Recently heard on the Radio

I came upon a conversation recentlyh on the radio, the details I did take, but they got thrown out and it was some course or discussions to take place in DCU starting I believe on Wednesday week. They mentioned getting on to Astronomy Ireland Website to find details, but so far I cannot find any details, does anybody know anything about it and how can I register as I would like to register. I am a new astronomy person, although have always had an interest, but only got a telescope for Christmas. This course sounded ideal for a beginner, although they did mention that anyone could go.

Any help on this would be very much appreciated.

Regards,
Eileen Burbridge

Welcome to the Boards Eileen!

Say, where are you from? I ask, because there could be a 'free' (minus the very small membership fee) club near you that could also help. Just to leave options open!

If you need to, Astronomy Ireland, or more officially known as Astronomy & Space Ltd, has a website at www.astronomy.ie .

By the way, what kind of scope did 'Santa' bring you?

Seanie.

Hello Seanie,
My name is Eileen Burbridge and I live just outside the Town of Naas, Co. Kildare. I have always been interested in the stars but no very little about them. I was an avid watcher of the Sky at Night with Patrick Moore and wish there was another programme like it.

Last Christmas Santa brought be a Celestron Model 21076 which I am only getting used to. I did find the Moon which I thought was a fair achievement and was astounded at what can be seen.

Thanks for your reply and I will get on to them straight away. If there is a club anywhere near me I would appreciate knowing about it. I am quite adjacent to Newbridge and Kildare Town is only at the other end of the motorway. I am not put off having to travel although it is always more encouraging on a bad weather day not to have to travel too far.

Again many thanks for your reply, and are there people sitting in front of computers all day just sending these messages that keep popping up in my Inbox?

Regards,
Eileen Burbridge

Hi Eileen,

Yup, there are lots of computer nerds into Astronomy! There is a Kildare Astronomy Clus (KAS) and I think the meet in Newbridge so you migh want to hook up with them ( www.kildareastronomy.com/ ).

Clear Skies,

Bart.

Hi Eileen,

As Bart said, Kildare Astronomy Club are the people you want to get in touch with. I'm sure some of them will reply to this thread with more details.

You might be interested in some Observing handbooks that folks here have created. They are free to download from www.irishastronomy.org/observers/challenges/index.php

Clear Skies,
~Albert

Hi Eileen,

Seanie already gave you the website; here's the exact link: www.astronomy.ie/eveningclass.html . They begin on the 22nd February and are held in the Henry Grattan Building (beside the Helix), DCU, Glasnevin. I believe the classes are well attended and a enjoyable and informative time is had by all. Ben Emmett is the lecturer (he's the person who runs the Astronomy Ireland radio show on Anna Livia FM)

The 70EQ will give you very nice views of the Moon and you should be able to see the rings of Saturn as well (Saturn is bright and easy to locate naked eye) - here'a a link to its current position. www.bbc.co.uk/print/science/space/myspac...observingnotes.shtml . Adding a 6mm eyepiece will give you 150x and a better view of Saturn under good seeing conditions (focal length of the 70EQ is 900mm so 900 divided by 6 = 150x). Jupiter is visible low in the south east from about 2am but will rise earlier as the months progress - follow links from the BBC site above.

For lunar observing, may I suggest you order the book Discover the Moon by Lacroux and Legrand; it's a wonderful indroduction to features on the Moon. Although 70mm is somewhat limited for deep sky observing, there are many objects within its range including open clusters, globular clusters, bright galaxies and double stars etc. The Great Nebula in Orion (Messier 42) is another bright and easy object to find (Orion is a prominent constellaton in the southern sky): www.dustbunny.com/afk/constellations/orion/orionmap.html and for a more detailed map www.hawastsoc.org/deepsky/ori/orip.html

Nightwatch (Author: T. Dickinson), Turn Left at Orion (Authors: G. Consolmagno & Davis), Messier Marathon Field Guide (Author: H. Pennington) and Star Watch (Author: P. Harrington) are good starter books. An inexpensive Plansiphere will help you identify the various constellations.

Try and get out with your local club - it's the best way to learn how to use your telescope and start finding objects.

Gordon