From: TerryMoselaol.com

Subject: Another fireball, CERN/LHC, Venus emerges, TV, IAA Solar Day & BBQ, Weblinks

Date: 9 May 2013 15:42:37 BST

Hi all,

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1. ANOTHER BRIGHT FIREBALL, over England: Another bright fireball was seen and imaged last night, passing over SW and Southern England. No reports yet of any meteorite falls. There is some speculation that it might have been an unusually bright member of the Eta Aquarids meteor shower, which comprise particles from Halley's Comet. But until we have a better picture of the trajectory, we won't know for sure. If it was a piece from the comet, then we would not expect any meteorites. See: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2321836/Green-fireball-meteor-spotted-shooting-UK-150-000-miles-hour.html?ico=sciencetech^headlines

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2. CERN at QUB:ˆàˆàThe exhibition and series of talks about CERN, the LHC, Higgs Boson etc,ˆàcontinues with a lecture tonight at QUB. Admission is free, but by ticket only. The exhibition is open 9-5 today, and 9 to lunchtimeˆàon Friday. Congratulations to Prof Alan Fitzsimmons and his team at QUB who did all the organising for thisˆàmajor event visiting Belfast.ˆàDetails at: http://www.qub.ac.uk/schools/SchoolofMathematicsandPhysics/NewsandEvents/Title,384694,en.html#d.en.384694

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3. Venus emerges to meet Jupiter andˆà Moon, and be joined byˆàMercury:ˆàBrilliant Venus is now emerging from Solar conjunctionˆàinto the evening twilight. As it moves further out from the Sun, it will meet Jupiter, the second brightest planet, as it moves to passˆàbehind the Sun. And they will be joined by a lovely crescent Moon, and later by shy twinkling Mercury, to form one of the loveliest conjunctions for many years.

ˆàˆà On the evening ofˆà11 May, look for bright Venus low in the WNW twilight shortly after sunset. From Belfast, at 10pm BST, Venus will be 2deg 20' (almost 5 moon diameters) above the horizon, with a very thin crescent Moon 9 degrees to the left, at about 10.0 on a clock face from Venus. Then look for fainter Jupiter 9 deg above the Moon, at 11pm onˆàa clock face.

ˆàˆà Next evening at the same time, the Moon will have moved to lie 5 deg left of, and a bit below, Jupiter, with Venus almost 20 deg below and right of the Mon.

ˆàˆà Then on 20 May, Mercury will start to creep out from the Sun's glare: at 22.10 BST it will lie just over 3 deg (6 Moon diameters) above the NW horizon, with Venus and Jupiter above and left of it. Then watch over the nextˆàweek as they change their relative positions, including a lovelyˆàclose equilateral triangle on 26 May. More details closer to that time.

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4. Annual Solar Eclipse, Australia, 9-10 May. Following last year's Total Solar Eclipse, North Queensland will have an annular eclipse on 9 May (10 May local time). The track starts in Western Australia, moves into Northern Territory, then across Far North Queensland and out into the Pacific, where it crosses a few small islands. The track crosses that of last November's TSE in a remote area near the base of the Cape York peninsula. òÀæ Maximum duration on the mainland is 4m 40s, and longest on any of the islands is 5m 53s.ˆàCairns will see an 89% partial eclipse.

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5. GALILEO:ˆà"THE LIFE OF GALILEO", by Bertolt Brecht, in a new version by David Hare, will beˆàperformed by the Greenwood Players in St. George's Church, Belfast, 7.30pm, Saturday 11th May 2013.

This is part of the 14th Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival, 2nd--12th May 2013.

For tickets, seeˆàhttps://cqaf.ticketsolve.com/shows/873492992/events

For poster, seeˆàhttp://star.arm.ac.uk/~meb/greenwood/galileo_at_St_Georges_poster_2013apr23.jpg

For further information, seeˆàhttp://star.arm.ac.uk/~meb/greenwood/galileo_at_st_georges_pr_2013apr18.pdf

6. TV:

A. "The SKY AT NIGHT"ˆàStunning Saturn: With Saturn in our evening skies, the team investigate the storm that is still raging in the planet's atmosphere, and illustrate Saturn's 'opposition effect'.

Thu May 09 at 07:30pm BBC FOUR

Fri May 10 at 01:50am BBC FOUR

Sat May 11 at 11:10am BBC 2 Northern Ireland

Sat May 11 at 11:10am BBC Two HD

Sun May 12 at 01:05am BBC FOUR

The BBC1 and BBC2 programmes are shorter versions (20 minutes). The BBC FOUR transmissions areˆà30 minutes long.

B. BBC2, Sunday 12 May,

20.00: . The Challenger Disaster.ˆàOn 28 January 1986, the Challenger space shuttle exploded 73 seconds after takeoff. This fact-based drama starring William Hurt shows how Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman carried out his investigation into the disaster.ˆàDirector James Hawes (R) (S) (AD) (HD)ˆàˆà75893

9.30 The Fantastic Mr Feynman

Twenty-five years after his death, Richard Feynman is still regarded as one of the most influential, inspiring and iconic scientists of the 20th century. Now, in his own words and those of his friends and family, we hear a detailed account of the physicist's life and learn how he was also one of science's most captivating communicators. Director/Producer Christopher Riley (S) (AD) (HD)ˆà18928 (Thanks to Peter Miller for thoseˆàalerts)

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7. IAA SOLAR DAY, CARNFUNNOCK COUNTRY PARK. We'll be holding another of these very popular solar days at Carnfunnock Country Park on the A2 Antrim Coast Road just a few miles N of Larne, on Saturday 15 June, 2 - 5 p.m. Solar telescopes, the biggest collection of sundials in Ireland, an astronomyˆàexhibition, and of course the mobile planetarium with shows for young and old. More details later.

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8. IAA MIDSUMMER BBQ: This will be held at about 5.15 p.m., immediately after our Solar day at Carnfunnock CP on Saturday 15 June: see above;

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9.ˆàThe ASGI Summer Meeting will be held in Trinity College, Dublin on Friday June 7th 2013. This date and venue have been chosen to coincide with the visit of the European Space Expo to TCD (see http://www.astrophysics.ie/?p=778 for more details). This is a professional level meeting, but members of affiliated societies, such as the IAA, are welcome to attend. But be warned: most of it is heavy stuff!

10.ˆàˆàDeath of long-standing IAA member: It is with regret that we have learned of the sad death of one of our oldest members, MrˆàHubert Hall, aged 90 years, on 16 April. Our sympathy and condolences to the family circle.

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11. INTERESTING WEBLINKS:ˆà

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/05/07/biggest-supernova_n_3227425.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/08/16/mars-adrift-on-the-hourglass-sea-nasa-nicholas-kahn-richard-selesnick-_n_1788379.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22402849

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2321187/Look-Nasa-releases-stunning-image-latest-flare-heading-Earth-sun-heads-solar-maximum.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2321451/Spot-space-warp-Astronomers-ask-amateur-help-search-astronomical-UFO-abnormalities.html?ico=sciencetech^headlines

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2321114/Over-78-000-people-apply-to-MARS-life-long-reality-contest.html?ico=sciencetech^headlines

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2320344/Charles-Bolden-NASA-chief-says-manned-mission-Mars-priority--happen-2033.html

http://www.space.com/18027-mars-rover-curiosity-amazing-photos-red-planet.html

http://www.space.com/21014-mars-rover-curiosity-drill-drive.html?cmpid=525397

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2320344/Charles-Bolden-NASA-chief-says-manned-mission-Mars-priority--happen-2033.html?ico=sciencetech^headlines

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2320630/The-pillownauts-helping-man-Mars-lying-21-days-time-bed-spacesuits.html?ico=sciencetech^headlines

http://www.space.com/20952-rosette-nebula-stargazing-photo.html?cmpid=525396

http://www.space.com/20973-amazing-solar-eruption-sun-photo.html?cmpid=525396

http://www.space.com/20796-jupiter-water-comet-crash-1994.html?cmpid=525396

http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2013/06may_arabidopsis/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/earth-insight/2013/may/02/white-house-arctic-ice-death-spiral

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/gallery/2013/apr/02/cosmic-gallery?picture=406564067

http://lasp.colorado.edu/maven/goingtomars/send-your-name/

http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2013/may/HQ_13-125_MAVEN_Name_to_Mars.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2013/may/03/message-mars-nasa-haikus

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2013/may/03/britain-hottest-nuclear-physics-project-fair

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2318961/Astronaut-spots-bullet-hole-International-Space-Station-caused-rock-travelling-22-000-mph.html?ico=sciencetech^headlines

http://www.space.com/20941-alien-planet-detection-techniques-countdown.html?cmpid=525395

http://www.space.com/159-strangest-alien-planets.html

http://www.space.com/18455-rogue-planet-has-no-parent-star-video.html

http://www.space.com/17738-exoplanets.html

http://www.space.com/11057-science-claims-alien-life.html

http://www.space.com/18790-habitable-exoplanets-catalog-photos.html

http://www.space.com/20940-alien-life-search-earth-twins.html?cmpid=525395

http://www.space.com/20954-dark-matter-underground-experiment.html?cmpid=525395

http://www.space.com/20950-mars-rover-curiosity-spring-break-over.html?cmpid=525395

http://www.space.com/15735-top-private-spaceships-countdown.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/04/26/einstein-proven-right-aft_n_3160369.html

http://news.yahoo.com/quantum-mechanics-trick-may-detect-invisible-gravity-waves-103635246.html

http://www.technologyreview.com/view/507811/astrophysicists-on-the-verge-of-spotting-gravitational-waves/

http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/features/topics/gwaves/gwaves.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/05/03/gravitational-waves-evidence_n_3207194.htm

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12. BCO:ˆàFor information on eventsˆàat Blackrock Castle Observatory, including the summer Space Camp,ˆàsee www.bco.ie

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13. TWITTER:ˆàFollow theˆàIAAˆàon Twitter:ˆà IaaAstro

14. BBC THINGS TO DO WEBSITE: See theˆàforthcoming IAA events on ˆà

http://www.bbc.co.uk/thingstodo. Look under 'Countryfile'.

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15. JOINING the IRISH ASTRONOMICAL ASSOCIATION is easy: This link downloads a Word document to join the IAA. http://irishastro.org.uk/iaamembership.doc. If 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.ˆàYou can also make aˆàdonation via Paypal if you wish: just click on the 'Donate' button.ˆàˆàSee also www.irishastro.org.ˆà

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Clear skies,

Terry Moseley

mob: (0044) (0) 7979 300842

I'm now back on Twitter, after some temporary hiccups: terrymoseley2

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