The IAA Council has met to consider the situation regarding the Covid-19 Pandemic and has reluctantly come to the conclusion that we must cancel the events planned for the remainder of the season. Therefore, the lectures on 18th March and 1st April are CANCELLED and the Annual General Meeting planned for 15th April is postponed until September.
There will be no Observing sessions organised for the remainder of the season (20th/21st, 27th/28th March, 17th/18th and 24th/25th April)
Further information will appear here as this situation develops
Subscriptions are now open and renewals due for the New Lecture Season which is almost complete – see below…….
You can join us here……… Membership has been held at £20 individual and £25 family – this has been the case for several years now and represents fantastic value!
Meetings are held at the Bell Theatre in Queen's University Belfast – see here for directions……. The proceedngs begin at 19:30 sharp and begin with the President's Welcome and a warm-up talk by one of our experienced astronomers, followed by the main talk, usually given by a Professional Astronomer. Tea, coffee, biscuits and chat is available after the meeting with proceedings usuall closing around 21:30.
We also run Observing evenings, usually at Delamont Country Park in County Down – details here……….http://irishastro.org/observing
During the course of the year we run a number of outreach sessions at various venues some of which will include the IAA's very popular Stardome Planetarium. Details will appear on this website.
Sep 19th – Dr Frank Prendergast, DIT: "From Neolithic to Iron Age – Case Studies in Irish Archaeoastronomy"
Oct 3rd – Prof Luke Drury: Prof Emeritus, DIAS: "The Dawn of Multi-Messenger Astronomy".
Oct 17th – Prof Gerry Doyle, AOP: "The Probability of a Doomsday Solar Superflare: Fact or Fiction?"
Oct 31st – Dr Wes Fraser, QUB: tbc
Nov 14th – Michael O'Connell. "Amateur Observations of Meteors"
Nov 28th – Prof Stephen Smartt, ARC, QUB, "Kilonovae"
Dec 12th – Paul Evans "Apollo 8 – Christmas Around the Moon"
Jan 5th 2019 – New Year Party
Jan 9th – tbc
Jan 23rd – Dr Neale Gibson, ARC, QUB – “Exploring Alien Worlds: How to find life in the Universe”
Feb 6th – Dr Kate Maguire, ARC, QUB, "Gravitational Waves – Ripples in Spcetime"
Feb 20th – Dr Norah Patten Inspire Space, Scientist-Astronaut candidate with Project PoSSUM. "From Mayo to Space"
Mar 6th – Prof Peter Gallagher, (ex TCD, new head of DIAS) tbc, prob on Parker solar Probe and I-Lofar
Mar 20th – tbc
Apr 3rd – Prof Alan Fitzsimmons, tbc
Apr 17th – AGM
We had an excellent AGM+ night at the IAA with a brilliant talk on The European Solar Telescope Project by Dr Ada Ortiz followed by the AGM.
The new Council was elected with Brian Beesley taking over from Paul Evans as President. Paul had served as President for 5 of the previous 6 years during a period of continued growth for the Association.
The Aidan Fitzgerald Award was presented to IAAmember and Professional Photographer Bernie Brown for her fantastic work on the Images of Starlight and Heavens Above Astrophotography exhibitions.
From the left, Pat O'Neill, Tony Kempston, Adam Jeffers, Danny Collins, Fitzgerald Medal Winner Bernie Brown, outgoing President Paul Evans, Terry Moseley and incoming President Brian Beesley
The full Council is as shown here….
The New Year Party will be held as usual in the Tudor Cinema, Drumhirk, Comber on Saturday 6th January 2018. A buffet meal will be available in McBrides the Square, Comber. Food will be served at 6.00pm, but it is advisable to be there at 5.30pm.
After the meal, members and guests will then make their way to the nearby Tudor Cinema for the feature film `Hidden Figures’ starting at 7.30pm and followed by a prize quiz. Visit Irish Paving.
N.B. Due to seating capacity restrictions at the Tudor Cinema, numbers will be limited to 60, so early booking is advisable.
Download the Ticket Application Form here…..
We're very pleased to report that a number of IAA members on holiday in the USA have had excellent viewing conditions for the Total Solar Eclipse – the featured image comes from Andy McCrea in Idaho with excellent conditions also being reported from Terry Moseley and Kate Russo in Wyoming and a number of members of the Irish Astronomical Community in Oregon.
Congratulations all, well done!
More to follow.
Wednesday 12th April marks the date of the 43rd Annual General Meeting of the Association. The purposes of the meeting are to review the activities of the past year, elect a new Council for the coming year and for the Council to receive feedback from the membership on how they – that's you – would like to see the Association develop.
We have also had a sub-committee sitting to decide whether or not the prestigious Aidan P Fitzgerald Award should be awarded this year, and if so, who the recipient should be.
This award is given no more than once a year for "Outstanding Service to the Association" and is named after one of the leading members of the Association in the 1940s and 50s.
As well as the formal business, which we will try and complete as quickly and efficiently as possible, we will a showing of a short film marking this day as "Yuri's Night", being the 56th annivaersary of Yuri Gagarin becoming the first man in space. Then we'll have a telescope auction, bring and buy and telescope clinic, so if you're looking to buy some new gear, bring some maony along and grab a bargain!
All are welcome, though of course only paid up members are eligible to vote on business matters. Doors open about 7.15pm. There is free parking available on the campus in the evenings. Admission Free, including light refreshments. We are located in the Bell Theatre, Department of Mathematics and Physics, QUB – details here……
With thanks to the Astrophysics Research Centre, QUB, for assistance with this event.
A reminder to Members, and indeed anyone who wishes to become a member, that the membership year begins on 1st September. Despite rising costs, by managing the Association’s finances carefully we have managed to hold the membership fees down to the same level as they have been for several years now and as always we are providing a full programme of 14 lectures plus the AGM together with observing nights and our comprehensive outreach programme at lånepengar.se.
New and existing members can (re)join here……
Membership of the IAA costs £20 (€25) per year for Individual Membership or £25 (€30) per year for Family Membership (all members of a family at one address) from September to August and entitles members to attend all IAA events including our regular speaker programme. Also, there are four issues of the IAA magazine “Stardust” produced annually and these will be delivered to your home address.
Wednesday 13th April marks the date of the 42nd Annual General Meeting of the Association. The purposes of the meeting are to review the activities of the past year, elect a new Council for the coming year and for the Council to receive feedback from the membership on how they – that's you – would like to see the Association develop.
We have also had a sub-committee sitting to decide whether or not the prestigious Aidan P Fitzgerald Award should be awarded this year, and if so, who the recipient should be.
This award is given no more than once a year for "Outstanding Service to the Association" and is named after one of the leading members of the Association in the 1940s and 50s.
As well as the formal business, which we will try and complete as quickly and efficiently as possible, we will have no less than three reports back from the Indonesian Total Solar Eclipse of 9th March from Terry Moseley, Andy McCrea and Kate Russo.
All are welcome, though of course only paid up members are eligible to vote on business matters. Doors open about 7.15pm. There is free parking available on the campus in the evenings. Admission Free, including light refreshments. We are located in the Bell Theatre, Department of Mathematics and Physics, QUB – details here……
With thanks to the Astrophysics Research Centre, QUB, for assistance with this event.
