Astronomy talk at Dalkey Book Festival (June 14th)

Hi all,

My latest astronomy newsletter below ...

John


Sunday, June 14th: Astronomy talk at the Dalkey Book Festival
Roberto Trotta's new book, The Edge of the Sky has been described by the BBC as “making the whole of science sound like a wonderful fairytale.” Both he and writer Aifric Campbell will discuss how telling stories about science can bring the subject alive. Admission is €10. See www.dalkeybookfestival.org/sessionsingle...erse-and-everything/ for details


Lough Gur Dark Sky Park initiative
Congratulations to Frank Ryan Jr, Albert White, members of Shannonside Astronomy Club, and staff at the heritage centre for driving the proposal to declare a new Dark Sky Park in Ireland. Apollo 15 Command Module pilot Al Worden officially launched the Initiative on June 8th. Lough Gur will also be hosting a Summer Solstice Festival this month and you can read more details about the Centre and the event at loughgur.com/2015/summer-solstice-2015/


Cork Astronomy Club visit to Birr Castle on Saturday, June 13th
This coming Saturday, June 13th, members of Cork Astronomy Club are on a daytrip to Birr Castle to visit the Leviathan (Birr Telescope) and Science Museum. If you are in the area then feel free to join up with the group. I will be heading down from Dublin so give me a call on 086-8181931 to link up with us. The itinerary is to arrive at the County Arms Hotel around 12:30pm for lunch and then proceed to Birr Castle Demense for no later than 2:30pm.


Next Sky at Night broadcast
Rosetta Update: A Comet's Story is the title of the next Sky at Night episode on BBC 4 this Sunday, June 14th at 8pm. The program is repeated the following Tuesday. See www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006mk7h for more details.


Sky notes in the papers
Both the Guardian and Daily Telegraph newspapers publish excellent notes each month that are worth checking for what's happening in the sky. See www.theguardian.com/science/series/starwatch and www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/space/nightsky/


Science Foundation Ireland Open Call
The latest SFI Open Call for funding proposals is looking for submissions on engaging the Irish public with science. The deadline is July 28th and you can read more about applying at www.sfi.ie/funding/funding-calls/open-ca...ramme-call-2015.html


UK Space Conference, Liverpool
The UK Space Conference 2015 will take place from 13-15 July, at the Arena and Convention Centre in Liverpool. Expected to attract more than 800 delegates, the biennial conference will have the theme of ‘Space Enabled Futures’. Sessions will take place on a range of topics including space, society and culture; space and the surveillance society; opportunities for business; earth observation; spaceports and space planes, and space and life and biomedical sciences. See www.ukspace2015.co.uk/


ESO Planetarium show
The world’s first full-length full-dome planetarium movie freely available for planetarium use, From Earth to the Universe, has been released in high-resolution 4k full-dome format, for the worldwide planetarium community to download and use. I've no idea how big the download is but more details are available from ESO at www.eso.org/public/announcements/ann15040/


Astronomy and space news items

• Calculate "Pluto Time" -- For a brief moment near dawn and dusk the illumination on Earth matches that at noon on Pluto. NASA is encouraging people to record "Pluto Time" at their location. See solarsystem.nasa.gov/plutotime/ for details of this New Horizons outreach tie-in.
• A stunning new video combines images taken by the DAWN spacecraft which is currently orbiting Ceres. See the flyover movie at www.astronomy.com/news/videos/2015/06/fl...r-ceres-in-new-video
• India's Mars Orbiter Mission has returned some stunning photos of the Red Planet. The mission has been a tremendous success for the country's space program. See www.universetoday.com/120662/dazzling-ga...mars-orbiter-camera/
• The Planetary Society's recently launched Lightsail mission has returned its first selfie! See sail.planetary.org/missioncontrol for details of this test flight ahead of a more ambitious mission next year.
• Canals on Pluto? The latest New Horizons images show more intriguing features on the distant world. See www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla...ne-across-pluto.html
• Venus and Jupiter continue to draw near on the sky for their close pairing at the end of June. See astronomynow.com/2015/06/06/watch-planet...he-june-evening-sky/
• Remember comet Lovejoy? The celestial visitor is still on view for dedicated sky watchers as it glides through Ursa Minor this month. See astronomynow.com/2015/06/03/comet-lovejo...-through-ursa-minor/
• The light ring around SN 1987A is starting to fade. Shockwaves from the supernova that slammed into interstellar material caused it to glow but the pearls of light in the ring have grown fainter. See www.newscientist.com/article/mg22630254....-fade-from-view.html
• The failure of an unmanned Progress resupply craft last April has caused the ISS crew rotation and cargo mission schedule to be changed. See spaceflightnow.com/2015/06/09/russia-upd...for-iss-crews-cargo/ for the full story.
• A faint ring around Saturn only visible in infrared light has just got wider -- really wide. See www.space.com/29624-giant-saturn-ring-even-bigger.html

Events this June

• 13th: Cork Astronomy Club trip to Birr Castle
• 14th: Dr Robert Trotta talk at the Dalkey Book Festival. See www.dalkeybookfestival.org/sessionsingle...erse-and-everything/
• 18th: Irish Meteorological Society talk ... Saji Varghese of Met Éireann will speak about "Understanding the Near-surface Lifted Temperature Minimum Phenomenon". See www.irishmetsociety.org/programme/june-talk-saji-varghese
• 19th: “At Home in the Universe” talk ... Dublin’s Science Gallery hosts a talk by Ariel Waldman which will explore how the idea of ‘home’ may change as humans continue to explore space, and to move further out into the universe. See dublin.sciencegallery.com/events/2015/04...universearielwaldman
• 19th to 21st: Solarfest 2015 ... more details at www.dias.ie/index.php?option=com_content...4&Itemid=106&lang=en
• 20th: Astronomy Ireland Sun-show. See astronomy.ie/sunshowjune2015.php
• 21st: Cork Midsummer Festival at the Blackrock Castle Observatory ... more details of a special event to mark the mid-summer sunrise can be found at www.bco.ie/2015/05/midsummer-festival/
• 25th: Prof Monica O’Grady lecture at the Royal Irish Academy ... see www.ria.ie/Events/Events-Listing/The-2015-McCrea-Lecture
• 25th to 28th: Robert Boyle Summer School at Lismore Castle, Co Waterford. See www.robertboyle.ie/robert-boyle-summer-school for more details.
• 27th: IAA BBQ at Armagh Observatory