Classes <http://astronomy.ie/class/> Membership <http://www.astronomy.ie/sub/index.html> DVD <http://www.astronomy.ie/lectureDVD.php> 1. Public Lecture: Robots in Space Cassini engineer Dr Leah-Nani Alconel will give Astronomy Ireland's October Public Lecture Robots in Space, in which she will explain how robot spacecraft can provide important scientific data without risking the lives of human astronauts and at much lower cost. Robots are taking over space. They've already gone to the planets, and may even go to the stars without humans ever leaving Earth. On Earth we are protected by the planet's magnetic field, but in outer space astronauts can be exposed to cosmic rays and radiation from the Sun. With big risks of damaged DNA and cancer, future human space travel to other planets very risky business. But robots can do this dangerous exploration for us. Not only can spacecraft be protected from radiation much easier, but they are cheaper to put into space, and can survive decades travelling to other worlds in that extreme environment. One such spacecraft is the Cassini orbiter, which is currently travelling around Saturn: a planet with a dangerous environment full of ionised plasma created by both Saturn itself and its moons. The challenges of designing, constructing and operating them remotely require years, often decades, of commitment by large numbers of highly skilled personnel. In this talk, Dr Alconel will examine the process of overcoming these challenges from historical and personal perspectives to try to understand the abilities and limitations of robotic exploration. The October Public Lecture, Robots in Space, will take place at 8pm on Monday, October 14th, in Trinity College Dublin. Order tickets and DVDs of the lecture HERE <http://astronomy.ie/lecture201310.php> or by calling (01) 890 11 11 2. World Space Week: October 4th to 10th Today marks the beginning of World Space Week, and there is a fantastic series of events taking place in Trinity College Dublin. On Saturday, October 5th, Leo Enright (who is giving talks on our Northern Lights Cruise later this year) will interview Dr Paul Byrne, a NASA scientist working on the Messenger mission to Mercury. On Friday, October 11th, Astronomy Ireland member and science author Kevin Nolan will deliver a fascinating talk called Exploring Mars, Discovering Earth. For more information on the talks and events taking place during world space week, please visit www.spaceweek.ie 3. Aurora Over Ireland A couple of days ago a coronal mass ejection from the Sun triggered a display of northern lights. Unexpectedly, the aurora even appeared over Ireland! If you saw the display or managed to get a photograph, please let us know by emailing observe@astronomy.ie so that we can publish your report in an upcoming issue of Astronomy Ireland magazine. 4. BBC The Sky at Night The next episode of The Sky at Night is on BBC One NI at 11:45pm on Sunday, where the team are at a star party to answer questions about astronomy and telescopes. The rest of the week’s repeats will follow in the next email. 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: 2013.0.3408 / Virus Database: 3222/6722 - Release Date: 10/04/13