(NB, all times are summer time when in force, for convenience)
1. International Dark Sky Week: various online events: April 5 – 12
Learn more here: www.darksky.org
Dear Dark Sky Ireland friends!
There are a number of great events starting on Monday to celebrate Dark Sky Week and I couldn't let the chance pass without dropping a line to give a mention to them all. Of course if any of you have set up events that you'd like shared to Dark Sky Ireland Facebook Page or web site, please let us know.
Mayo Events run from 5th April until 11th April as a "virtual roadshow" to get as close as we can to a typical dark sky week programme. Cork Sky Friendly also has excellent events running from Monday 5th (see below). Everyone is welcome and all events free. Please attached a programme & artwork together with a list of scheduled events below.
Mayo events until 11th April can be booked on are on www.mayodarkskies.eventbrite.com and 12th April on www.darksky.eventbrite.com
Exploring Mars with Derek Dempsey FRAS of Newport Astronomy Club
Monday 5th April 2021 - Host location Newport
https://www.eventbrite.ie/o/friends-of-mayo-dark-skies-10915187184
Tuesday 6th April 2021 - Host location Clare Island
Lumen Studios - In Search of Darkness
Wednesday 7th April 2021 -7pm - Host location Achill Island
Mountains, Mystery and Megaliths
Thursday 8th April 2021 - Host location Ballycroy
Double Bill of speakers Anna Levin & Emma Marrington
Part 1 Incandescent - We Need to Talk About Light by Anna Levin
Part 2 Night Blight and the countryside - Emma Marrington of CPRE, the countryside charity
Friday 9th DAYTIME (12 Noon)– Dark Sky Tourism Event
Just this week the Government of Ireland launched "Our Rural Future" - Rural Policy Development Policy 2021-2025. This document recognises the need for a national Dark Sky strategy to encourage tourism recovery in rural areas with an action to: "Develop a new Dark Skies Strategy, with a focus on the opportunities this unique blend of tourism and science can create for rural communities."
The time is now to explore the potential of dark sky tourism and Mayo Dark Sky Park will host a free webinar on 9th April as part of International Dark Sky Week. This webinar aims to inform and inspire hospitality businesses about the potential of Dark Sky Tourism with expert speakers from Fáilte Ireland and an international panel from India, France and Canada.
Friday 9th EVE - 7pm - Audio Dark Sky Sensory Event
A Memory of Darkness
Colin Stafford-Johnson (Wildlife after dark)
Saturday 10th April 7pm – Host location Mulranny
One of the best known faces on Irish television, Colin has most recently been on our screens presenting Wild Cuba: A Caribbean Journey for which he won the prestigious Jackson Wild 'Best Presenter-Led' award for a second time. In 2019 Colin presented Animal Babies: First Year on Earth on BBC Two and Wild UK on BBC One. In previous years, Colin filmed and presented Wild Ireland: The Edge of the World on BBC Two and the eighth series of Living the Wildlife on BBC One
Sunday 11th April - Host location Inishturk Island
Brendan Owens - The Star on Our Doorstep
Monday 12th - DARK SKY Ireland - National Event
Voices for Dark Skies
A Dark Sky Ireland networking event to raise awareness of light pollution in Ireland and to encourage advocacy and support for Dark Sky groups on the island.
Presentations from:
Sue Callaghan - National Parks & Wildlife Service
Daragh Quill - Roads Management Office
Bettymaya Foott - International Dark Sky Association
Niall Smith - MTU Blackrock Castle Observatory
This event is jointly hosted by Cork Sky Friendly Campaign and the Friends of Mayo Dark Skies and is open to all to join the discussion.
Tickets from www.darksky.eventbrite.com
CORK events:
Easter Monday 5th April at 7.30pm
A Cork Sky Friendly Campaign Zoom tutorial on how to participate in the Globe at Night citizen science project
https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/discover-leo-globe-at-night-tickets-147682812267
Dark Sky Week events from MTU Blackrock Castle Observatory
https://www.bco.ie/events/light-pollution/
Friday April 9 at 7pm
MTU Blackrock Castle Observatory presents a live online panel discussion on why fighting light pollution matters.
OM/Davagh Dark Sky Park also has the following events
2. Paul Evans has produced his latest excellent sky guide for April
3. SPACE and ASTRONOMY WEBINAR – Next is May 4
NB: Note platform change. Since most people have been watching on YouTube, we are ceasing the presentation via Zoom, and it will now be streamed live on both YouTube and Facebook. This will also give us lots of added features in the presentation.
After a year of presentations, we're taking a break for April, and we'll be back on 'Star Wars Day' – May the Fourth be with you!
Presented by me and the amazing Nick Howes, they are approximately 45 minutes long, every second Tuesday, at 7.30 p.m., covering whatever is topical in space and astronomy. The next one will be on Tuesday 4 May: youtube.com/spacestorelive
NB – So, from now on it will be Live streamed to YouTube SpaceStore Live! Channel and Live streamed to Facebook Live. I'll post any last minute news via Twitter.
4. Reach for the Stars astrophotography competition, run by the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies and the Irish Times jointly with the support of the IAS - John Flannery will be one of the judges. Details available at this site: For info: the images can be taken anywhere on the whole island of Ireland, up until 31 March 2021.
https://www.dias.ie/ga/2020/12/16/reach-for-the-stars-diass-astrophotography-competition/ or see
We're sponsoring a new DIAS astrophotography competition! - Alice PR & Events
Or else, just go to dias.ie, the host website, and you should see it flagged in the announcements.
5. Space for Art Foundation Requesting Space Art from Children, deadline 1 May
The Space for Art Foundation invites children from anywhere in the world to contribute artwork to their next project: a space suit called BEYOND. Submissions can be emailed to the foundation or posted to the foundation's Facebook page. Entries should be submitted by 1 May 2021.
Learn more here: https://www.spaceforartfoundation.org/projects
6. Easy Teaser – Another clue!:
Q. Of the 12 official zodiacal constellations, what record is held by Scorpius?
I forgot to repeat the rules for that, but they are:
"Rules: you're barred from entering if you (A) have already submitted a correct answer to any of the previous teasers, and/or (B) if you've been a member of any astronomy clubs or societies for 15 years or more. Obviously I have to trust your honesty on that latter point, but remember, if you're correct your name will be published here, and other members of your club will see it!"
There has only been one correct answer so far, but that was from someone who is not eligible under the rules above.
First clue: Look at the constellation on a star atlas, either paper, or digital, and compare it with other zodiacal constellations.
Second clue: What runs through all zodiacal constellations, by definition?
If no-one gets it after that, I'll close it with an honourable mention for the 'expert' who got the answer at the start.
Please send all answers to me at my aol address terrymosel@aol.com
7. ESA seeks new astronauts: apply March 31 to May 28
European Space Agency on the hunt for new astronauts (msn.com)
8. June 8-11: Institutions of Extraterrestrial Liberty, hosted by U of Edinburgh. 4 days of webinars on Human Exploration of Mars.
9 Davagh Dark Sky Park and Observatory closed until further notice
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.
10. Europlanet Society press release
A pocket guide to Mars
A pocket atlas of Mars has been published that uses geographic techniques developed for terrestrial maps to reveal a wealth of information about the surface of the Red Planet, as well as its climate and cloud cover. The atlas is being presented this week at the 52nd Lunar and Planetary Science Conference.
The 84-page atlas is currently available in English, Hungarian and Czech, and will be available in a digital format later this year. The atlas, which has been developed for use in astronomy clubs and schools, was funded by the Europlanet Society through its Central European Hub.
The main part of the atlas consists of a series of double spreads showing each of the 30 cartographic quadrangles into which the surface of Mars has been divided by the US Geological Survey. The landforms created by lava, wind, water, and ice are shown separately on a topographic base map, highlighting features such as dune fields, mountain peaks, volcanic calderas, caves, ancient dried-up lakes and deltas, and fault lines.
For the first time in a published Mars atlas, climate maps are included, which show 13 climatic zones with boundaries defined by combining seasonal temperature and frost data. A series of climate diagrams show the variation in temperature through the martian year for each of the zones. In addition, a weather map shows the temperature at ground level across the western hemisphere of Mars at the two annual solstices.
The atlas also includes an albedo map, derived from data from Mars Express and Mars Global Surveyor, which shows the amount of sunlight reflected from the surface, the frequently cloudy regions and the maximum area covered by the seasonal caps of frozen carbon dioxide and water ice at the martian poles.
The map editor, Henrik Hargitai of the Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest and former chair of the Commission on Planetary Cartography of the International Cartographic Association, said: "The maps in the atlas are manually edited, using accurate data from missions and models. Thematic maps that reveal patterns in physical geography have been used for decades for in terrestrial atlases, but this is the first time that they are available in an atlas for Mars. The publication of this edition is a culmination of mapping efforts over the last two decades. The atlas also includes a one-page calendar for Mars year 36, covering the period from February 2021 to December 2022, which explains the milestones in the seasonal changes on Mars."
Future plans for the atlas include the addition of themed maps that show regions of interest in detail, and atlas-based activities for educators. As well as being a tool for outreach and education, this type of multi-themed map could be valuable for the scientific community in interpreting the geologic evolution of Mars, estimating whether an area might ever have hosted life, or identifying in-situ resources to support future human exploration missions.
Images
Double spread of thematic map of Tharsis region of Mars (Mars Chart 09) from the Pocket Atlas of Mars 36. The scale of the map is 1cm=107 km. Credit: NASA/JPL/GSFC/ESA/DLR/FU/H. Hargitai.https://www.europlanet-society.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/31-40-3.jpg
The atlas is available at: https://www.etsy.com/listing/955444239/mars-36-pocket-atlas
11. 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
Sound On: NASA's Mesmerising Audio of Cat's Eye Nebula Singing Will Teleport You to Space (msn.com)
Distant, spiralling stars give clues to the forces that bind sub-atomic particles -- ScienceDaily
EARTH & MOON
100m-wide meteor hit Antarctica 430,000 years ago, scientists say (msn.com)
From stardust to pale blue dot: Carbon's interstellar journey to Earth -- ScienceDaily
How the Chicxulub impactor gave rise to modern rainforests -- ScienceDaily
SOLAR SYSTEM
NASA Perseverance Mars rover investigates 'odd' rock, zaps it with a laser (msn.com)
Mysterious rumblings detected from Mars by Nasa's Insight lander (msn.com)
Uranus emitting X-rays: Scientists probe mystery around 'Ice Giant' planet (msn.com) There's a difference between emitting and reflecting!
SPACE
SpaceX is adding a glass dome on Crew Dragon for 360 views of space (msn.com)
SpaceX explosion: Elon Musk hints 'something significant' caused Starship SN11 to crash (msn.com)
TELESCOPES, INSTRUMENTS, TECHNIQUES
12. 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 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
