From: TerryMoselaol.com

Subject: Leo's Lecture, Equinox, ISS, Krauss lecture, more on Rosetta, WSW, Newgrange etc

Date: 23 September 2014 02:04:46 BST

Hi all,

ˆàˆàˆà

1.ˆàIAA New Season Opening Lecture 24 Sep: Latest Science Results from Rosetta, by Leo Enright

ˆàThis talk by Ireland's leading science broadcaster and journalist, will reveal the latest findings from the fantastic Rosetta spacecraft at Comet C-G. As you can see from some of the images, the comet is weird - absolutely unlike anything we've seen before. And Leo usually updates his talk from the Internetˆàjust about 10 minutes before he's due to start, so it will be the VERY latest information. Not to be missed!

The lectureˆàis free and open to all, including free refreshments.ˆàVenue: the Bell Lecture Theatre, Physics Building, Queen's University, Belfast, at 7.30 p.m.ˆà

ˆàˆà Thanks to the Astrophysics Research Centre, QUB, for help in hosting these lectures.

ˆà

2.ˆàˆàEQUINOX. The Sun will cross the celestial equator southwards on Sep 23 at 03.29 BST, marking the start of autumn. 'Equinox' means that the length of the night is equal to that of the day, but for several reasons that is not actually so!

ˆàˆà Firstly, the equinox is measuredˆàwhen the centre of the Sun crosses the equator, whereas the hours of daylight are calculated from the upper limb of the Sun appearing above the E horizon until the upper limb disappears above the W horizon. That adds an extra 3m 40s to the daylight period, at our latitude.

ˆàˆà Secondly, refraction by the Earth's atmosphereˆàcauses the Sun to appear fully above our horizon even when it is actually still just fully below it! The exact amount of refraction depends on the atmospheric pressure and air temperature, but on average that adds another 7 minutes or so to daylight at our latitude at the time of the equinoxes. So on the days of the theoretical equinoxes, the days are actuallyˆàabout 10 minutes longer than the nights.

ˆà

3. ISS Visible in Morning Sky. The ISS is now making another series of passes over Ireland, visible in the morning sky around the time of early twilight. Full details of passes for your location, and lots of other information, are available on the excellent free site: www.heavens-above.com.

ˆà

4. Special Krauss lecture at QUB, 22 October: "Cosmic Connection: from the Big Bang to life on Earthˆàand Beyond."

BOOKING NOW OPEN! Registration is now open for the lecture. Go to http://star.pst.qub.ac.uk/, and the top news link, beside the book snapshotˆà

ˆàˆà Taking advantage of the visit to Belfast by world famous cosmologist Lawrence Krauss (seeˆàearlier bulletin), the IAA is teaming up with the Astrophysics Research Centre at QUB (to which sincere thanks are due)ˆàto present a public lecture by himˆàon 22 October.ˆàˆà

ˆàˆàˆàTime 7.30 p.m., inˆàLarmor Lecture Theatre, QUB. Free admission but by email ticket application only.ˆà

ˆàˆàˆà Lawrence Krauss is a renowned cosmologist, and author of many best-selling books such as "The Fifth Essence" (Dark Matter); "The Physics of Star Trek"; "A Universe From Nothing"; "Quintessence, The Search For Missing Mass In The Universe", "Beyond Star Trek"; "Atom: An Odyssey from the Big Bang to Life on Earth...and Beyond"; and many articles in various science journals. He is also the ONLY physicist to have received awards from all three of the major American Physics Societies. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_M._Krauss.

ˆàˆà By coincidence, this story on dark matter hasˆàrecently broken: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/09/140904121241.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Fspace_time+%28Space+%26+Time+News+--+ScienceDaily%29. Intuitively, Iˆàlike it, although the science is of course totally beyond me!

ˆà

5. IAA Observing Nights at Delamont Country Park

These very popular weekendˆàobserving sessions will start again this month. Delamont is well signposted off the A22 just South of Killyleagh, (North of Downpatrick)ˆàCo Down. They are suitable for anyone, but are aimed especially at beginners.

We bring our own large telescopes; bring your own if you have a portable one.

ˆàˆàThe eventsˆàwork like this: If it's clear on the Friday night, the event goes ahead. If not, we try again on the Saturday night. If both are cloudy, we try again on the following weekend, same procedure. To check if it's going ahead, check the IAA website: www.irishastro.org up to 6.0 p.m.ˆàon each day. Dates forˆànext session: Sepˆà26-27 If cloudy, we'll try again on the next date on the list..

ˆàˆàˆàˆàˆà

ˆà

6. World Space Week: October 4 to 11; UK Launch in N. Ireland!

There will be events in various parts of the province.ˆàMore news on this excellent coup by Robert Hill in the next bulletin. To register your event, please follow this link:ˆà www.worldspaceweek.org/events/add-event/ˆà

ˆà

7. ARCHAEOASTRONOMY TRIP TO NEWGRANGE and KNOWTH, 11 October: Following the success of last years' trip,ˆàStranmillis UniversityˆàCollege Institute of LifeLong Learning haveˆàasked meˆàto run another one, on 11 October, but this time including a visit to the Knowth Tomb as well. It has the largest collection of Megalithic art anywhere in Europe in one single site, some of which is reckoned to be astronomical. Booking for thus very popular, non-technical trip, is via the Stranmillis website www.stran.ac.uk, or go direct to http://www.stran.ac.uk/media/media,456138,en.pdfˆàand scroll down to p. 23, or pick up a brochure from Reception.

ˆàˆà This trip is booking quickly, so reserve your places now if you want to go!

ˆà

8. Astronomical Orientation of Lough Gur Stone Circle. This is the largest stone circle in Ireland, and well-known archaeoastronomer Dr Frank Prendergast will be one of the speakers at the following event: The inauguralˆàLough Gur Spirit of Place Celebration, featuring a series of public lectures, talks, contemplative tours and music in the heart of one of IrelandòÀÙs most important archaeological sites, will take place on the 10th and 11th of October next.

ˆàˆà The event is on the home page of theˆàloughgur.comˆàwebsite with a drop down menu appearing on the top left. This section includes programme and speaker information, and press releases.

ˆà

9. Irish Archaeoastronomy online:ˆà Dr Frank Prendergast of DIT, an Irishˆàexpert on archaeoastronomy (see above), has written a number of papers on the subject, including one on Knowth,ˆànot to mention being a contributor to the massive and very expensive Handbook of Archaeoastronomy and Ethnoastronomy just published by Springer Reference in 3 volumes He has made a number of these papers available online.

Visitˆàarrow.dit.ie/ˆàand under 'authors' you will find some of these, including the Knowth paper.ˆàUse the linkˆà

rather than the pdf, if possible.

ˆà

10. The Elements in the Universe:ˆà Ulster Museum, 11 October, 12.00 - 4.30). this event will beˆàlooking at the Universe from an elemental point of view.ˆàDr Mike Simms willˆàbe there withˆàhis meteorites. He has also invited IAA members to participate,ˆàparticularly those withˆàtelescopes, especially if linked to spectroscopy of the Sun and stars. If anyone is interested in being involved, pleaseˆàcontactˆàMike so thatˆàhe can plan the event. michael.simmsnmni.comˆà

ˆà

11. TAMING THE ELEMENTS LECTURE SERIES, Ulster Museumˆàˆàˆàˆà The lectures will take place on consecutive Tuesday evenings, from 7:00 to 9:00 pm in the Lecture Theatre on the ground floor.ˆàSome of these talks will be of interest to astronomers. ˆàThis is a free event òÀÓ but to secure your place please use the Buy Tickets button on the web page. For further information please ring 028 9044 0000. Opening hours are Tue-Sun 10am-5pm.

ˆàSee: http://www.nmni.com/um/What-s-on/Current-Exhibitions/Elements---From-Actinium-to-Zirconium

ˆàThere are seven lectures; the second one in particular will be of interest to astronomers:

"ˆà2. The origin of the elements 7:00 - 9:00pm Tuesday 28th October

ˆàˆàˆàˆà Discover how common elements formed in stars, supernova and the Big Bang help to answer some of the big questions in modern astronomy. See e.g. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/09/140911163941.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Fspace_time+%28Space+%26+Time+News+--+ScienceDaily%29

ˆà

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12. ROSETTA's probe to land onˆàComet on 11 November.ˆàThe Rosetta spacecraftˆàcontinues toˆà'orbit'ˆàroundˆàComet Churyumov-Gerasimenko, sending back more jawdropping photos.ˆàAfter studying the 'binary' surface inˆàgreat detail,ˆàthe site toˆàland a probe on the surface has now been chosen. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2756242/Rosettas-daring-landing-site-announced-Philae-probe-touchdown-huge-boulders-head-comet-67P.htmlˆà(the dimension quoted for the 'landing site' is actually the diameter of the whole 'head' section of the comet)

Watch out for more amazing photos.ˆàˆàSee:

First map of Rosetta's comet: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/09/140911182741.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Fspace_time+%28Space+%26+Time+News+--+ScienceDaily%29

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/09/15/ufo-surface-rosetta-comet_n_5821046.html?ir=UK+Techˆà

Errrm -ˆàfreshly exposed ice, anyone?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2759082/Why-Rosetta-s-comet-spewing-water-vapour-jets-Images-reveal-hidden-plumes-shooting-space.htmlˆà

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2747872/Rosettas-comet-no-ice-darker-charcoal-Surprising-discovery-probe-sends-set-data.html

This will be the topic for the IAA's opening lecture of the new season, by the incomparable Leo Enright.

ˆàSee item 1 above:

ˆà

13. COMETˆàNEAR-MISS WITH MARS,ˆàOct 19: Comet Siding Spring will pass 134,000 kilometresˆàfrom Mars onˆàOctober 19. The neutral-gasˆàcoma of the comet, whichˆàextends for more thanˆà100,000 kilometres in all directions from the nucleus,ˆàmay well interact with the atmosphere of the planet. Ions mayˆàextend away than that, and the tailˆàis millions ofˆàkilometres long.ˆàAs a precaution, the orbits of the Martian orbiters have been altered to place them on the safe side of the planet during the most dangerous part of the encounter, which will occur whenˆàMars' path through the comet's tail reaches the region ofˆàhighest dust density, about 100 minutes after closest approach.ˆà

ˆàNevertheless, every effort will be made to get good observations from the comet from all the spacecraft on or near the Red Planet. Siding Spring is a long-period comet on its first visit toˆàthe inner Solar System andˆàspacecraft designed to studyˆàMarsˆàup-closeˆàare not idea forˆàgood observations ofˆàthe tinyˆàcomet nucleus muchˆàfurther away.ˆà

ˆàˆà The comet'sˆàcomaˆàof dust and ice particles are the main hazard for the orbiters, but will not affect theˆàrovers on the surface which will be protected by Mars' atmosphere. Even though it's much thinner than ours, theˆàtiny particles in the comaˆàwill burn up without reaching theˆàground.

Eachˆàspacecraftˆàwill observe the comet as best as possible using its respective instruments. Mostˆàattention will be on the comet's coma -- its size, composition, the size of the particles,ˆàhow itˆàvaries with time, and the jets from the nucleus.ˆàThey will also studyˆàtheˆàcomet's effect on the Martian atmosphere. Andˆàone spacecraft may possibly be able to image the tiny nucleus ofˆàthe comet, only 1-2 kilometres across,ˆàas it passes byˆàatˆàthe challengingˆàrelative speed of 57 km/s.ˆàBut most instrumentsˆàwill be able to see the coma or the coma'sˆàeffects on the atmosphere.

The spacecraft involved are: 1. Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Has 3 cameras plusˆàan imaging spectrometer and a radar sounder. 2. Mars Express. Will use HRSC camera andˆàultraviolet/infrared atmospheric spectrometer. 3. Mars Odyssey. Will use THEMIS thermal emissionˆàimaging system. 4. MAVEN, arriving 2014. Has a suite of instruments devoted toˆàMars' upper atmosphere, but no camera. 5. Mars Orbiter Mission, arriving 2014. Has a varied instrumentˆàsuite but not sureˆàif it will be performing Siding Springˆàobservations.

ˆà

14. NEXT YEAR'S STAR PARTIES:ˆàˆà

Galway Astrofest: Feb 21, 2015, Theme: "New Worlds - New Horizons" Excellent speaker line-up already!ˆà See http://galwayastronomyclub.ie/

ˆàCOSMOS: April 17th to 19th 2015, Shamrock Lodge Hotel, Athlone.

ˆà

15. INTERESTING WEBLINKS:ˆà

ˆàhttp://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/09/18/nasa-ufo-ocean-photo_n_5840972.html?ir=UK+TechˆàˆàThe UFO SightingsˆàDaily peopleˆàcontinue to excel themselves - or insult our intelligence, depending on the number of functioning neurons you have. Anything above 50 probably is enough to put you in the latter category.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2760217/Want-International-Space-Station-Boeing-reveals-new-space-taxi-include-50m-seat-paying-tourists.htmlˆà

Astrophotography winners images: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2760574/Shimmering-green-aurora-total-eclipse-exploding-star-Winning-images-Astronomy-Photographer-Year-revealed.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2760587/Humans-live-space-cities-orbit-Earth-2100-claims-expert.html

http://on.aol.co.uk/video/nasas-maven-orbiter-approaches-mars-518425087?playlist=160757&icid=hpaolonˆàand

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2764756/NASA-s-Maven-explorer-arrives-Mars-year-long-442-million-mile-journey.htmlˆàand http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2014/22sep_maven/ˆà

ˆàˆà Also: All is going well onˆàIndia's Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM),ˆàplanned to enter Marsˆàorbit later this month.ˆàIt is alreadyˆàwithinˆàfour million km from the Red Planet.ˆàA critical stage will occurˆàon September 24 whenˆàthe liquid-propellent engine is to be restarted,ˆàafter being in sleep mode for nearlyˆàten months, toˆàperform aˆàcritical manoeuvre.ˆàOfficiallyˆànamed Mangalyaan,ˆàthe craft wasˆàlaunched by the 'Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle'ˆàon November 5 2013.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2765240/Moustronauts-blast-GM-rodents-live-International-Space-Station-help-reveal-secrets-ageing.html. The info in the Box on the Animal Space Race is wrong: the Fruit Flies did not go 'into orbit' - nothing went into orbit until October 4 1957, with Sputnik 1. They did a very high altitude / sub-orbital hop, that's all.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2765084/Was-Big-Bang-signal-just-DUST-Scientists-observed-polluted-skies-not-beginning-universe-experts-claim.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2761607/Will-men-Mars-wear-skinsuits-Radical-new-design-spacesuits-shrinks-second-skin.htmlˆàIt's a 'Mars Onesie'.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn25494-astrophile-dizzy-exoplanet-has-a-compact-8hour-day.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2756902/NASA-inspector-blasts-asteroid-protection-program.htmlˆà

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2758623/Family-feuds-far-far-away-Nasa-spots-badly-behaved-planet-aged-parent-star-dramatically.htmlˆàAnother cringeworthy headline....

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2759932/Get-ready-Mars-The-capsule-man-deep-space-heads-launchpad.htmlˆà

Violent origins of spiral galaxies http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/09/140917073114.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Ftop_news%2Ftop_science+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Top+Science+News%29ˆà

New space ferries to ISS: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/09/140917084648.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Fspace_time+%28Space+%26+Time+News+--+ScienceDaily%29ˆà

Casis to launch on SpaceX http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/09/140918130541.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Fspace_time+%28Space+%26+Time+News+--+ScienceDaily%29ˆà

Science experiments on SpaceX http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/09/140918122845.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Fspace_time+%28Space+%26+Time+News+--+ScienceDaily%29ˆà

Study of pathogens in Space http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/09/140918122602.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Fspace_time+%28Space+%26+Time+News+--+ScienceDaily%29ˆà

Dawn spacecraft back on track http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/09/140918122412.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Fspace_time+%28Space+%26+Time+News+--+ScienceDaily%29ˆà

Pulsar powers intense GammaRays http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/09/140918120848.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Fspace_time+%28Space+%26+Time+News+--+ScienceDaily%29ˆà

X-Class Solar Flare http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/09/140917173241.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Fspace_time+%28Space+%26+Time+News+--+ScienceDaily%29ˆà

Spaceflight for all? http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/09/140917173239.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Fspace_time+%28Space+%26+Time+News+--+ScienceDaily%29ˆà

Smallest galaxy with a supermassive Black Hole http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/09/140917131625.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Fspace_time+%28Space+%26+Time+News+--+ScienceDaily%29ˆà

Puzzling gravity anomaly: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/09/140919110526.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Ftop_news%2Ftop_technology+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Top+Technology+News%29n

Life in Martian Meteorite? http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/09/140915083746.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Ftop_news%2Ftop_science+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Top+Science+News%29

New info on Cosmic Ray Flux http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/09/140919083857.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Fspace_time+%28Space+%26+Time+News+--+ScienceDaily%29

What caused the cracks on Miranda? http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2761493/No-sniggering-Astronomers-discover-secret-vast-cracks-surface-Frankenmoon-Uranus.htmlˆàand http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/09/140918162222.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Fspace_time+%28Space+%26+Time+News+--+ScienceDaily%29ˆà

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16. TWITTER:ˆàFollow theˆàIAAˆàon Twitter: The account is now operational again as before: IaaAstro.

ˆàˆà

17. JOINING the IRISH ASTRONOMICAL ASSOCIATION is easy: This link downloads a Word document to join the IAA. http://documents.irishastro.org.uk/iaamembership.doc

ˆàˆà ˆàIf you are a UK taxpayer, please tick the 'gift-aid' box, as that enables us to reclaim the standard rate of tax on your subscription, at no cost to you.ˆàYou can also make aˆàdonation via Paypal if you wish: just click on the 'Donate' button.ˆàˆàSee also www.irishastro.org.ˆà

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Clear skies,

Terry Moseley

mob: (0044) (0) 7979 300842

I'm now back on Twitter (occasionally - I don't have enough time!), after some temporary hiccups: terrymoseley2

ˆà

Terry Moseley