Friday, 30 June 2017

Fwd: Photo exhib, Inspire Space in Dublin, TSE, Exhibitions, NLCs, SunflowerFest, BCO

Hi all,
 
Happy Asteroid Day!  See https://asteroidday.org/
 
1. IAA Photo Exhibition "Heavens Above" & public outreach event, Bangor 3 July.  On Monday 3rd July the Irish Astronomical Association (IAA) will launch "Heavens Above", an exhibition of astonishing photographs of the sky taken exclusively by members of the Association, in the Bangor Carnegie Library. The exhibition will run to 29th July. There will also be a public lecture, and solar and maybe lunar viewing, weather permitting.  See  http://www.visitardsandnorthdown.com/events/heavens-above
 
2. NEW "Inspire Space" events in Dublin: Inspire Space summer events:
How to be an Astronaut on Saturday July 1st, Synge Theatre, Trinity College Dublin.
Apollo 13 on Thursday July 13th, Science Gallery Dublin
Ground Control to Astronaut Dan with NASA astronaut Dan Tani on  Saturday July 15th, Ed Burke Theatre, Trinity College Dublin
The Martian on the anniversary of the first moon-landing, Thursday July 20th, Dundrum Cinema
Details on how to book for all events can be found on Inspire Space's Facebook page and web site: Facebook page is here ;  and twitter address is @inspirespace, and  web site :
https://www.inspirespace.com
(Thanks to Kevin Nolan for this info)
 
3. USA Total Solar Eclipse option:
Please see this, just received from Cork Astronomy Club.
"CAC has arranged a special Package with a Travel Agent consisting of accommodation for 3 or more nights in a Portland, Oregon, Airport hotel, plus a Sunday morning 20 August coach tour of Portland. More importantly the package also includes a coach to take us to possible totality sites at Madras, Salem, or wherever else there is a clear sky at or near the totality centreline allowing for overnight 20/21 August traffic flows. A viewing site at Solarfest/Solartown Madras has been pre-booked. Flights are not included in the Package.
   We plan a maximum of 40 participants. Up to last week we had 38, but this has been reduced to 34 due to cancellation. So we have 6 places available. If anyone wishes to partake and are willing to join Cork Astronomy Club for a small fee, we would be obliged if you would ask them to contact me through this email address. Bill O'Meara: beakomeara@gmail.com"
   [NB: Madras, Oregon, is statistically the most favoured place at or near the centre line for clear skies along the whole trans-continental track, at the time of the eclipse. This is a very rare and fortuitous option to get to this popular observing location. Since you make your own flight arrangements, you can fly from Belfast, Cork, Dublin, Galway, Knock, Shannon or wherever, and meet up with the group in Portland. You have to join the club simply because it's arranged exclusively for club members (and family/partners etc). And this is the most accessible TSE until 2024, so it's a golden opportunity. TM]
 
4. Saturn at Opposition. Our celestial showpiece, and undoubtedly the most beautiful sight in our solar system, if not the entire sky, was directly opposite the Sun in the sky, and so visible all night, on 15 June. It's also at its closest to Earth at present, so it's the best time to observe it. BUT - it's also almost as far South in the sky as it can be, so it's poorly placed for observing from our latitudes. Not only is it always quite low down in the sky, with atmospheric absorption and poor seeing, it's above the horizon only for a fairly short time (pace the comment above - think about it; this is when the nights are shortest!). Nevertheless, it's always worth a look just to see those glorious rings!
 And the amazing Cassini spacecraft exploring Saturn and its system, continues its series of amazing and hazardous dives through the gap between Saturn and its rings. Watch out for more amazing images coming back.
   IAA members will have full details of how to observe and what to see in the current issue of STARDUST
 
5.  "Space:Out Of This World": this exhibition continues at Belfast Central Library, and is supported by the IAA with the loan of various exhibits, mainly from Andy McCrea.
 
6. Asteroid Day Live, 30 June:  The excitement at Asteroid Day Global is almost palpable! We are just one month away from Asteroid Day 2017 and are finally ready to present the first details surrounding the Asteroid Day LIVE broadcast to you. This newsletter contains all the information you need to know about Asteroid Day LIVE in one place. Just click on any of the image links below to find out more. We've got a lot in store for you and hope that you are as thrilled about the coming weeks as we are - we certainly cannot wait for you to see the first ever global 24-hour broadcast about space and asteroids.
Let's write history together! See https://asteroidday.org/live/ and Alan Fitzsimmons spells it out here. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/06/170620121101.htm 
 
7. Space events in Dublin
Thanks to Dr Norah Patten for this alert - Two very exciting events in July -  Both taking place in Dublin and tickets available through www.inspirespace.com 
July 1st: top 16 finalist in the CSA astronaut selection in 2009, Dr. Geoff Steeves shares what it takes to make it all the way to the final pool.
July 15th: NASA astronaut Dan Tani and ESA EUROCOM Andrea Boyd join Rick O'Shea for an interactive discussion.
Both events are on a Saturday afternoon - so perfect for the family :-)
 
8. NLCs This is the season to see these beautiful and mysterious high-altitude Noctilucent Clouds, thought to be caused by meteoric dust high in our atmosphere. However, a 'heat wave' in the upper atmosphere has temporarily wiped them out, so we're still waiting. Look low down in the Northern sky, just as the brightest stars become visible.
 
9. Sunflowerfest, Tubby's farm, Hillsborough, 28-30 July. We are delighted to be partnering with the NI Science Festival in bringing some astronomy to this event. The theme this year is "A Parallel Universe", which sounds interesting! We'll be doing solar observing during the day, and planet- and star-gazing at night, if clear. The farm is at 31 Cabra Road, Hillsborough, Co Down. Full details at https://sunflowerfest.co.uk/ 
 
10. Summer of Space at BCO. CIT Blackrock Castle Observatory in association with Cork County Council has just officially launched the Summer of Space programme to celebrate the International Space University's 2017 Space Studies Program (SSP17) running in Cork from June 26 - August 25 this year.
   The Summer of Space comprises over fifty public events taking place across Cork City and County and the island of Ireland. Most of the events are free and aimed at people of all ages and interests.
   For more information about the Summer of Space please see the official press release attached and our website - www.bco.ie/events

 

11. Blackrock Castle Observatory Space Camps, July 10 - 21

Book your space camper in for a fun filled week of space and science activities.
Join us each day from 9:30 to 12:30.
Week 1 | July 10 - 14 | suitable for ages 7 to 9
Week 2 | July 17 - 21 | suitable for ages 10 to 12

The cost for each Space Camper is €95 per child which includes 1 week of Space Camp, Space Camp t-shirt & all activity materials.

Payment must be paid before your chosen Space Camp begins. 10% Discounts apply for members and siblings attending.

Please call us on 021 4326120 or email info@bco.ie to book. For more information see www.bco.ie

 

12.  IAA Solar Day, 6 August, WWT, Castle Espie, 2 - 5 p.m.

 

13. AstroCamp 2017 The European Southern Observatory (ESO) and the Centre for Astrophysics of the University of Porto (CAUP) are collaborating to support AstroCamp 2017, an astronomy-focused summer academic programme for secondary school students. The Summer AstroCamp 2017 will be held from 6 to 20 August in northern Portugal, at the Centre for Environmental Education and Interpretation of the Corno de Bico Protected Landscape. The applicant with the best application from one of ESO's Member States who is eligible to apply will win a bursary offered by ESO that will cover the camp fee.
Read more http://www.eso.org/public/unitedkingdom/announcements/ann17006/?lang

 

14. Backyard Worlds: Planet Nine. Backyard Worlds is hoping to discover a large planet at the fringes of our solar system — a world astronomers call Planet Nine. But Backyard Worlds need your help! Finding such dim objects requires combing through images by eye, to distinguish moving celestial bodies from ghosts and other artifacts. So come and join the search — there are many images to look through. In the end you might discover a rogue world that's even nearer to the Sun than Proxima Centauri! Discover more about the project and how to contribute here: https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/marckuchner/backyard-worlds-planet-9

 

15: FUTURE EVENTS ALERT:

* European Week of Astronomy and Space Science (EWASS): 26–30 June 201,: Prague, Czech Republic. More information: http://eas.unige.ch/EWASS2017/about.jsp 

* International Symposium on Astronomy and Astrobiology Education: 3–8 July 2017; Utrecht, Netherlands. More Information: http://ise2a.uu.nl/ 

Astronomy Museums, Visitor Centres, & Public Observatories Workshop, 27-29 September 2017, Leiden, the Netherlands. See: https://www.communicatingastronomy.org/visitorexperience/  
World Space Week 2017: 4–10 October 2017, Location: All around the world. More Information: http://www.worldspaceweek.org/theme/ 
International Observe the Moon Night: 28 October 2017, Location: All around the world, More Information: http://observethemoonnight.org/ 

* NEXT LECTURE: The first lecture of the new IAA season will be on Wed 20 September 7.30 p.m., Bell Lecture Theatre, Physics Building, QUB. Free admission.  Free parking on QUB campus after 5.30 p.m. http://irishastro.org.uk/lecture

* 36th International Meteor Conference, in Petnica, Serbia, from September 21 to 24, 2017. For details contact the Local Organizing Committee at imc2017@imo.net 

* International Observe the Moon Night, 28 October 2017. More Information: http://observethemoonnight.org/ 

 

16. 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
Cosmology
Does Dark Matter annihilate more quickly in the Milky Way? https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/06/170623100405.htm 
Earth & Moon  
Magnetic memories in meteorites reveal history of large iron asteroid Psyche https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/06/170622103953.htm 
Solar System:
Retrograde asteroid shares Jupiter's orbit! https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/06/170627152612.htm and
Magnetic memories in meteorites reveal history of large iron asteroid Psyche https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/06/170622103953.htm
SPACE:
SUN

 

18. 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.

 

Clear skies,

Terry Moseley



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