IAA lecture 18 March, Globe At Night, ISS, Lecture in Birr, BCO Events

 

Hi all,

(Just back from a 9-day holiday in Jordan (including a visit to the amazing site of Petra, and some fabulous views of Venus in the desert skies), hence the slight temporary disruption to service....)

1. IAA PUBLIC LECTURE, 18 March: Dr Henry Joy McCracken: "Going Back 8 Billion Years: Surveying the Largest Structures in the Universe". Although a local man, Dr McCracken is now a leading astrophysicist at the Paris Observatory.

   Wednesday 18 March, at 7.30 p.m. in the Bell Lecture Theatre, Physics Building, main campus, QUB.

Admission is free, including light refreshments, and all are welcome. 

   Free parking is available on the main campus, beside the lecture theatre, in the evenings - entrance via University Square.

   The IAA gratefully acknowledges the support of the Astrophysics and Planetary Science Division of the Department of Physics, QUB, in sponsoring these lectures.

2. GLOBE AT NIGHT: The global citizen-science campaign on light pollution, known as GLOBE at Night (http://www.globe.gov/GaN), started on Monday, March 16th and runs through Saturday, March 28.

   People around the world are invited to participate in GLOBE at Night, which is part of the International Year of Astronomy (IYA2009) "Dark Skies Awareness" Cornerstone Project. IYA2009, as you know, is a global celebration of astronomy and its contributions to society and culture, marking the 400th anniversary of the first use of an astronomical telescope by Galileo Galilei.

For more information, and to learn how to make and report measurements, see www.globe.gov/GaN

To make a measurement, you must wait for astronomical twilight (approximately 20.30 in the UK this week) for the sky to be properly dark, look in a south westerly direction and look for three bright stars close together in a straight line. If you can spot it, you've found Orion's belt. 

Go to http://www.globe.gov/GaN/observe_finder.html for further tips.

For more information about dark skies, go to www.darkskiesawareness.org.

Two press/news releases for GLOBE at Night can be found at:
http://www.astronomy2009.org/news/updates/163/
http://www.astronomy2009.org/news/updates/185/

3. ISS EVENING PASSES: The International Space Station which recently had a close miss with a piece of space debris, will be visible in our evening skies from March 18. The largest spacecraft ever built, it is currently hosting the Space Shuttle Discovery which was launched on March 15th, on a construction mission to complete the power grid of the international space station. This 125th shuttle mission will deliver and install the final segment of the station's truss backbone and unfurl two giant solar wings.

   Details of visibility for your location can be had on the free site www.heavens-above.com

4.  Lecture in Birr Castle

David Block, The South African author of "Star Watch" will give a short lecture in Birr Castle on Saturday 21 March at 2:30pm, to mark the launch of his new book "Shrouds of the Night". It is lavishly illustrated and includes some of the work of Birr Castle. Autographed copies of the book will be available at Birr. Admission is free but places are limited, so book your place now at estate@birrcastle.com.

5. Blackrock Castle Observatory Events for IYA 2009: For details of the latest programme see www.bco.ie

More soon.

Clear Skies,

Terry Moseley

Dave G's 2nd asteroid, Kepler Launch, Lectures, Scholarship

 

Hi all,

1. Dave Grennan has discovered his SECOND asteroid! Hearty congratulations to Dave who has just discovered his second asteroid from his observatory in Raheny, North Dublin !!! It was an amazingly faint magnitude 19.6 at discovery in Northern Leo, and is a main belt asteroid, about 3-4 km diameter.
Details on: http://www.irishastronomy.org/cms/forum?func=view&catid=11&id=77039

2. IAS Star Party, March 7, Wicklow Mountains National Park. See

http://www.wicklowmountainsnationalpark.ie/WMNPEvents.html
   The weather forecast for the IAS Star Party in Wicklow Mountains National Park is not looking too good. However we may get a clear window with a bit of luck, so please ring the park around 3pm to check if it is going ahead.  For further details please contact The Education Centre Tel: 0404 45656 (weekdays); or The Information Office Tel: 0404 45425 (Weekends).

3. IAS PUBLIC LECTURE: Monday March 9th, 8pm John Flannery talks Binary Stars - Double the Fun Dunsink Observatory, Castleknock, Dublin. All welcome Free Fun.

4. Kepler Space Telescope launch, Saturday March 7th

On March 7th at 03:50 the spacecraft Kepler is to be launched into space from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Kepler is designed to search the region of our galaxy near the Sun for Earth-size planets orbiting in the habitable zone of sun-like stars. It will watch the same patch of sky for 3.5 years or more for signs of Earth-sized planets moving around stars similar to the sun.

   A prelaunch webcast is available from NASA at www..nasa.gov/mission_pages/kepler/launch/webcast.html. The launch will stream live on Friday 6th March at www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/ with Launch Control Audio beginning 2 hours before the space launch. 

5. QUB Public Lecture: "The Large Hadron Collider, CERN, Antimatter, Black Holes, 
Angels and Demons".
Wednesday 11 March, Larmor Lecture Theatre, Physics Building, Main Site, QUB, 7:00 pm.
Dr Steve Myers, CERN Director for Accelerators and Technology will describe the LHC, the world's most powerful particle accelerator and will address the media coverage of black hole production in the LHC and how antimatter is created in a very small accelerator at CERN. The possible use of such antimatter as described in Dan Brown's book and forthcoming Tom Hanks movie will also be discussed.

    The lecture is free to all members of the public, but if you are interested in going please contact the following person to confirm your attendance. Wendy Rutherford, School of Mathematics and Physics. Tel: 028 9097 3523, e-mail: w.rutherford@qub.ac.uk,

6. IAA PUBLIC LECTURE, 18 March: Dr Henry Joy McCracken (yes, really): "Going Back 8 Billion Years: Surveying the Largest Structures in the Universe". Although a local man, Dr McCracken is now a leading astrophysicist at the Paris Observatory.

   Wednesday 18 March, at 7.30 p.m. in the Bell Lecture Theatre, Physics Building, main campus, QUB.

Admission is free, including light refreshments, and all are welcome. 

   Free parking is available on the main campus, beside the lecture theatre, in the evenings - entrance via University Square.

   The IAA gratefully acknowledges the support of the Astrophysics and Planetary Science Division of the Department of Physics, QUB, in sponsoring these lectures.

7.  "Lindsay Postgraduate Research Studentship"

School of Cosmic Physics, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies & Armagh Observatory
    Applications are invited for the Lindsay Scholarship, jointly funded by the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS) and Armagh Observatory, to carry out research leading to a PhD in Astrophysics. The student will be based in DIAS for three years starting 1st October 2009 but registered at Queen's University Belfast.
      Potential candidates are asked to contact Ms A. Grace, School of Cosmic Physics, 31 Fitzwilliam Place, Dublin 2, Ireland Tel: +353-(0) 1-4406656; FAX: +353-(0) 1-678 5209; e-mail: ag@cp.dias.ie for further details and an application pack. See also http://www.cp.dias.ie. Deadline for applications is 30th April 2009.
   The scholarship is named in memory of Dr Eric Mervyn Lindsay, a former Director
of the Armagh Observatory, who had very close ties with DIAS.
   Professor Tom Ray, Astronomy & Astrophysics Section, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 31 Fitzwilliam Place, Dublin 2, Ireland. E-mail: tr@cp.dias.ie; Tel: +353 1 4406656, Ext. 350; Fax: +353 1 5242302
Clear skies,

Terry Moseley

Lectures, Space Scholarships, Cosmos 2009

 

Hi all,

1.  IAA LECTURE: The next public lecture by the Irish Astronomical Association will be on Wed 4 March, at 7.30 p.m. in the Bell Lecture Theatre, Physics Building, QUB, by Kevin Nolan. Entitled "Mars, the Cosmic Stepping Stone", it will be based on his excellent new book of that title, just recently published. Kevin is the representative of The Planetary Society in Ireland, and lectures in astronomy and Physics at ITT in Dublin.

Admission is free, including light refreshments, and all are welcome. 

   Free parking is available on the main campus, beside the lecture theatre, in the evenings - entrance via University Square.

   The IAA gratefully acknowledges the support of the Astrophysics and Planetary Science Division of the Department of Physics, QUB, in sponsoring these lectures.

2. Prof. David Southwood Lecture in Armagh:

Armagh Observatory and Armagh Natural History and Philosophical Society joint public lecture to celebrate International Year of Astronomy 2009:
"Space in a Modern Society"; Rotunda Lecture Theatre, St. Patrick's Trian, Armagh
15:00 to 16:00, Saturday 14th March 2009
    BY: Professor David Southwood, Director of Science and Robotic Exploration, European Space Agency, Headquarters, Paris.
   Summary: With the start of the space age, both the universe and the Earth changed or - at least - mankind's perception of both dramatically changed.  50 years on we can wonder at the vast increase in our knowledge of the Earth, solar system, and the stars and galaxies that access to space has provided.  Space did indeed give us our first capacity to look at our
own planet in a truly global manner.  It even allowed to manage things on a global scale. Who would have predicted in 1957 that now we would use space to navigate our cars? Not many. However, at the same time, how many back then would have been sure that by now we would have had a base on the Moon? Quite a few, no doubt. What then is space about:
exploration, exploitation, inspiration, education, knowledge? And, why does a developed society need to care?
    Tea and biscuits will be served after the lecture, where there will be an opportunity to ask questions.
    This is a free public lecture open to all. Everyone is welcome.  In order to obtain a ticket to reserve your place at the lecture, please contact Mrs Aileen McKee at the Armagh Observatory, College Hill, Armagh, BT61 9DG. Tel: 028-3752-2928, E-mail: ambn@arm.ac.uk.
    This lecture forms part of the Armagh Observatory and the Armagh Natural History and Philosophical Society's contributions to the UN International Year of Astronomy 2009, and also to the City of Armagh's week of St. Patrick's Day events.

3.   Enterprise Ireland Space Education Scholarships 2009

Enterprise Ireland, together with the European Space Agency, is pleased to announce details of a number of scholarships for postgraduate students to attend courses at the International Space University in Strasbourg and also the Summer School Alpbach in Austria. These scholarships are for Irish graduates in engineering, science, physics and related subjects and are intended to encourage those students to start a career in space research or in the European space industry.

The International Space University (ISU) runs an intensive two-month Space Studies Programme intended to give students an overview of space exploration and development, with this year’s programme being hosted by the NASA Ames Research Center in California. In addition, the ISU run a one-year Master of Space Science (MSc) programmes at their headquarters in Strasbourg, aimed at graduate students with a career in the space sector in mind.

The two-week Summer School Alpbach is organised by the Aeronautics and Space Agency of FFG (the Austrian research promotion agency) and provides in-depth teaching on aspects of space science and technology with the aim of advancing the training and work experience of European graduates (closing date: March 31^st)

Full details of scholarships and other space-related opportunities can be found on Enterprise Ireland’s Space Education page, www.enterprise-ireland.com/spaceeducation.

CONTACT:   Dr Bryan Rodgers, International Technology Programmes, Enterprise Ireland, The Plaza, East Point Business Park, Dublin 3, Ireland.  t: +353 1 7272471; m: +353 87 7521550;

e: bryan.rodgers@enterprise-ireland.com; w: www.enterprise-ireland.com

4. COSMOS 2009 will be held as usual at Annaharvey Farm & Equestrian Centre, Portarlington Road (R 420), Tullamore, on the W/E of 27-29 March. This is always a good event, with interesting speakers & an informal atmosphere.  Details on www.tullamoreastronomy.com

Clear Skies,

Terry Moseley