From: TerryMoselaol.com

Date: 9 October 2008 02:09:05 BST

Subject: Lectures, Asteroid Hits Earth, Orionids, Robinson Lectures

Hi all,

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á 1. SDAS LECTURE:á The next meeting will be on Thursday, October 9^th at 8pm in Gonzaga College, Ranelagh, Dublin. The title of the talk is "Catch a falling star" andá it will be given by one of Ireland's most experienced meteor observers, John Flannery. Itá will discuss meteor observing andá meteor science. All are welcome on the night and admission is free.

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2. IAA LECTURE: The next IAA publicá lecture will be on Wednesday October 15, at 7.30 p.m., in the Bell Lecture Theatre, Physics Building, Queen's University, Belfast. Albert White will give a talk entitled "Light Pollution and What You Can do About It". Albert is chairman of ILPAC,á the Irish Light Pollution Awareness Campaign, and as the Ninth European Symposium for the Protection of the Night Sky, under the auspices of the International Dark Sky Association, will be held in Armagh next September, hosted by ILPAC and Armagh Observatory,á  it's a very topical and important topic. Admission is free, including light refreshments, and all are welcome.

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3. DIRECT HIT: Details of a PREDICTED asteroid impact on Earth a couple of days ago are on http://www.spaceweather.com/á  --á  thisá was the first time astronomers were able toá predict that a Near-Earth Object would actually enter our atmosphere. The object was only 1 to 3 metres across so itá was barely an asteroid, more a big meteoroid. It'sá reassuring that we were able to identify, track, and predict it's trajectory all in a very short timescale.á It exploded over northern Sudaná withá the force of approximately 1á kiloton of TNT. Moreá on the storyá can be foundá at http://www.astro.uni-bonn.de/~dfischer/mirror/320.htmlá á 

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4. ORIONIDS: The next meteor shower is the Orionids, peaking on October 20, with a max ZHR of about 25. But bright moonlight will seriously hamper viewing so observed rates might be less than half of that. You can see some Orionids from October 16 to 27, but they will be mainly concentrated aroundá a day or two either sideá of maximum.

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5.á  2008 ROBINSON LECTURE: The ninth Robinson Lecture will be held on Thursday 20th November 2008 in The Armagh City Hotel, 2 Friary Road, Armagh.

The Lecture will be delivered by Professor Peter W.J.L. Brand FRSE, of the Institute of Astronomy at the University of Edinburgh.á  The lecture will begin at 8.00 pm and is scheduled to end at 9.00 pm, followed by light refreshments.

á á á á á á  The Armagh Observatory Robinson Lecture is a public lecture held biennially in honour of the Founder of the Armagh Observatory, Archbishop Richard Robinson (1708--1794).

á á á  The title of Professor Brand's lecture is: GOD AND THE UNIVERSE

Attendance at the 2008 Robinson Lecture is free, but if you would like to attend the Lecture, please contact the Armagh Observatory in order to obtain tickets.

á á  Please write, telephone or send an e-mail to: Mrs Aileen McKee, Armagh Observatory, College Hill, Armagh, BT61 9DG; Tel: 028-3752-2928; Fax: 028-3752-7174; e-mail: ambnarm.ac.uk.á  For more information, see http://star.arm.ac.uk/publicevents/2008/robinson/robinson.html

6. ROBINSON SCHOOLS LECTURE.á  In addition, Professor Brand is delivering the Robinson Schools Lecture in the Royal School Armagh, College Hill, Armagh, at 2.00 pm on Friday, 21st November 2008.á  Teachers and pupils who would like to attend should contact Mr Warren Fowles, The Royal School, College Hill Armagh. Tel.: 028-3752-2807; e-mail: sfowles830royalschool.armagh.ni.sch.uk.á 

The title of Professor Brand's schools lecture is: BLACK HOLES AND THE UNIVERSE

á á  For more information on the Robinson Schools Lecture, see: http://star.arm.ac.uk/publicevents/2008/robinson/robinson-schools.html

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Clear Skies,

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Terry Moseley