1. IAA AGM, Wed 13 April, 7.30 p.m. + "Our Moon and Others" I will also be giving a short talk on the above topic after the business part is over. Since we had an excellent talk by Donnacha O'Driscoll on the Moon recently, I'll be concentrating on some of the interesting moons around other planets.
Topic: IAA AGM
Time: Apr 13, 2022 07:15 PM London Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89835720922?pwd=Zk56RU9zc2hXWFI2QVVNMzZiU2QwZz09
Meeting ID: 898 3572 0922
Passcode: 499876
The room will open around 19:15 to allow for a prompt start This talk will also be Simulcast on our YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/user/irishastronomy/videos
2. Let's Keep Yuri's Day, 12 April.
https://www.facebook.com/551070831/posts/10160585076945832/?sfnsn=mo
3. Mercury starts good evening apparition.
This will be the best evening elongation of Mercury this year, with maximum elongation from the Sun of 21 º on April 29. The best will be in the third week of April. Here are details of the next days of visibility. Look low in the W to WNW about 30 mts after sunset. Note that it's much brighter before E. Elongation than afterwards.
Date mag phase elong diam.
Apr 13 -1.3 87.4% 11.7º 5.6"
Apr 16 -1.1 78.9% 14.6º 5.8"
Apr 19 -0.8 67.6% 17.0º 6.2"
Apr 22 -0.5 58.7% 18.9º 6.7"
4. Space and Astronomy Webinar returns on April 26. The fortnightly webinar is taking a break over Easter but Nick and I will b e back at 7.30 on April 26.
5. Next IAA Observing Session opportunities are on 22-23 |April – 20:30 onwards at Delamont Country Park
The Council has decided that the Observing Programme can now be brought back into being following the Covid-19 pandemic. We are being very careful to make sure we work within the restrictions currently in place in order to enable some socially distanced observing, however be aware that the safety of our members is paramount.
Details on https://irishastro.org/observing-programme/
6. International Dark Sky Week: 22-30 April
See International Dark Sky Week · mayo-ireland.ie
See International Dark-Sky Week 2022 - Awareness Days Events Calendar 2022
If you know of any other local events, let me know asap.
7. ISS:
The ISS will start a new series of morning passes on 28 April. Full details for your location on www.heavens-above.com, and on various Smartphone Apps.
8. DIAS Astrophotography competition returns. Entry Deadline: 5pm, Sat, 30th April.
The Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS) astrophotography competition 'Reach for the Stars' is back for its second year and is calling on people with an interest in photography and astronomy to submit their images.
The competition, which opened for entries on 03.03.22, is seeking the best astro-photographs taken in Ireland over the period 1st April 2021 to 30th April 2022. It is calling for submissions under two distinct categories:
- : Images depicting scenes / features or elements of astronomical interest. For example, deep space images or images of the solar system.
- : Astro-landscape images that depict a feature or element of astronomical interest and capture elements such as nature, cityscapes, buildings or monuments, land, or water.
Launching the competition, Dr. Eucharia Meehan, CEO and Registrar of DIAS, said: "DIAS is delighted to launch the 2022 'Reach for the Stars' competition. Following on from the huge success of last year's competition, we are excited to see what entries will be submitted this year, what creativity people bring, and what images they have captured. Last year we received hundreds of entries from people right across the country, and this year we hope to see even more. The competition is open to everyone – whether they are a seasoned professional or amateur with a love for astronomy. We just asked that they follow the competition guidelines carefully when making the submission to ensure their images are eligible."
Also commenting, Professor Peter Gallagher, Head of Astrophysics at DIAS and member of the judging panel, said: "As a member of the judging panel, we were blown away by submissions to the competition last year. From images that captured very complex astronomical features and others that captured the night-sky perfectly against beautiful Irish landscape – we had such a range of entries making our job as judges very difficult.
"As part of the competition, it was great to have the shortlisted entries printed for our outdoor exhibition at DIAS last year. Seeing them in large format really brings them to life and we hope to do the same again with this year's shortlisted entries.
"This year DIAS marks the 75th anniversary of the School of Cosmic Physics and we will be launching a full programme of events later in the month. As part of these celebrations, we will be awarding a special spot prize to a photograph that is entered into the competition that depicts the work of one or more of the research areas carried out at the School. These research areas include everything from solar and stellar physics and space weather to planetary science and star formation.
Competition Details. Entrants may submit up to two images per category to the competition. The deadline for entries is 5pm on Saturday, 30th April.
All entries to the competition will be screened by a shortlisting panel to ensure they meet the eligibility criteria. The shortlisted images in each category will then go forward for consideration by the judging panel and for an online public vote.
Full details here DIAS's astrophotography competition returns for a second year – DIAS
9. IAU Centre for the Protection of the Dark and Quiet Sky from Satellite Constellation Interference
The IAU Centre for the Protection of Dark and Quiet Sky from Satellite Constellation Interference (cps.iau.org) will begin operations in April. As a lead up to their grand opening, the Centre is planning a series of listening sessions on policy, industry and technology, community engagement, and more. The sessions have already started, but you still have time to join in on the conversation!
For more information about the Centre, please see their press conference here. And register for one or more of the listening sessions here.
10. Our Place in Space Project: In conjunction with QUB's ARC and the NI Science Festival
The Our Place In Space project is coming to N. Ireland for three long spells this year: in Derry from 22nd April to 22nd May, on Divis mountain 11th June to 10th July & at the Folk & Transport Museum from 17th Sept to 1 October.
Details are on the website – www.ourplaceinspace.earth with a nice video of Stephen Smartt and Oliver Jeffers.
The IAA has been asked to provide accompanying stargazing events, and details of these will be announced shortly. Watch this space!
11. International Day of Light, 16 May 2022
The International Day of Light (IDL) is a global initiative by UNESCO celebrated annually on the 16th of May, focusing on the significance of light and its role in science, art, technology, culture, education, and sustainable development in diverse fields, that help achieve UNESCO's goals – education, equality, and peace. This year IDL also focuses on the UN International Year of Basic Sciences for Sustainable Development 2022 & UN International Year Of Glass, the success of the James Webb Space Telescope and the International Day of Women and Girls in Science.
To learn more and register your event: https://www.lightday.org
12. History And Philosophy of Physics: ONE-DAY CONFERENCE: "The Nature of Light" - IN PERSON AND LIVESTREAMED ONLINE, on Saturday 11th June from 10.30 am - 5.00 pm BST
Visible light is the most pervasive feature of the observable Universe to humans, so its explanation has assumed a pre-eminent role in our attempts to understand the physical world around us. This conference will start with an examination of light and its properties with the formulation of the classical theory of optics by Newton, Huygens and others, and then move on to the theory of colours which involved not only natural philosophers, but artists and writers.
The understanding of electricity and magnetism in the 19th century led ultimately to the formulation of the electromagnetic theory of light summarised in Maxwell's equations which underpin the vast range of technologies still in daily use. In the 20th century, the role of the speed of light became very important in relativity and quantum theory.
The conference will examine the steps in our understanding of light to illuminate its history in our culture and in the technological developments over the past few decades.
Registration to attend this conference is free but booking is required to attend the conference with all
the details and the weblinks to register for the conference to attend in person or online given on the
webpage: https://stx.web.ox.ac.uk/event/the-nature-of-light
(This is the College and body where I was honoured to be asked to give a talk on solar eclipses about 5 years ago; It's usually very good!)
13. EASY TEASER: - answered at last!
Q: What do Centaurus, Crux and Orion, and only they, have in common?
These were the clues:
(1) It's to do with what they contain.
(2) What's the origin of our word 'Alphabet'?
(3) It's in the stars
(4) It takes two to tango.
Congrats to Dr Paul McHugh for once again coming up trumps. The answer is simple: they are the only constellations which contain two First Magnitude stars, Alpha and Beta in each case..
14. NEW EASY TEASER:
What comes up sideways, but goes down vertically?
15. DIFFICULT TEASER: And yet another! clue –
A T C G f P e M b J S What's the astronomical connection? Note, the ATCG has nothing to do with the 4 DNA bases Adenine, Thymine, Cytosine and Guanine – it's just coincidence.
No answers yet: So here are the clues so far:
(1) The lower case letters are deliberate, and distinguish those bits from the rest.
(2) The lower case 'e' could also be an 'a', although it's an 'e' in the original.
(3) There's a connection with a famous astronomer.
(4) All the letters are the first letters of words.
(5) The 'e' is for 'et'; in English it would obviously be 'and'. The 'b' is for 'by'.
And another one -
(6) The ancients used to talk about 'The Music of the Spheres'
Please send all Teaser answers to me at my aol address terrymosel@aol.com
16. Davagh Dark Sky Park and Observatory is open, with pre-booking, and some restrictions.
See https://www.midulstercouncil.org/visitor/things-to-do/star-gazing/davagh-dark-sky-observatory , and https://www.facebook.com/omdarksky/ I'll post any updates here. Or phone 03000 132 132 for changing Covid-19 advice.
17. 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:
Hunting for gravitational waves from monster black holes -- ScienceDaily
Astronomers detect 'galactic space laser' -- ScienceDaily
The Milky Way may have two supermassive black holes | Astronomy.com That might go with the bar.
'Galactic spiderweb' is dotted with feeding black holes (photo) (msn.com)
COSMOLOGY:
Is the origin of dark matter gravity itself? (msn.com) Isn't this all a bit like 'The square root of minus 1'? It's useful for calculations, but has no objective reality. It's rather an ad-hoc hypothesis. But then, so is 'Inflation'.
Invisible helium atoms provide exquisitely sensitive test of fundamental theory -- ScienceDaily
EARTH & MOON
Differences between the Moon's near and far sides linked to colossal ancient impact -- ScienceDaily
An interstellar object crashed into Earth in 2014, US government data reveal | Live Science
An interstellar object exploded over Earth in 2014, declassified government data reveal (msn.com)
Hydrogen 11 times worse than CO2 for climate, says new report (newatlas.com) But, see the qualification! And can it not be extracted directly from the atmosphere, or is that too expensive?
Earliest record of a candidate aurora found in Chinese annals -- ScienceDaily
FILM/TV
'For All Mankind' aims for Mars as season 3 lands June 10 on Apple TV Plus (msn.com)
IMAGES
Amazing astrophotography: How some of the most iconic space images were captured (msn.com)
Transit of Phobos, from Perseverance. https://www.facebook.com/543617930/posts/10159586250497931/?sfnsn=mo
SOLAR SYSTEM
Neptune is cooling down and scientists don't know why | Space and
SPACE
NASA will test SpinLaunch's ability to fling satellites into orbit (newatlas.com) Not only the payload but the second stage rocket, has to be able to withstand those 10,000g forces! And what happens to the balance after the launch? It has been counterbalancing the whole launch weight (rocket + fairing + payload), and then suddenly there's nothing to balance, while it's still rotating at very high rpm! Scary…
NASA astronauts on board ISS test spacesuits with built-in cooling | Watch (msn.com)
NASA scaling back Artemis 1 moon mission test due to faulty valve (msn.com)
TELESCOPES, INSTRUMENTS, TECHNIQUES.
A private Ax-1 astronaut will test making a liquid telescope mirror in space (msn.com)
James Webb Space Telescope's next-gen spectrograph can observe 100 galaxies in one go (msn.com)
18. JOINING the IRISH ASTRONOMICAL ASSOCIATION. This link gives options to join the IAA.
https://irishastro.org/join-the-iaa/ If you are a UK taxpayer, please select 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 https://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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