International Year of Astronomy in Ireland

The Galway Astronomy Club are pleased to announce details of their upcoming Astronomy Festival to take place at the 4* Westwood House Hotel from Friday February 12th to Saturday February 13th 2010. The event will be styled in the same manner as this year (which worked very well) and will have ten different speakers.

Programme:

Friday Feb 12th 7.30pm, two talks (free admission)

Philip Walsh: ò??The Drake Equationò??

Proffessor Paul Mohr: ò??Cassini, Meridani nodding Eclipticò?? 

Will be an extensiveò??

For a very special Christmas Lecture, Astronomy Ireland have  enlisted the Director-General of the European Space Observatory (ESO), Professor Tim de Zeeuw, to enthral and excite guests with details of some of the world's largest telescopes, over which he has control. The ESO is clearly the world leader in astronomy and telescope facilities and it is astonishing and overwhelming that Astronomy Ireland have a man of his calibre giving our most exciting talk of the year.

• Star crafting workshopsò??

From Mark Bailey, Armagh Observatory, and Greer Ramsey, Armagh County Museum 

The National Museums Northern Ireland and the Armagh Observatory announce the launch of the exhibition "Portraits of Astronomers", at 8.00pm on Thursday 19th November at Armagh County Museum.

On October 30th the Irish Astronomical Society will hold a public star party at the Martello Tower car park in Sandymount at 8pm, someone will be there regardless of the weather.  

Professor Michael Rowan Robinson, recently retired President of the Royal Astronomical Society and Winner of the Hoyle Medal (2008) will give the Royal Irish Academyò??s McCrea Astronomy lecture (2009) in the Connor Lecture Theatre, University of Ulster, Belfast Campus, York Street at 6pm on 3rd November 2009.

On 22-24 October 2009, the International Year of Astronomy 2009 Cornerstone Project, Galilean Nights, will see amateur and professional astronomers, enthusiasts and the public taking to the streets all around the globe, pointing their telescopes to the wonders that Italian astronomer Galileo observed 400 years ago.

After the success of the Jupiter Watches in September, Astronomy Ireland are encouraging everyone to take part in thisò??

Astronomy Ireland's Evening Classes begin this Thursday, October 8, and are taking place at 10 locations nationwide. These Evening Classes are very popular and are aimed towards the beginner. The course style is informal, there is no complex maths involved and questions are very much encouraged throughout the course. Topics covered include:

• Introduction to the Night Sky
• The Sun & the Moon
• The Planets & Stars
• The History of Astronomy
• Telescopes
• Deep Sky Objects
• Cosmology

People who came to see the Equinox Sunrise from Loughcrew Sunday 20 September had a wonderful morning - and saw a beautiful sunrise! The beam of light entered the chamber, exactly as predicted. See photos here.

There are two more days to go!

Monday  21 and Tuesday  22 September, 7.30 am

Meet at Cairn T; dress warm and with good walking shoes; bring a torch

More info here.

Clare Tuffy, manager of the  Bru na Boinne Visitor Centre, Newgrange invites you to come and see the Equinox Sunrise from Loughcrew!

September 20, 21 and 22, 7.30 am

Meet at Cairn T; dress warm and with good walking shoes; bring a torch

Although the Winter Sunrise phenomenon at Newgrange is well known and well documented, the Equinox sunrise effect at Loughcrew is less renowned. For archaeo-astronomers, the alignment at Loughcrew is regarded as less significant than that at Newgrange as theò??

Theò??

This coming weekend (Friday 28 to Sunday 30 August) there is a special programme of activities to accompany the International Year of Astronomy "From Earth to the Universe" exhibition on display at the Bru na Boinne visitor centre (Newgrange, Ireland's most popular touristic site). There will be astronomers to talk to, the Sun in 3-D, telescope displays, solar imaging if clear, astro-art fun workshops run by Dr Miruna Popescu, and various other fun and interactive exhibits, all these for free.ò??

Leo Enright, a broadcaster on Space Exploration and Science, will deliver a public lecture at Academy House, 19 Dawson Street,  Dublin, on  Wednesday 16^th September 2009 at 7pm, and in the Market Place Theatre, Armagh, on Thursday 17 September at 7.30 pm.

Leo explores the history of Ireland's sometimes tenuous connection with luminosity - while naming and shaming some modern big wicks. He will focus on the importance of continuing public access to dark skies, especially during the presentò??

Armagh Planetarium is pleased to announce the launch of a new exhibition of fabulous fan-made Star Wars props and costumes.  

The Galactic Treasures event will be held in conjunction with the Emerald Garrison, part of the Knights of the Empire (KOTE). The KOTE is a Stars Wars costuming group where people from all over the world celebrate the films by replicating characters from the six movies. The Emerald Garrison has brought Stormtroopers, Clonetroopers, Darth Vader and more characters toò??

Astronomy Summer Programme for Children and Young People in Dublin City Libraries with Deirdre Kelleghan, part of Dublin City Libraries Summer events

Tuesday 14 July, 11am:
Deadly Moons Astronomy Art Workshop, Wexford Library  
Phone        +353 53 9121637

Wednesday 15 July, 11am:
Rapid Rockets and Wicked Robots Astronomy Art Workshop, Donaghmede Library
Telephone: +353 1 8482833

Still to come (please phone the library to book):

Thursday 16 July, 11 am:
Astronomy and other Cool Stuff,  Finglasò??

"We hope you get some time to enjoy our July events at Blackrock Castle Observatory"

Carolyn's talk is proven extremely popular. 

BCO's lecture tonight is totally booked out (including the standing places!) so don't go announced to avoid disappointment.

Blackrock Castle Observatory Friday 3 July 

(As for half an hour ago) 10 tickets still left for the Armagh lecture on Wednesday.

Armagh Planetarium Wednesday 8 July 

(for tickets contact Neil)

Today is the Big Carnival Day in Belfast. Come and join the fun!

Watch the Belfast Carnival 2009 Promo on YouTube

Dr Carolyn Porco, NASA Imaging Director for the Cassini-Huygens Mission to Saturn, will come to Ireland in association with Armagh Planetarium, Corkò??s Blackrock Castle Observatory and the Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies as part of the International Year of Astronomy 2009 in Ireland. 

Her tour will highlight the IYA2009 cornerstone She is an Astronomer.

She will give talks at:

Dunsink Observatory on Tuesday 30 June  (for tickets contact Hilary)

Blackrock Castle Observatory on Friday 3 July (forò??

Eight hundred of Northern Irelandò??s finest young minds are preparing to attend Seagate Young Innovators on Thursday 19th June 2008 at the Odyssey Arena, Belfast. 

Seagate Young Innovators is admission-free and commences at 10:00 am with student projects, competitions and other exhibitions, including the European Southern Observatory (ESO) astronomy display.

See the full story here.

As part of the UK and Ireland International Year of Astronomy 2009 program, the touring ò??From Earth to the Universeò?? outdoor exhibition will be on display in the grounds of Belfast City Hall from 10th June to 17th July 2009. The goal of the exhibition is to place astronomical images in "non-traditional" locations to expose astronomy to the general public in an unexpected yet accessible manner.

Archaeology Days will once again take place in June. There are a wide variety of events, which should provide something of interest to everybody, and, as this year is the International Year of Astronomy, there are some special astronomy-related events:

Guided Walk Around the Armagh Observatory Grounds, Human Orrery and Astropark: Saturday 20th June, meet at 11:00 at the Armagh Observatory

NIEA Archaelogist Edith Gowdy and Armagh Observatory Director, Prof. Mark Bailey at Knockmany Passage Tomb:ò??

Updates on SOLARFEST; from Michael O'Connell, IFAS Chair: 

"IFAS in conjunction with Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies (DIAS) are organising a one-day event in Dublin to discuss solar astronomy. The event is called Solarfest 2009 and will take place on Saturday 20th June 2009 at Dunsink Observatory. We are very grateful for the support of DIAS for sponsoring the event and attendance is FREE. 

Speakers confirmed so far are Deirdre Kelleghan (IFAS), Sally Russell (RAS), Miruna Popescu (Armaghò??

Introduction to Amateur Astronomy in Ireland - a lecture given by  Deirdre Kelleghan on May 12th 2009 at Ballymun Library at 6:30 pm

Ballymun Library, Main St., Ballymun, Dublin 1 

For bookings please phone 842 1890 or email

Special Astronomy Day at Trinity College Dublin: the theme of the day is to celebrate the UN General Assembly International Year of Astronomy. One of the stated goals is to bring astronomy to a wider public, so the events today are designed to cover a diverse range of space-related topics that will be of interest to a broad range of people. Our views of the Universe are represented through literature, through this yearò??s anniversaries of Galileoò??s discoveries and the first Moon landing, throughò??

The next meeting of the NIAAS will be held on Monday 11th May in Ballyclare High School Lecture Room and starts at 8.00pm sharp. Directions can be found here.

Michael is the Chairperson of the Irish Federation Of Astronomical Societies (IFAS) and the Midlands Astronomy Club (formerly Tullamore Astronomical Society)

His talk at our meeting is entitled 'Constructing a 16" Dobsonian Telescope'

If youò??

The world-renowed astronomer Br Guy Consolmagno SJ will give a talk titled "The Galileo Wars" in Gonzaga College, Ranelagh, Dublin 6. The lecture will be held on Thursday, 26th March 2009 at 8pm and admission is free.

The Irish Node for the International Year of Astronomy is announcing that this year St Patrickò??s Festival celebrations in all major cities in Ireland are endorsing an astronomy theme. 

In Dublin, this yearò??s theme for the festival Parade is ò??The Skyò??s the Limit!ò??. Over 700,000 people are expected to line the Dublin streets and an estimated six million will be watching either live on RTE or through the internet. The programme is bursting with street theatre, Irish music, dance, spectacles,ò??

Cosmic Chaos! 

Blackrock Castle Observatory celebrates the International Year of Astronomy 2009

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) launched 2009 as the International Year of Astronomy (IYA2009) under the theme, The Universe, Yours to Discover. IYA2009 marks the 400th anniversary of the first astronomical observation through a telescope by Galileo Galilei.

The Cork Institute of Technology manages Blackrock Castle Observatory and the facility is open 362 days with expected throughput ofò??

Thursday 12 February 2009, Bar No. 8, The Docks, Galway

Members of the Galway Astronomy Club are pleased to announce details of our forthcoming Astronomy Festival to be held at the 4* Westwood House Hotel from 30 to 31 January 2009. In recognition of the Centre for Astronomy at NUI Galway taking centre stage to co-ordinate the Irish activities of International Year of Astronomy 2009,  the Galway Astronomy Club is organising their most comprehensive Astronomy Festival to date with no less than ten speakers. The lectures are spread over a wide rangeò??

On Wednesday 7 January 2009 the International Year of Astronomy (IYA2009) was officially opened in Ireland, in the presence of the Irish President Mary McAleese and the Northern Ireland Minister for Education, Caitriona Ruane, in a most impressive launch ceremony, at the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition in Dublin.

As of the 1st January 2009 the East Antrim Astronomical Society (EAAS) has changed its name to the Northern Ireland Amateur Astronomy Society (NIAAS).

To celebrate this event the January meeting on Monday 5th is NIAAS Launch Party. This will be a very special evening for all, with both telescopes and members' photographs on display, and refreshments will be available on the night.

In addition we will be honouring Dave Mc Donald, an IFAS Astronomer of the Year and recent discoverer of the firstò??

John O'Neill will give a lecture to the IAS in Dunsink Observatory, Castleknock, Dublin, on Monday 1st, at 8 p.m. Entitled "Wonderful Eclipses: The Greatest Saros", it will look at some of the best total solar eclipses to be seen.

Dr David Asher, from Armagh Observatory, will give a talk entitled "Target Earth - How great is the Impact Hazard?" at Birr Castle, on Thursday 13 November, 7 pm.

Free astronomy workshop in Bunclody Library, Carrigduff Co Wexford: The Life and Death of Stars, by Colin Melody
Thursday evening, 13th November 2008, at 8pm
A simple introduction, illustrated with graphs and photos from outer space
suitable for teenagers and adults.

The 2008 Hamilton Lecture, organised by the Royal Irish Academy, will be given by Professor Lisa Randall of Harvard University. Entitled "Warped passages: Unravelling the mysteries of the Universe's Hidden Dimensions", it will be held in the Burke Lecture Theatre, TCD, Dublin at 7.30 p.m. on Thursday 16 October.

More details are on: w.ria.ie/committees/maths/new.html 

The next Galway Astronomy Club (GAC) talk takes place at Claddagh Hall, Nimmos Pier on Monday Sept 29th at 8pm. Dr. John Mc Donald B.Sc of the Computational Astrophysics Lab, Centre for Astronomy, NUI Galway will give a lecture entitled "The Fascinating Universe, Probing Problems in Pulsars & Plasma using PIC" PIC is an acronym for the "Particle-In-Cell" approach, a computational methodology for the numerical modelling of plasmas. All Welcome

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

Astronomy Ireland Public lecture: Monday 8 September 2008 at 8 pm.

The lecture  is entitled "Light Pollution in Ireland" and will be given by Albert White of the Irish Light Pollution Awareness Campaign (ILPAC). Albert will tell us about the financial, environmental and astronomical cost of badly designed public lighting. More information at www.astronomy.ie

Astronomy Ireland presents two public lectures by by best selling authors and TV producers Heather Couper and Nigel Henbest. 

Irish Astronomical Society public talk"

Tony O'Hanlon Shannonside Astronomy Club  - Carbon Stars Cool Stellar Dudes 
Sounds like a great talk!

Dunsink Observatory Castleknock

Monday 21 April 2008, 8pm 

All Welcome 

Free event

Visit Cosmos at the Castle - Cork's fun and exciting location to learn about the Universe! Use cinema sized video screens to explore the formation of the Universe and how life developed on Earth. Play the "Comet Chaser" in Ireland's first interactive theatre and virtually save the Earth!

Blackrock Castle Observatory

Blackrock Castle Observatory event: you will be taken on a quick tour of solar system with Education and Outreach Officer, Frances McCarthy.  Join us for this free 40 minute workshop to be held daily.

Monday April 7^th to Friday April 11^th

^{Daily at 2:30 pm, Ages 12 and up}

http://www.bco.ie

Dr Euan MacKie, Archaeologist at the Hunterian Museum, University of Glasgow, is giving a lecture at Newgrange, Bru na Boinne, Co Meath, on Tuesday March 25th at 7.00pm entitled "The Prehistoric Solar Calendar: Is Knowth the Key?". 

Dr Mackie has written several books on the ancient megaliths of Scotland and their possible astronomical alignments. 

Admission free, and all welcome.

COSMOS 2008: hosted by the Tullamore Astro Society: Ireland's second longest running Star Party takes place at Annaharvey Equestrian Centre, Tullamore, Co Offaly.  The programme can be found on the TAS website: http://www.tullamoreastronomy.com/cosmos2008programme.html 

The speakers are:

ò?? Dr. Miruna Popescu, Armagh Observatory
   "The Solar Wind: From the Sun to Ireland"

ò?? Mr. Pat O'Neill, Irish Astronomical Association
   "Astronomical Measures"

ò?? Professor John Zarnecki, Open University
  ò??

The Irish Astronomical Association (IAA) will be holding another public astronomy evening on Friday 14 March at 7.30 for 8 p.m. at Carnfunnock Country Park, Drains Bay, near Larne, Co Antrim. It's on the main coast road going north from Larne, about 4 miles from the town. 

As usual IAA will have a good selection of telescopes and binoculars for viewing the sky, including a spectacular moon, and Saturn. They will also have the Stardome mobile planetarium, courtesy of Armagh Planetarium, and talksò??

SDAS lecture: "Shooting the Planets", by Carl O'Beirnes of Astronomy Ireland.The talk will be held in Gonzaga College, Ranelagh, on Thursday, March 6th at 8pm. All welcome. 

The Irish Astronomical Society presents: Seanie Morris  from Tullamore Astronomical Society who will give a talk intitled "Cosmic Dust - Is That All We Are?"

Venue: Dunsink Observatory, Castleknock, Dublin
Date: Monday 10 March 2008 at 8pm

All Welcome, free event

More details at www.irishastrosoc.org

IAA public lecture:  Prof Chris Dainty, NUIG: "The prospect of Adaptive Optics for Small Telescopes". The Bell lecture Theatre, Physics Building, Queen's University, Belfast, 20 February at 7.30 pm.

Prof Dainty is one of the world's leading experts on adaptive optics, and we are delighted and honoured to have him lecture to us. Adaptive optics enable photos exceeding the quality of those of the Hubble Space Telescope to be taken by certain telescopes on Earth. Prof Dainty will describe how itò??

 A new public venue is due to open in Trinity College, Dublin next week, called Science Gallery. It launches with a festival called LIGHTWAVE and a lecture called "Solar Voyage" by leading Irish astrophysicist Peter Gallagher, on Sunday 3rd February from 16.30 - 17.30.  Sponsored by the Royal Irish Academy, Peter Gallagher takes us on a journey exploring the sun's influence on the solar system from the innermost planets to the Voyager spacecraft at the outer bounds of the Solar System. Withò??

A live television event will take place between the International Space Station and the Cork Institute of Technologyò??s new science centre, Blackrock Castle Observatory, in Cork. 

NASA has confirmed that the event will take place on Monday, February the 4th, for ten minutes from 12.45 ò?? 12.55

The background is as follows: astronaut Dan Tani, who is currently living aboard the station, is a regular visitor to Ireland. He fell in love here and married an Irish woman, Jane Egan of the prominent Corkò??

Astronomy Ireland designed evening classes for beginners commence on Wednesday 30th January in Trinity College Dublin, Jurys Hotel Cork and Athlone Institute of Technology. With only a week to go before the classes start, and a limited number of places are available, book now at www.astronomy.ie/eveningclass.html to reserve your place. The eight week course is designed with the beginner in mind and no knowledge of astronomy or maths is required. This is an opportunity to meet with fellowò??

Tyndall Lecture for schools across Ireland: "Living with a star",  by Dr. Robert W. Walsh (originally from Belfast). 

Talk duration: 1 hour. 

Audience: 15-18 year olds.

Admission tickets (ò??3, Ò?2 per head) for all venues will be issued on a first-come-first-served basis. 

See program and locations here.

Reservations may be made for all venues. Booking should be made by telephone or email to the contacts listed above. Reservations will be confirmed only if payment is received within five working daysò??

Galway Astronomy Club will hold their annual Festival of Astronomy on the weekend of January 25/26 at the Westwood House Hotel, Dangan, Newcastle, Galway city. The programme always has excellent lectures and includes a telescope building workshop, and a tour of the NUI Galway Observatory.