <http://www.astronomy.ie/gifts> Membership <http://www.astronomy.ie/sub/index.html> DVD <http://www.astronomy.ie/lectureDVD.php> Christmas Lecture ESA Missions: Present and Future Last month, the European Space Agency's latest mission, Swarm, launched successfully from Russia to place a trio of satellites in orbit around Earth. Swarm will measure our planet's magnetic field to explore how it works and to see if Earth's magnetic field is 'flipping'. It will also try to determine if the Sun's effect on the magnetic field has any influence on the planet's climate. Swarm isn't the only mission being undertaken by the ESA, of course. A new mission called Gaia is due to launch later this year and will measure with great accuracy the location of stars in our galaxy, giving us a more complete picture of the Milky Way and galactic structure. Professor Alvaro Giménez Cañete is the Director of Science and Robotics at the European Space Agency, and as a ‘billion euro’ space scientist, he is in charge of a multi-billion euro budget to operate the ESA's science programme and its robotic exploration. Professor Cañete is one of the most important people in Europe's presence in space, of which Ireland is a part. He will deliver Astronomy Ireland's special Christmas Lecture on December 9th in Trinity College Dublin. We are extremely lucky to have him come to Ireland to give this special lecture, so make sure you book your tickets soon as this will be a very popular lecture! After the lecture there will be a social reception nearby in the Lombard Inn with finger food. For more information and to book tickets, please click HERE <http://www.astronomy.ie/lecture201312.php> . Error on Magazine Newsletter If you get Astronomy Ireland magazine in the post you may have noticed that the incorrect date is given for our Christmas Lecture on the newsletter. This was an oversight in the production of the newsletter. The correct date is, of course, December 9th. Astronomy Ireland The world's most popular astronomy club www.astronomy.ie ( subscribe / unsubscribe <http://lists.redbrick.dcu.ie/mailman/listinfo/astronomy> ) _____ No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 2013.0.3426 / Virus Database: 3657/6887 - Release Date: 12/03/13