From: TerryMoselaol.com
Date: 4 February 2008 01:41:29 GMT
Subject: Lectures, Shuttle launch, Astrofest, Star Party, Petition

Hi all,


1. 5 February: EAAS  Lecture, at Ballyclare High School, George Avenue
(off Rashee Road), Ballyclare, Co.  Antrim commencing at 8PM. 
Title: "Tree-rings provide clues to ancient cosmic events",  
by Professor Mike Baillie.  

2. 6 February:  IAA PUBLIC LECTURE: Wednesday  6 February, 7.30 p.m. Dr
Aaron Golden, NUIG: "Periodic Radio Flares from Brown  Dwarfs: the
missing link between planets and pulsars?" The Bell lecture Theatre,
 Physics Building, Queen's University, Belfast. Admission free,
including light  refreshments. All welcome.   The IAA lecture programme
is held in association with the  School of Mathematics and Physics at
Queen's University Belfast. See: www.irishastro.org



3.  7 February: Shuttle Launch. At  1945 GMT, the space shuttle Atlantis
is set to launch on a 10-day mission to  deliver the Columbus laboratory
to the International Space Station (ISS). The  Columbus laboratory is a
European Space Agency module for the ISS and will be  used by astronauts
to carry out experiments in a weightless environment.   ESA astronauts
Leopold Eyharts from France and Hans Schlegel from Germany will  be
aboard Atlantis and will help commission the laboratory. Former fighter
pilot  Eyharts will then live on the ISS for the next three months. See:
http://sci.esa.int/,  
http://www.nasa.gov   

4.  8-9 FEBRUARY: ASTROFEST, KENSINGTON
CONFERENCE AND EVENTS  CENTRE, LONDON The  2008 Astrofest, hosted by
Astronomy Now magazine, runs from 8 to 9 February, in  the Kensington
Conference and Events Centre in west London. Leading figures in
 astronomy and space science will speak on topics ranging from
extrasolar planets  to the MESSENGER spacecraft encounter with Mercury.
Veteran astronomer and  television presenter Sir Patrick Moore will
close the conference with a look  back at the last 80 years of advances
in astronomy. See: 
http://www.astronomynow.com/astrofest   

5. 11 February, 8  p.m.,
Astronomy Ireland Public Lecture "LISA -   Gravitational Wave Mission",
Physics  Building, Trinity College Dublin (map on website), Admission: 5
Euro.  Tickets are  available at the door, or on www.astronomy.ie

6. 16 February: IAS Star Party  in Wicklow National Park, Saturday
February 16th, 8pm -  10pm The park will provide two guides to help park
cars. In the event of  rain the park are offering Sunday February 17th
as an alternate. The location is  the Upper Lake Car Park Glendalough,
Wicklow National Park. That is further up   from the Round Tower to
those who are not sure. The Park will negotiate with the council to get
the car parking free like last time. See:
http://www.irishastronomy.org/


7.  18 FEBRUARY: last date for E-PETITION ON STFC CUTS. More  than 15000
people have so far signed the e-petition to the UK Prime Minister,
 initiated by physics postgraduate student William Panduro Vazquez of
Imperial  College London, which calls on the Government to reverse the
 80m of cuts  announced in the budget of the Science and Technology
Facilities Council. The  petition closes on 18 February. See:
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Physics-Funding/

  8.  19 February. Armagh Observatory Public Lecture 
"The Life Story of a Star: from Birth to Death", 
8.00pm, by Professor John Landstreet,  Department of Physics and
Astronomy, University of Western Ontario, London,  Canada. Rotunda
Lecture Theatre, St. Patrick's Trian, Armagh, followed by  tea and
coffee. This public lecture is being given as part  of the Observatory's
Science in the Community programme, and is associated with  an
International Workshop on the Spectroscopy and Spectropolarimetry of A
and  B-type Stars being held at Armagh Observatory from 18-22 February
2008.    Synopsis: Most people who look up at the stars know that these
are bodies much  like our own Sun. But how are stars produced? Do they
live forever? If not, what  happens to them? This illustrated talk will
answer some of these questions by  describing how astronomers have come
to understand the life stories of single  stars, from the time they are
born out of giant gas clouds somewhere in our  Milky Way galaxy, through
mature middle age, until finally they collapse to  become tiny remnants
of their former selves, possibly even a black   hole. The lecture is
free of charge, but owing to  limitations of space, numbers may be
limited. To obtain tickets,   please write, telephone or e-mail to: Mrs
Aileen McKee, Armagh   Observatory,  College Hill, Armagh, BT61 9DG;
Tel: 028-3752-2928; Fax:  028-3752-7174;  e-mail: ambnarm.ac.uk


Clear  Skies, Terry  Moseley

Last Revised: 2008 February 4th

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