From: TerryMoselaol.com

Subject: Lecture, IAA @ BCL, AP Events, Space talk, TV, Galway SP, Cork, Dublin events...

Date: 11 October 2013 16:45:57 BST

Hi all,

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1. IAA LECTURE,ƒŠ16 October.ƒŠDr Deirdre Coffey, UCD.ƒŠ"Exploring the Cosmos: the View from Hubble and Beyond".

ƒŠƒŠƒŠThe iconic Hubble Space Telescope has pushed the frontiers of astronomical knowledge further outwards in many different fields, as well asƒŠgiving us some of the most stunning views of our amazing universe ever seen. But a muchƒŠmore powerful telescope is planned to replace it - the James Webb Space Telescope. In this talk, Dr Coffey will outline some of the major achievements of the HST, and look forward to the JWST, and other important new instruments.

ƒŠƒŠƒŠƒŠƒŠThe lecture is free and open to all, including free refreshments.ƒŠIt will be held in the Bell Lecture Theatre, Physics Building, Queen's University, Belfast, at 7.30 p.m.ƒŠ

ƒŠƒŠ Thanks to the Astrophysics Research Centre, QUB, for help in hosting these lectures.

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2. IAA Display at Belfast Central Library: Saturday 12 October.

To mark the 125th anniversary of the Library, and World Space Week: the Irish Astronomical Association will be holding another of their very popular public astronomy events, at Belfast's main library, onƒŠSaturday afternoon,ƒŠ12 OctoberƒŠfromƒŠ1.30 to 4.00p.m. We'll have an amazing exhibition, includingƒŠfantastic space photos,ƒŠvariousƒŠastronomical telescopes, meteorites, andƒŠa mobileƒŠstardome planetarium (withƒŠthanks to Armagh Planetarium). Depending on availability of a suitable site, we will also use a selection ofƒŠspecial telescopes for viewing the Sun in a variety of types of light inƒŠcomplete safety (weather permitting).ƒŠAnd the event is totally free!

ƒŠƒŠ If it's clear, you will be able to see giant sunspots which areƒŠlarger thanƒŠthe Earth, huge flares of incredibly hot gas shooting off the Sun's surface, and other amazing detail on its surface.

ƒŠƒŠ And the first person from Ireland who has booked to go into space, IAA member Derek Heatly from Groomsport, will be there to talk about his preliminary training flights, and what his actual flight with Virgin Galactic will be like.

ƒŠƒŠ PeopleƒŠwill also be able to touch and hold genuine meteorites, pieces of rock that have come from outer space. These are about 4,600 million years old - the oldest things you will ever see in your life!

ƒŠƒŠTheseƒŠare always very popular events, and it's a central location with easy access by public transport.

For more details see:ƒŠƒŠwww.irishastro.orgƒŠ

ƒŠƒŠ Thanks to Armagh Planetarium for loan of the Stardome.

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3. SUNDIVING COMET: A comet is falling into the sun today. Images from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory show a bright comet rapidly evaporating as the sun turns up the heat, and it may be only hours away from complete disintegration.ƒŠ Check http://spaceweather.com for images of the death plunge.

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4.ƒŠArmagh Planetarium

ƒŠ (1) Math 'a' Magic; Saturday 12 October 2013

Who says that maths is boring?ƒŠ Join us as we discover the magic and mystery of maths.ƒŠ Capturing the imagination of children and adults alike, the math âÀØaâÀÙ magicians from Cahoots will demonstrate the power of mathematics through illusion, misdirection and even mind reading on Saturday 12 October!

This is an unforgettable learning experience that will blow your mind!

Ages: 7 âÀÓ 13, Duration: 1 hour, Times: 12.30pm and 2.30pm.

Tickets are free but spaces areƒŠlimitedƒŠso pleaseƒŠpre-book on 028 37523689.

ƒŠƒŠ (2) Planetarium Open Night, Tuesday 15 October

Armagh Planetarium will be hosting a public telescope viewing session as part of our programme ofƒŠFREE Open Nights starting on Tuesday 15 October 2013.ƒŠ On this evening night sky observation is hoped to take place (weather permitting) from 7pm-9pm.

ƒŠƒŠ At 7.30pm there is also an opportunity to see the stars whatever the weather in our Digital Theatre show âÀØBeyond the BlueâÀÙ.ƒŠ If you already have a telescope or binoculars you are welcome to bring them with you for your own use.ƒŠ Dressing warmly is essential for outdoor stargazing!

ƒŠTimes: Open 7pm-9pm, Digital Theatre Show: 7.30pm

TEL: 028 37523689. Pre-booking essential

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5. RAeS Lecture, by Robert Hill. ƒŠRoom 02/026,ƒŠPeter Froggatt Centre, QUB,ƒŠon Thursday 17th Oct. Developing The Final Frontier: the Space Revolution:

ƒŠƒŠ All are very welcome to attend this freeƒŠlecture, being presented by Robert Hill from Armagh Planetarium. Robert is the Director of the Northern Ireland Space Office, and an amazing speaker. The Peter Froggett Centre is on the N side of the main campus, andƒŠadjoins University Square.ƒŠThe lecture is due to commence at 7 PM, with refreshments available from 6:30 PM

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6.ƒŠNEXT SAN PROGRAMME: SKY AT NIGHT 'BRECON BEACONS' ASTRO CAMP:ƒŠSaturday 12 Oct. BBC 2ƒŠ(repeat)ƒŠ

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7: TV - HORIZON: Thursday, 17 Oct. BBC4 8.0 - 9.00pm.ƒŠ"The Horizon Guide to Mars"ƒŠ Dr. Kevin Fong draws on 45 yrs. of footage from the Horizon archives. (Thanks to Peter Paice for the alerts)

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8. PRESERVING THE SKY AT NIGHT (Letter in next Radio Times: passed on by Peter Millar):

LETTER OF THE WEEK

I'm an assistant at the Hampstead Observatory in north London. Ten years ago we used to get 90 or so visitors per year - now we get that in one night! Most of these people found out about us as a result of The Sky at Night filming here. Everyone involved in the observatory grew up with this show and became passionate about astronomy as a result.

The Sky at Night needs to be on more often, earlier, longer and with a serious budget. Stargazing Live is only on once a year and Horizon only covers astronomy from time to time. The public has a thirst for this subject. Our visitors are from every age group and there's a 50-50 gender split. They aren't geeks and old men but everyday folk. This audience has a right to find out more and the BBC has a duty to provide them with that knowledge. The Sky at Night has the history, reputation and the team to deliver that, so please give them the tools and let them do it! Kevin McNulty London NW3

A petition urging the BBC not to axe The Sky at Night has already collected 30,000 signatures. The BBC says: "Sky at Night is on air until the end of the year. Plans for subsequent series are being discussed."

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9. Galway Star Party.ƒŠ1 February 2014.

âÀÜCity of Stars" is the theme for the 2014 Galway Astronomy Festival which takes place on February 1st at the Westwood House Hotel with an emphasis on how exploration of the Cosmos has inspired communities and cultures in our city that would not otherwise do so, to think about the Universe.ƒŠ From its humble beginnings in January 2004 to the present day our Astronomy Festival has become IrelandâÀÙs biggest annual gathering of amateur astronomers who come here from around the country to meet in friendship and to exchange information, successful stargazing and mutual progress.

ƒŠƒŠ The event will follow the same formatƒŠas last year with six talks split into two sessions in the morning and evening. A new lunchtime interlude with two mini observing workshops and in the late evening we present the new Sir Patrick Moore Memorial Lecture.ƒŠ

1. Dr Deirdre Coffey, UCD. title tba

2. Dr Matt Redman, Director of Centre for Astronomy, NUI Galway: "Star formation and Star Destruction"

3. Guy Hurst, Editor of "The Astronomer magazine" UK: "The Glory of Globular Star Clusters"

4. Tom O'Donaghue: âÀÜCosmic Vistas: The Universe in ColourâÀÝ www.astrophotography.ie

5. Professor Paul Mohr: "The genius of the Greek naked-eye astronomers: Measuring the Cosmos with dioptra and trigonometry"ƒŠ

6. Michael OâÀÙConnell: "From the Big Dipper to the Southern Cross: Observing the southern sky Down UnderâÀÝ

2 x 25 min workshops: Paul Byrne IFAS: âÀÜDouble Stars: Celestial CouplesâÀ݃Š

2nd workshop TBC

ƒŠƒŠ Paul Mohr is provisionally launching his new book about Greek Astronomy for the amateur astronomer

ƒŠƒŠ Tom will exhibit his photos

ƒŠƒŠ Paul Byrne is a double star enthusiast from Dublin

The Sir Patrick Moore Memorial Talk: Guy Hurst: "The Astronomer: The First 50 years" celebrating their Golden Jubilee 1964-2014

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10. Martin Campbell's Photo in APOY 2013:ƒŠCongrats to IAA member Martin Campbell whoseƒŠshort listed entry in this year's APOY competition features in the recently published book APOY 2013 edition.ƒŠƒŠ

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11. COMET ISON - LATEST: Still fainter than originally predicted, but now up to about mag 11 - 12. See: http://www.space.com/23006-comet-ison-comet-of-century-chances.html, and

http://www.universetoday.com/105380/new-data-will-comet-ison-survive-its-close-perihelion-passage/ƒŠbut also

http://www.ibtimes.com/comet-ison-may-be-disintegratingthe-comet-century-could-prove-be-dud-1415574.ƒŠ

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12. ISS: the ISSƒŠhas started a new series of evening passes over Ireland. For details for your location, see: www.heavens-above.comƒŠƒŠ

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13. Cork Astronomy Club meeting, October 14th: "From Sputnik to the Moon Landings: A History of the Russian Space Programme", by Con McCarthy, Project manager for ESA's Mars Express Lander, and Systems Engineer for Huygens and Venus Express. See http://www.corkastronomyclub.com/ for details.

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14. Irish Astronomical Society talk on October 21st:ƒŠƒŠDr Masha Chernyakova (DCU) will give a talkƒŠentitled "Puzzling Gamma-Ray Binaries: Theory and Observation". See http://irishastrosoc.org/wp/ for details. ƒŠƒŠƒŠ

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15. CERN exhibition at UCD:ƒŠƒŠThe new Science Centre at University College Dublin hosts an exhibition about CERN fromƒŠnow to OctƒŠ28th. The exhibition is self-guided and open to the public 9am to 9pm on weekdays. A guided tour can be arranged with the faculty in UCD beforehand though. See http://www.iopireland.org/events/ for details.

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16. International Observe the Moon Night -- October 12th (and IAS event on the 11th)ƒŠCelebrate the beauty of our companion world in space on October 12th by viewing the Moon through binoculars, a telescope, or just by gazing up in wonder. See http://observethemoonnight.org/ for more details. The Moon will be at First Quarter and the Irish Astronomical Society will be hosting a Sidewalk Astronomy Event on October 11th at Sandymount Tower. See http://irishastrosoc.org/wp/ for details.ƒŠ(Thanks to John Flannery)

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17. "The Life of Galileo" -- November 8th to 10th.ƒŠBertolt BrechtâÀÙs acclaimed play about science, religion and authority, âÀØThe Life of GalileoâÀÙ, comes to Dunsink Observatory for three nights in November, when the play will be staged around several unique spaces, including the 150-year-old dome with its historic telescope. See http://www.dias.ie/index.php?lang=en for details.

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18. STARGAZING LIVEƒŠreturns on 7 - 9 January 2014. The IAA has once again been asked to be principal partner with the BBC for this prestigious event. More details later, but mark your diaries now.

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19. INTERESTING WEBLINKS:ƒŠ

ƒŠhttp://www.space.com/23117-virgin-galactic-zero-gravity-flight.html?cmpid=545403

http://www.space.com/23116-fast-alien-planets-skimming-stars.html?cmpid=545403

http://www.space.com/23113-neptune-lost-moon-naiad-photos.html?cmpid=545403

http://www.space.com/23123-comet-earth-impact-first-evidence.html?cmpid=545403

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2450798/Egyptian-pebble-filled-diamonds-evidence-comet-colliding-Earth.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2449476/Francois-Englert-Peter-Higgs-awarded-1-25-million-Nobel-Prize-Physics-God-particle-theory.html

http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n1310/07isromars/

http://www.space.com/21337-advanced-spacecraft-propulsion-concepts-images.html

http://www.space.com/23084-mars-exploration-nuclear-fusion-rocket.html?cmpid=545402

http://www.space.com/23090-astronauts-caves-mock-space-mission.html?cmpid=545402

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2442025/Super-Earth-Gliese-1214-b-plasma-water-rich-atmosphere.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2448540/Mars-Mavin-mission-green-lit-government-shut-down.html

http://news.discovery.com/space/astronomy/giant-planet-seen-lurking-inside-the-galactic-bulge-131004.htm

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2448878/Massive-planet-EIGHT-times-size-Jupiter-discovered-25-000-light-years-away.html

http://aolbroadband.welcomescreen.aol.co.uk/video/study-reveals-alien-planet-likely-has-water-in-plasma-form/517957543/

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn24308?cmpid=NLC%7CNSNS%7C2013-0310-GLOBAL&utm_medium=NLC&utm_source=NSNS&,

www.bco.ie,

http://www.space.com/23030-government-shutdown-mars-maven-mission.html?cmpid=545400

http://www.space.com/23035-government-shutdown-dangerous-asteroids-search.html?cmpid=545400

http://www.space.com/23042-star-wars-film-set-sand-dunes.html?cmpid=545400

http://www.space.com/23037-nasa-mars-rover-2020-government-shutdown.html?cmpid=545400

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2441761/Did-supervolcanoes-Mars-dramatically-change-climate.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2442025/Super-Earth-Gliese-1214-b-plasma-water-rich-atmosphere.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2441445/This-Mars-Planets-incredible-varied-landscape-revealed-Nasa-satellite-images.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2442134/NASA-map-cloud-cover-planet-1k-light-years-away-Earth.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2440777/Doctor-Who-50th-anniversary-special-broadcast-simultaneously-world.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2453519/Planets-like-Earth-existed-near-old-star-Astronomers-discover-evidence-planets-solar-system.html?ico=sciencetech^headlines

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2452217/A-lonely-planet-Giant-gas-world-sun-orbit-floating-space.html?ico=sciencetech^headlines

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22029380.800?cmpid=NLC|NSNS|2013-1010-GLOBAL&utm_medium=NLC&utm_source=NSNS&

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/10366055/Russian-meteor-was-partially-formed-from-hard-to-spot-dark-asteroid-material.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/10/07/meteor-ohio-video_n_4056246.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular

http://www.space.com/23143-lonely-alien-planet-discovery.html?cmpid=545404

http://www.space.com/23149-watery-asteroid-habitable-planets-white-dwarf.html?cmpid=545404

http://www.space.com/15841-mercury-aurora-7-scott-carpenter-mission-images.html?cmpid=545404

http://www.space.com/23159-juno-jupiter-probe-glitch-outlook.html?cmpid=545404

http://www.space.com/23162-nasa-sunjammer-solar-sail-test-complete.html?cmpid=545404

http://www.space.com/23161-mars-clouds-earth-nuclear-reactor.html?cmpid=545404

http://aolbroadband.welcomescreen.aol.co.uk/video/mississippi-man-stands-by-alien-abduction-claim/517967144/ƒŠIt's no wonder they brought him back!

http://www.space.com/23063-terraforming-planets-shell-worlds.html?cmpid=545402

That's not half ambitious enough. Why not do things properly - you just have to create a new planet, of the right size, in the right orbit, around the right star. If you've got one the size of even Mercury to start with, all you need is to add some asteroidsƒŠto provideƒŠextra mass and minerals, some comets to bring water & thus oxygen, and build it up to the mass where it can hold on to its atmosphere. No problem......

ƒŠƒŠ But seriously, some of these fantasies, masquerading as 'science of the future' do make me laugh. Of course the technology to do that sort of thing may be possible in the far distant future. But in the so far distant future that speculation is pointless, because we have no idea what other new science and technology may emerge between now and then, making such projects redundant. We don't know what the next few centuries areƒŠgoing to bring, let alone the next few millennia. Just think: did even the best scientific brains of the 19th century predict nuclear power, nanotechnology, or the digital age? Or if you had askedƒŠJames Clerk MaxwellƒŠif it would ever be possible to cross the USA in less than a day, he would probably have said 'Well, if you could build a fast enough train and a dead straight track, with no stops ...."

ƒŠƒŠ These propositions are solutions to problems that may have to be dealt with in the period at least 1,000, or probably 10,000,ƒŠyears in the future, but NOTƒŠusing the science and technology we know of in 2013.

ƒŠƒŠ T.M.

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20. TWITTER:ƒŠFollow theƒŠIAAƒŠon Twitter:ƒŠ IaaAstro

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21. NEW LINK! JOINING the IRISH ASTRONOMICAL ASSOCIATION is easy: This link downloads a Word document to join the IAA. http://documents.irishastro.org.uk/iaamembership.doc

ƒŠƒŠ ƒŠIf you are a UK taxpayer, please tick the 'gift-aid' box, as that enables us to reclaim the standard rate of tax on your subscription, at no cost to you.ƒŠYou can also make aƒŠdonation via Paypal if you wish: just click on the 'Donate' button.ƒŠƒŠSee also www.irishastro.org.ƒŠ

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Clear skies,

Terry Moseley

mob: (0044) (0) 7979 300842

I'm now back on Twitter (occasionally - I don't have enough time!), after some temporary hiccups: terrymoseley2

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