Hi all, THREE ITEMS: 1. Just another reminder: 12 October: Irish Astronomical Association presents "NIGHT SKY DELIGHTS" at Carnfunnock Country Park: See the Wonders of the Universe with telescopes and binoculars! Also a Mobile Planetarium, etc, so come along even if it's cloudy. 7.30 to 10.00 p.m., Carnfunnock Country Park, Drains Bay, on the A2 just North of Larne, Co. Antrim There will be a variety of telescopes and large binoculars to view the wonders of the night sky if it is clear. We can see huge craters and mountains on the Moon, the beautiful Ringed Planet Saturn, and galaxies, nebulae, star clusters, giant stars, red stars and beautiful coloured double stars. We may also see the International Space Station passing over at 17,500 m.p.h.! There will also be some talks on astronomy and observing the sky, and special shows in a mobile planetarium, courtesy of Armagh Planetarium, so come along even if it's cloudy. Everyone will be very welcome, but wrap up well for observing! 2. The RDS Science and Technology Committee in association with Women in Technology and Science announces a forthcoming lecture by Dr Mary Brück of Edinburgh. Dr Mary Brück, formerly of the Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, will deliver a public lecture on the life and times of the celebrated nineteenth century Skibbereen-born historian and astronomer Agnes Mary Clerke. The lecture marks the publication by Cambridge University Press of Mary Brück's acclaimed biography of the famous historian of science. The lecture: "The Remarkable Agnes Clerke and Some of her Contemporaries", takes place in The Minerva Suite of the Royal Dublin Society, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4 on Wednesday, 23 October at 8.00 p.m. Agnes Mary Clerke was an exceptionally accomplished scholar, fluent in several languages and a prolific correspondent. She was accepted on equal terms by many of the leading astronomers of the day, at a time when female scientific writers were almost unknown. Mary Brück's lecture will highlight the many successes of Agnes Clerke's life and some of the achievements of other women in physics and astronomy in the late nineteenth century. Mary Brück (née Conway) was born in Co. Meath, and is a Physics graduate of University College Dublin. She obtained her PhD in astronomy at Edinburgh after which she was appointed to the staff of Dunsink Observatory, Dublin, where her main research dealt with solar spectroscopy. It was at Dunsink that she met and later married Professor Hermann Alexander Brück, Director of Dunsink Observatory from 1947-1957. At the end of this period she moved to the Royal Observatory Edinburgh, where her husband had been appointed Astronomer Royal for Scotland and Regius Professor at the University of Edinburgh. Since retiring from formal teaching duties at the University of Edinburgh, Dr Brück has taken a keen interest in the lives of early women astronomers and in the history of Irish astronomy. She is the author of numerous scientific and historical papers, is an honorary member of the Irish Astronomical Society, and in 2001 was awarded the Lorimer Medal of the Astronomical Society of Edinburgh for her work in diffusing knowledge of astronomy. Admission to the lecture is free but as places are limited please reserve your place by contacting: Annette McDonnell, RDS, Dublin 4. Tel: (01) 240-7217 Fax: (01) 660-4014 Email: annette.mcdonnell@rds.ie 3. Sky at Night photo competition "The Sky at Night are looking for the best astronomy photograph of 2002. To enter the competition please visit the web page below. http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/space/spaceguide/skyatnight/photocomp.shtml Best Wishes, The Sky at Night team" Terry
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