Mike is Professor Emeritus of Palaeoecology at Queen's, and a world expert on tree-ring dating, and is well known to many astronomers in Ireland and further afield for his interesting and forthright views on the rate of relatively recent comet/asteroid impacts on Earth as revealed by accurate tree-ring dating of climatic events, and indeed with possible links to stories in Irish and other mythologies. He has given fascinating and thought-provoking lectures to the IAA, among others, on this topic. He has written three books on the topic "Exodus to Arthur", "New Light on the Black Death: the cosmic connection", and "The Celtic Gods: comets in Irish mythology", the latter with IAA member Dr Patrick McCafferty. See: http://www.qub.ac.uk/schools/gap/Staff/AcademicStaff/ProfEmeritusMikeBaillie/.
For details of the lecture see http://www.iopireland.org/ and click on the lecture notice in the noticeboard section of the site.
This public lecture is part of the XXVII International Conference on Photonic, Electronic and Atomic Collisions, being held in Queen's from July 27th to August 2nd. A map of the QUB campus showing the Whitla Hall is on p 2 of the main conference programme, available at http://www.qub.ac.uk/icpeac2011/index.html. (Thanks to John Flannery for the initial alert.)
2. So you want to be a ROCKET SCIENTIST?
Have you ever wondered how to build a solid fuel space rocket? Have you ever wanted to witness a rocket launch? If the answer is yes, then Armagh Planetarium is the place to be on the 30th and 31st of July 2011 as we blastoff into a fun-filled weekend of rockets.
Rocket Man Andy Willis is looking to recruit some space engineers in his Rocket Workshop to construct some real rockets ready to be delivered to the launch pad. Are you ready to be his apprentice?
Take part in the countdown and watch as the rocket is launched up into the air, carrying its very own satellite. Perhaps even try and guess the height that the rocket travelled!
You will also discover the latest design in Japanese space planes, participate in some water rocket launching and even be trained up on how to make paper planes.
If you are up for the challenge, step up to the launch pad and give us a call on 028 37 523689 to book your place. The rocket workshop is FREE, but places are limited and filling up fast. Workshops will blastoff at 11am and 2pm sharp each day.
On this weekend the Planetarium will have their summer programme of Digital Theatre shows on offer. Here you can relax and experience our planet and beyond and view the cosmos as never seen before. Check out our website www.armaghplanet.com for show trailers and times. Pre-booking for a theatre show is essential and normal admission fees apply.
02837523689
3. KILLER ASTEROIDS - PUBLIC LECTURE, 3 August, 7 p.m.
The Michael West Public Lectures in astronomy will be held each year to explain some of the latest and most exciting discoveries in the world of Astronomy. They are named after Dr. Michael West, who is supporting scientific research and public outreach in the Astrophysics Research Centre at Queens.
Dr. Pedro Lacerda, the Michael West research Fellow in Astronomy, said
"A lot of people are interested in astronomy, which happens to be a major research topic at Queen's University Belfast. We want to give everyone the chance to learn about it from some of the best astronomers in the world."
The second lecture in the series, entitled "Killer Asteroids" will be given by Dr. Robert Jedicke from the University of Hawaii. Dr. Jedicke is a renowned asteroid hunter, and is leading the search for dangerous asteroids with the new PanSTARRS1 telescope in Hawaii. This lecture will be held on Wednesday 3rd August.
The talk will take place in the Larmor Lecture Theatre in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Queen's. Attendance is free of charge, but seats must be booked either by phone at 028 9097 3202, or by visiting the website http://tinyurl.com/MichaelWestLectures and registering there.
These talks have been organised by the Astrophysics Research Centre at QUB, in association with the Irish Astronomical Association.
4. IAA Member's photo shortlisted for Astronomy Picture of the Year!One of Martin Campbell's images has been shortlisted for the Astronomy Picture of the Year 2011. This is the second year in succession that one of his images has been shortlisted. Martin is well known for his exquisite images, particularly widefield or all-sky images, and has given a superbly illustrated talk to the IAA on this subject. Let's all wish him luck, but of course even getting shortlisted is a superb achievement.
5. ECLIPSE CHASER SURVEY. IAA member Dr Kate Russo, who gave us a lecture on this topic last year, is writing a book on 'eclipse chasers' or 'umbraphiles' as they are sometime known. She has posted the following item for eclipse chasers; I am forwarding it as I know that many members on this list are eclipse chasers to a greater or lesser degree. (I have edited out some introductory and background material. T.M.)
" I am an eclipse chaser, and also a psychologist, and I am now currently researching my book about the people who chase eclipses.
The book has a provisional title of "Total Addiction", and will be published by Springer next year. The focus is not on eclipses themselves, but rather the experiences of those who chase eclipses - what drives us, motivates us to see totality. Some questions and topics I am hoping to cover:
- Are we all suffering from an addiction?
- What drives us all to chase eclipses?
- What is the emotional experience of totality?
- What do eclipses mean to us?
- What makes us unique as a group?
- Is there an eclipse chasing personality?
- How do people make decisions about where to go for clear skies?
As part of this research, I have put together a brief survey for eclipse chasers, which can be found here: http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/582415/A-survey-of-eclipse-chasers-for-launch-July-4-2011 . A link to this survey can also be found on Bill Kramer's eclipse chasers website www.eclipse-chasers.com .
This is a general survey, taking approximately 20 minutes to complete, which aims to explore people's motivations and experiences of totality. Information gathered in this survey is anonymous, and will help guide the content of the book. I am hoping that as many eclipse chasers as possible complete this survey.
I am also hoping that people are interested in being part of the book by sharing experiences - i.e. of your first time, what eclipses mean to you, challenges of being an eclipse chaser, what it's like to be responsible for others seeing an eclipse, or anything that you feel is important or interesting. You can do this by sending me an email about anything you wish to share about you as an eclipse chaser; and/or by participating in an interview (skype most likely!) about your experiences. There is space to leave your contact details if you would like in the survey, or else you can email me directly on umbraphillia@gmail.com.
The book will be completed early next year, in order to be available in the lead up to the 2012 eclipse in north Queensland, which coincidentally, is where I am from.
I hope people think this is an interesting and worthwhile idea, and I hope I can do us all justice. Please forward these details on to any other eclipse chasers you know.
Kate Russo, Queen's University Belfast
6. The ISS will begin another series of morning passes over Ireland at the end of July: details as always are on www.heavens-above.com
7. PERSEIDS. The annual Perseid meteor shower will reach maximum on the night of 12-13 August, with the peak predicted for 04h on the 13th. The IAA will be holding a 'Perseid Party' on the evening of the 12th, at Delamont Country Park, south of Killinchy on the A22 to Downpatrick, commencing about 8 p.m. with a Fry-up / BBQ. Obviously such an event is weather dependent, so check the IAA website www.irishastro.org beforehand to see if it will be going ahead. Unfortunately the Moon will be full on the 13th, so only the brighter meteors are likely to be seen that night. However, the Perseid shower is active from the end of July to about the 20th of August, with low rates to start with, building up gradually to the peak on the 13th, then gradually dropping away again. So look out for Perseids any time from the end of this month, especially before the Moon gets too bright. The radiant is near the famous 'Double Cluster', which lies roughly midway between Perseus and Cassiopeia.
8. IAA SOLAR DAY at WWT, CASTLE ESPIE, 14 August, 2 p.m. - 5 p.m.. The Irish Astronomical Association will be running another of its ever-popular 'Solar Days' at the WWT at Castle Espie, near Comber, Co Down. Now that Solar activity is steadily increasing, we can expect to see lots of detail on the Sun's disk if there's any clear sky. We will have a selection of solar telescopes, each fitted with specialised safe astronomical filters, to see it in visible light, and in the wavelengths of Calcium and H-Alpha. There should be sunspots and huge prominences, each many times bigger than planet Earth. We will also have the usual display of astronomical and space items, posters, etc, and a mobile planetarium, so come along even if it's cloudy. More details on www.irishastro.org
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.
Terry Moseley
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