China: Moon, Mars and Space Station

Synopsis:

This presentation tells the story of China’s space programme from 1956 and how it became a space superpower this century. China has astonished the world by landing a rover on the far side of the moon. Its probe Tianwen is now orbiting and preparing to land on Mars and China’s space station, Tianhe, will be launched next month. The presentation looks at the past, present and future of China in space and its ambitions for human and solar system exploration.

Bio:

Brian Harvey is a writer and broadcaster on spaceflight. His first book was Race into space – the Soviet space programme. His books and book chapters have been translated into Russian, Chinese and Korean. He wrote China in space – the great leap (2nd, edition, Springer-Paxis, 2019), now in publication in Chinese. In the course of the research, he met China’s first space man, Yang Liwei and first space woman, Liu Yang. His next project, due for publication this summer, is European-Russian cooperation in space – from de Gaulle to ExoMars.

Paul Evans is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Brian Harvey
Time: Mar 31, 2021 07:15 PM London

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The room will open around 19:15 to allow for a prompt start

This talk will also be Simulcast on our YouTube Channel

https://www.youtube.com/user/irishastronomy/videos

“Charles Messier: His Life and his Legacy”

Synopsis:

Two hundred and fifty years ago this year the French astronomer Charles Messier (1730-1817) submitted the first draft of a catalogue that would guarantee him lasting fame. Now recognised as a list of the sky’s showpiece objects, it contains highlights such as the Great Nebula in Orion (designated M42); the Andromeda Galaxy (M31); and the beautiful Pleiades star cluster (M45).

Tonight’s talk by Irish Astronomical Society member John Flannery will tell a little about the life of Charles Messier, how his catalogue came into being, and its importance in astronomy.

Bio:

John is editor of the IAS quarterly journal and is active in astronomy outreach. His main interests as an amateur astronomer are the sky lore of world cultures; binocular observing; and astronomical history.

Paul Evans is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: John Flannery
Time: Mar 17, 2021 07:15 PM London

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Meeting ID: 837 9325 1894
Passcode: 960033

The room will open around 19:15 to allow for a prompt start

This talk will also be Simulcast on our YouTube Channel

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Title: Mars, the Search for Origins.

Abstract:

Mars shared an early history not dissimilar to Earth, and so the origin of life there is considered plausible. This talk looks at the history of our engagement with Mars; and examines the present day multi-decadal robotic exploration campaign to characterise the planet and what it has to reveal about life origins processes.

The reasoning for exploring the planet are considered, and the resulting scientific priorities, mission and instrument characteristics outlined. Finally, key results to date are presented, what they reveal about the planet and how they will shape the next missions there.

 

Biography:

Kevin Nolan is a lecturer in physics at TU Dublin, Tallaght campus. Having returned to academia from industry, Kevin is also working on a part-time PhD under Dr. Niall Smith, Head of Research at CIT. The project originally involved developing a software pipeline for the ESA Integral / OMC camera in association with Prof. Lorraine Hanlon, UCD; and now involves the data analysis of AGN photometric data derived from the mission.

Kevin is also involved in science outreach and has been a Volunteer for The Planetary Society (founder Carl Sagan) since 1998. In 2008 Kevin had a popular science book published titled “Mars, a Cosmic Stepping Stone” examining the motivations for the robotic exploration of the planet Mars. Kevin also makes frequent contributions to Astronomy Ireland magazine, The Irish Times and RTE in the areas of space science and exploration. 

Paul Evans is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Dr Kevin Nolan
Time: Mar 3, 2021 07:15 PM London

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Meeting ID: 850 7503 1888
Passcode: 771101

The room will open around 19:15 to allow for a prompt start

This talk will also be Simulcast on our YouTube Channel

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Title: Investigating the atmospheres of alien worlds

Abstract:

It has now been over 25 years since the discovery of the first exoplanet around a Sun-like star. Since then, thousands of exoplanets have been discovered, most in systems that do not resemble our own Solar System. What is more, we have been able to study the atmospheres of some of these worlds.

In this talk, I will discuss how we can study exoplanet atmospheres and what we have learned so far. 

Biography:

Dr. Ernst de Mooij is a lecturer at Queen’s University Belfast. He obtained his PhD from Leiden University, after which he became a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Toronto. Subsequently he moved to Queen’s University Belfast as the Michael West Fellow, following on from that he was an assistant professor for 3 years at Dublin City University.

His research is focused on the characterisation of exoplanets and their environment, including their atmospheres and exo-rings.

Paul Evans is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Dr Ernst de Mooij
Time: Feb 17, 2021 07:15 PM London

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Meeting ID: 862 0368 2703
Passcode: 090170

The room will open around 19:15 to allow for a prompt start

This talk will also be Simulcast on our YouTube Channel

https://www.youtube.com/user/irishastronomy/videos