Astronomy mailing list for Dublin (IAS & SDAS)

hi all,

I send out an e-mail usually every 2 weeks updating South Dublin Astronomical Society members on talks, events, what's up in the sky, etc. It mostly has a Dublin flavour (even though I'm a Tipperary man!) but does have lots of other items of general interest. We also include details of IAS events such as their Sidewalk Astronomy meetings in Sandymount when they are being held.

If you would like to subscribe then send a request to southdublinastronomy at gmail dot com putting "SDAS newsletter" in the subject line.

atb,

John


The newsletter that went out yesterday is below ...

In this mail: Wild about weather, Seeing the Northern Lights, What’s On, Looking Up, and more ...

Hi everyone, it’s a beautiful blue sky outside here in Dublin this morning – enough blue to make a sailor’s pair of trousers as an old weather saying goes. Our obsession with the weather is the subject of a new 4-part series that starts this evening (July 13th) on BBC One. Read more here about “The Great British Weather”. For a quick peek at the truth behind some weather sayings see here

The Irish Cloud Appreciation Society is holding the first Irish Cloud Festival on July 26th & 27th in Skibbereen, West Cork. Check out their web site at www.ticas.ie for more information. Keynote speaker is Gavin Pretor-Pinney, author of the wonderful “The Cloudspotter’s Guide” and a number other books. You can also link up with other cloudspotters here or join the Cloud Appreciation Society here

Dublin storm-chaser Ian Carruthers will also be at the Irish Cloud Festival. Ian was profiled in a recent edition of the Evening Herald

More links for weather watchers are Irish Weather Online and Martin McKenna’s excellent Nightsky Hunter


Seeing the Northern Lights

Not quite getting into the holiday business, but I recently threw out the idea to a couple of people of going to see the northern lights later this year. I priced flights to Tromso in northern Norway and accommodation at around €350 per person. This is based on flights with SAS from Dublin to Tromso and staying in rental apartments (sleeping six) – departure is September 29th and return flight is October 3rd. I’ve no idea what else there’s to do in Tromso other than wait for darkness and hopefully clear skies to photograph the polar lights.

Another option is this Irish Times offer which is very good value at €529 and includes a number of tours. I rang the booking office on Wednesday and they still have availability. We’d obviously have to hire a vehicle when in Iceland so that we could escape the lights of Reykjavik. Again, weather is a factor but Iceland might offer more than Tromso in terms of being able to do things if the sky doesn’t cooperate.

If anyone is interested in either of the above trips could they contact me by Sunday, July 17th and we can then explore one or the other options a bit further.


Wanted

If you’ve got a set of giant binoculars (100mm range) that you are thinking of selling then I’m interested! I’m hoping to get back into observing the sky again after a long hiatus. Contact me via the SDAS email address. If not binoculars, then I’d possibly be interested in an 8-inch Dobsonian telescope.


Science communicators

Deirdre Kelleghan’s astronomy blog is mostly about one of her new paintings that is a Mars-Earth Merge mixed media on canvas. Deirdre has a small video of Keel Beach in Achill Island Co Mayo -- Keel was the main inspiration for the painting.

The latest edition of ESO’s Communicating Astronomy with the Public journal (CAPjournal) can now be downloaded here -- I’ve been a subscriber to this free publication since the first issue and it’s a terrific resource on public outreach.


TCD School of Chemistry’s “An afternoon with radioactivity” on Friday, July 15th

To celebrate the Tercentenary of Trinity College Dublin’s School of Chemistry, and the 100th anniversary of the award of the 1911 Nobel Prize in Chemistry to Marie Curie, the School invites you to attend an open lecture series “An Afternoon with Radioactivity” on Friday July 15th, which will include an address by Professor Hélène Langevin-Joliot, the grand-daughter of Marie Curie.

This event is free, but tickets must be obtained in advance from the School of Chemistry. Contact Ms Jill Galvin 01-8961726, or email: galvinji@tcd.ie -- download a pdf poster from The School of Chemistry web site.


Science Gallery “Elements” exhibition

The Science Gallery at Trinity College Dublin has a preview on July 14th of their new exhibition on the elements. More details of how to book are here


Michael West Lecture Series in Astronomy launched at Queens

This summer will see the first in a series of public lectures at Queen's University Belfast where the sky is not the limit. Everyone is invited to hear how astronomers discover monstrous black holes and dangerous asteroids, from international scientists who are leading the work.

The first talk on "SuperMassive Black Holes" will be held on Friday 22nd July in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. It will be given by Professor Reinhard Genzel, Director of the Max-Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics. Professor Genzel is an international expert on investigating black holes that weigh millions of times more than our Sun. In 2008 he won the prestigious Shaw Prize for establishing the existence of a huge Black Hole in the centre of our own Milky Way.

The second talk on "Killer Asteroids" will be given on Wednesday 3rd August by Dr. Robert Jedicke from the University of Hawaii. Dr. Jedicke is a renowned asteroid hunter, and is leading the search for dangerous asteroids with the new PanSTARRS1 telescope in Hawaii.

Both talks will take place in the Larmor Lecture Theatre in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Queen's. Attendance at the talks is free of charge, but seats must be booked either by phone at 028 9097 3202, or by visiting the website tinyurl.com/MichaelWestLecture Series and registering there.

These talks have been organised by the Astrophysics Research Centre at QUB, in association with the Irish Astronomical Association..


Scibernia podcast

Scibernia is a bi-monthly podcast exploring science in Ireland, and beyond. The episodes are produced by a loose collective of science enthusiasts, tech nerds, wandering journalists, radio lovers, and people who enjoy Periodic Table Scrabble. Each podcast aims to bring you the latest science news, debate and analysis from around Ireland and further afield. The latest episode features Dr Ian Elliott speaking about the Sun-Earth space weather connection. Download the podcast (and previous releases) from Scibernia


Space and astronomy highlights for July

Final shuttle launch

STS-135 Atlantis is now docked to the ISS after a spectacular and emotional final launch of the space shuttle last Friday. Huge crowds turned out at the Kennedy Space Center to witness the flight and it’s worth taking a look-back at the ups and downs of the shuttle programme. A number of graphics on the following web sites nicely illustrate the 30-year history of shuttle flight and more.

BBC (how far the shuttle has travelled): See here

New York Times (excellent interactive timeline): See here

Daily Telegraph (interactive timeline): See here

Guardian (interactive timeline): See here

UniverseToday.com (powering the shuttle): See here

Launching Our Dreams is an inspiring 30-minute long documentary on the shuttle programme. Watch it here

The decommissioned shuttles will be sent to various locations around the US for public display. Check out what museums were awarded the spacecraft.

What’s next for human spaceflight after the shuttle? Private companies (44 at last count) are working on various manned and unmanned craft to capture a share of the huge global commercial launch market. Read more here and get details of the 2011 Launch Schedule

Happy birthday Neptune

This month, Neptune completes one full orbit of the Sun since its discovery in 1846. The July issue of Sky and Telescope magazine tells the full story but if you want to spot the most distant planet then check out the observing notes and finder chart or read the article on discovering Neptune

Close-up on an asteroid

The DAWN spacecraft is due to go into orbit around 4 Vesta on July 16th and commence its science program in August. This exciting mission will give us a detailed close-up of one of the largest bodies in the main asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Follow the mission here and track down the asteroid yourself (an easy binocular object) using the Vesta finder chart

Emily Lakdawalla of the Planetary Society writes a terrific blog about the ongoing unmanned spacecraft programs each month and you can read July’s solar system roundup -- check out the marvellous graphic by Olaf Frohn on the site!


Irish Meteorological Society photo competition

The IMS recently launched their 2011 photography competition which is open to everyone. Some details are copied below. Photographs submitted as entries may be selected to feature on the IMS website and related links as well as in IMS publications. The photographer will always be acknowledged.

What to photograph: Any Irish location but the photograph must have a seasonal or weather theme.

Some rules: The competition is open to everyone with a maximum of 2 entries per person. Only colour photographs are accepted and there must be no people in the picture. Photos must have a minimum size of 1Mb.

Closing date: September 30th 2011

How to enter: Enter via www.irishmetsociety.org

Prizes: 1st: 150 Euro, 2nd: 75 Euro, 3rd: 50 Euro—there will also be small prizes for an additional 5 runners up. The Irish Meteorological Society will nominate a panel of judges and their decision will be final.


Geological Survey of Ireland Du Noyer photo competition

Calling all photographers! The GSI runs an annual landscape/geology photo competition and closing date for entries this year is October 7, 2011. The competition has been growing in popularity since its inception and 2010's catalogue of entries was of incredibly high standard. Get snapping now for the 2011 competition!

George Victor Du Noyer, who served as a geologist with the Geological Survey of Ireland from 1847 to 1869, was a skilled field artist whose numerous sketches and pictures, with their combination of artistic skill and technical accuracy, were the “field photographs” of their day. This competition seeks to encourage the same blend of artistic and scientific skills through the medium of photography. More details here


Looking up in July

Mercury was best in the western sky at dusk at the end of June and is now getting quite low. Look for it about 10pm over the next few evenings when it will be about 3 degrees above the WNW skyline.

Venus is not visible this month.

Mars is in the eastern sky just before dawn. It spends all of the month in the constellation Taurus, but is outshone by the red giant star Aldebaran.

Jupiter rises well after midnight, and then dominates the western sky until dawn. It spends the whole month in the constellation Aries.

Saturn is in the evening sky in the constellation Virgo, setting around midnight.

Neptune rises about 10:30pm and is in Aquarius while Uranus follows it above the horizon about an hour later and can be found in Pisces.

The following web sites are a great resource for information about what’s on view in our skies during the month;

www.skymaps.com — superb charts you can download
www.jb.man.ac.uk/astronomy/nightsky/
www.guardian.co.uk/science/series/starwatch
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/nightsky/
www.nightskyobserver.com/the-sky-this-month.php -- news on astronomy and space from Gary Nugent
www.heavens-above.com — space station predictions
www.jodcast.net — monthly night sky tour for MP3 players
spaceflightnow.com — mission launches and other news
www.spaceweather.com – details of transitory events during the month as well as aurora alerts
www.nakedeyeplanets.com – Martin J Powell has some terrific charts showing the positions of the planets

Tune in to Dublin City FM on 103.2 FM each Tuesday evening at 8pm when Ben Emmet, John Dickson and Christy Creely host the Astronomy Show. Read more about the programme at dublincityfm.ie/programmes/special-interest/astronomy-show/

Futureproof is hosted by Jonathan McCrea and airs on Newstalk (106-108 FM) on Saturday evenings between 6pm and 7pm. Previous shows can also be downloaded as podcasts at www.newstalk.ie/programmes/all/futureproof/podcasts/