1. IAA AGM and Lecture: "Apollo 11 – Achieving the Goal", by Paul Evans, + tour of QUB / ARC Observatory (w.p.)_ Wed 17 April.
SYNOPSIS: Paul has given several excellent talks on the Apollo programme recently, and this one promises to be just as good. Essential for anyone who didn't see it at the time, and also for those like me who remember it well, but enjoy re-living it all again. And you'll see some videos that you've probably never seen before.
After the AGM and the talk, Prof Alan Fitzsimmons has kindly offered a visit to their state of the art observatory on the roof of the building, weather permitting. NB, access would be difficult for anyone with mobility problems.
Bell Lecture Theatre, Physics Building , QUB, 7.30pm
All welcome, but only IAA members can partake in the AGM business. Free admission, including light refreshments.
2. NEW "MOONSCAPE". Apollo 11 Moon Landing, on YouTube. 3.5 hours of footage, including the full EVA in enhanced B&W TV, and Movie film, plus, when they take a photo, the photo comes up on the screen. (Thanks to Derek Heatly for this info)
3. NEW Easter at Armagh Observatory and Planetarium. Mon 22 - Fri 26 April 2019
This Easter the Armagh Observatory and Planetarium will celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Bovedy and Sprucefield Meteorites. Join us for fun filled rocket building, dome shows, astronomical meteorite presentations and much more.
Thursday 25 April: Meteorite special, with Dr Mike Simms, meteorite expert from the Ulster Museum, talking about all aspects of meteorites. Three talks, at 11.30, 1.30, and 2.30 p.m. Only £3 per ticket. Booking essential.
Also a special presentation "An evening with Bovedy" at 7.0 p.m. Limited numbers, booking essential.
4. NEW DIAS Summer Studentships - Astrophysics - 2019
As part of the DIAS Summer Studentships programme in 2019, DIAS Astrophysics (www.dias.ie/astrophysics) is delighted to offer 3 Summer Studentships.
DIAS Astrophysics undertakes research in solar physics, space weather, star formation, astrophysical jets, massive stars and high energy astrophysics. We also operate Dunsink Observatory (www.dias.ie/dunsink).
A successful candidate should be in line for a 1st or 2.1 honours degree, have an interest in a research career and be completing their 3rd year at an Irish higher education institution.
The stipend is for a total scholarship of 3,000 euros and covers a two month internship starting on or before June 4th.
DIAS Astrophysics is committed to gender balance so both female and male candidates are encouraged to apply.
The closing date for applications is 5pm on Friday, April 19. Successful candidates will be notified by email by the end of April.
The application should consist of
i) A CV (max 2 pages),
ii) A cover letter detailing why the applicant wants to pursue a career in research (max 1 page),
iii) a letter of support from the Degree Course Director stating that the candidate is in line for a 1st or 2.1 class honours degree.
iv) the application and letter should be uploaded as a PDF file (please do not use other formats) before 5pm on Friday, April 19.
Applications may be submitted at www.dias.ie/vacancies
5. NEW. NEXT SOLAR CYCLE PREDICTION.
A NOAA/NASA co-chaired international panel – charged with forecasting the upcoming 11-year solar cycle, Solar Cycle 25 – released a preliminary forecast on April 5, 2019. The consensus is that Cycle 25 will be similar in size to the current cycle, Cycle 24; in other words, it's likely to be weak. These solar experts said they expect solar minimum – the period when the sun is least active – no earlier than July 2019 and no later than September 2020. They expect sunspot maximum to occur no earlier than the year 2023 and no later than 2026, with a minimum peak sunspot number of 95 and a maximum of 130. That's in contrast to the average number of sunspots, which typically ranges from 140 to 220 sunspots per solar cycle.
We expect Solar Cycle 25 will be very similar to Cycle 24: another fairly weak cycle, preceded by a long, deep minimum. The expectation that Cycle 25 will be comparable in size to Cycle 24 means that the steady decline in solar cycle amplitude, seen from cycles 21-24, has come to an end and that there is no indication that we are currently approaching a Maunder-type minimum.
6. The ISS. A new series of morning passes will start ion 4 May. Details for your own location, and lots more info on space and astronomy, on www.heavens-above.com.
If you want to check for transits of the ISS across the Sun or the Moon which occur somewhere near you, visit http://transit-finder.com
7. Global Astronomy Month, April.
See https://astronomerswithoutborders.org/gam2019-programs/program-schedule-2019.html
8. 25th April: Schroedinger 'What is Life?' public lecture series
Professor Werner Nahm FRS will explore: 'Beyond the 'What is Life?' lectures and book: The legacy of Professor Erwin Schroedinger...' The final lecture of the four-part lunch time lecture series exploring the question: 'What is Life?' from a number of different perspectives. Register in advance here.
9. Become an IAU Dark Skies Ambassador. The IAU100 Global Project Dark Skies for All project aims to raise awareness for the preservation of quiet and dark skies and claim the right to future generations to continue to access our true night skies. The project now opens the registration for becoming one of its ambassadors. Additionally, the IAU100 is issuing a call for proposals to receive the "Turn on the Night" educational kit and encourages educators, astronomy professionals and enthusiasts around the world to apply.
You can find more information here: https://www.iau-100.org/darkskies-ambassadors-call
10. IAU100 Amateur Astronomy Day Event on 13 April 2019 in Brussels
On Saturday 13 April 2019 at the Palace of the Academies in Brussels, Belgium, the International Astronomical Union will organise its first event for amateur astronomers. With an inspirational full-day event that will include NASA astronaut John Grunsfeld, renowned scientists involved in hot topics in astronomy and presentations from the amateur astronomical community. With this event, the IAU aims to further build the relationship between amateur astronomers, their organizations and the IAU. The IAU100 Secretariat hereby invites amateur astronomers to attend the event.
You can find more information here: https://www.iau-100.org/amateur-astronomers-day
11. Centenary of IAU in 2019: IAU100: Uniting our World to Explore the Universe
In 2019, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) celebrates its 100th anniversary. To commemorate this milestone, the IAU will organize a year-long celebration to expand awareness of a century of astronomical discoveries as well as to support and improve the use of astronomy as a tool for education, development, and diplomacy under the central theme "Uniting our World to Explore the Universe". The celebrations will stimulate worldwide interest in astronomy and science and will reach out to the global astronomical community, national science organizations and societies, policy-makers, students and families, and the general public.
NEW IAU100 Celebrations around the World for details for your own country, check the link below.
With Astronomy events of all kinds, including national and cultural events, the IAU100 is engaging with different communities worldwide. Meet the IAU100 National Committees and learn more about the people who are here to support you during the 2019 celebrations. For the UK, it's Prof Robert Walsh, originally from Belfast, but now at U of Central Lancs (who gave a great talk to the IAA in Belfast some years ago); and for ROI it's the indefatigable Clair McSweeney from BCO in Cork. See https://www.sciencespace.ie/celebrating-100-years-of-the-international-astronomical-union-ireland/
Read more: https://www.iau-100.org/national-committees
12. WAGIA special prize
Women and Girls in Astronomy Special Prize
A new special prize has been announced for event organisers that conduct activities for IAU100 that innovatively celebrate Women and Girls in Astronomy. We strongly encourage the organization of activities throughout 2019, as the perfect opportunity to celebrate girls and women in astronomy.
More information: https://www.iau-100.org/womenandgirls-in-astronomy
13. Einstein Schools program new resources announced
The Einstein Schools program is taking off with over 160 schools working to become IAU-certified Einstein Schools. All participants in this program can now find more teaching resources that can be used in classrooms. For example, there are now a number of black holes' related activities together with more resources on teaching about solar eclipses in preparation for the special ceremonies on May 29 in Principe and Brazil related to the 100th anniversary of Eddington eclipse expedition of 1919 that confirmed Einstein's Theory of General Relativity.
Finally, the project has also added three classroom-useful graphic short stories called "Tales of the Modern Astronomer". These stories were developed at the U.S. National Optical Astronomy Observatory and highlight research related to black holes that are being done today at observatories around the world.
Find more information at the Einstein Schools official website: https://www.einsteinschools.org/
14. European Week of Astronomy and Space Science
Date: 24 – 28 June 2019; Location: Lyon, France. More information: https://eas.unige.ch//EWASS/
15. Starmus 24 – 29 June — Star-studded Lineup for 2019
Created by Garik Israelian, a researcher at the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands (IAC), the Starmus Festival is a combination of science, art and music that has featured presentations from astronauts, cosmonauts, Nobel Prize winners and other prominent figures from science, culture, the arts and music. Now celebrating its fifth year, and timed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Moon landings, Starmus V will take place in Bern, Switzerland, from 24 to 29 June 2019. The IAU is a partner organisation of Starmus and among the confirmed speakers will be IAU Secretary General, Piero Benvenuti, and IAU President-elect, Ewine van Dishoeck. IAU announcement: https://www.iau.org/news/announcements/detail/ann18007/
16. Festival of Curiosity, Dublin. July 18 – 21, 2019
17. IAU100: Moon Landing 50th Anniversary - Let's All Observe the Moon!
Date: 20 July 2019
Location: All around the world
More information: https://www.iau-100.org/moon-landing-anniversary
The Moon will be waning gibbous, and not rising until about midnight, but at least some spectacular formations will be visible for those prepared to stay up late!
18. Apollo 11; 50th Anniversary. Armagh Observatory and Planetarium will be holding a suite of events through July and August to celebrate this event. More details soon.
19. INTERESTING WEBLINKS (Disclaimer - Use of material herein from various sources does not imply approval or otherwise of the opinions, political or otherwise, of those sources). NB: If the title in the weblink does not indicate the subject matter, I give a brief simple intro before the link. I may also comment about the link afterwards.
ASTROPHYSICS
The origin of photons in GRBs https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/04/190403080446.htm
VLA images core feature of radio galaxies https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/04/190402164531.htm
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/techandscience/black-hole-picture-revealed-for-the-first-time/ar-BBVNOcy?ocid=spartandhp Why do writers use such daft terminology in popular articles? – how can a Black Hole "crouch", in the centre of a galaxy or anywhere else? Also -
Magnetar formed from neutron star merger 6.5 billion LY away https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/04/190411115250.htm
COSMOLOGY
Dark matter is not composed of mini primordial Black Holes https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/04/190402113042.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Ftop_news%2Ftop_science+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Top+Science+News%29
Euclid mission could solve two of universe's greatest mysteries https://www.livescience.com/65174-biggest-universe-mysteries-euclid.html?utm_source=ls-newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20190408-ls
Is Dark Matter fuzzy? https://www.livescience.com/65208-fuzzy-dark-matter-evidence.html?utm_source=ls-newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20190414-ls
EARTH & MOON
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/06/ancient-earth-froze-over-geologic-instant
The inner temperature of the moon https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/04/190401142204.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Ftop_news%2Ftop_science+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Top+Science+News%29
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-6899505/NASA-says-mysterious-dancing-blue-lights-spotted-Arctic-caused-vapor-tests-NOT-aliens.html Damn NASA! They're such spoilsports – the poor UFOlogists haven't had a decent sighting for years!
Light pollution is getting worse https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2019/04/nights-are-getting-brighter-earth-paying-the-price-light-pollution-dark-skies/?cmpid=org=ngp::mc=crm-email::src=ngp::cmp=editorial::add=Science_20190410::rid=1662473516
EXOPLANETS
Planet's metal core survives cataclysm in tight orbit round white dwarf star https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/04/190404143654.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Ftop_news%2Ftop_science+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Top+Science+News%29
IMAGES
Amazing HST image of M3 globular cluster https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/04/190412110336.htm
SOLAR SYSTEM
Why Pluto is no longer a planet https://www.space.com/why-pluto-is-not-a-planet.html
Another ridiculous illustration. The night side of Pluto & Charon should be totally black, and you couldn't see the Sun (whose position is shown by the shadows) and the Plough / Big Dipper in those relative positions. And Alcor is far too bright. Are there no astronomers in the illustrations departments at NASA / ESA?
'Oumuamuas might seed new planetary systems, says Michelle Bannister of QUB. https://newatlas.com/interstellar-objects-planet-formation/59184/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2019-04-09%20083352%20Other%20Daily%20Basic%202019-04-09%20083842%20Electrical%20brain%20stimulation%20winds%20memory%20function%20back%2050%20years&utm_content=2019-04-09%20083352%20Other%20Daily%20Basic%202019-04-09%20083842%20Electrical%20brain%20stimulation%20winds%20memory%20function%20back%2050%20years+CID_e3f4ea81de8b7095d2e43220d33b34fd&utm_source=Campaign%20Monitor&utm_term=Read%20more
SPACE
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6875081/Indian-satellite-destruction-created-400-pieces-debris-endangering-ISS-NASA.html It was reckless and selfish. They should have known, after the reaction to China doing the same thing. And the cascade effect means those 650 pieces will rapidly multiply.
Plan to catch spent rocket stages in mid air to re-use them. https://newatlas.com/germany-mid-air-rocket-catcher/59093/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2019-04-01%20082941%20Other%20Daily%20Basic%202019-04-01%20083745%20Fossil%20site%20is%20first%20ever%20to%20show%20deaths%20from%20mass%20extinction%20asteroid%20impact&utm_content=2019-04-01%20082941%20Other%20Daily%20Basic%202019-04-01%20083745%20Fossil%20site%20is%20first%20ever%20to%20show%20deaths%20from%20mass%20extinction%20asteroid%20impact+CID_3f7f28906f32f75acdc68f790ef7d924&utm_source=Campaign%20Monitor&utm_term=Read%20more
Israel's lunar landerf now in lunar orbit. https://newatlas.com/beresheet-lander-orbit-moon/59170/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2019-04-05%20083143%20Other%20Daily%20Basic%202019-04-05%20083616%20First%20ever%20private%20lunar%20mission%20enters%20orbit%20around%20the%20Moon&utm_content=2019-04-05%20083143%20Other%20Daily%20Basic%202019-04-05%20083616%20First%20ever%20private%20lunar%20mission%20enters%20orbit%20around%20the%20Moon+CID_687f96c87481a05c867be1eab6cc438b&utm_source=Campaign%20Monitor&utm_term=Read%20more I hope their designers and technicians are better than their illustrators! They should know that the lander's shadow should be totally black, as should the unlit side of the spacecraft itself!
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-6886975/NASA-aims-astronauts-Mars-just-15-years.html Well, I wish them luck. I'd love to see the space age develop from Sputnik 1, which I witnessed, through mankind on the Moon, to humans on Mars, in my lifetime.
The twins space study; results https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/04/190411165113.htm
Israeli spacecraft crash-lands on Moon https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/03/israeli-lander-pioneers-private-flights-moon?utm_campaign=news_daily_2019-04-11&et_rid=415711678&et_cid=2763066
SUN
QUB and Aberystwith Uni find that Sun's magnetic field is 10 times stronger than we thought https://newatlas.com/sun-magnetic-field-ten-times-stronger/59092/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2019-04-01%20082941%20Other%20Daily%20Basic%202019-04-01%20083745%20Fossil%20site%20is%20first%20ever%20to%20show%20deaths%20from%20mass%20extinction%20asteroid%20impact&utm_content=2019-04-01%20082941%20Other%20Daily%20Basic%202019-04-01%20083745%20Fossil%20site%20is%20first%20ever%20to%20show%20deaths%20from%20mass%20extinction%20asteroid%20impact+CID_3f7f28906f32f75acdc68f790ef7d924&utm_source=Campaign%20Monitor&utm_term=Read%20more
Huge blobs oozing from the Sun https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/04/190404114437.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Ftop_news%2Ftop_science+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Top+Science+News%29
Solar minimum will be long and deep https://spaceweatherarchive.com/2019/04/10/experts-predict-the-solar-cycle/
20. JOINING the IRISH ASTRONOMICAL ASSOCIATION. This link downloads a Word document to join the IAA. http://documents.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. You can also make a donation via Paypal if you wish: just click on the 'Donate' button. See also www.irishastro.org .
The Irish Astronomical Association is registered with The Charity Commission for Northern Ireland NIC 105858
DISCLAIMER: Any views expressed herein are mine, and do not necessarily represent those of the IAA.
Clear skies,
Terry Moseley
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