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From: TerryMoselaol.com Date: 3 May 2006 23:01:56 BDT Subject: Great Value Binocs, Jupiter, Lecture, Meteors Hi all, 1. Lidl are repeating their amazing offer on the excellent Bresser 10 x 50 Binoculars at 13.99 pounds or 20 euro, starting on 4 May. These seem to be the same as the ones they offered last year, and are essentially clones of the Meade 10x50s. I have a pair of each, and am very pleased with both of them. They are not absolutely 'First Grade', but they are certainly 'good to very good', and superb value. 2. Jupiter will be at 'Opposition' tomorrow, 4 May. The Giant Planet will then be due South at local midnight (about 01.20 - 01.30, allowing for Summer Time, and our longitude West of Greenwich). It will then be closest to Earth for this year, and biggest and brightest in a telescope. One thing that's less favoured for observing at the time of opposition are the eclipses of Jupiter's 4 bright Galilean Moons, Io, Europa, & Ganymede (Callisto does not undergo eclipses this year, because of the tilt of the satellite orbits to Earth). Those three still undergo eclipses of course, but as the shadow of Jupiter falls directly behind the planet, because we are almsot directly between the Sun and Jupiter, the satellite will be hidden by Jupiter itself during the eclipse. However, there's a very rare phenomena this time - but one only for the real 'anoraks', with large telescopes! There's a 'theoretically impossible' event on May 4/5, when Europa enters eclipse on one side of the planet, and re-emerges from eclipse on the other side, on the same passage! How can that be? Surely it must be an occultation on one side and eclipse reappearance on the other? Well, not if mid-event occurred exactly at the time of opposition! Well, it's close, but not exact! Opposition occurs on May 4 at 15.36 BST, and the Europa event occurs from 00.06 to 02.39 BST on May 5. But because Europa passes South of the centre of the disc, since Jupiter's South Pole is tilted a bit towards the Earth and the Sun, we can see it enter Jupiter's shadow on one side of the disc, and emerge from the shadow on the other side, only a few hours later. However, both these events will be so close to the edge of Jupiter's disc that a big telescope and exceptional seeing will be needed to show them: less than that, and you'll only see what appears to be an occultation. The reappearance event will be marginally the easier to see. 3. Public Lecture "Space Science in Europe", Friday 5 May 2006, 8.0 p.m. Rotunda Lecture Theatre, St. Patrick's Trian, Armagh. The Lecture will be delivered by Professor David Southwood, Director of Science at the European Space Agency. It is scheduled to end at 9.00 pm with questions, followed by tea and coffee. Abstract: "Space Science in Europe". The last few years have brought back to public attention the fact that Europeans are involved in space exploration. The results returned from Mars and the successful landing on Titan are only part of the story and much is still to come. The universe beyond our planet is slowly being unveiled and space science has played and will continue to play a primary part in this. Why should we all in Europe be involved? One motive is basic, namely, to understand our Earth's part in the grand scheme of things and how life (as represented by ourselves) came to evolve. Is such inspiration the end of it or are there also more down-to-Earth reasons for going into space? Admission is free, but by ticket only, so if you wish to go please contact Mrs Aileen McKee as soon as possible, at ambn
arm.ac.uk 4. MINOR METEOR SHOWER: The Earth will pass through a stream of dust from Halley's Comet on 6 May, and this will produce the annual eta Aquarid meteor shower. But this shower is not well-seen from our latitudes, as the radiant is low in the SE morning twilight. The shower peaks on Saturday, May 6th, with up to 10 meteors per hour in the northern hemisphere and as many as 60 meteors per hour in the southern hemisphere. The best time to look is during the hours immediately before sunrise on Saturday morning. If you are ever on holiday in much more Southerly latitudes at this time of year, it's well worth observing, since from the S. hemisphere this is maybe the best annual shower each year. Clear skies, Terry Moseley
Last Revised: 2006 May 4th
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