SDAS astronomy news -- July 30th

Hi everyone,

Details below from the newsletter I circulate occasionally to a mailing list for the South Dublin Astronomical Society. Feel free to subscribe by sending a note to southdublinastronomy at gmail dot com

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The London 2012 opening ceremony was a wonderful celebration of the pulse of life. It contained humour, joy, fun, and was at times poignant. Already we have seen some records tumble in archery and the pool.

Our Universe has its fair share of record breakers too with many more possibly waiting in the wings as astronomers probe farther, deeper, fainter.

Extreme Cosmos (aptly published by Perigee Books) by Australian astronomer Bryan Gaensler highlights some of the most dramatic objects and phenomena observed to date. Want to know the hottest star? It's believed to be the white dwarf at the centre of the Red Spider Nebula in Sagittarius, sizzling at an unbelievable 500,000 degrees Fahrenheit -- that's more than 50 times hotter than the surface of the Sun!

At the other end of the scale are the so-called Y Dwarfs, very cool stars recently unearthed by the WISE satellite. At least one of them shivers at a temperature of just 80 degrees Fahrenheit, or cooler than the human body.

As I turned the pages of this extraordinary book I wondered what other celestial surprises await and records might tumble. For the moment though, it's back to the Olympics.

Clear skies!

John


BBC Horizon: Mission to Mars ... Monday, July 30th
The excellent BBC Horizon documentary series will feature Nasa's Curiosity mission on the episode to be broadcast on Monday, July 30th at 9pm on BBC2. See www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01llnb2 for more details.


Balbriggan Astronomy Club
from Carl O'Beirnes ...
I’m very happy to report after a long and hard road Balbriggan Astronomy Club is now up and running. Our first public watch will be for the Perseid meteor shower and will be held on Saturday and Sunday August 11th and 12th in the dark grounds of Ardgillan Castle, just south of Balbriggan itself.

The Perseids will be a great start for the clubs first observing session as you don’t need any telescopes to view the meteor shower. There will be lots of telescopes on hand though to view other wonders of the night sky.

Contact carl at webtreatz dot com for more details. Please note, only confirmed attendees will be permitted access to the grounds of Ardgillan Castle for the watch!


ESOF 2012 success
Congratulations to all involved in ESOF 2012 and I hope you got to some of the wonderful talks arranged during the conference at locations around Dublin City Centre. Keynote lectures are now available to view at the ESOF 2012 web site esof2012.org/livestream/


Dublin Stargazers meetup for the Perseids
The Dublin Stargazers Meetup group are planning to get together for observing the Perseid meteor shower on the night of August 11th. The venue is the car park at the foot of the Sugarloaf in Wicklow and more details can be found at www.meetup.com/The-Dublin-Stargazers-Group/events/65595802/


IAA Perseid Party, 11th August, Delamont Country Park.
from Terry Moseley ...
The Irish Astronomical Association will host another 'Perseid Party' for the maximum of the most popular of the annual meteor showers on the evening of Saturday August 1th at DCP just south of Killyleagh, Co Down. We will start off with a fry-up, or BBQ depending on your tastes, in the early evening, followed by an observing session in the nice dark skies of the country park late into the night if it stays clear. Obviously this is weather dependant, so check the IAA website www.irishastro.org before going, to check on the latest situation.


IAA Solar Day at WWT, August 12th
from Terry Moseley ...
Rounding off a busy weekend, the IAA will be running another one of our popular Solar Days at the WWT, Castle Espie, near Comber, Co Down, on Sunday afternoon, 12 August, from 2 - 5 p.m. This will comprise viewing the Sun in visible light, H-Alpha and Calcium light, using special solar telescopes and filters, if the sky is clear. We will also have star shows in the Stardome portable planetarium (thanks to Dr Tom Mason of Armagh Planetarium), and an exhibition of amazing meteorites from outer space, space photos, memorabilia, and other items. A great day for all the family, even if it is cloudy. See www.irishastro.org for more details.


Science talks for Heritage Week, August 18th to 26th
A number of science events and lectures will be held during Heritage Week, including talks by Mary Mulvihill in Drumcondra, Raheny, and Dublin City Library about Dublin's scientific heritage. More details can be found at www.heritageweek.ie/index.php/whats-on/event-search (enter "Science" as the keyword for the search) and ingeniousireland.ie/


Astronomy movies
Two documentary films I completely missed mentioning were shown in the Irish Film Institute in Dublin during July.

Ian Cheney's The City Dark examines the growing problem of light pollution and the disappearing night sky. It touches not just on the issues for astronomy but also the effect light pollution has on the natural instincts of birds and animals and also the general health of humans.

Nostalgia for the Light is the latest release from Patricio Guzmán who has chronicled Chile's turbulent recent past. The film not only explores the search by astronomers to uncover the secrets of the Universe at the European Southern Observatory, but also the search still ongoing in the same Atacama Desert landscape by relatives of those who disappeared under the regime of Pinochet.

Both movies can be purchased from Amazon and other usual outlets, while plugging the titles into YouTube will let you see the trailers.


European Southern Observatory's 50th anniversary
Although Ireland is not a member of ESO, you can sign-up for many outreach products and newsletters to promote the activities of Europe's premiere astronomy facility. The latest short documentary in an ongoing series about ESO has just been released. Details of all video episodes can be found at www.eso.org/public/videos/


New app for seeing double (stars)
The August 2012 issue of Sky at Night magazine briefly mentions a new iPhone app for double star observers. More details can be found though at www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php/Number/5161612 where the vendor discusses the features and has a link to the iTunes store where you can purchase the app for about one euro. You might also like the sketches of double stars by US digital artist and amateur astronomer Jeremy Perez at www.perezmedia.net/beltofvenus/archives/sg-double_star.html


Gopher launch
See YouTube for what just might be the worst place to construct a home. Ok, before you search (on "Gopher Baikonur"), the spoiler is that the source is a webcam monitoring a hole dug by a gopher near one of the launch pads at Baikonur. You have to wonder about the animal's choice of location though -- especially when a giant gantry on rails rolls by part way through the clip!


Why do we love the hobby?
I think the stunning time lapse at vimeo.com/45858333 answers the question.


Photo competitions
·Irish Meteorological Society Photo Competition 2012 (closing date is 30th September 2012). See www.irishmetsociety.org/ims-photography-...ition-2012/2/ckforms

·Irish Rural Landscape Amateur Photography Competition 2012 (closing date is 28th September 2012). See www.icomos.ie/irish_rural_landscape_phot...rish_rural_landscape

·Clean Coasts Photography Competition 2012 (closing date is 17th August 2012). See www.cleancoastphoto.org/

·ESAI Photography Competition 2012 (closing date is 28th December 2012). See www.esaiweb.org/photography-competition/

·Aughrim 2013 Calendar Photography Competition (closing date is 31st August 2012). See www.aughrim.ie/news.htm