Monday, 10 Aug– Public Lecture: ‘Mad about Meteorites’
By Dr Matthew Parkes, a geologist with the National Museum of Ireland , and formerly with the Geological Survey of Ireland.
Every hour of every day, the Earth experiences a rain of dust and left-over debris from the formation of the Solar System. When these particles enter the Earth’s atmosphere at high speed, the friction of the air causes them to get extremely hot. What results is a spectacular streak of light in the sky, known as a meteor.
Sometimes the pieces of debris are large enough to survive the burn-up process and can make it to the ground. When they do so, they are known then as meteorites.
Dr Matthew Parkes will talk about how meteorites can give us the opportunity to investigate the origins of the Solar System and how it was formed. He will explain how particularly unusual meteorites arrive on Earth (rock blasted from the surface of the Moon or Mars, for example).
Finally, Dr Parkes will describe the consequences to Earth and humanity should a very large object strike our home planet.
Saturday, 22 Aug– Star-B-Q
The Star-B-Q– Ireland’s biggest annual star party– combines fun, food and astronomy, and is the main fundraising event of the year for Astronomy Ireland. It is held in Roundwood, under the dark skies of Co. Wicklow, and is open to all.
It starts at 7 pm, with gate open at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are €40 for adults and €30 for under 16s.
The night begins, as ever, with an introductory slide show talk from David Moore. This is followed by barbecue food and soft drinks. There will also be a talk ‘Things you should know about astronomy and stretching your mind’ by Emlyn Jones.
There will be an imaging display as well as a naked eye ‘Walk through the Heavens’ presented by Tony Ryan, ideal for getting to know the stars and constellations.
The telescope viewing session is being organised by Astronomy Ireland’s David Grennan. There will be lots to see all night, including open clusters, galaxies, planetary nebulae, coloured and double stars as well as the planets.
This event is suitable for beginners and advanced astronomers alike. It is a fun get-together and a great family night out. Make sure to dress warmly on the night as the temperature can get quite cold under clear skies
Monday, September 14, 2009 at 8:00pm– ‘Searching for exoplanets: modern methods and future prospects’ by Dr. Christopher Allan Watson, research scientists at the Astrophysics Research Centre, Queen’s University Belfast. Extrasolar planets are planets that orbit stars other than the Sun and constitute perhaps the most exciting and rapidly-developing area of astronomy today.
From their initial discovery in 1995, around 353 have been found, ranging from planets larger than Jupiter down to the realm of Super-Earths (planets a few times the mass of the Earth, and presumably rocky bodies).
Dr. Watson will discuss the various ways of finding extrasolar planets.
Sept 17–19: 9th European Symposium for the protection of the Night Skies in Armagh.
This event takes place in Armagh. The Symposium will deal with the issue of light pollution, its effects on the environment, health, and astronomy and examine how bad lighting is contributing to global climate change. www.LightPollution2009.eu
Friday, 25 Sept - Nationwide Jupiter Watch
Jupiter Watches will take place in locations over the country from 9pm on 25 September 2009. Astronomy Ireland will set up very powerful telescopes for the watch, with locations in Cavan, Carlow, Cork, Donegal, Dublin, Louth, Mayo, and Sligo. Jupiter is the largest planet in the Solar System and is a stunning sight through any telescope. Not only will its larger moons be visible, but the famous Great Red Spot, a storm hundreds of years old, will dominate the huge disk.
Friday 9 October at 8:00pm
‘The View From Saturn: Images From The Cassini Spacecraft’ by Professor Carl Murray, Professor of Mathematics and Astronomy at Queen Mary, University of London.
The Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn was launched in 1997 and entered orbit about the ringed planet in 2004. The project is a collaboration between NASA, ESA and ASI, the Italian space agency. The spacecraft is the largest ever sent to the outer solar system and it comprises the Cassini orbiter and the Huygens probe. In January 2005 the released Huygens probe descended through the atmosphere of Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, and landed on its surface. The Cassini spacecraft has continued in orbit transmitting data back to Earth about Saturn, its moons and rings.
Carl Murray was selected as a member of the Imaging Team on Cassini in 1990. Carl, originally from Belfast, is the only UK member of the team. He has a particular interest in Saturn’s rings and their gravitational interaction with small moons orbiting in the Saturn system. In the talk he will discuss the Cassini-Huygens mission and show some of the spectacular images taken by Cassini’s cameras over the last five years, emphasising what has been discovered about Saturn’s ring system.
For more information, contact www.astronomy.ie
Above: Light pollution as seen from space. Below: Moon shadows on Jupiter.