Hi all,
(NB, all times are summer time when in force, for convenience)
1. Interviews on Radio Ulster, and RTE Radio 1, this weekend.
I will be talking about the OM/Davagh Dark Sky Park, dark sky observing generally, and what's to see in the night sky at the moment, on two radio programmes this weekend -
A. On Your Place and Mine, Radio Ulster and Radio Foyle, Saturday morning 23 January, at about 08.50 a.m.
B. On the Brendan O'Carroll show, RTE Radio 1, PROBABLY about 12.20 p.m., Sunday afternoon. If there's any change to that time, I'll post on Facebook and Twitter
2. MERCURY: we still have a good bit of the January evening apparition, with Greatest Eastern Elongation of 18.6º on 24 January. Look low in the SSW evening twilight.
The following table gives details for about 30 minutes after sunset for each evening.
| Date | Magnitude | Phase % | Elongation º | Diameter |
| Jan 22 | -0.7 | 61.2 | 18.5 | 6.7 |
| Jan 25 | -0.4 | 48.2 | 18.4 | 7.3 |
| Jan 28 | +0.1 | 33.8 | 17.2 | 8.0 |
| Jan 31 | +1.0 | 19.7 | 14.5 | 8.8 |
As Mercury's apparent diameter is always very small, even with a big telescope all you will make out is the phase. Start looking about 30 minutes after local sunset.
Never look for Mercury with optical aid while the Sun is above the horizon, in case you accidentally get the Sun into the field of view, risking very serious eye damage.
3. IAS LECTURE 25 January - "Mars, a Cosmic Stepping Stone", by Kevin Nolan
For the first talk of the new year we are delighted to have Kevin Nolan, lecturer in physics at TU Dublin give a presentation called "Mars, a Cosmic Stepping Stone" at 7:30 pm next Monday evening. The talk will be presented using the Zoom video conferencing software and more details on the talk are given below.
You can join the meeting a few minutes before the event by clicking on this Zoom link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81732499132?pwd=cWpnUUVvZEgvRjViZzVkUGQ2M2lIUT09
Meeting ID: 817 3249 9132
Passcode: 930984
4. RAS Public Lecture on sending astronauts to Mars, Tues 26 Jan, 13.00.
"Paving a path for the human exploration and settlement of Mars"
Lucinda will take you on a journey that will cover the renewed interest in humans on Mars as she has experienced it over the past twenty years. She will share some of the new Mars analog habitats that have developed around the world, and especially the analog work the Mars Society has conducted since 2001 at their habitats in Utah, USA and the Canadian High Arctic. She will also touch on some of the more recent robotics missions to Mars and what questions might be answered for future human exploration. If you have been curious what all the fuss is about and why organisations world-wide, both public and private, are now working so hard to get humans to Mars, then perhaps this is the talk for you.
Lucinda has worked with the Mars Society for almost twenty years and has been their Executive Director since 2009. Formally a NASA Associate with the NASA Spaceward Bound team whose mission is to put teachers in the field with scientists. She worked on four expeditions around the world studying: Mars and Titan analogues in Abu Dhabi, geothermal vents in New Zealand, tardigrades in the Mojave and 3.5Bya stromatolites in Australia. Each expedition gave the teachers rich experiences in field science to share with their students back in the classroom.
With degrees in Geology and Science Education she currently works as one of the Education and Outreach Officers for the Royal Astronomical Society in London. She also spends her personal time working with Mars Society chapters around the world to inspire others about humans to Mars and kick-starting a new Education and Outreach team for the Mars Society.
Lucinda is also currently an ESERO UK Space Champion to support Tim Peake's return to space and she has been a principal organiser for several Mars events and programmes: National Astronomy Week UK 2020 - Mars Encounter, Chair; European Mars Conference 2019 at the Institute of Physics, Chair; Mars Scholar Project - Shanghai, China, Co-Chair. She has been a member of the Mars Society Steering Committee since 2004 and regularly assists in organising their annual conferences in the USA. Free, but tickets must be pre-booked See RAS Public Lecture - Lucinda Offer Tickets, Tue 26 Jan 2021 at 13:00 | Eventbrite
5. ISS The ISS continues its series of evening passes until 5 February. There are some excellent ones between now and the end of the month. Full details for your location, and lots of other astronomy information, on the excellent free site www.heavens-above.com
6. REGULAR FORTNIGHTLY SPACE and ASTRONOMY WEBINAR – Next is January 26
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.
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 12 January: 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.
7. GALWAY ASTOFEST ONLINE. Sat 30 January. There is some info at the following page with more to follow http://www.galwayastronomyclub.ie/astrofest-2021/
It's good to see this going ahead – and those are some excellent speakers!
8. IAA lecture via Zoom, 3 February, 7.30 p.m.: "Remote Telescopes for Public and Educational Access", by Pete Williamson.
Synopsis. This talk will cover what is available in access to remote observatories, and how you c an get involved with the educational networks. There is also a section on the growing amount of RAW data coming in from space missions that we ourselves can manipulate and process.
This resource is of particular interest and value during the current lockdown.
Biography.
Pete is a very well known astronomer, broadcaster, lecturer and astronomy outreach enthusiast, perhaps best known for his amazing photos using remote telescopes from all around the world, including the 2-meter Faulks telescopes, as well as his own near the Welsh border. You can check him out at www.peterwilliamson.co.uk
The link is: Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89489778385?pwd=eU1qY3prb3VVazFSOG4xZlVQQTUvZz09
Meeting ID: 894 8977 8385
Passcode: 537631
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
NB! Keeping your camera on during a one hour Zoom meeting emits 1,000 grams of CO2, SO SWITCH IT OFF!
9. With the start of 2021, AAVSO's year-long webinar series begins! We are inviting you to join us for this FREE event. Each month, we will bring you two astronomy presentation webinars and one How-to Hour webinar, all taking place on Saturdays. You can attend any or all—each webinar is separate from the previous one.
10. Paul Evans' Lockdown Sky Video
11. RESEARCH POSTS
(A) PhD position at DIAS.
PhD Position: Space Physics: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies. Deadline January 31st 2021
Ph.D. Studentship. Duration 4 years. Stipend: €18,500 per year, tax free
Please direct any queries to Caitriona Jackman cjackman@cp.dias.ie. Application deadline January 31st 2021. More information here:
https://www.dias.ie/2021/01/14/phd-planetary-magnetospheres/
(B). Undergrad Summer Placements at I-Lofar at Birr.
Thanks to support from Berkeley, I will have 2 summer undergraduate research placements available next summer working with I-LOFAR, based at Birr Covid-permitting.
Any questions on this can be fired my way. Application deadline is Feb 12th.
https://lofar.ie/2021-research-summer-internship/
https://seti.berkeley.edu/Internship.html
Dr. E. F. Keane, evan.keane@GMAIL.COM,
12. 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::
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.
13. Teaser answered!
What are the next two in this sequence: - Regulus, Spica, Antares, Aldebaran, Pollux, ?
The answer is Procyon and Betelgeuse – they are the First Magnitude stars listed in order of increasing ecliptic latitude, i.e. angular distance N or S of the ecliptic. The Moon can actually occult the first 4, and we must be due another one of those fairly soon.
First correct answer came from Peter Millar (again), followed soon after by John O'Neill.
Interestingly, I would have accepted those two stars in either order, as they are so close in ecliptic latitude that there's only a matter of some seconds of arc difference at present. That's why I asked for the next two, in case of arguments! As a matter of interest, next after those two is Fomalhaut, then Capella.
Right – thinking cap on again for another one!
14. An 'Easy' Teaser. I've made the teasers fairly difficult so far to tax the Einsteins in our midst, but that puts them beyond most readers. So I'm going to alternate hard and easier ones for a while. So for the easy ones, 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!
So for the non-experts - What's the next letter in this sequence: I, E, G, C ?
Please send all answers to me at my aol address terrymosel@aol.com
15. John Flannery's excellent astro calendar for 2021 is now available on line.
The download link is https://bit.ly/3mmSUU
16. Astrophysics & Cosmology Masterclass, 25 February. Maynooth University
This event is targeted at 5th & 6th year LC secondary-school pupils, and may be of interest to younger members and acquaintances. More info at the following link.
https://www.maynoothuniversity.ie/node/498485
17. 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.
18. 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
A galaxy is mysteriously shooting flares out every 114 days – and Nasa is investigating (msn.com)
Astronomy Faces A Mega-Crisis As Satellite Mega-Constellations Loom (forbes.com)
The origin of essential life element phosphorus Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Spain | Institution outputs | Nature Index
HST reveals anatomy of Planetary Nebulae Astronomers dissect the anatomy of planetary nebulae using Hubble Space Telescope images: Researchers shed new light on nebula formation processes -- ScienceDaily
GRb's source! Powerful cosmic eruptions traced to brilliant 'magnetar' in nearby galaxy (msn.com)
COSMOLOGY
Dark energy and gravity – how do they really work? This is very interesting!
https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/a30679617/massive-gravity-theory-universe-expansion/ and/or
Dark Energy - What Is Gravity - How Does Gravity Work (popularmechanics.com)
https://www.livescience.com/big-bang-light-twisted-new-physics.html
Why the universe should not exist https://www.facebook.com/46126453526/posts/10157946889398527/?sfnsn=scwspmo
A quantum mystery deepens https://www.facebook.com/96191425588/posts/10158473426390589/?sfnsn=scwspmo
EARTH & MOON
Earth is hotter than ever — So what happens next? (msn.com)
Ancient fossil tree shows evidence of a magnetic reversal https://www.outdoorrevival.com/news/magnetic-reversal.html
The Flensburg meteorite Oldest carbonates in the solar system: Flensburg meteorite -- ScienceDaily
EXOPLANETS
A high school student discovers a new planet after 3 days as a NASA intern! https://www.facebook.com/1463565910549235/posts/2656169611288853/?sfnsn=scwspmo
IMAGES
Earth from space: Astronauts get the best views (msn.com)
Juno's amazing images of Jupiter https://www.forbes.com/video/6151601635001/
RESEARCH
A very good article Astronomy Faces A Mega-Crisis As Satellite Mega-Constellations Loom (forbes.com)
SOLAR SYSTEM
I don't understand this! Saturn's tilt was caused by its moons moving farther away with most of the pull coming from Titan | Daily Mail Online. I'm not arguing, but I don't see how the pull of Neptune, or Uranus, or Titan, could increase Saturn's axial tilt. As Titan orbits almost exactly in the equatorial plane, and as Saturn is markedly oblate, surely the pull from a moon or another planet in the same plane would decrease the axial tilt, rather than increase it.
Further, as the moons move further away from the planet, their gravitational pull should decrease, lessening any effect. And the theory doesn't explain the tilt of Mars, which has only two tiny moons, and has an axial tilt of the same order of magnitude (25.2 deg compared with 26.7 deg). Further, the 23.5 deg tilt of Earth is ascribed to the collision with the Mars sized object 'Theia' which formed our Moon. Something doesn't add up.
Titan's deep seas Depths of alien ocean probed with radar in Cassini study (newatlas.com) and
https://www.facebook.com/672161609/posts/10157632583201610/?sfnsn=scwspmo
SPACE
Humans could move to this floating asteroid belt colony in the next 15 years, astrophysicist says (msn.com) But why? We have everything we need here on Earth!
SpaceX achieves record-breaking reuse of Falcon 9 rocket (msn.com)
Halted rocket test could stall NASA moon shot, redo possible (msn.com)
Populating a Mars Base Will Be Dangerously Unsexy | Live Science
Proposed giant rotating Gateway Space Station https://www.facebook.com/100001810852957/posts/4877689218968058/?sfnsn=scwspmo and
Gateway Foundation Gives a Detailed Update on its Voyager Station Concept - Universe Today
SUN
NASA Parker Solar Probe nails close flyby of sun as its space weather cycle ramps up (msn.com)
The small solar structures that drive the solar wind. Exploring the solar wind with a new view of small sun structures -- ScienceDaily
Solar activity over the last millennium Solar activity reconstructed over a millennium -- ScienceDaily
Solar mystery solved after 50 years! Magnetic waves make Sun's corona chemically different to the star's other layers | Daily Mail Online
19. 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
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