Astronomy Ireland is the National Astronomy Club of Ireland (North and South)

Astronomy Ireland states that it is the largest national astronomy club in the world relative to population. Founded in 1990, in 19 years Astronomy Ireland has grown to over 11,000 members in 2009.

Their aim is to promote astronomy and space interest and education in Ireland, and to do this they hold talks, lectures, observing sessions and other events nationwide.

They also produce a monthly 48-page magazine, ‘Astronomy & Space’, which is sent free to members. Members also get concession rate admittance to the public lectures, and can attend telescope nights on clear Friday and Saturday evenings.

You do not need to own a telescope to be a member, and everybody is welcome to join. They also run Astronomy Classes for Beginners twice per year in various locations throughout the country (Members are also entitled to a discount on the course fee).

In addition, they produce and present a weekly Astronomy news radio show on 103.2 Dublin City FM. This goes out live every Tuesday evening at 8.00pm and is also available for download anywhere in the world.

Other activities include organised trips to Armagh planetarium. The club, like many others, relies heavily on the work of volunteers for its continued success and survival and the main fundraising event of the year is the August Barbeque Under The Stars or Star-B-Q held in the dark skies of Co. Wicklow, open to all.

Shamrocks in Space
Last month, Dr. Anthony Heijenga, who has developed an extensive array of biotechnology systems, described how in the last weeks of May 1996, the first specimens of plants known as Irish Shamrock were grown in space. The significance of this little plant, its application in human life support in space and implications for human life on earth were presented.

Public Lecture programmes for June and July:
June 8: ‘Asteroids– recent discoveries’
By David Grennan and Dave McDonald. They are two of the three discoverers of Asteroids from Ireland– the other being over 150 years ago. What makes it even more interesting is that they made their discoveries within weeks of each other.

Jun 15: ‘Hanny’s Voorwerp’ By Hanny Van Arkel. She is from Holland where she is a primary schoolteacher. She joined Galaxy Zoo, which is a site that has been set up whereby members of the public can classify galaxies whose images have been taken by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. There are millions of galaxies to be classified. In August 2007 she came across a strange blue/ green smudge that has since become known as Hanny’s Voorwerp. This is her story.

July 13 ‘Dark matter and the smallest galaxies, linking LHC to the Universe’
By Professor Gerry Gilmore of Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge University, UK.

Aug 10: ‘Mad about Meteorites’
By Matthew Parkes, of the National Museum of Ireland

All lectures will be held at Trinity College, in the Fitzgerald Building, near the Westland Row or Lincoln Place entrances.

Admission: €7 (€5 members and concessions)

Some of these lectures will also be available on DVD, which you can order from the society.

Above: The Andromeda Galaxy