1. Hubble Public Lecture Astronomy Ireland is delighted to announce that our March 31st Public Lecture about the Hubble Space Telescope (with our speaker from Germany) is to be run in association with The Irish Times who will run an article in their Thursday March 20th issue. The last lecture that we ran with The Irish Times attracted 400 people so if you haven't already booked your seats, please do so now. Details HERE DVD: For all those of you who can't get to Dublin, you should order the DVD of this special lecture now, details are HERE 2. Arthur C. Clarke (1917-2008): It is with great sadness that we learned of the passing of Sir Arthur C. Clarke on March 18th at his home in Sri Lanka. He was a major figure in history, a scientist, writer and futurist who inspired a generation to advance our knowledge of science and technology. A master of science fiction, he will probably be most remembered for 2001, A Space Odyssey. A story which was made into a movie by Stanley Kubrick. He received a first class degree in maths and physics from Kings College, London after the second World War and he wrote many non fiction books on scientific subjects as well as the large collection of science fiction for which he is famous. He was also a futurist, predicting many scientific changes in our technological civilisation. He proposed communications satellites in geo-stationary orbits in 1945 (Astronomy Ireland has a copy of this article in its library) and the IAU recognised this by naming this the Clarke orbit. He built his first telescope when he was thirteen and was an active stargazer throughout his life. His legacy will not only be his collected works, but the generations of young people that he inspired to pursue careers in science and engineering. Hailed as one of the chief prophets of space exploration he commented on the Apollo Moon missions for CBS. He foresaw computer miniaturisation and our computer driven society. He was knighted for his services to literature in 1998 and he received innumerable international awards. He is famous for his "Three Laws". In 1956 he moved to Sri Lanka to pursue his passion for diving but lost his diving school in the 2004 Tsunami. He was even consulted by Gene Roddenberry about creating Star Trek. RTE Radio's "Morning Ireland" interviewed our Chairman David Moore who met Fred Clarke, Arthur's brother at Patrick Moore's Sky at Night 50th birthday celebrations last year, listen HERE For more information on Arthur C. Clarke see HERE Next week's A.I. Radio Show will do a special piece about Clarke. AIRS details HERE. If you would like to contribute a fact or point about Clarke, please email radio@astronomy.ie A full report will also appear in our magazine Astronomy & Space. Subscribe HERE 3. Shop opening hours for Easter: Our Telescope Shop will be open on Good Friday from 9:30am to 5:30pm and on Easter Saturday from 10am to 6pm. The Shop will be closed on Easter Sunday and Easter Monday but will re-open Tuesday March 25th 9:30am to 5:30pm as normal. If visiting Dublin why not drop in and see the huge range of equipment on display. Map and public transport details HERE Astronomy Ireland www.astronomy.ie Ireland's Only Astronomy Magazine One of Europe's Biggest Telescope Shops Tel (01) 847 0777 Mon-Sat