August 2009

IAA/IYA 2009 –"Space and Aliens Competition"

There is still time to enter this competition – deadline now 30th November!

As part of International Year of Astronomy 2009, the Irish Astronomical Association (IAA) is running a major public competition, with substantial prizes, for all ages, and in various categories, so that anyone can enter. Full details here…

Excellent M27 image

Is this the Hubble Space telescope? No, this image of the Dumbell Nebula in Vulpecula, or M27, was taken by Past President of the IAA, Dr Andy McCrea from Bangor, with the Moon only 20 degrees away in the sky. Not bad at all considering this was Andy's first outing with his Orion ODK12 telescope!

IAA MOUNTS IYA2009 FETTU EXHIBITION AT NEWGRANGE HERITAGE WEEK

The IAA has once again been honoured in being asked by Bru na Boinne, better known as Newgrange, to put on a special astronomy exhibition for their annual 'Heritage week', in conjunction with Armagh Observatory (AO). This comprises the amazing 'From the Earth To The Universe' (FETTU) exhibition of the best astronomical images ever taken, which is one of the cornerstone projects of IYA2009. Printed in A0 size, on high quality paper, the exhibition runs along one complete wall of the Visitors Centre, with another third of a wall on an upper level. Organised with invaluable assistance from Dr Miruna Popescu at AO, the event also comprises a DVD, the Sun in 3-D, telescope display, solar imaging if clear, and various other fun and interactive exhibits, mainly for children

On the first two days there was an amazing amount of interest from the visitors at Newgrange, which is the most popular visited site in ROI.

A Gallery of photos from the event is here…

Another set of photos is on the IYA 2009 Ireland site here…

Heritage Week runs until 30 August, but the exhibition will remain there for at least another week.

IAA on the BBC

Terry Moseley and Philip Baxter on Radio Ulster

Image Credit: Paul Evans

Current and Past Presidents of the IAA, Philip Baxter and Terry Moseley, appeared on the BBC Radio Ulster programme "Your Place & Mine" on the morning of Saturday 15th August. The plan had been to cover Solar Observing from the roof of Broadcasting House, however the weather had other ideas! Presenter Helen Mark introduced these two as "The Men with Stars in their Eyes". Listen to the clip here… (MP3)

Delamont Perseid Watch Success

Over 20 members of the IAA and friends congregated at Delamont Country Park in County Down on the evening of Weds 12th August for a Perseid Watch. First off, we had a "fry-up" just for a change from the usual BBQ. The weather was in the balance, however by 2200 BST the sky was beginning to clear as darkness fell and it became apparent that we were "game on".

Meteors began to streak across the sky, some very fast, a few quite bright with smoke trails, all spectacular. As we entered the period between the Sun going down and the Moon coming up the sky became very dark indeed – this is a good dark site – and many meteors were spotted, my own personal tally being 15, my wife beat me with 24 though I was attending to the camera!

Of those we've seen so far, the first photographic capture, at 2236BST, was caught by Professor Alan Fitzsimmons of QUB…UPDATE – this has been confirmed as the winner of the first photo capture of the evening – a mystery prize is on its way to Prof Fitzsimmons!

Perseid