Category Archives: Event
“Images of Starlight” exhibition 2nd August – 30th Sept Linenhall Library

IAA Perseid Meteor Shower Barbeque – Thurs 11th Aug – Cancelled
**Note this event is cancelled due to bad weather**
The Perseid Meteor shower is caused by the Earth passing through the debris trail of Comet 109P Swift-Tuttle which orbits the Sun with a 130 year period. The meteors hit the Earh's atmosphere comparitively fast, aprroximately 35 miles/sec or 120,000 mph and burn up at a height of around 50 miles. This year we are expecting a Zenithal Hourly Rate (ZHR) of as much as 200 on the Thursday night which is outstanding – in fact this year it is possible that we will see an outburst, assuming we hold the event on the Thursday evening.
We have chosen Thurs 11th August for this event this year – it is actually the best night in terms of expected meteor numbers and the weather looks slightly better than the Friday, though if things change closer to the date we may postpone to the Friday – watch this space!. Meet at 8:00pm for the Barbeque with observing from 10:30pm onwards.
IAA Solar Day, WWT, Castle Espie – Sun 7th Aug 2pm – 5pm
Monday 9th May – Mercury Transit Observing & Talk
On Monday 9th May there will be a rare Transit of Mercury. This occurs when Mercury, the closest planet to the Sun, passes between the Earth and The Sun – usually it will pass above or below but on rare occasions like this it will go directly in between and will be visible against The Sun for several hours as it makes its passage across.
This last happened in 2006 and will happen again in 2019, however this year's event is very well placed and can be seen in its entirety from Ireland, weather permitting of course! Unlike the Transit of Venus, which could be observed using eclipse glasses only, Mercury is both smaller and further away so can only be seen with optical aids.
DO NOT under any circumstances try and use Eclipse Glasses in conjunction with binoculars or any other optical aid to see this event, eye damage may well result.
Instead, come and join the IAA and members of the Astrophysics Research Centre at QUB to view the event in complete safety.
Observing will begin outside the front of QUB at Midday and continue until the end of the transit after 7pm, then there will be a Michael West Lecture on "Einstein’s Gravity From The Transit Of Mercury To The Detection Of Gravitational Waves" by Professor Patrick Brady, Center for Gravitation, Cosmology & Astrophysics, University of Wisconsin.
Transit begin and end times are 12;12 BST and 19:42 BST
We will also be holding a similar event at Portstewart, Co Derry, at the Agherton Parish Centre, from 12.00 until the end of the event.
Further details on the observing here…..
Further details on the talk, for which registration is required, here…..
IAA at Benburb Castle, Sat 9th April, 7 p.m
Lecture 30th March – Kevin Nolan (The Planetary Society) “An Emerging Cosmic Perspective”
For this talk we are very pleased to welcome Kevin Nolan who is the Irish representative for The Planetary Society.
The talk is called "An Emerging Cosmic Perspective" and looks at some of the most recent images from The Hubble Space Telescope and ESO, including the 8-GigaPixel image of the centre of the Milky Way and the 1-GigaPixel HST image of M31. We'll examine what such images reveal about the Universe and how they are rapidly changing our perspective on the Universe. We will also look at their limits, pointing the way toward new capabilities in astronomical observation. This is a highly visual talk, suitable for non-experts and experts alike.
Lecture 16th March – Michael O’Connell, MAC: “The Antikythera Mechanism: The World’s Oldest Computer” *Updated*
Dr Lucie Green Lecture 17th October
Our lecture on 17th October will be something a bit special! We are teaming up with the Astrophysics Research Centre at QUB to bring Science Communicator https://vapejuicedepot.com/collections/fruity-pebbles-vape-juice-flavors, TV and Radio personality and Solar Expert Dr Lucie Green to Belfast to talk to us on the subject of “The Sun”.
This lecture will be held in the Larmour Lecture Theatre at QUB and though admission is free, seats will need to be booked due the expected demand. Further details regarding the lecture can be found here….
Details of Dr Green’s work can be found on her website here….
Dr Peter Gallagher Lecture 3rd October
Our guest on 3rd October will be Solar expert Dr Peter Gallagher from Trinity College, Dublin.
Dr Gallagher is Head of the Solar Physics Group at Trinity and his research is primarily concerned with the understanding of Solar Storms and their impact on Earth – of great interest to us as Solar Cycle 24 gathers pace!
Dr Gallagher obtained a first degree in Physics and Mathematics from University College Dublin, a PhD in Solar Physics from QUB and has since worked on Solar research including a six year stint in the US working firstly at Big Bear Solar Observatory in California and at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland.
His talk, entitled “LOFAR and The Rosse Observatory” will give us an insight into the latest Solar Reserch being conducted from Ireland.