The best chance to see this faint cone of light along the ecliptic in the Eastern pre-dawn sky will be from Oct 18 to Oct 31 when moonlight will not interfere. You'll need to have a very clear dark sky to see it.
Booking now open at https://
Professor Brian Espey of Trinity College Dublin will give a talk on our dark sky heritage on Sunday at 12 noon in Mulranny. Brian is a professor of astrophysics at Trinity College Dublin who has worked with both NASA and ESA. Since 2009 he has been working to raise awareness and to preserve our dark sky heritage. He has supported dark skies initiatives around the country, most recently that of the Mayo Dark Sky group.
Also added to the programme is a second workshop by artist and astronomer Deirdre Kelleghan (Saturday at 2pm in Ballycroy). This one is to complement the talk in Newport by Professor Susan McKenna-Lawlor on the Rosetta Mission to Comet 67P. While Susan will be looking at the scientific discoveries of the mission (Saturday 3pm in Newport), Deirdre will help younger space enthusiasts learn about the comet by drawing it and also making little comet models for themselves.
Norah Patten has brought the winning designs from the recent Project Possum Mission Patch design competition all the way to Florida!
And
With yesterday's budget announcement that Ireland is to join the European Southern Observatory ESO, Professor Michael Burton of Armagh Planetarium and Observatory will now include some slides in his presentation (Saturday 11:30am) to elaborate more on this, explaining what ESO is and what this latest development means for Ireland (including all the amazing telescopes that are available to use).
#mayodarkskyfestival #projectpossum #mulrannytourism #newportmayo #ballycroy
UPDATE: 1. Unfortunately, Niamh Shaw, who was to deliver a family friendly workshop in Ballycroy at 4pm on Sunday 29th October, has been in touch with us today to say she will be unable to attend as she has been invited to participate in a meeting of the Space Studies Programme planning committee in the Netherlands. We apologise for this change to the programme, which is beyond our control, and hope that you still find plenty to entertain and inform you!
2. On the PLUS side, we are now able to offer all events at the Ballycroy National Park Visitor Centre FREE OF CHARGE. These include a fascinating talk on 'The Cultural Importance and Meaning of Dark Sky' with Dr. Frank Prendergast, as well as great art workshops with Deirdre Kelleghan and Pauline McSorley. Places are limited, so we still advise you to book ahead! Throughout the festival weekend, the visitor centre's Ginger and Wild Art Gallery will host an exhibition of works by photographer Brian Wilson and artists Pauline McSorley and Deirdre Kelleghan, so make sure to build in some time over the weekend to visit this wonderful spot in Mayo Dark Sky Park.
8. Vacancy: Chair of Management Committee of Armagh Observatory and Planetarium:
For details email dcn@arm.ac.uk or a pack can be downloaded from the following link http://star.arm.ac.uk/jobs/
9: Dark Matter Day: 31 October: This is a new event, aiming to raise awareness of the mysterious 'Dark Matter'. There will be a special show at Armagh Planetarium "Dark Matter: Phantom of the universe". I have seen this show, and it is excellent - highly recommended - book asap!
Other events are being considered. Watch this space for updates. See https://www.darkmatterday.com/
10. Europlanet Astrobiology Educational Video. Europlanet launched its latest video: Astrobiology: Life in the Universe. Are we alone in the Universe? You have probably asked yourself this question at some point. The video shows how planetary scientists are looking for signs of life on other planets, using our very own Earth as a laboratory.
And don't miss UNAWE's article providing more information and educational resources to use with the video and other fun educational activities here: http://www.unawe.org/updates/
11. FUTURE EVENTS ALERT:
International Observe the Moon Night: 28 October 2017, Location: All around the world, More Information: http://observethemoonnight.
14. JOINING the IRISH ASTRONOMICAL ASSOCIATION: This link downloads a Word document to join the IAA. http://documents.irishastro.
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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