Hi all,
Please note: send all correspondence to me only at: terrymosel@aol.com
1. IAA LECTURE: Wednesday 4 March, 7.30 p.m. Larmor Lecture Theatre, Physics Building, QUB: "The Keplerian revolution - measuring the brightness of stars from space" by Dr Gavin Ramsay, AOP:
Abstract:
Astronomers can be frustrated by bad weather and day-light when trying to make observations of celestial sources. Within the last 20 years a series of satellites have been launched allowing astronomers to obtain virtually uninterrupted observations of stars lasting months or even years. I will outline some of the results from these observations which have allowed us to probe into the core of stars and the discovery of thousands of planets orbiting other stars.
Bio:
Gavin obtained his PhD in X-ray observations of accreting binary stars from UCL's Mullard Space Science Lab, after which he spent two years at the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands. Returning to MSSL for more than ten years, he then moved to Armagh Observatory. His interests include accreting binaries, stellar activity, transients and exo-planets and uses multi-wavelength observations from radio to X-ray bands. He is the Community Scientist for ESA's Plato mission due to be launched early in 2027.
2. COMET MAPS IS PLUNGING TOWARD THE SUN: Remember Comet Lovejoy (C/2011 W3)? On Dec.16, 2011, that comet skimmed the surface of the sun and survived, becoming a spectacular sight in the southern sky. The same thing could happen just weeks from now. This time the sungrazer is Comet MAPS (C/2026 A1), witth perihelion on April 4. "How bright will sungrazing Comet MAPS become?" wonders photographer Gerald Rhemann. "Since it was discovered on Jan. 13th, the comet has increased in brightness by 5 magnitudes (100-fold). Speculation that it could develop into a comet visible during the daylight around its perihelion (closest approach to the sun) on April 4th is entirely justified."
The comet's encounter with the sun will be extremely close. "The latest orbit indicates a perihelion of only ~160,000 km above the photosphere," says Qicheng Zhang of the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona. The corresponding distance for Comet Lovejoy was 140,000 km, about the same. Like Lovejoy, MAPS will pass well inside the sun's corona.
Whether or not Comet MAPS survives depends on the size and cohesion of its nucleus. "This remains highly uncertain for the time being," says Zhang. "We don't yet know if it is a typical small Kreutz sungrazer that will disintegrate before it gets to the sun--or something more substantial like Comet Lovejoy."
3. Venus climbs out of the W twilight.
Venus gradually moves up along the ecliptic, away from the Sun, and will be getting easy to see by mid March, though still quite low at first. On 8 March, it will pass just less than 1 degree above left of much fainter Saturn (mag 1.0).
4. AOP celebrates Lottery Open Week on 10 March.
Armagh Observatory & Planetarium will mark National Lottery Open Week with free tickets to the telescope dome on 10th March between 2 pm to 4 pm, and 50% off dome shows, with a valid lottery ticket.
5. JUPITER PAST OPPOSITION .
Giant Jupiter was at a very favourable opposition on Jan 10 in Gemini, at mag -2.7, second only to Venus in brightness, and with an equatorial diameter of 46.5".
An amazing fact is that at close oppositions, the disc of Jupiter is greater in apparent area than the maximum illuminated discs of all the other planets combined! Venus can have a greater apparent diameter, but only when it is a very thin crescent, with most of its disc dark. AFAIK, I'm the only one to have ever mentioned this, but I have double checked it, and it's true!
The satellite shadow transits are much easier to see than the transits of the satellites themselves, as the satellites often blend in to the disc background, so they are very hard to see, except at the very beginning and end of transits.
6. SPRING EQUINOX: The Sun will cross the equator Northwards on March 20 at 15h 03m, marking the start of Spring in the N. Hemisphere. From then on, the days will be longer than the nights.
7. Skellig DarkSky Festival, Co Kerry, March 20-22
8. Irish Astronomy Week, March 20 – 28. Events throughout the whole island.
9. COSMOS Star Party, Midlands Astronomy Club. April 11
10. SATURN fading but still visible, but not for long:
The second biggest planet in our system is still just observable but now very low in the West as the sky gets dark. It's getting too low for proper observing by about 6.0 p.m. lying just above left of much brighter Venus
11. ZODIACAL LIGHT: The next period in this Spring to look for this very faint cone of light, extending along the ecliptic on either side of the Sun, will be from March 10 to 19. It's caused by a concentration of very fine dust, in the plane of the solar system, and is brightest fairly close to the Sun. Look in the west, along the line of the ecliptic, i.e. from Venus up towards the Pleiades/Hyades. Start from when the last vestiges of twilight are fading. You'll need a very clear sky, a clear W horizon, and no light pollution!
12. THREE MORE COMETS! – one or two maybe naked-eye?
And another - Comet Wierzchos Vaults Into the March Evening Sky - Universe Today
Astronomers may have already spotted the 'Great Comet of 2026' — and it could soon be visible to the naked eye | Live Science https://share.google/4bpJEJOmnVCrPu9ws and
Will comet C/2025 R3 (PanSTARRS) be the 'great comet' of 2026? And
13. WhatsApp Group for alerts on Observing Nights.
The IAA have set up a WhatsApp Group for updates on Observing Nights. If you would like to be included in this group, please e-mail Mary at callistoboxers@hotmail.com with your full name & mobile telephone number.
No discussions about anything other than Observing Nights will be posted on this group.
14. ISS
The ISS will start a new series of evening passes on 12 March. Details for your location are available on www.heavens-above.com
15: Connemara Astronomy Club and Connemara Dark Skies present Valuing our Dark Skies. 21 March
Exploring how we can preserve the Dark for the benefit of all of us by learning about light pollution by Caitríona Nic Ghiollaphádraig, Connemara Dark Skies. Further information about Connemara Dark Skies can be found on www.connemaradarkskies.ie
"Valuing Our Dark Skies" - Caitríona Nic Ghiollaphádraig, 21st March @ 11 am, Clifden Library, Market Street, Clifden, Co. Galway, H71 Y892
This is a free event for Irish Astronomy Week Under-18s must be accompanied by an adult
16. HEADS UP – VOLUNTEERS WANTED - IFAS Convention, Saturday 12 September 2026.
"From Ancient Stones to Distant Stars". Birr Castle, Co Offaly. This event, being organised by Ronan Newman, chair of IFAS, is the first event of its kind. It will be an all-day event, with a possible optional dinner in the evening, and possibly observing if clear. Top speakers are being invited, and there will also be major contribution from IFAS clubs. Details still being arranged, but mark the date in your diaries.
Anyone who is interested in helping to organise this event, or to help out on the day, please contact Ronan Newman: I can give you his contact details on request.
17: Recurrent Nova T Corona Borealis – Latest predictions- 25 June 2026?:
By extrapolating the empirical fact that the previous T CrB eruption dates were separated by an integer multiple of the orbital period 228 days, the next eruption could occur on 25 June 2026, No physical hypothesis is made behind this extrapolation. I urge observers to be cautious about it, since an external perturbation could happen, and to continue to monitor the light-curve of the star. (By Jean Schneider, Paris Observatory)
(It's two years now since the first predictions of an 'imminent' outburst! But, it could explode any time, so, keep an eye on it - comparison charts can be found on the websites of the BAA Variable Star Section, or the AAVSO. The current magnitude is around 10, so you'll need a good telescope to see it now.
(BTW, don't confuse it with the other nearby famous variable star, R CrB, which does the opposite – it stays normally around 6th magnitude, but occasionally dims to as faint as magnitude 14 or 15!)
Anyway, do keep an eye out – T CrB lies just outside the East side of the circle of the 'Crown', about a degree from Epsilon CrB, but you really do need charts to observe it properly. It's visible rising in the NE from about 11 pm.
It's at Declination: 25° 55′ 12.6″; R.A.: 15h 59m 30.2s)
18. NEW EASY TEASER:
What coincidence is remarkable about the first four men on the Moon?
Clue: It's nominal
Rule: You are only eligible to enter the Easy Teaser if you have not been a member of an astronomy club or society for more than 10 years, or if you have not already correctly answered one of the difficult ones. This is to give the beginners and young readers a chance!)
19: NEW DIFFICULT TEASER
Why should M110 actually be M1?
Clue: It's Right….
Remember, send answers to me only at my aol address: terrymosel@aol.com.
20. 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:
One of the biggest stars in the universe might be ready to explode It might – or it might be in a thousand, or 10,000 years! And it's in the LMC, so it won't be visible from here anyway, just like SN1987a.Closest baby nebula to Earth 'hatches' in strange new Hubble image – Space photo of the week | Live Science James Webb Telescope Detects Complex Organic Chemistry Beyond the Milky Way https://share.google/UF7MsLUPnSajPncocWebb's Infrared Vision Reveals Planetary Nebula that Looks Strikingly Like Celestial Brain | Sci.News https://share.google/Xp51emUDLgYuUYo91Scientists find ancient black hole breaking the cosmic 'speed limit,' challenging multiple theories | Live Science https://share.google/EtLLeTRaQCdQiRphs James Webb Space Telescope spots supermassive black hole in the early universe | Watch NASA telescope spots first alien 'astrosphere' around a sun-like star: Space photo of the week Galaxy and black hole co-evolution in dark matter haloes not captured by cosmological simulations | Nature Astronomy https://share.google/AmGt7FxygocwTbefv Astronomers just watched a star 1,540 times the size of our sun transform into a hypergiant. Will it go supernova? | Space https://share.google/sISuznYYBaIAzSaR7 https://phys.org/news/2026-02-russian-astronomers-eruptive-behavior-young.html?utm_source=nwletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily-nwletter COSMOLOGYHow fast is the universe actually expanding? Ripples in spacetime could finally solve 'Hubble tension' Cosmic Birefringence: Astronomers Just Found A Big New Problem For Our Current Models Of Physics | IFLScience https://share.google/OusatACFIlSu6rxydWhy Cosmic 'Dark Matter' Is Living On Borrowed Time - Universe Today https://share.google/mluXgjJ1fCL2altsp EARTH & MOONIncomplete remains of world's 'youngest' impact crater spotted lurking in Chinese forest — Earth from space | Live Science'It's just a matter of when' space junk hits UK, say expertshttps://www.ecoticias.com/en/nasa-and-china-warn-that-the-moon-could-be-hit-by-a-60-meter-rock-and-that-the-impact-could-trigger-a-meteor-storm-that-would-knock-out-the-internet-satellites-and-gps-for-years/28467/ . This is slightly in the scaremongering category, as the chances of an impact are only 4%. However, if there was an impact, some of the debris could well reach Earth, as we have already found meteorites that were blasted off the Moon by previous impacts. SOLAR SYSTEM Mystery of ancient cosmic 'snowmen' floating in deep space has been crackedYoung Mars volcano hides a powerful magma engine beneath the surface | ScienceDaily https://share.google/K2nVeaEDrnaWPYahhGiant 'spiderwebs' on Mars contain tiny egg-like structures that scientists 'can't quite explain,' NASA rover reveals | Live ScienceNASA engineers reprogrammed Mars helicopter's Snapdragon chip to run the rover instead, reconfiguring system from 140 million miles away — repurposes its 'ancient' unused Qualcomm 801 SoC, accurate to within 10 inches | Tom's Hardware https://share.google/xTyp4UZAk4EO2N7ej SPACE Rocket Report: Vulcan "many months" from flying; Falcon 9 extends reuse milestone - Ars Technica https://share.google/DiuO7XZ9Pr2fepJn8
Rocket Report: Vulcan "many months" from flying; Falcon 9 extends reuse milestone - Ars Technica https://share.google/DiuO7XZ9Pr2fepJn8
'Pushing this competition': SpaceX's Starship might not fly on NASA's newly revamped Artemis 3 mission | Space https://share.google/HqaTn6MGWiAlq5BM6
NASA astronaut who had medical problem in space breaks silence | Mashable
'It's just a matter of when' space junk hits UK, say experts
NASA announces Artemis III mission no longer aims to send humans to moon
NASA shakes up leadership of human spaceflight program in wake of critical Starliner report
ULA isn't making the Space Force's GPS interference problem any easier - Ars Technica https://share.google/d2ODSpVfol1wYnjS4
NASA engineers reprogrammed Mars helicopter's Snapdragon chip to run the rover instead, reconfiguring system from 140 million miles away — repurposes its 'ancient' unused Qualcomm 801 SoC, accurate to within 10 inches | Tom's Hardware https://share.google/xTyp4UZAk4EO2N7ej
FINAL WORD:
"The treasures hidden in the heavens are so rich that the human mind shall never be lacking in fresh nourishment." - Johannes Kepler
21. 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
