From: TerryMoselaol.com

Date: 30 June 2009 02:44:45 BST

Subject: Lectures, Star Wars Ex, IYA2009 Mural, Photo comp, Big Moon, stamps

Hi all,

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1.ƒŠPublic Lectures at Tara. Organised by Clare TuffyƒŠof Bru na Boinne (OPW), this summer's series of lectures at Hill of Tara Visitors Centre, near Navan in Co Meath, are on an astronomical theme to mark International Year of Astronomy. They are held on successive Wednesdays, at 8.0. Admission is free.

(1)ƒŠ July 1: "How the Ancient Irish Viewed the Skies" by Terry Moseley, Irish Astronomical Association.

(2)ƒŠ July 8: "Galileo And The Copernican Revolution", by Prof. Markus Woerner, NUI Galway

(3)ƒŠ July 15:ƒŠ "Irish Astronomy In The Nineteenth Century", by Prof. Trevor Weekes, Smithsonian Institution, Washington.

(4)ƒŠ July 22: "Exploring The Cosmos: The View from Hubble and Beyond", by Prof. Tom Ray, Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies". See www.newgrange.com/news23.htm

(No pressure on me, then....!)

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2. Public Lectures by Prof. Carolyn Porco, head of the Imaging Team on theƒŠCassini Mission to Saturn and its moons. See and hear about the latest amazing findings from this outstandingly successful mission, including the recent discovery of water on Saturn's moonƒŠEnceladus.

(1) Friday July 3, 8 p.m., Blackrock Castle Observatory, Blackrock, Co Cork. Booking essential.

(2) Wednesday July 8, 7.30 p.m., Armagh Planetarium. The tickets are free butƒŠthey are
limited to one hundred seats. If anyone would like a ticket contactƒŠNeil CullenƒŠwith their home address andƒŠhe will post a ticket out to you.
ƒŠƒŠƒŠ Neil Cullen, Armagh Planetarium, College Hill, Armagh, BT61 9DB, 02837 523689, 02837 512938 (Direct Line). E: neilarmaghplanet.com

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3. Astronomy Ireland Lecture: Monday, July 13ƒŠ- Trinity College Dublin - "Dark Matter"ƒŠProfessor Gerry Gilmore speaks about the dark matter which provides the gravity holding galaxies together and built the structure we see in the universe today. Drawing on research from the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, Gerry will explain how astronomy is the way to discover how Nature works on the grandest of scales.

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4. GALACTIC TREASURES at Armagh Planetarium. For all Star Wars fans - see the Armagh Planetarium website, www.armaghplanet.comƒŠfor detailsƒŠof theƒŠAugust âÀÜStar WarsâÀÝ exhibition at Armagh Planetarium.

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5. Deirdre Kelleghan (IAS) has been involved in helping school children produce a mural in Dublin city centre to celebrate the International Year of Astronomy. More details at http://www.asod.info/?p=1902

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6. Astro Photo Comp: Another photography competition (for students) has an astronomy theme. The closing date for DCUâÀÙs âÀÜEye in the SkyâÀÝ contest has now been extended to 30^th September 2009. More details available from http://www.science.ie/index.cfm/section/news/page/newsPage/news_key/969

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7. ƒŠIYA 2009: Many events are being run throughout Ireland for the International Year of Astronomy 2009.ƒŠ Next month, the National Museum of Ireland will host a Moon week. More details are at http://www.astronomy2009.ie/.ƒŠSome interesting pictures of the astronomy-themed Belfast City Carnival over the weekend are already on www.astronomy2009.ie

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8. LARGEST EVER MOON IMAGE: Over the last 3 months, a team of some of the world'sƒŠbest astro-imagers took part in anƒŠincredibly ambitious project to create the largest ground-based mosaic image of the Moon, and inƒŠdoing so,ƒŠentered the Guinness Book of Records.ƒŠThe project, which was largely conductedƒŠfromƒŠthe home of Sir Patrick Moore in Selsey, Sussex, required specialist astronomy cameras,ƒŠtop gradeƒŠamateur telescopes, andƒŠ specialist software to compile and mosaic the frames.ƒŠThe result of this impressive projectƒŠis anƒŠastonishing and brilliantlyƒŠdefinedƒŠshot of the Moon,ƒŠfar surpassingƒŠany other image taken so far by ground-based astronomers.

ƒŠƒŠƒŠ To see the image with full zoom capacity go to www.lunarworldrecord.com.

The image is available for purchase in various dimensions, andƒŠALL money raised will be donated to Sir Patrick Moore's chosen charity, the CysticƒŠFibrosis Trust.

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9. APOLLO STAMPS: Armagh Planetarium as special commemorative stamps, marking the 40th anniversary of the first Moon Landing by Apollo 11,ƒŠfor sale. See the website: www.armaghplanet.com

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Clear skies,

ƒŠ

Terry Moseley