From Terry:
Hi all,
No, I wasn't abducted by Aliens..... They checked me out & decided I would be too much trouble! But I think that my mouse (no-legged variety) might have been! To cut a long story short, mouse problems have had me out of action for over a week now. It seems to be feeling better now....
1. TURKEY ECLIPSE TRIP: For all of you who are going on the IFAS Eclipse Trip to Turkey next March, you'll be glad to know that I had a very successful trip there earlier this month to select several good observing sites for the eclipse, check out the hotel, etc. My report is now on the IFAS website. [albertw:
www.irishastronomy.org/boards/viewtopic.php?t=1529
]
2. At long last Venus is now creeping up fairly well out of the evening twilight (it was a beautiful sight from the lower latitude of Turkey!). Although Greatest Western Elongation is now past (it was on Nov 3), it is still building up to its greatest brilliancy of -4.6 in mid December. By then it will be fairly well up in dark twilight: a really fantastic sight! In a telecope (or good binoculars) it will show then as a thickish crescent of between 20% and 25% illumination. It will be prominent just before Xmas, and still very nearly as bright, so be prepared for the usual questions about 'The Star of Bethlehem'!
3. Bargain Binocs: Lidl will be selling 10x50 binocs for £13.99 (€19.99 in ROI) as from next Monday (28 Nov). If these are the same quality as the last offer, (the standard Meade 10x50s, which were really excellent value at about £14 then), this is another offer that's hard to beat!! They appear to have (see their UK website:
www.Lidl.co.uk
) BAK4 prisms (the best), fully coated lenses, dioptre adjustment, rubber armoured body, case, strap, caps & manufacturer's 5 year guarantee. It doesn't state the field of view. After the last such sale which I alerted you all too (the Meade ones), I had one slightly dissatisfied client from Dublin, but numerous highly delighted ones from all over Ireland. And I'm very pleased with my own pair. Bresser have a reasonably good reputation, so these should be OK. I'll try to test a pair as soon as they become available, & let you know, but at that price they'll go like hot cakes! If you want a pair, be there when the stores open.
N.B: In their UK website they are listed as "Bresser" (it appears to be the same binocular) & they are being sold for £9.99 ! ! ! DISCRIMINATION!
And I presume that their usual pre-Xmas offer of their amazing-value 70mm refractor will be appearing soon after: watch this space.
4. Schools in Great Britain and Ireland will have free remote access to the robotic Faulkes Telescopes. Telescope time will also be awarded to amateur and professional astronomers who must involve school groups (e.g. Transition Year pupils). For information see
www.faulkes-telescopes.com
for this exciting opportunity.
5. Prof Alan Fitzsimmons asked me to alert you to the following:
Public Lecture: "DEEP IMPACT", by Professor Mike F. A'Hearn, University of Maryland. 7:00pm, Wednesday 7th December, Larmor Lecture Theatre, (Physics Building) Queen's University Belfast.
This summer the NASA Deep Impact mission spectacularly achieved its primary goal of hitting comet Tempel 1 with a spacecraft at 22,000 mph. Prof. A'Hearn is the Principal Investigator for Deep Impact, in charge of ensuring the mission achieves its objectives. In this lecture Prof. A'Hearn will explain why the mission was important, what happened during the encounter and what scientists have learned so far.
This lecture will be free, but we expect interest to be high, so admittance will be through registration with the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Queen's University. If you wish to attend this lecture, please register either via e-mail to physics@qub.ac.uk, or by phone on 02890 973941, giving your name and the number who wish to attend.
Clear Skies,
Terry Moseley
