 |
|
|
Upcoming Events
IAA on the Web
QuicklinksFront Page Archive
|
IAA Lecture 16th November The second lecture of the month was given by Irish Space Historian and Author, Brian Harvey. Brian last talked to us in 2009 on "The Chinese Space Programme". This time around he talked about "Future Missions to the Moon and Mars" After outlining the many missions run by the USA and USSR from the early 1960s until 1976, then from the early '90s onwards, Brian moved on to outline the missions now being run and future missions planned by China, Russia, India and Japan, raising the prospect of another Space Race, this time dominated by the Asian countries. It is still open to speculation as to whether the US will regroup and re-enter the race, but for now it seems that China is the one to watch!This was an excellent talk and we are very grateful to Brian for coming up from Dublin to visit us.  Image: Paul EvansThe Warm-up talk was a 15
minute tour of the November sky covering Solar Cycle
24, the Planets, some winter constellations and
prospects for the Leonid Meteor Shower. It can be seen
on the IAA YouTube Channel in 720p HD below.
IAA Lecture 2nd November November's first lecture was
given by Dr Phil Marshall from The University of Oxford
and was entitled "Cosmic Telescopes: Focussing
and Observing with Gravitational Lenses"
Jupiter at opposition The King of the Planets is now directly opposite The Sun in the sky which means it will be at its greatest elevation due South at local midnight (about 00:24 GMT in Belfast) at its maximum magnitude of -2.9. From now on it will be higher up in the evening sky which will suit observers better. Both equatorial bands are now present - last year one went missing for a while, however the Great Red Spot seems very pale as can be seen in this photo by Andy McCrea....
Image:Andy McCrea Aurora over Ireland On the morning of 25th October, Solar Cycle 24 delivered a CME to Earths' atmosphere resulting in a KP7 auroral storm. Nearly all of Ireland and the UK was clouded out, but Ronan Newman of Galway Astronomy Club was very lucky to have clear skies in Co Mayo. Here's the view... Also,
there is a slideshow of all of Ronan's photos
of the event here...
Image: Ronan
Newman IAA
Lecture 19th October October's second lecture
was given by Seanie Morris from Midlands
Astronomy Club. Seanie is a Graphic Designer by
day and a DJ on Midlands 103 by night. He is also a keen
amateur astronomer and talked to us about "What was it REALLY like on
Apollo 11?". This was a fascinating talk about
just what was involved in getting astronauts Neil
Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to walk on the Moon while
Michael Collins orbited above them. We are most grateful
to Seanie for coming up from Tullamore to give us this
excellent talk.
 The 10 minute warm-up
was delivered by Dr Andy McCrea and is available on
YouTube here...
Images
& Video:Paul Evans
Little Stars at Comber Primary SchoolIAA President Philip Baxter spent a very enjoyable and productive morning with the P4 class at Comber Primary School looking at the work they had done on their space projects. Philip said..."Their teacher Mrs. Wendy Walker had done all the prep work and had the children primed with their questions, which ranged from, what size is a black hole, how big was Sputnik to how many rockets have been sent into space? Now that was a good one which I had to pass over quickly! I’d brought some rocks to represent moon rocks as well as meteorites and these went down a treat. It’s great to see astronomy back on the school curriculum and hopefully the kids will be looking up in the future." Here are those "Little Stars"!  Image:Wendy
Walker
QUB Astronomer of the MonthThe QUB Astrophysics Research Centre have begun a series of video interviews with professional astronomers describing their work. These interviews can be found on the QUB ARC YouTube channel here... Membership Members are reminded that membership fees are now due for the 2011/12 year as of 1st September. Rates are of course the same as last year and are as follows:- Single membership: £20 or €25 Family Membership (all members of a family at one address): £25 or €30 This includes an unmatched programme of lectures, observing nights, other events and a subscription to our highly regarded quarterly magazine, "Stardust", delivered to your door. You can now join or renew your IAA Membership online by PayPal or Credit or Debit card online here... |
(c) Irish Astronomical Association 2011 - All Rights Reserved