Skellig Star Party 2016 Charity BBQ

Hi All

The SSP charity BBQ menu has been released and really looking forward to it. There will be individual meal tickets or weekend passes. The food will be of the highest quality and all profits will go to Barnardos.

To order please comment your choice in this post and pay on the day or book through Eventbrite SSP Charity BBQ and pay through Paypal or Credit Card.

Hope to see you all there.

Clear Skies!

Sounds really good, working on the August observing guide currently - hopefully can make a Skellig Star Party specific guide :scope:

Its a long drive from the North, but worth it

Jupiter and Venus will be 4 arc minutes apart on the Sat night (27th), although only visible for around 30 mins after sunset.

Skellig Star Party Mini Guide (All Times are Approximate)

Sunset will be at 20:40, with Astro twilight ending at 22:45 and not starting again until 04:30.

In terms of the planets on view - Venus and Jupiter are the 1st targets, setting 30 minutes post sunset. On the 27th, the gap between the two is only 4 arc minutes (roughly 1/7th of the width of the full moon).

Mars and Saturn sit close to each other with Antares nearby. Mars sets at 23:30 with Saturn leaving the scene at midnight. Uranus rises just after 22:00 in Pisces and Neptune rises shortly after sunset in Aquarius. The below link provides finder charts for the two planets.

www.skyandtelescope.com/wp-content/uploa..._UrNep16_Finders.pdf

The waning crescent moon will be visible also. It rises in Orion at 01:40 on the Saturday morning and in Gemini at 02:40 the following morning.

The dark skies of Kerry are a perfect place to observe Sagittarius and its numerous deep sky targets.

Details of predicted Iridium Flares and Tiangong 1 passes are below (ISS will not be visible).

Iridium Flares (may change closer to time)

Aug 26, 22:06:28 -8.2 55° 75° (ENE)
Aug 26, 23:22:01 1.0 19° 37° (NE)
Aug 26, 23:31:29 -0.7 22° 39° (NE)
Aug 27, 03:52:39 -7.0 25° 121° (ESE)
Aug 27, 22:00:27 -1.8 55° 77° (ENE)
Aug 27, 23:25:34 -4.3 23° 41° (NE)
Aug 28, 03:46:28 -3.1 25° 123° (ESE)

Tiangong 1 (may change closer to time)

26 Aug 3.1 22:10:40 10° SW 22:12:30 15° S 22:12:46 15° S

Lucky its not this weekend for SSP, grim weather forecast for the SW - so much so the Ballinskelligs Angling Club have moved their Annual Fishing Competition from this Sat to next weekend

One forecast I looked at today for next weekend points to the Saturday night as the best prospect for observing. Forecast probably will change multiple times over the next week

Big thanks to everyone who organised the weekend. This Skellig Star Party is a great event. Keep up the good work

Seconded. Love it. Super work folks.

Sean