Thursday 26 April 2007

David Malin + Meade special event

Thanks to Armagh Planetarium, who are sponsoring a special lecture tour by world-famous astrophotographer David Malin - "The Man Who Colours Stars". Working with the 150" AAT and the UK Schmidt Telescope at Siding Springs in Australia, David Malin developed special new techniques, such as unsharp masking, now universally used, and took astronomical photographs which were never equalled, let alone surpassed, until the HST was fixed. David will be visiting Galway, Limerick and Cork as part of this tour. Contact Prof Mike Redfern ( mike.redfern@nuigalway.ie ); Tony O'Hanlon ( tony.ohanlon@vitalograph.ie ), or Dr Niall Smith ( nsmith@cit.ie ) respectively, for further details.
But the IAA has teamed up with Armagh Planetarium and Meade Telescopes/ BCF/Telescope House to lay on an extra unmissable special event to coincide with David Malin's lectures at Armagh Planetarium, on Saturday 12 May.
The Planetarium will open at 11.30 a.m., when David Malin will give a SPECIAL, extra, lecture to IAA members and other amateur astronomers: this will go into more detail about the techniques and the astronomy, so this is an event not to be missed. Admission by ticket only, which must be pre-booked with the Planetarium.
And running from 1.30 until closing time at about 5 p.m., the IAA has arranged, through the one & only Dr Andy McCrea of North Down Telescopes, and BCF/Telescope House in London, a special MEADE TELESCOPE EVENT. Star of the show will be the new 16" Lightbridge Dobsonian - the first one in Ireland. There will also be the latest Meade LX200, & lots of smaller items including binoculars. Peter Gallon of BCF/Telescope House will be there to talk about all the latest products & equipment.
In addition, members of the IAA will be demonstrating some of their own telescopes & discussing the pros and cons of each type, and how to use them & get the best from them.
There will be a special discount price on the 16" Lightbridge, and you can haggle on other items!
David Malin's public lectures will be at 2.30 and 3.30, and also MUST be pre-booked with Armagh Planetarium.
N.B. Please specify to the Planetarium which lecture you intend to go to: 11.30 (for astronomers), or 2.30 or 3.30, for the public.
N.B. Normal admission charges to the Planetarium will apply that day, except for IAA members who are running the Telescope event. This admission charge will admit you to the exhibition area, or to the exhibition area + a show in the stardome, depending on what you want - different charges apply.
Further details on the Armagh Planetarium website: www.armaghplanet.com.
Remember, normal admission charges to the Planetarium apply, but there is no extra charge for the David Malin lectures, but you MUST pre-book to reserve a place at any of the Malin lectures.
More details later when available.
Clear Skies,
Terry Moseley

Sunday 22 April 2007

Astro Buy & Sell

New IAA forum for buying and selling Astronomical instruments  


http://irishastro.proboards106.com/index.cgi?board=buysell

IAA Council

A new Council was elected at the IAA's recent AGM. Only one change - we welcome back Ken Doyle after a short break:
President: Pat O'Neill
VPs: Philip Baxter and George Brannan
Secretary: Danny Collins
Treasurer & Membership secretary: John Hall
Editor of Stardust: Andy McCrea
Web: John Hall and Robert Cobain
PRO: Terry Moseley
Members:
Robert Campbell
David Collins
Ken Doyle
Robert Hill
Ex Officio: Prof Mark Bailey, Dr Tom Mason.
(N.B. - No women! Where are you all? Don't be shy! How about a volunteer for next year?)

FITZGERALD AWARD

This medal, presented by the IAA for 'Outstanding Service to the Association" was awarded this year to Philip Baxter. Philip is one of the keenest and most active members of the Association and the Council, always suggesting new ideas or new ways of looking at things. He helps out at all our public events, and has been the recent organiser of our own observing nights. Congratulations Philip - it's well deserved.

Bargain binos

I'm still not getting any commission from Lidls (I think I'll sack my agent...), but thought I'd let you know that they are again offering the Bresser 10x50 binocs at £14.99, or €17.99 in ROI, from Thursday 26 April. Given the current exchange rate, the ROI price is a bit better.
The website doesn't give full details, but assuming they are the same as last time, they have multicoated optics, BAK4 prisms, lens caps, a tripod socket, carry strap, & a soft case.
These special offers often sell out quickly, so go early if you really want a pair. The quality has almost always been good, and exceptional for the price! If you do happen to get a poor pair, don't hesitate to bring them back & get them exchanged.

Lyrid Meteor Shower peak

The Lyrid Meteors break the 'Spring drought' of meteors with a moderate display peaking on April 22d 22h BST, with a rather meagre nominal zenithal hourly rate (ZHR) of about 10-15, but outbursts have occasionally occurred in the past, raising the ZHR to up to 100. The waxing crescent moon on the night of the peak will not interfere too much. The radiant is located near to Vega.

Wednesday 18 April 2007

IAA AGM reminder

The AGM of the Irish Astronomical Association will be on Wed 18 April, at 7.30 p.m., Lecture Room 5, Stranmillis College, Belfast. After the official business, Barry Loane will give a talk & demonstration of his newly constructed mirror-grinding machine. Yes, folks, the good old amateur's DIY project - grind your own telescope mirror! And for a big one, you really need a machine. Anyone who knows Barry will know that this will be worth seeing. All are welcome, and admission is free as usual, but only IAA members can vote during at the AGM or during any other business at the meeting.

IAA Astronomy/Telescope Evening, Carnfunnock, 21 April

IAA Astronomy/Telescope Evening, Carnfunnock, 21 April. The IAA continues its series of telescope talks & observing evenings at Carnfunnock Country Park, Drains Bay, Larne (on the main coast road North from Larne), starting at 8 p.m. Talks, demos, Derek Heatly's 'Ulsternaut' presentations, & of course observing if clear. All welcome. Free admission for IAA members bringing telescopes or tripod-mounted binocs.

International Space Station ISS

The ISS is currently making a series of evening passes over Ireland. Details as usual on www.heavens-above.com

Lyrids

The Lyrid Meteors break the 'Spring drought' of meteors with a moderate display peaking on April 22d 22h BST, with a rather meagre nominal zenithal hourly rate (ZHR) of about 10-15, but outbursts have occasionally occurred in the past, raising the ZHR to up to 100. The waxing crescent moon on the night of the peak will not interfere too much. The radiant is located near to Vega.

Thursday 12 April 2007

VENUS & THE PLEIADES

Venus and the Pleiades are converging for a close encounter on Wednesday April 11th. At closest approach, the planet and the star cluster will be about 2 degrees apart, about 4 Moon diameters. Venus is very bright while the Pleiades are faint and delicate, yet together they make a pretty ensemble suitable for photography, binoculars or simple naked-eye viewing. Look in the western sky after sunset.

Shocks, clumps and tails

The third of the DCU astrophysics colloquia takes place on Thursday, 12 April, at 15.00. Title: Shocks, clumps and tails. Speaker: Professor John Dyson, University of Leeds,
Location: S209, Research & Engineering Building'
Professor Dyson is Editor-in-Chief of Astrophysics and Space Science, an international journal. He has written two editions of a widely used textbook and edited several books on specialist subjects. Tea & coffee will follow the talk and all are welcome to attend.
Abstract: "Many, if not all, diffuse astrophysical sources consist of extended flows interacting with highly inhomogeneous surroundings. Examples include planetary and Wolf-Rayet nebulae, starburst superwinds and supernova remnants. Embedded clumps act as mass sources for the flows. This mass loading is important for a variety of reasons. For example the global flow properties are profoundly affected by the mass addition. Again the global shocks generated in interactions with homogeneous surroundings may be modified when clumps are present and a system of local shocks can be set up. The material injected from clumps couples to the flows in ways that depend on the morphology of structures intermediate between very small scales (e.g. boundary layers) and the scale of the global flow itself. These intermediate scale structures are extended and are often visible as tails. I will discuss calculations of structures produced when bubbles interact with clumpy surrounds and describe in detail some recent work on the tails of the planetary nebula NGC 7293 (the Helix Nebula)."
Contact: Dr Turlough Downes, School of Mathematical Sciences, Dublin City University,
Glasnevin, Dublin 9. Tel: +353-1-700 5270, FAX: +353-1-700 5786, http://www.dcu.ie/~downest/

Comet P/Encke is now observable low in the West after sunset

The following is from the BAA Comet page. Ephemeris for 2P/Encke

Omega=186.5230 OMEGA=334.5714 i= 11.7543 q= 0.339269 a= 2.218024
e=0.847040 P= 3.303 T= 2007 April 19.3117 Equinox= 2000
Magnitudes calculated from m=11.5+5.0*Log(d)+15.0*Log(r)+0.000*Beta

Station: UK
Latitude: 53.000 Longitude: 0.000 Magnetic variation: 0.0
Observing constraints: Sun below -13. deg Object above***** deg

April 2007 Positions for 00:00 ET, Times in UT
Elong Moon Comet
Day R.A. B1950 Dec R.A. J2000 Dec Mag D R Trans Observable Sun Moon Phase Tail pA d RA dDec


9/10 2 30.4 18.17 2 33.1 18.30 6.1 1.10 0.42 13.22 20.17 to 20.23 22 121 58 100 64 22 0
10/11 2 34.0 18.17 2 36.8 18.30 5.8 1.07 0.41 13.22 20.19 to 20.25 22 108 48 121 65 21 0
11/12 2 37.6 18.15 2 40.4 18.27 5.5 1.04 0.39 13.22 20.22 to 20.27 22 96 37 146 66 21 -1
12/13 2 41.0 18.09 2 43.8 18.22 5.2 1.01 0.38 13.21 20.24 to 20.28 22 83 26 174 67 20 -2
13/14 2 44.2 18.01 2 47.0 18.13 5.0 0.98 0.37 13.20 20.26 to 20.29 21 69 17 205
Finder charts for Encke and other comets can be found at www.skyhound.com/sh/comets.html

IAA AGM

The AGM of the Irish Astronomical Association will be on Wed 18 April, at 7.30 p.m., Lecture Room 5, Stranmillis College, Belfast. After the official business, Barry Loane will give a talk & demonstration of his newly constructed mirror-grinding machine. Yes, folks, the good old amateur's DIY project - grind your own telescope mirror! And for a big one, you really need a machine. Anyone who knows Barry will know that this will be worth seeing. All are welcome, and admission is free as usual, but only IAA members can vote during at the AGM or during any other business at the meeting.

IAA Astronomy/Telescope Evening, Carnfunnock, 21 April

The IAA continues its series of telescope talks & observing evenings at Carnfunnock Country Park, Drains Bay, Larne (on the main coast road North from Larne), starting at 8 p.m. Talks, demos, Derek Heatly's 'Ulsternaut' presentations, & of course observing if clear. All welcome. Free admission for IAA members bringing telescopes or tripod-mounted binocs.

David Malin at Armagh Planetarium

David Malin, formerly of the world-famous AAT Observatory in Australia, and one of the worlds' leading astrophotographers, will be paying a special visit to Armagh Planetarium on Sat 12 May to give two public lectures "The Man Who Colours Stars", at 2.30 p.m. and 3.30 p.m.. Admission by pre-booked ticket only. "Friends of Armagh Planetarium" free, others £3 each. More details at www.armaghplanet.com