From: TerryMosel@aol.com Date: Sat, 9 Aug 2003 17:07:16 EDT Subject: All Night Star Party, BBQ, TV. Hi all, "ALL NIGHT STAR PARTY", courtesy of The Open University, and the BBC! Saturday 23 August, 11.20 p.m., BBC2: Imagine steering a giant telescope thousands of miles away to see the icecap of Mars or a galaxy deep in the universe. Or tracking dramatic gas clouds & impressive galaxies with some of the UK's foremost astronomers to guide you! Hosted by Sophie Raworth live from Jodrell Bank, the prog will link live to amateur astronomer Dr Chris Riley at the 98-inch (2.5m) Isaac Newton Telescope on La Palma, Canary Islands (NOT Tenerife, as stated on the letter!). Viewers using www.Open2.Net can target other research tlescopes throughout the world so you can see for yourselves the full splendour of the universe. Web access to the telescopes will continue all night & into the next day - full details on the website. This is timed to coincide with National Astronomy Week, 23 - 30 August, when Mars is at its closest for 60,000 years, and Beagle-2 and two other NASA spacecraft are on their way to Mars. (there may have been problems with transmission of my last email, so I include the contents below - if you have already got it, disregard the rest of this: ((As promised in STARDUST, I said I would hold a 'Perseids BBQ' for IAA members (& others) on the first clear night of 9, 10, 11 or 12 August. This will be more of an excuse for a BBQ than anything else, as the bright almost-full Moon will drown out all but the brightest meteors. But we may also get a look at Mars if you don't mind staying up late. Tomorrow (Sun 10th) looks quite promising, so provisionally it's on for tomorrow. I'll do another email update about 6 p.m. tomorrow evening. Venue is the picnic site at Big Collin, on the B94 from Ballyclare to Broughshane. It's just over the top of the hill on the left going from Ballyclare, on the Northside of the hill. It's a proper picnic site with about a dozen proper picnic tables, parking, and a fairly dark sky, although that will be academic, with the moonlight! As for the Midsummer BBQ at Armagh Observatory, I'll bring the BBQ, fuel etc, you bring your own food, drink, cooking & eating equipment. If you want to observe meteors, bring a lounger, or a waterproof rug to lie on. If you have a portable telescope, bring it too & we can also have a look at the Moon, & Mars after it rises at about 22.20: observable by about 11.30, perhaps? This is a 'T. Moseley' event, not an official IAA one, so you come at your own risk! We start cooking at 8.15, and finish eating by 9.30, so I can get everything cleared away before it gets really dark. If you come too late, you'll have to go to Ballyclare for a take-away! Hope it's clear, & to see lots of you there. It's free, of course! Two TV Progs, which unfortunately clash with each other, & the above - so set the video! 1. Sunday, CHANNEL 4, 20.00 "Gods in the Sky" New series. In this three-part study, Oxford historian & well-known astronomy lecturer Dr Allan Chapman reveals how the astronomical religions of our early ancestors laid the basis for civilised life. He travels to Egypt, where he tells the story of the ancient astronomer priests and their flamboyant deities. Visiting the pyramids and the Valley of the Kings - and aided by Patrick Moore - he reveals how the worship of star-gods helped us to develop the modern calendar. 2. Sunday, BBC 1, 20.00 "Earth Ride". A mixture of real-life & compuer animated footage track the journey of a single drop of rain on its great cycle from space to the deepest ocean. A fascinating documentary following this most precious of resources on its never-ending cycle around our planet. Combining hi-tech graphics with wildlife film, viewers are taken on an exhilarating armchair ride that encompasses humpback whales, rainforests, volcanoes, glaciers and tornadoes. (More of interest to ecologists & wildlife enthusiasts, but may still be of interest, as it's a pre-requiste for life elsewhere.) Enjoy whichever takes your fancy. Clear skies,)) Terry Moseley
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