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….