ASTRONOMY IRELAND MAILING LIST - www.astronomy.ie (The all-Ireland astronomy Club, Magazine and Shop) --------------------------------------------------- 1. MEETING WITH BUZZ ALDRIN We met Buzz Aldrin at lunch time today in advance of his SOLD OUT interview with Gay Byrne this evening in the National Concert Hall at 8pm - part of the Eagle Star Face to Face series of interviews organised by Newpark Productions - our thanks to them for arranging an audience with Buzz Aldrin. We got to ask him several questions before he had to rush off. An article with photos is being prepared for our magazine. As he was being whisked away for his next appointment I just managed to finally ask him for a brief YES/NO answer to the question "would you go into space again". He just barely got to say "no"! So if you're at the NCH interview this evening ask that question so we can all find out the reason! IRELAND AM (TV3) were there filming an interview which I'm sure you'd all like to see. I'm told it's expected to go out on Monday morning so do tune in (7am-10am so set your video now lest you forget!). Thanks to all of you who sent in questions. We were flooded with them at the last minute and could not ask them all so check out the magazine article when it comes out in either the January issue (out early December) or February issue (out early January). 2. INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION BLAZING ACROSS IRISH SKIES Everyone in Ireland can watch I.S.S. blaze across the sky for the next 12 nights. The time for tonight, Thursday is 5:18pm and I.S.S. will pass just above the Moon (those in the north of the island will see it get closest to the Moon). On board are Leroy Chiao and Salizhan Sharipov who have been in space since mid October and will stay on board until next April i.e. over Christmas and New Year, but what a view they will have out the window over Christmas dinner so don't feel too sorry for them. I.S.S. looks like an extremely bright 'star' to the naked eye and you can easily see it from even brightly lit cities. It crosses the sky in a minute or two high up and everyone in Ireland can see it at the same time. The only problem is that it flies over at a DIFFERENT time each evening (5:18pm tonight, but 6:24pm yesterday for example). They can also boost the orbit (they did this yesterday!) so you need to check the times daily. The best way to do this is to call our Newsline on 1550-111-442 (calls cost 95c/min). We update this every day by 12 noon so call each afternoon and set the alarm on your mobile or wrist watch to remind you a couple of minutes before the predicted time - you'll forget otherwise! In N.Ireland & Britain call 09001-88-1950 (calls cost 60p/min). I.S.S. is the most expensive object ever to be built and will cost 100,000 million dollars when it is completed. We have an I.S.S. page on our website www.astronomy.ie with more details, click the link on the left-hand menu bar. Newsline: 1550-111-442 - David Moore, Chairman, Astronomy Ireland - your national astronomy club & magazine. Astronomy Ireland is a non-profit club for EVERYONE interested in space. www.astronomy.ie/sub to join AI and get our monthly colour magazine. Or simply post 40euro to: P.O.Box 2888, Dublin 5. Proceeds from our SHOP also help in the running of the club so PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SHOP THIS CHRISTMAS - ASK ABOUT OUR CHRISTMAS TELESCOPE DISCOUNTS (up to 40%!) Astronomy Shop: Tel (01) 847 0777 Mon-Sat for ALL your astronomical needs www.astronomy.ie/map.html