Friday 29 August 2008

IAA Opening lecture, BAA Meeting in Dublin, PTTU

1. JOHN MASON LECTURE IN BELFAST:
The IAA is delighted to announce that the opening lecture of the 2008-09 season will be given by well-known lecturer, broadcaster, author and astronomy expedition leader, the inimitable Dr John Mason.
   The title is: "An MOT for Hubble - The Future For Space Telescopes"
 John is one of the most entertaining & informative lectures you'll ever hear, and this is sure to be a lecture not to be missed.
   The lecture will be at 7.30 p.m. on Wednesday 3 September, in Queen's University Belfast.
N.B.: THIS SPECIAL LECTURE WILL BE IN THE EMELAUS LECTURE THEATRE, in the main building, in QUB. The entrance is through the archway directly opposite the entrance to the Physics Building where the IAA lectures are usually held. Signs will be posted showing the way, so you won't miss it.
   Admission is free, including light refreshments, and all are welcome as usual.
 
 
2. BAA Out of London Meeting:
The British Astronomical Association will be holding its out of London meeting in association with the IAS in UCD, Belfield on Saturday 6 September.  Entry to the talks is 10 Euro.

Full details are at http://www.irishastrosoc.org/.
 
3. BAA "Portal to the Universe": You may be interested in this, from President of the BAA, Roger Pickard:
 
"Pamela Gay, who gave a short presentation at the recent Cambridge meeting on "Peer-to-Peer Astronomy Education" has been very busy working on "The Portal to the Universe" website (see below).  She now
seeks help from all those involved in astronomy and especially those who are responsible for making information available via the web.  So, if any member is already involved in providing such content or knows
of a member at their local astronomical society who does, perhaps they could advise Pamela?

She writes:-
"Portal to the Universe
The International Year of Astronomy Cornerstone Project "Portal to the Universe" (PTTU) seeks information on all RSS based astronomy content feeds (Blogs / Podcasts / Vodcasts / etc) and embeddable widgets.
   The Portal to the Universe seeks to become a one stop shop for finding online astronomy content, including news, blogs, pod/vodcasts, image feeds, and astronomy related widgets. We will not be creating content - we will be showcasing content from the community. Details on the Portal to the Universe can be found here: http://www.astronomy2009.org/cornerstone-projects-mainmenu-80/the-portal-to-the
-universe-mainmenu-85.html
   We are set to go into beta on December 1, 2008, and to make that launch a success we are working to index all blogs pod/vodcasts, image feeds and other new media content. If you are a new media content
provider and would like your content included in the beta release of PTTU, can you please contact Dr. Pamela L. Gay at pamela@starstryder.com with the following:

To appear on PTTU -
Site Name:
URL:
RSS Feed:
The byline is:
Tagline (1-sentence description is):
This site is [Clean] [Explicit] [Somewhere in between]
    For office use only -
The correct contact person is:
The correct contact email is:"

We will also be building a yellow pages of astronomy, including all astronomy community participants, from machinists building mounts to artists creating space related jewellery and all the observatories, vendors, and science centers in between. If you would like to be notified when online forms are available to sign up to be in the directory, please also email pamela@starstryder.com."
   Roger Pickard, President".
 
Clear Skies,
 
Terry Moseley


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Friday 15 August 2008

Lunar Eclipse, Astronomy at Mount Stewart, BAA Meeting in Dublin, WSP

Hi all,
 
1. ECLIPSE OF THE MOON, 16 August: 
   Following the Solar eclipse on 1 August at New Moon, the next Full Moon on 16 August also provides an eclipse - a lunar one this time, of course. It will be a partial eclipse, but with a much greater magnitude than the solar eclipse as seen from Ireland. At maximum, almost 81% of the Moon will be in the Earth's shadow, and the rest will be dimmed by the outer fainter penumbral shadow. From Ireland, the Moon will rise already partially eclipsed, at about 20.45 from Belfast & Dublin, and a bit later the further West you go.
    Maximum eclipse will occur at 22.10 BST. The Moon's altitude then will be less than 10 degrees, so you'll need a good clear SE horizon to see the eclipse properly.
   The Moon will pass through the NNW part of the Earth's shadow, so it will be the SSE part of the Moon that will be deepest in the eclipse. The moon leaves the umbra, or the main part of the Earth's shadow, at 23.44.
    Eclipse Perseids?  Although the eclipse won't be total, the Moon will be dimmed enough for the 15-20 minutes or so centred on maximum eclipse for us to be able to spot some late Perseids if we are lucky. see www.irishastro.org.
 
2. ASTRONOMY DAY AT MOUNT STEWART, CO DOWN, SUNDAY 17 August.
The Irish Astronomical Association and Armagh Planetarium will be jointly hosting another one of the very popular and successful astronomy days at the magnificent National Trust property at Mount Stewart, near Greyabbey, Co Down. It will run from 2 - 5 p.m., with just the normal National Trust admission charges applying, although IAA members bringing telescopes etc will get in free.
   The Planetarium will have the mobile stardome, and there may also be rocket-launching etc.
   The IAA will have the usual solar telescopes and filtered binoculars etc for safely viewing the Sun. (Amazingly, given the recent weather, we actually had a mainly sunny afternoon for our Solar day at Carnfunnock Country Park last Saturday, and though there were no sunspots visible, we had some nice views of a detached prominence, and I gave a tour of the dozen or so different sundials which are a feature of the Park).
   And our own 'Ulsternaut', Derek Heatly, will be doing his usual feature on his forthcoming trip into space.
   So there's something for everyone, and we hope to see lots of you there.
 
3. BAA Meeting in Dublin, 5-7 September: The BAA's Annual 'Out of London' meeting will this year be held in Dublin, co-hosted by the IAS: The weekend starts on Friday, September 5th with a visit to Birr Castle and concludes on Sunday, September 7th with a trip to Newgrange. The main meeting on the Saturday includes a wide range of speakers.

On Saturday September 6th if people wish to attend the talks only they can pay at the door.  IAS & BAA members, and University Students: 8 Euro each. All others 10 Euro.

If people wish to attend any other side events on this weekend they must book through the BAA immediately, at: http://britastro.org/baa/images/stories/meetings/BAA_Dublin_2008_programme_and_booking_form.pdf
 
 
 4. WHIRLPOOL STAR PARTY, 26-28 September. Advance notice that Ireland's major annual astronomy festival, the Whirlpool Star Party, hosted by the Shannonside Astronomy Club, will be held once again at Birr, Co Offaly, home of the famous 'Leviathan', which was for 70 years the largest telescope in the world. It's always a great weekend of craic, great astronomy talks, exhibitions, 'scopes & accessories & books for sale, observing & socialising. Details on: www.shannonsideastronomy.com
 
Clear skies,
 
Terry Moseley
 
 


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Tuesday 5 August 2008

IAA Solar Day, Perseids, Lunar Eclipse, Sky at Night

1. IAA SOLAR DAY. The first of this year's popular IAA 'Solar Days' will be
held at Carnfunnock Country Park on Saturday 9 August, from 2 to 5 p.m. As
usual, we'll have a good selection of solar telescopes & ordinary telescopes
with special solar filters and/or Sun projection systems. Spots have been rare
recently, but the solar telescopes will also show prominences on the limb, and
faculae and plages on the disc. Carnfunnock Country Park also has the best
collection of sundials in Ireland, all of different types. We'll have
alternative entertainment if it's cloudy, so come along for some spectacular
views of our nearest star.

2. PERSEID METEORS. The 'Old Faithful' of meteor showers is with us once
again, now building up to the maximum rate expected on August 12. Some Perseid
meteors are already appearing, but the rate does not reach a really noticeable
level until about August 7/8.

The peak is forecast for about 09h on the 12th, so best rates
will be seen on the night of 11/12, just before dawn starts to lighten the sky.
The waxing gibbous Moon will interfere somewhat on the night of
maximum, with First Quarter being on the evening of the 8th, and Full Moon on
the evening of the 16th. But the Moon will set by about 00.30 that
night, giving a reasonable dark-sky window before dawn for keen observers.

The radiant, from where the meteors appear to originate, is in
NE Perseus, not far from the famous Double Cluster. It is above the horizon all
night from Irish/British latitudes, so some meteors can be seen as soon as the
sky gets dark enough - say by about 11.30 p.m.

The maximum ZHR is forecast to be about 80, but
please note that you won't actually see that rate!
Why? The ZHR, or Zenithal Hourly Rate, is defined as the rate that would be seen
by an experienced observer, in a very dark sky, with the radiant in the
zenith. Even though the Moon will set well before dawn, and even if you
observe from a very dark location, there's one insuperable problem - the radiant
does not reach the zenith before dawn! From Belfast, for example, it only
reaches an altitude of about 65 degrees before the sky starts to brighten. So
don't believe so-called experts and commentators who just blindly quote the
official ZHR as the rate that the average person will see, ignoring all the
other factors! I even heard one professional astronomer say that the ZHR rate
could be seen by anybody, not just on the night of maximum, but during the whole
2 weeks or so that the shower is officially 'active'!

However, 65 degrees is still quite good, so if all other
conditions are favourable, you might see 60 to 70 Perseids per hour during that
moonless window from a very dark site. Add in about another 10 sporadic meteors
per hour, and it starts to become quite a respectable show.

Rates drop off during the few days after maximum, and with the Moon
brightening to Full on the 16th, you won't see so many on the nights after
maximum. - But see below.....

3. ECLIPSE OF THE MOON, 16 August: Many people in Ireland saw the partial
eclipse of the Sun on 1 August. I watched it through filtered binoculars from
the office, and colleagues there were quite impressed with the view just with
binocs! Many IAA members got nice photos: see www.irishastro.org.

Well, that was New Moon, and at the next Full Moon, on 16
August, there's also an eclipse - a lunar one this time, of course. It also will
be a partial eclipse, but with a much greater magnitude that the solar eclipse.
At maximum, almost 81% of the Moon will be in the Earth's shadow, and the rest
will be dimmed by the outer fainter penumbral shadow. From Ireland, the Moon
will rise already partially eclipsed, at about 21.45 from Belfast & Dublin,
and a bit later the further West you go.

Maximum eclipse will occur at 22.10 BST. The Moon's
altitude then will be less than 10 degrees, so you'll need a good clear SE
horizon to see the eclipse properly.

The Moon will pass through the NNW part of the Earth's shadow,
so it will be the SSE part of the Moon that will be deepest in the eclipse. The
moon leaves the umbra, or the main part of the Earth's shadow, at
23.44.

Eclipse Perseids? Although the eclipse won't be
total, the Moon will be dimmed enough for the 15-20 minutes or so centred on
maximum eclipse for us to be able to spot some late Perseids if we are
lucky.

4. The SKY AT NIGHT: Title: "Double Vision" (The Large Binocular
Telescope). If you missed the first broadcast on the 3/4 August, it
will be shown again as follows (thanks to Peter Paice for the info):
BBC 4 8 pm. Tues. 5 Aug.

Repeat: BBC 2 Sat. Aug. 9.

Clear Skies,

Terry Moseley


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