Galway Astronomy Festival "City of Stars" Feb 1st 2014

Hi, the committee of the Galway Astronomy club would just like to take this opportunity to invite amateur astronomers from around Ireland to the 11th Galway Astronomy Festival also known as the Western Winter Star Party taking place here in the beautiful city of Galway on February 1st 2014.

“City of Stars" is the theme for the 2014 Galway Astronomy Festival which takes place on February 1st at the Westwood House Hotel with an emphasis on how exploration of the Cosmos has inspired communities and cultures in our city that would not otherwise do so, to think about the Universe. From its humble beginnings in January 2004 to the present day our Astronomy Festival has become Ireland’s biggest annual gathering of amateur astronomers who come here from around the country to meet in friendship and to exchange information, successful stargazing and mutual progress.

Doors open at 9.30am, you DO NOT need to book in advance, Entry ONLY €20

The event will follow the same format as last year with six talks split into two sessions in the morning and evening. A new lunchtime interlude with two mini observing workshops and in the late evening we present the new Sir Patrick Moore Memorial Lecture.

Observing on both nights at a dark sky site outside the city with observing times near New Moon,
and for new arrivals the usual visit to the NUI Galway Observatory will take place at 5.30pm

Speakers

1. Guy Hurst, Editor of "The Astronomer magazine" UK: "The Glory of Globular Star Clusters"

2. Dr Matt Redman, Director of Centre for Astronomy, NUI Galway: "Star formation and Star Destruction"

3. Dr Deirdre Coffey, UCD: "Exploring the Universe: The View from Hubble and Beyond"

4. Tom O'Donaghue: "Cosmic Vistas: The Universe in Colour" www.astrophotography.ie

5. Paul Mohr: "The genius of the Greek naked-eye astronomers: Measuring the Cosmos with dioptra and trigonometry"

6. Michael O’Connell: "From the Big Dipper to the Southern Cross: Observing the southern sky Down Under”

Workshops

7. Paul Byrne: ”Double Stars - Two's Company, Three's A Triple System”

Paul a regular on these boards under the pseudonym of "lunatic" and a double star observing enthusiast, In his workshop he will talk about double star systems and present handouts with a list of his favourite doubles, also an explanation of separation and position angles.

8. Brian MacGabhann,GAC: “Building a DIY solar filter for observing our nearest Star”

Brian will take s through building a solar filter for a refractor, reflector or SCT, with a complete demo and examples of the finsished product).

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Optional Astrofest dinner 7.30 pm - Price (€25) Tickets available in the morning

The Sir Patrick Moore Memorial talk by Guy Hurst: "The Astronomer: The First 50 years" celebrating their Golden Jubilee 1964-2014

Since ‘The Astronomer’ was formed in 1964, there have been a remarkable series of achievements which have been published in the magazine and these highlights are given in this talk. As editor since 1975, Guy describes how it feels to be in ‘the hot seat’ when checking and hopefully confirming the many discoveries reported to TAHQ! The liaison with professionals at the Central Bureau (USA) remains a vital service by TA to filter out false alarms.


Trade Stands and info stands

Cosmic Vistas
KTEC Telescopes
Scopes and Space
HITEC Astro
Celestial Light
Astro Art
Clonkill Observatory
More to follow...

Hope to see you there

Ronan Newman
Chairman
Galway Astronomy Club
www.galwayastronomyclub.ie
https://www.facebook...ayastronomyclub

Great line up of speakers Ronan; I’m really looking forward to this event.

*Stickied!*

Sounds great Ronan and I'm looking forward to it already. Can I reserve a stall please to sell a selection of astronomy related books, dvd's etc?
Thanks,
Bernie

Line-up is great

Really looking forward to this.

Cant wait, Stargazing Live in Jan and this in Feb.. Great start to the New Year.

Cheers Roy