Irish Astronomical Association News: 2011

Tuesday, 20 December 2011

2nd Earth, Solstice, Meteors, IAA Party, 2 Lectures, Venus, S/gazing Live, More

Hi all,

(Xmas Bonus Issue - the biggest yet!)

1. A 'Second Earth' is found: NASA's Kepler space telescope has found the first confirmed Earth-size planets orbiting another star, astronomers announced today, a major milestone in an ongoing project aimed at finding out how commonplace -- or rare -- Earth-like worlds may be across the cosmos.

In a solar system 1,000 light years away with at least five planets, the newly confirmed Earth-size worlds orbit too close to their star to support life. But proving the Kepler observatory can, in fact, spot worlds as small as Earth across the vast reaches of interstellar space gives astronomers confidence that many more such planets are awaiting discovery in the 2,326 planet candidates found by the telescope to date.

"The first of these two planets has a diameter just 3 per cent larger than the Earth, which makes it the closest object to the Earth in terms of size in the known universe," Francois Fressin of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, told reporters in a teleconference. "The second planet is 13 per cent smaller than the Earth, with a diameter of around 7,000 miles. It is also smaller than Venus, and this is, in fact, the smallest planetary body ever discovered in orbit around an Earth-like star.

"Most importantly, it is the first time we've crossed the Earth-size threshold. In other words, December 2011 could be remembered as the first time humanity has been able to detect a planet of Earth-size or smaller around another star."

On Dec. 5, the Kepler team announced the discovery of a world twice the size of Earth orbiting in its star's habitable zone, where liquid water can exist, the first time a relatively Earth-size world had been found at the right distance to possibly support life.

See http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n1112/20kepler/

2. Winter Solstice: The solstice will be at 05.30 on Dec 22, when the Sun reaches its most southerly point on the ecliptic, and hence its half-yearly southerly journey through the sky comes to an end, and it thus appears to 'stand still' (the literal meaning of solstice). Of course, it's only the Southward motion that ends - its daily circuit around our sky continues as normal!

It then starts to move North again, giving longer days and shorter nights.

3. METEORS. The Geminid meteors were somewhat spoiled by a nearly full moon, but in spite of that our webmaster Paul Evans managed to get some reasonable photos: see www.irishastro.org

The Ursid meteors peak on December 22, with no moonlight, so if you have all your presents already wrapped, it's your chance for some good observing of a rather under-observed shower. The ZHR might be 10 – 20; on some occasions it has been much higher. The radiant is close to Kocab, or Beta Ursa Minoris, the second brightest star in the Little Bear.

The Quadrantids One of the best annual showers peaks on January 3-4, but the waxing gibbous moon won't set until about 03.40, and so will somewhat spoil the display. However, if you are REALLY keen, observe from then until dawn on the 4th, and you should get a really good show, as the ZHR can reach about 100, and the radiant is then at its highest, reaching an altitude of over 50 degrees just before dawn.

Alternatively, observe from Moonset (about 02.40) on the morning of the 3rd until dawn to catch the rise towards maximum.

The Zenithal Hourly Rate (ZHR) is the rate which would be seen by an experienced observer, in a VERY dark sky, and with the radiant in the zenith: actual observed rates very rarely reach the nominal ZHR for various reasons. The radiant is about halfway between the end star in the tail of the Great Bear (or the end of the handle of The Plough) and the head of Draco.

4. Earth at Perihelion: The Earth will be closest to the Sun on Jan 05 at 00h 31m. It will then lie 0.9832841 AU, or 147m km, away. The apparent diameter will be 32' 31.89" (arcsecs), and its light will take 8m 10.7s to reach us.

5. IAA NEW YEAR PARTY, 7 January: The annual social event of the year will be on Saturday 7 January. The format is the same as before: meet first for buffet eats at 5.30 for 6.0 at McBrides in The Square, Comber, then on to the Tudor Cinema for some hot punch or soft drinks and the film "Cowboys and Aliens", followed by George's renowned quiz, with lots of prizes. We have ordered more food per person this year, so even the late arrivals should get enough!

And of course there will also be my seasonal hot punch on arrival at the Cinema: this will be available in two varieties of alcoholic strength to suit all tastes, and driving options.

We have also arranged for the car park to be treated with salt/grit if necessary, after the very slippy conditions there last year.

Directions: McBrides is in The Square, (NE corner) in Comber, at the junction of the A21 towards Ballygowan and the A22 towards Killinchy. GPS: 54 deg 33' 1" N; 5 deg 44' 44" W. You can park in the Square itself.

Directions to the Tudor Cinema from Comber: Take the A22 towards Killinchy, and about 1 mile beyond the end of the 30 mph speed limit sign, take the FIRST RIGHT into Drumhirk Road. GPS for this junction: 54 deg 31' 59.5", 5 deg 43' 54.6" W. The entrance to the Cinema is about 500 yards along Drumhirk Road, on the left - look out for signs for our event. Follow this laneway to the end, and it will bring you to the car park. GPS: 54 deg 31' 47" N, 5 deg 44' 15" W. Advance Booking is essential: see the IAA website: www.irishastro.org if you haven't already got a booking form.

6. IAA LECTURE, 11 January: The Astronomical Association's next public lecture will be given by Prof Stephen Smartt of QUB: Title: "Astronomy with the PanSTARRS1 Telescope"

The PanSTARRS1 is a 1.8 meter (60-inch) diameter telescope on Haleakala, Hawaii, and is designed to automatically search the skies for objects that either move or change their brightness from night to night. It contains the world's largest digital camera, with 1,400 megapixels, and can image a patch of sky about 40 times the area of the full moon, much larger than any similar-sized telescope on Earth or in space.

The giant digital camera will take over 500 exposures each night and send about four terabytes of data (equivalent to what 1,000 DVDs can hold) for analysis. Computers will rapidly compare each exposure with corresponding ones taken either a few minutes or a few days earlier to find objects that have moved or whose brightness has changed.

Primarily designed to search for 'killer asteroids', it is expected to discover about 100,000 asteroids and to determine if any of them are on a collision course with Earth. It will catalog five billion stars and 500 million galaxies. It will also be used to compile the most comprehensive digital map of the 75 per cent of the universe visible from Hawaii.

Astronomers will also use the data to find brown dwarfs and distant quasars, to watch supernova explosions in distant galaxies and to test their latest theories concerning dark matter and dark energy. PS1 is the experimental prototype for the larger PS4 telescope, which will have four times the power of PS1 and is planned for Mauna Kea.

Prof Smartt is actively engaged in supernova research, and is recognised as a leading authority on the subject, and leads a very progressive and well-respected team in QUB in this field. Supernovae are not just the most powerful and violent explosions in the universe (if we include the latest evidence for 'hypernovae' in the same genre), they are vital tools in establishing the distance to remote galaxies, and hence the size of the universe. And they provided the first clues that the expansion rate of the universe is speeding up, the so called 'accelerating universe'. On top of that, the heavy elements that make life possible here on Earth are created in supernova explosions - without them, we wouldn't be here! So interest in them is at an all-time high, and the results from PanSTARRS1 will provide much invaluable data.

The lecture is on WEDNESDAY 11 January, at 7.30 p.m., in the Bell Lecture Theatre, Physics Building, Queen's University, Belfast. ADMISSION IS FREE, as always, and includes light refreshments. Everyone is welcome! Full details of the rest of the programme are on the website: www.irishastro.org

7. Major Public Lecture at QUB: "Latest News From the Large Hadron Collider", by Dr. Tara Shears, Thursday 12th January, 6:30 pm
   The School of Mathematics and Physics at Queen's University Belfast presents a lecture on the latest news from the largest science experiment ever built. The talk will be given by Dr. Tara Shears from the University of Liverpool, a renowned expert in particle physics and accomplished public speaker.
   The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the most powerful particle collider ever built. It is capable of creating (fleetingly) the fundamental particles which form everything in the universe. In particle physics we've understood much about these tiny objects, and can describe their behaviour in an incredibly successful theory. However, there are many known unknowns: where and what is the mysterious Higgs particle? Why is there so little antimatter in the universe? What is dark matter? We have built the LHC to try to find answers, and in this talk, Dr. Shears will show you the latest findings.
   The lecture will be at 6:30 pm on Thursday 12th January in the Larmor Lecture Theatre, Physics Building, QUB. Complimentary tea and coffee will be served in the Great Hall in the Lanyon Building (main entrance) from 6:00 pm - 6:20pm.
   If you wish to attend this lecture, please reserve seats by either going to the website http://tinyurl.com/QUBPhysics or by calling 028 9097 3202.
    This talk has been sponsored by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) and the School of Mathematics and Physics at Queen's University Belfast.

8. COMET survives a graze with the Sun! Comet Lovejoy was expected to be destroyed in a spectacular light show on Dec. 15/16 as it plunged to a very close encounter with the Sun. But to everyone's surprise, it survived the encounter, and reappeared from behind the Sun, indicating that its nucleus was either much bigger, or much more robust, than had been thought. Check http://spaceweather.com for full coverage.

9. ISS: the International Space Station has started a new series of evening passes over Ireland. See www.heavens-above.com for details of this, and other bright satellites, Iridium Flares etc, for your own location.

10. Venus, the Evening Star: Is visible as a brilliant 'evening star' from Ireland from late December through the end of March, and will be very well placed in late March as it approaches the Pleiades. It's already visible low in the SSW after sunset. On Jan 1 it will be magnitude -4.0, with a phase of 82.6%, and apparent diameter 12.9" (arcsecs). It then gradually moves out from the Sun, and will become a brilliant and unmistakable object through February and March.

11. BBC's STARGAZING LIVE returns on 16-18 January, starring the Irish Astronomical Association with a 2-hour live broadcast extravaganza from Lough Neagh Discovery Centre (LNDC) on the evening of Tuesday 17th, and other activities on the Monday and Wednesday. Final details are still being fine-tuned, but look out for the following highlights:

Monday 16th: A public "Jupiter Watch" will be held by members of the IAA in association with the School of Mathematics and Physics in front of the main building at Queen's University, from 6 pm to 9pm. If it's cloudy, Dr Chris Watson will give a public lecture in the Larmor Lecture Theatre, Physics Building, entitled "Jupiters around other stars". See: http://tinyurl.com/qubjupiterwatch
Tuesday 17th: IAA Events at LNDC:

*Public Observing if clear: Venus, Jupiter, + all the usual Deep Sky wonders with a selection of powerful telescopes and binoculars.

*Stardome presentations: due to the expected demand, these will be ticket only, issued on a first come - first served basis.

*Amazing Photo Exhibition: The fantastic A0 size photos produced for IYA 2009 will again be on show, plus some of the best from other sources.

*Telescope and binocular exhibition: see all the varieties available, the pros and cons of each, and learn how to use them to their best capacity.

*Meteorites: an exhibition of many different sorts of meteorites - hold in your hand a piece of outer space (if you can hold it!), with experts there to talk about them.

*Our first "Ulsternaut" - Derek Heatly from Co Down, who has booked to go into space with Virgin Galactic's Spaceship One will be there to talk about his training experiences and forthcoming flight, with videos.

*Astrophotography for beginners" - A 'taster session' by our own expert, Paul Evans.

*Q&A session: 'Everything you always wanted to know about astronomy' - a panel of experts will be there to answer questions from the public on everything from the Andromeda Galaxy to the Zeeman Effect.

*Hands-On demos: How to make a comet, etc.

*3-D Modern Astronomy show, presented by Robert Hill from N.I. Space Office.

*Children's activities, such as making willow stars.

In other words, something for everyone.

See: www.irishastro.org and www.bbc.co.uk/stargazing for updates.

See also: http://www.bbc.co.uk/thingstodo - put "Belfast" in the search box and see all our next events!

Wednesday 18th: Armagh Planetarium events - see their website for details.

The IAA has been recognised by the BBC as an official 'Partner' in delivering this part of the programme. Final details are still being worked out with the BBC and LNDC - more on this next time. Oh, and there's some chap called Prof Brian Cox who might be on the programme too.....

12. Galway Astronomy Festival - January 21st 2012 is on "New Frontiers of the Universe". Oscar Wilde reminds us that although we are all in the gutter, some of us are looking at the stars. This years Galway Astronomy Festival addresses the theme "New Frontiers of the Universe" from a professional as well as an amateur astronomer's perspective. The event, now in its 9th year, has become one of the most popular events in Ireland, where amateurs and professionals meet in friendship. This is essential for exchanging information, successful stargazing and mutual progress. We look forward to seeing you, hopefully under clear skies. For more details see: http://galwayastronomyclub.ie/

13. TWITTER: the IAA now has a twitter account. twitter@IaaAstro

14. JOINING the IRISH ASTRONOMICAL ASSOCIATION is now even easier: This link downloads a Word document to join the IAA. http://irishastro.org.uk/iaamembership.doc. See also www.irishastro.org.

Finally, whatever your faith, or none, I hope you all have a very happy 'Festive' / 'Holiday' Season, and a healthy and happy New Year. And just for the record, it won't end on 21 December 2012!

Clear skies,

Terry Moseley

Tuesday, 13 December 2011

Lecture, Gem's, Comet, Lidl 'scope, Radio, Solstice, Party, Stargazing Live, GAF

Hi all,

1. IAA LECTURE, 14 December: The Astronomical Association's next public lecture will be given by Dr Ryan Milligan of QUB: Title: "Exploring the Current Rise in Solar Activity"

Dr Milligan is actively engaged in solar research, at a very interesting time in the current solar cycle. After one of the longest and deepest solar minima on record, there was speculation that the 11-year solar cycle was about to 'switch off' or at least undergo a drastic change, leading to another 'Maunder Minimum'. And there is some evidence that the last Maunder Minimum was associated with a 'mini-ice age' in western Europe.

On the other side of the coin, there is also increasing concern that another 'Carrington Superflare' could cause widespread damage and disruption to our modern electrical and electronic life, putting out of action everything from our power supplies to computers, mobile phones, and almost all form of travel apart from the bicycle! So interest in the Sun's activity is at an all-time high.

The lecture is on WEDNESDAY 14 December, at 7.30 p.m., in the Bell Lecture Theatre, Physics Building, Queen's University, Belfast. ADMISSION IS FREE, as always, and includes light refreshments. Everyone is welcome! Full details of the rest of the programme are on the website: www.irishastro.org

2. GEMINID and URSID METEORS. The Geminids are active from about 10 to 17 December, with maximum on the 14^th at about 14h. That's obviously daylight here, so the best options for observing are the nights of 13-14, and 14-15 December.

The ZHR at maximum is about 100, but unfortunately there will be interference from moonlight! On the night of Dec 13-14 it will be just past full, and in Gemini, just about 16˚ away from the radiant! Next night it will be a bit fainter, but still only about 20˚ below the radiant, which lies just above Castor.

The best trick is to try to hide the Moon behind some object such as a building, so that it doesn't shine directly into your eyes, and then look away about 50 degrees on the other side of the radiant.

On the 15^th-16^th it will have moved on into Cancer, giving an hour or two's viewing before it rises, but with the radiant still quite low.

A small compensation is that the Ursid meteors peak on December 22, with no moonlight, so if you have all your prezzies already wrapped, it's your chance for some good observing of a rather under-observed shower. The ZHR might be 10 – 20; on some occasions it has been much higher. The radiant is not far from Kocab, the second brightest star in Ursa Minor, the Little Bear

3. COMET to Hit Sun: A comet with a nucleus about 200 metres across is plunging toward the Sun where it will most likely be destroyed in a spectacular light show on Dec. 15/16. Solar glare will prevent any observations from Earth, but NASA and ESA spacecraft should have a grand view. Check http://spaceweather.com for full coverage.

4. BARGAIN TELESCOPE AT LIDL:

Lidl has once again come up with a telescope offer for the Xmas market. It's back to the old favourite, the 70mm refractor on aluminium tripod and equatorial mount, for £79.99. It will be on sale from Thursday 15 Dec.

Details:

* Bresser 70mm achromatic refractor, 900mm FL, adjustable aluminium tripod, equatorial mount with slow motions on both axes.

* 3 eyepieces (standard 31.5mm diameter), 20mm, 12mm and 4mm, plus 1.5x erecting terrestrial converter (if this is the usual design, it will bring the image the right way up, and increase the power of each eyepiece you use with it by 1.5x, but with a much narrower field of view).

* Software for PC

* 6x25mm finder

* star diagonal

(My view: This is not a telescope for faint deep sky objects, nor detailed views of the planets, but is fine for a beginner on a budget, and will give good views of brighter objects like the Pleiades, M42 etc, double stars, the Moon, or the Sun by projection or using a proper 'Mylar' - type solar filter (not supplied). T.M.)

5. Interview on YPAM, Radio Ulster, Sat 17/12. Early risers on Saturday morning can hear me being interviewed on Your Place And Mine about the forthcoming Winter Solstice (it's the Saturday just before it). Weather permitting, I'll be on the roof of Broadcasting House on Belfast talking about the solstice sunrise. The Sun will rise from there at about 08.40, so the interview might start at about 08.40 or so. But I'm not asking you to set the alarm early just for me!

6. Winter Solstice: The solstice will actually be at 05.30 on Dec 22, when the Sun reaches its most southerly point on the ecliptic, and hence its half-yearly southerly journey through the sky comes to an end, and it thus appears to 'stand still' (the literal meaning of solstice). Of course, it's only the Southward motion that ends - its daily circuit around our sky continues as normal!

It then starts to move North again, giving longer days and shorter nights.

7. Astronomy at UCLAN? An IAA member has asked me - "Do you know of anyone who has tackled a part of (or all of) the BSc in Astronomy by distance learning at the University of Central Lancashire?" He is keen to start this course, and is wondering if anyone has already done it, and has any comments or advice. If you can help, let me know & I'll pass on your email to him. Thanks.

8. IAA NEW YEAR PARTY: The annual social event of the year will be on Saturday 7 January. The format is the same as before: meet first for eats at 5.30 for 6.0 at McBrides in Comber, then on to the Tudor Cinema for some hot punch or soft drinks and the film "Cowboys and Aliens", followed by George's diabolical quiz. More details next time, but mark the date in your diary now.

9. BBC's STARGAZING LIVE returns on 16-18 January, starring the Irish Astronomical Association with a 2-hour live broadcast extravaganza from Lough Neagh Discovery Centre on the evening of Tuesday 17th, and other activities on the Monday and Wednesday in the Craigavon area. Final details are still being worked out with the BBC - more on this after a further planning meeting with the BBC tomorrow. Oh, and there's some chap called Prof Brian Cox who might be on the programme too.....

10. Galway Astronomy Festival - January 21st 2012 is on "New Frontiers of the Universe".
Oscar Wilde reminds us that although we are all in the gutter, some of us are looking at the stars. This years Galway Astronomy Festival addresses the theme "New Frontiers of the Universe" from a professional as well as an amateur astronomer's perspective. The event, now in its 9th year, has become one of the most popular events in Ireland, where amateurs and professionals meet in friendship. This is essential for exchanging information, successful stargazing and mutual progress. We look forward to seeing you, hopefully under clear skies. For more details see: http://galwayastronomyclub.ie/

11: ISS: the International Space Station will start a new series of evening passes over Ireland on Dec 18. See www.heavens-above.com for details of this, and other bright satellites, Iridium Flares etc, for your own location.

12. TWITTER: the IAA now has a twitter account. twitter@IaaAstro

13. JOINING the IRISH ASTRONOMICAL ASSOCIATION is now even easier: This link downloads a Word document to join the IAA. http://irishastro.org.uk/iaamembership.doc. See also www.irishastro.org.

Clear skies,

Terry Moseley

Thursday, 8 December 2011

Lectures, Lunar Eclipse, Meteors, NY Party, Stargazing Live, GAF, ISS

Hi all,

1. IAA LECTURE, 14 December: The Astronomical Association's next public lecture will be given by Dr Ryan Milligan of QUB: Title: "Exploring the Current Rise in Solar Activity"

On the other side of the coin, there is also increasing concern that another 'Carrington Superflare' could cause widespread damage and disruption to our modern electrical and electronic life, putting out of action everything from our power supplies to computers. mobile phones, and almost all form of travel apart from the bicycle! So interest in the Sun's activity is at an all-time high.

2. Biennial Royal Irish Academy McCrea Lecture: "The 100-year mystery of the Cosmic Ray", by Prof Luke Drury. Schroedinger Lecture Theatre, School of Physics, TCD, 6 p.m., Friday 9 December 2011. Hosted by the School of Physics, Trinity College.

Professor Drury, who has honoured the IAA with a lecture in the past, is Director of the School of Cosmic Physics in the Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies, and is currently President of the Royal Irish Academy.
Synopsis: "The strange discovery of Viktor Hess - one hundred years of cosmic ray studies. It will very soon be the centenary of the discovery of cosmic rays by Viktor Hess which is conventionally dated to 1912. It is hard to think of another topic in physics which has remained an active field of research for so long, and which still awaits a definitive solution. Recent progress has been dramatic however and there is good reason to hope that the end is in sight even if there remains much to be done. In this talk I will outline the history of the field and then focus on recent developments as well as the future projects that are being discussed at the moment."

Admission is free, but seats MUST be reserved by booking at: http://www.ria.ie/events/events-listing/royal-irish-academy-biennial-mccrea-lecture-2011.aspx

3. Rising Lunar Eclipse.

The rising Full Moon on Saturday night will look a bit odd! That's because it will still be in eclipse, and so we will see part of it still covered by the shadow of the Earth.

This will be a Total Eclipse, but by the time the Moon rises from Ireland, the totality part will be over, and we will just see the emerging partial phases.

When the Moon rises about 3.57 p.m. (from Belfast/Dublin - it will be a bit later the further West you are), the Earth's shadow will still be covering the upper right edge of the Moon. As it rises further, the shadowed area will gradually decrease, and at 5.18 p.m., when the Moon is still low near the North-Eastern horizon, it will move out of the main part of the Earth's shadow altogether.

From then until 6.31 p.m. it will be in the much fainter 'penumbra' or outer shadow, but this won't be quite so noticeable: it will just look as if the Full Moon is a bit fainter than usual. From 6.31 onwards it will appear as a normal bright full Moon.

The brilliant 'star' to the upper right of the Moon will of course be the giant planet Jupiter.

4. GEMINID and URSID METEORS. The Geminids are active from about 10 to 17 December, with maximum on the 14^th at about 14h. That's obviously daylight here, so the best options for observing are the nights of 13-14, and 14-15 December.

On the 15^th-16^th it will have moved on into Cancer, giving an hour or two's viewing before it rises, but with the radiant still quite low.

5. IAA NEW YEAR PARTY: The annual social event of the year will be on Saturday 7 September. The format is the same as before: meet first for eats at 5.30 for 6.0 at McBrides in Comber, then on to the Tudor Cinema for some hot punch or soft drinks and the film "Cowboys and Aliens", followed by George's diabolical quiz. More details next time, but mark the date in your diary now.

6. BBC's STARGAZING LIVE returns on 16-18 January, starring the Irish Astronomical Association with a 2-hour live broadcast extravaganza from Lough Neagh Discovery Centre on the evening of Tuesday 17th, and other activities on the Monday and Wednesday. Final details are still being worked out with the BBC - more on this next time. Oh, and there's some chap called Prof Brian Cox who might be on the programme too.....

7. Galway Astronomy Festival - January 21st 2012 is on "New Frontiers of the Universe".
Oscar Wilde reminds us that although we are all in the gutter, some of us are looking at the stars. This years Galway Astronomy Festival addresses the theme "New Frontiers of the Universe" from a professional as well as an amateur astronomer's perspective. The event, now in its 9th year, has become one of the most popular events in Ireland, where amateurs and professionals meet in friendship. This is essential for exchanging information, successful stargazing and mutual progress. We look forward to seeing you, hopefully under clear skies. For more details see: http://galwayastronomyclub.ie/

8: ISS: the International Space Station is currently making morning passes over Ireland. See www.heavens-above.com for details for your own location.

9. TWITTER: the IAA now has a twitter account. twitter@IaaAstro

10. JOINING the IRISH ASTRONOMICAL ASSOCIATION is now even easier: This link downloads a Word document to join the IAA. http://irishastro.org.uk/iaamembership.doc. See also www.irishastro.org.

Clear skies,

Terry Moseley

Tuesday, 29 November 2011

IAA Lecture, Events at WWT and Dungannon, RIA lecture, Galway A.F., ISS

Hi all,

1. IAA LECTURE, 30 November: The Astronomical Association's next public lecture will be given by Tom Boles, founder and owner of Coddenham Observatory in Suffolk.

Tom is the world's greatest supernova discoverer, with about 140 discoveries to his credit. Supernovae come in various forms, with different causes, but in general terms they represent either the explosive death of a giant star, or a very violent episode in the life of a binary star pair. Visually, they are the greatest explosions we see in the universe, with the exploding star sometimes becoming as bright as the combined light of all the other hundreds of millions of stars in its parent galaxy!

And they are an extremely important tool in our efforts to measure accurately the distances to the remotest and oldest objects in the universe.

And it's through the latest observations of distant supernovae that astronomers have concluded that the expansion of the universe is speeding up - the so-called 'Accelerating Universe'.

Come along and learn all about these amazing phenomena, how one man has beaten the rest of the world in making these discoveries at his own observatory, and how you might even be able to discover one yourself!

Tom's talk is entitled "Discovering Supernova: Motivation and rewards".

(This lecture is being arranged with assistance from the Astrophysics Department at QUB, for which we are very grateful.)

The lecture is on WEDNESDAY 30 November, at 7.30 p.m., in the Bell Lecture Theatre, Physics Building, Queen's University, Belfast. ADMISSION IS FREE, as always, and includes light refreshments. Everyone is welcome! Full details of the rest of the programme are on the website: www.irishastro.org

NB: Because of the public servants' strike, public transport will not be available that day. If anyone needs a lift to and/or from QUB that evening, let me know your address, or general area, and I'll see if any members can offer a lift. T.M.

2. IAA Public Astronomy Evening, at WWT, Castle Espie, Friday 2 December, 7.30 p.m.

Everyone is invited to another of the very successful and popular public astronomy evenings run by the Irish Astronomical Association at WWT, Castle Espie, near Comber, Co Down.

Using powerful telescopes and binoculars, if it's clear we will be able to see a spectacular First Quarter Moon with giant craters and huge mountain ranges, and Jupiter, the Giant planet of the Solar System with its four large Galilean Moons. Looking beyond the Solar System we'll have on view the Pleiades or Seven Sisters, which is the brightest and most spectacular star cluster in the whole sky, the magnificent constellation of Orion the Hunter, with its famous trio of stars forming the belt, and the amazing Orion Nebula, where dozens of stars are currently being born. Later we'll be able to see brilliant Sirius, the brightest star in the sky.

And looking way beyond our own Milky Way Galaxy, you can spot the most distant object visible to the naked eye: our 'big sister' galaxy, the Andromeda Galaxy, which contains 200,000,000,000 stars, and lies an incredible 25 million million miles away.

We will also be giving the ever popular star shows in the portable planetarium, and we'll have an exhibition of fantastic photos taken by the Hubble Space Telescope and other powerful telescopes from all around the world, meteorites from space, and many other interesting items.

So it will be an astronomical treat, even if it's cloudy.

For more information see. www.irishastro.org and www.wwt.org.uk

3. IAA Public Astronomy Evening, at St Patrick's Academy, Dungannon, Saturday 3 December, 7.30 p.m.

Then we'll be doing it all again the next night at St Patrick's Academy, Killymeal Rd, Dungannon! They have one of the best school observatories in these islands, with a Celestron 14-inch reflector in a lovely big purpose-built dome. This event is planned to coincide with a 're-launch' of the refurbished telescope and dome.

As well as that telescope, we will be providing all the same options as at WWT above, including the shows in the Stardome, and we'll be able to see all the same objects in the sky too, if it's clear.

This will be our first event in the Dungannon area, so all members and friends in that area, and indeed from anywhere, will be very welcome.

For more details, and to book a starshow, see: http://www.stpatricksacademy.org.uk/

4. Biennial Royal Irish Academy McCrea Lecture: "The 100-year mystery of the Cosmic Ray", by Prof Luke Drury. Schroedinger Lecture Theatre, School of Physics, TCD, 6 p.m., Friday 9 December 2011. Hosted by the School of Physics, Trinity College.

Admission is free, but seats MUST be reserved by booking at: http://www.ria.ie/events/events-listing/royal-irish-academy-biennial-mccrea-lecture-2011.aspx

5. Galway Astronomy Festival - January 21st 2012 is on "New Frontiers of the Universe".
Oscar Wilde reminds us that although we are all in the gutter, some of us are looking at the stars. This years Galway Astronomy Festival addresses the theme "New Frontiers of the Universe" from a professional as well as an amateur astronomer's perspective. The event, now in its 9th year, has become one of the most popular events in Ireland, where amateurs and professionals meet in friendship. This is essential for exchanging information, successful stargazing and mutual progress. We look forward to seeing you, hopefully under clear skies. For more details see: http://galwayastronomyclub.ie/

6: ISS: the International Space Station is currently making morning passes over Ireland. See www.heavens-above.com for details for your own location.

7. TWITTER: the IAA now has a twitter account. twitter@IaaAstro

8. JOINING the IRISH ASTRONOMICAL ASSOCIATION is now even easier: This link downloads a Word document to join the IAA. http://irishastro.org.uk/iaamembership.doc. See also www.irishastro.org.

Clear skies,

Terry Moseley

Saturday, 26 November 2011

IAA Events at WWT and at St Patrick's Academy, Dungannon

Hi all,

Unfortunately two items got omitted from my last bulletin due to a cutting & pasting error. I include them here, together with a reminder about the other main item which occurs in the meantime, and a note about transport that evening.

1. IAA Public Astronomy Evening, at WWT, Castle Espie, Friday 2 December, 7.30 p.m.

Everyone is invited to another of the very successful and popular public astronomy evenings run by the Irish Astronomical Association at WWT, Castle Espie, near Comber, Co Down.

So it will be an astronomical treat, even if it's cloudy.

For more information see. www.irishastro.org and www.wwt.org.uk

2. IAA Public Astronomy Evening, at St Patrick's Academy, Dungannon, Saturday 3 December, 7.30 p.m.

As well as that telescope, we will be providing all the same options as at WWT above, including the shows in the Stardome, and we'll be able to see all the same objects in the sky too, if it's clear.

This will be our first event in the Dungannon area, so all members and friends in that area, and indeed from anywhere, will be very welcome.

For more details, and to book a starshow, see: http://www.stpatricksacademy.org.uk/

3. IAA LECTURE, 30 November: The Astronomical Association's next public lecture will be given by Tom Boles, founder and owner of Coddenham Observatory in Suffolk.

And they are an extremely important tool in our efforts to measure accurately the distances to the remotest and oldest objects in the universe.

And it's through the latest observations of distant supernovae that astronomers have concluded that the expansion of the universe is speeding up - the so-called 'Accelerating Universe'.

Tom's talk is entitled "Discovering Supernova: Motivation and rewards".

(This lecture is being arranged with assistance from the Astrophysics Department at QUB, for which we are very grateful.)

4. TWITTER: the IAA now has a twitter account. twitter@IaaAstro

5. JOINING the IRISH ASTRONOMICAL ASSOCIATION is now even easier: This link downloads a Word document to join the IAA. http://irishastro.org.uk/iaamembership.doc. See also www.irishastro.org.

Clear skies,

Terry Moseley

Saturday, 29 October 2011

Lectures, Close miss, Astronaut, BCO, Spacelab, Galileo, MSL, Meteors, ISS, Jup.

Hi all,

1. IAA LECTURE, 2 November: The Astronomical Association's next public lecture will be given by Dr Phil Marshall of the Department of Astrophysics, Oxford University. He is a Royal Society Research Fellow, specialising in public outreach, especially on gravitational lensing and observational cosmology.

His talk is entitled "Cosmic Telescopes: Focussing and observing with gravitational lenses".

Gravitational Lenses are a very powerful tool for studying the most distant objects in the universe, and best of all, they are provided by Mother Nature, free of charge! But first you have to find them, and know how to interpret the images. This promises to be a fascinating lecture, revealing the latest findings on the early and most distant parts of our universe.

(This lecture is being arranged with assistance from the Astrophysics Department at QUB, for which we are very grateful.)

The lecture is on WEDNESDAY 02 November, at 7.30 p.m., in the Bell Lecture Theatre, Physics Building, Queen's University, Belfast. ADMISSION IS FREE, as always, and includes light refreshments. Everyone is welcome! Full details of the rest of the programme are on the website: www.irishastro.org

2. The following IAA lecture on Nov 16 will be by well-known space expert and author Brian Harvey: Title "Future Missions to the Moon and Mars". Brian's lectures are an absolute mine of the latest very authoritative information, and very well presented, so don't miss this.

The lecture is on WEDNESDAY 16 November, at 7.30 p.m., in the Bell Lecture Theatre, Physics Building, Queen's University, Belfast. ADMISSION IS FREE, as always, and includes light refreshments. Everyone is welcome! Full details of the rest of the programme are on the website: www.irishastro.org

3: CLOSE ASTEROID FLYBY. Near Earth Object (NEO) 2005 YU55 will make a relatively close flyby of Earth on Nov 8, passing closer to us than the Moon. At closest approach it will be at 85% of the average distance to the Moon, about 203,000 miles, or 327,000km. At a relatively large 400m diameter, this is one of the biggest asteroids to come this close for quite a while. Observation of 2005 YU55 will not be an easy task in Ireland, because of the relatively low object brightness, the very fast movement (>500arcsecs/min) and the low altitude.
   On the following evening the situation is much better. But the +12mag asteroid will still be moving at about 50 arcsecs/min. Astrometry with a video camera and GPS time insertion would be an option. Video evaluation could be done with Tangra software. For the following nights 2005 YU55 remains as a good object for CCD imaging.
   A page with video animation of 2011 fly by, orbit diagram and data is available here:
http://www.dangl.at/2011/2005yu55/2005yu55_e.htm
   You can see in the orbit diagram and in the video animation why the asteroid is not observable during approach to Earth but remains observable long after the fly by. A link to an image sequence from the last Earth fly by in April 2010 can be found also there.

4. NASA ASTRONAUT GREG JOHNSON to visit LIMERICK. Greg will be on Campus in the University of Limerick on Tuesday 15^th November.  Anyone interested in attending his show at 2pm in the Jean Monnet Lecture should let organiser Bernie Quilligan know asap as seats need to be booked: Bernie.Quilligan@ul.ie. They normally advertise such events in the papers but given the high demand they will not be doing that this year.

5. EVENTS at Blackrock Castle Observatory, Cork: see www.bco.ie for more details

Mid-term Workshops: Mission to Mars

First Fridays at the Castle: The Beauty of Chemistry: Free Event

Cork Film Festival School Screenings

Science Week 2011 – The Chemistry of Life in the Universe

Cosmic Careers Day at CIT

Movies by Moonlight: "Contact"

Cosmic Christmas at the Castle

6. Spacelab: It is with great pleasure that we invite you to participate in YouTube Space Lab. (from Robert Hill, of NISO at Armagh)

YouTube Space Lab combines an exciting platform for informative space-related videos with a competition for 14 - 18 year olds from around the world to send a science experiment to space. The winning experiment will be carried out on the International Space Station and live streamed on YouTube. Winning teams will have the chance to win some other amazing prizes too. Through the wonder of space, and the power of YouTube, we hope to inspire and educate kids around the world about science. Globally recognised partners who share our vision, such as Lenovo and Space Adventures in cooperation with NASA, JAXA, and ESA, are helping us make YouTube Space Lab a reality.

A global panel of distinguished experts and scientists, including Professor Stephen Hawking, will help choose the winning experiments. Find out more about the competition on the YouTube Space Lab channel.
We want to ensure that students all over the world have the opportunity to compete in this exciting competition, and we want your help in letting them know about it. Please help us in communicating the announcement of YouTube Space Lab to your educational networks as widely as possible. There's much more information about the competition online on the channel and there is also a site especially for teachers to help on how to approach getting students involved in YouTube Space Lab. Thank you for your help in making the world's largest, most global and inclusive space competition a huge success!
The YouTube Space Lab Team
P.S. Please feel free to forward this to educators or educator networks you know!

7. GALILEO COMPETITION FOR CHILDREN: The Galileo Drawing Competition is an amazing chance to have a Galileo Programme Satellite named after you and launched into Space!

The Galileo Project is Europe's own dedicated GPS system, and will consist of a network of satellites, each costing about a billion euro! Belgium and Bulgaria have already held their competitions, and two satellites have already been named 'Thijs' and 'Natalia', after children in those counties.

To enter the competition you will need to create a picture that represents 'Space and Aeronautics'. This includes things like stars, rockets, planets and satellites. What else can you think of that is in Space?

You can create your picture using any drawing, painting, or colouring technique that you like. You can use all sorts of materials like paints, felt tips, pencils, glue, glitter. The main thing is that you use a big dollop of imagination!

You then upload your picture at the website below. You can do this by scanning your picture or by taking a digital photo. Your parents, teachers, or local library may be able to help you do this. You can only enter one picture so make sure you chose your favourite one.

You must upload your picture before 15th November 2011. A National Jury Panel will then select a winning picture. The winner will be invited to an Award Ceremony where they will be presented with a certificate and a trophy, to keep, that represents the satellite that will be named after them.

If you live in the United Kingdom or Ireland and were born in either 2000, 2001 or 2002, then you can enter the competition. There are separate competitions for each country, so select the appropriate one from the website, which has all the information you need: www.galileocontest.eu Good luck!

8. MARS SCIENCE LABORATORY TALKS: Kevin Nolan, very well-known in Irish astronomy circles, will be giving a new talk titled "Mars Science Laboratory: In search of Origins" to celebrate the Science Week Theme of "The chemistry of life" and the launch of MSL-Curiosity the week after (On November 25th). Kevin is the Irish Representative of The Planetary Society, and is the author of an excellent book on Mars; "Mars, A Cosmic Stepping Stone", published by Springer. (See the great reviews at http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mars-Cosmic-Stepping-Stone-ebook/dp/B001VNCFBC)

   He will be giving the same talk three times - in Dublin (Mansion House on Monday Nov 14th), Galway (NUI Galway on Nov 16th) and Blackrock Castle Observatory (Friday November 18th).
   Kevin adds: "On a related note, I have just launched the new Planetary Society Ireland web site at www.planetary.ie.
   It's quite basic now but is being used to promote the talk at www.planetary.ie/msl. I've also created a new twitter account @planetarie and will be tweeting in selected areas of TPS News, Space News and Policy issues, Mars Exploration and Irish Astronomy matters. While I have few followers just now, Forfas-DSE, BCO and nightsky.ie are retweeting my tweets and these, along with other mechanisms such as the talks in November and an intended blog (planetarie.wordpress.com for 2012) I hope to build a following. I will always be delighted to tweet any IAA news that you need further circulation on (as and when I develop a following!!)."

9. METEORS: A. The annual Taurid Meteor shower will peak on 5 November. These meteors appear to come from near Aldebaran, and while rates are not high, the meteors are slow and graceful, and there is usually a fair proportion of brighter meteors.

B: The annual Leonid Meteor shower will peak on 17 November. Rates are not expected to be high this year.

10: ISS: the International Space Station is currently making evening passes over Ireland. See www.heavens-above.com for details for your own location.

11. JUPITER at OPPOSITION: Giant planet Jupiter will be at opposition (closest to Earth for the year) on 29 October. This is the best time to view it with a telescope. And even good binoculars will show the four large Galilean Moons orbiting the planet in their stately dance. Even a moderate telescope will also show the main dark belts and bright zones, and the famous Great Red Spot, a giant storm, larger than planet Earth, which has been raging in Jupiter's atmosphere for hundreds of years.

12. TWITTER: the IAA now has a twitter account. twitter@IaaAstro

13. JOINING the IRISH ASTRONOMICAL ASSOCIATION is now even easier: This link downloads a Word document to join the IAA. http://irishastro.org.uk/iaamembership.doc. See also www.irishastro.org.

Clear skies,

Terry Moseley

Saturday, 22 October 2011

Lecture, Orionids, ROSAT, Spacelab, Galileo, M31's asteroid, Mars talks

Hi all,

His talk is entitled "Cosmic Telescopes: Focussing and observing with gravitational lenses".

(This lecture is being arranged with assistance from the Astrophysics Department at QUB, for which we are very grateful.)

2. ORIONID METEOR SHOWER: Today Earth is entering a stream of debris from Halley's comet, source of the annual Orionid meteor shower. Forecasters expect the shower to peak on Saturday morning, Oct. 22nd, with more than 15 meteors per hour. Some Orionids will still be visible until the 23rd. The radiant is in N E Orion, not far from the 'feet' of Gemini. Check http://spaceweather.com for links to a live meteor radar, sky maps and observing tips.

3. ROSAT TO CRASH BACK TO EARTH: UPDATE: The massive ROSAT X-ray space telescope is nearing a fiery burn-up in Earth's atmosphere. Most experts agree that re-entry will occur during the early hours of Oct. 23rd, but cannot predict the likely re-entry point yet. Observers report that the satellite, which of course is getting ever lower and closer, can be as bright as a first magnitude star and it occasionally "flares" to even greater brightness. For last-chance sightings of ROSAT in your area, check www.heavens-above.com, or SpaceWeather's online satellite tracker (http://spaceweather.com/flybys) or turn your smartphone into a ROSAT tracker: http://simpleflybys.com .
In case you missed the last alert, here are the relevant points from that one:

Readers in the S half of Ireland have another (VERY slight!) chance to see a satellite crashing back to Earth later this month. Since it never passes further North than 53 degrees, only those living South of the latitude of Birr (approximately) could be in the fall zone.

The ROSAT X-ray astronomy observatory is smaller and less massive than NASA's Upper Atmospheric Research Satellite, or UARS, which fell back to Earth on Sept. 24. But officials predict it will spread three times more debris and pose a greater threat to people than UARS. That's because ROSAT is made of heat-resistant components, especially its primary mirror, which officials say will probably be the largest single fragment that will reach Earth. The satellite will streak into the atmosphere at 17,000 mph, and temperatures up to 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit will burn up much of the spacecraft.

All these forces exerted on the satellite cause it to disintegrate, which in turn means that it eventually lands in the form of a long debris trail. The really heavy objects land later, because they ultimately have to drill their way through the atmosphere."

The bulk of ROSAT is expected to survive re-entry, littering its impact point with up to 30 pieces of debris. There is a 1-in-2,000 chance someone will be struck by fragments of ROSAT on its way down, according to German scientists. That's odds of about 1-in-14 trillion that any individual person will be hit. However, ROSAT will likely end up in the sea, like UARS last month.

Even one day before re-entry, the time of ROSAT's demise will only be known with a precision of plus-or-minus five hours, putting entire oceans and continents in the satellite's flight path. It will not be possible to make any kind of reliable forecast about where the satellite will actually come down until about one or two hours before the fact. It will, however, be possible to predict, about one day in advance, which geographical regions will definitely not be affected.

The slow descent is due to the friction encountered by the satellite as it enters the outer fringes of Earth atmosphere, which increases the more ROSAT penetrates into our atmosphere. Fluctuations in solar activity affect the upper atmosphere and thus can quicken or slow a satellite's re-entry.

4. Spacelab: It is with great pleasure that we invite you to participate in YouTube Space Lab. (from Robert Hill, of NISO at Armagh)

5. GALILEO COMPETITION FOR CHILDREN: The Galileo Drawing Competition is an amazing chance to have a Galileo Programme Satellite named after you and launched into Space!

6. Asteroid passing 'through' M31. (This has been adapted from a BAA email. T.M.) The bright (magnitude 11) asteroid (372) Palma will pass less than 15' north of the nucleus of the Andromeda Galaxy (Messier 31) on the evening of October 21/22. It will take the asteroid about 5 days to cross the galaxy between roughly the dates of October 18-23. The large majority of asteroids do not stray too far from the Ecliptic and so cannot reach M31. Although Palma occupies the asteroid Main Belt, it has an unusually high orbital inclination, and on this occasion it will be about 34 degrees north of the Ecliptic such that it crosses in front of the Andromeda Galaxy.
The best photo opportunity will probably occur on the evening of Oct 22/23 when Palma will lie between the core of M 31 and M 110 (NGC 205). The following evening (Oct 23/24) it will pass some 13' south of Messier 110.
A finder chart (courtesy of Graham Relf of the BAA Computing Section) showing the general path of Palma is available at: http://britastro.org/computing/ch/372Palma2011Oct21(J2000).png. N.B. It will be necessary to take a time-series of images and stack these
to show the trail of the moving asteroid as its apparent speed is only 34" per hour.

7. MARS SCIENCE LABORATORY TALKS: Kevin Nolan, very well-known in Irish astronomy circles, will be giving a new talk titled "Mars Science Laboratory: In search of Origins" to celebrate the Science Week Theme of "The chemistry of life" and the launch of MSL-Curiosity the week after (On November 25th). Kevin is the Irish Representative of The Planetary Society, and is the author of an excellent book on Mars; "Mars, A Cosmic Stepping Stone", published by Springer. (See the great reviews at http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mars-Cosmic-Stepping-Stone-ebook/dp/B001VNCFBC)

   He will be giving the same talk three times - in Dublin (Mansion House on Monday 14th), Galway (NUI Galway on Nov 16th) and Blackrock Castle Observatory (Friday November 18th).
   Kevin adds: "On a related note, I have just launched the new Planetary Society Ireland web site at www.planetary.ie.
   It's quite basic now but is being used to promote the talk at www.planetary.ie/msl. I've also created a new twitter account @planetarie and will be tweeting in selected areas of TPS News, Space News and Policy issues, Mars Exploration and Irish Astronomy matters. While I have few followers just now, Forfas-DSE, BCO and nightsky.ie are retweeting my tweets and these, along with other mechanisms such as the talks in November and an intended blog (planetarie.wordpress.com for 2012) I hope to build a following. I will always be delighted to tweet any IAA news that you need further circulation on (as and when I develop a following!!)."

8. TWITTER: the IAA now has a twitter account. twitter@IaaAstro

9. JOINING the IRISH ASTRONOMICAL ASSOCIATION is now even easier: This link downloads a Word document to join the IAA. http://irishastro.org.uk/iaamembership.doc. See also www.irishastro.org.

Clear skies,

Terry Moseley