Lecture Weds 18th November, 7.30 p.m. “On the Shoulders of Giants; The Story of (part of) Our Quest to Understand the Cosmos”, by Brian MacGabhann

Brian MacGabhann is Chairman of Galway Astronomy Club and we are very pleased to have him as our guest this week.
 
Recently the news was announced that the Voyager space probe has finally left the solar system and entered deep space, becoming the most distant manmade object ever. But barely 5,000 years ago our ancestors stared with fear and incomprehension at the bewildering display of lights that appeared nightly over their heads. Armed with nothing more than their wits our species has slowly and haltingly groped towards an understanding of the universe around us and our place in it, and it is amazing to think that by the time we finally did manage to leave this rock in 1961 we had already arrived at a broad understanding of how the universe operated.



This is the story of that quest, from the ancient Egyptians, who saw in the skies the workings of their gods, to the Greeks who sought for a naturalistic explanation of what was happening, webcam model tips through the middle ages when brilliant thinkers fought against the restrictions of their culture and of their own beliefs and assumptions to struggle towards and ever more accurate understanding. It is a story of heroes and cowards, KazinoEkstra.com humility and arrogance, imagination and tunnel vision. Along the way we will encounter a host of fascinating characters, some larger than life, some odd and reclusive, some downright potty, including such famous names as Copernicus, Newton, Galileo and Aristotle. Check ibetnetwork.com.

 
This is a superb lecture, with lots of interesting insights into the background of the development of astronomical thought: You may think you know the history of astronomy fairly well, but I’ll bet you’ll learn something new!. Visit lendbubble com au.
 
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.

Lecture – 7:30pm Weds 4th November – Dr Maria Cullen – “Anazoeing Mars”

Anazoeing Mars – the revitalisation, or re-lifeing, of a planet. Ana- = re- and zoe = all life; Anazoeing – a Greek-based term to describe the act of bringing Mars back to life, based on its own biota, through tending it to ameliorate the potential for human occupation of Mars into the future. Mars today presents a very hostile suite of environments for humans. As we grow in our understanding of Earth we realise that certain forms of life can exist in challenging places and can adapt to these settings in diverse ways. As our knowledge of Mars improves, we begin to identify potential niches for life there. We are posing fresh questions about life itself and potential ecophysiological windows of opportunity.
 
With the initiation of human exploration of Mars, the building of biomes and the anazoeing of a "dead", or "mostly dead" planet, we will learn more about the fragility of life and the resilience of life, in a wider planetary setting. Technological developments, new insights and organizational advances will help us to address threats of our own making to life on our home planet.
 
This lecture will take stock of what we know so far about the Martian environment. It will review the proposals suggested to anazoe or re-initiate life on Mars so that humans can live and work there in increasing comfort and safety. There will be some discussion of the technological and ethical challenges involved when attempting to work with Mars-life if it currently exists or to kick-start life and to tend it in a direction that would suit us on another planet!
 
Maria Cullen is an Irish geomicrobiologist with a long-term interest in the requirements and potential for life in our Solar System. Her company, AlphaTaxa, is based at Dublin City University Innovation Campus. 
 
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.

Lecture – 7:30pm Weds 21st October – David Shayler FBIS – “The Astronomer Astronauts”

Spaceflight historian David J. Shayler, FBIS (Fellow of the British Interplanetary Society – or as Dave likes to call it – Future Briton In Space!) was born in England in 1955.  His lifelong interest in space exploration began by drawing rockets aged 5 but it was not until the launch of Apollo 8 to the moon in December 1968 that the interest for human space exploration became a passion. His first articles were published by the British Interplanetary Society in the late 1970’s and in 1982 he created Astro Info Service (www.astroinfoservice.co.uk) to focus his research efforts. His first book was published in 1987 and now has over 20 titles to his name including works on the American and Russian space programmes, the topics of space walking, women in space, and the human exploration of Mars.
 
In 1989 he applied as a cosmonaut candidate for the UK Project Juno programme with the Soviet Union (now Russia). The mission was to spend seven days in space aboard the space station Mir. Dave did not reach the final selection but progressed further than he expected. The mission was flown by Helen Sharman in May 1991. In support of his research Dave has visited NASA in the United States and the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre in Russia, where visits to space training facilities and handling real space hardware has provided a valuable insight into the activities of a space explorer and the realities of flying and living in space.
 
He is a friend of many former and current astronauts and cosmonauts, some of whom have accompanied Dave of visits to schools across the country.  For over 20 years Dave has delivered space presentations and workshops to children and social groups across the UK. This programme has developed into a three tier project of presentations, mini and full day workshops to help the younger generation develop an interest in science and technology and the world around them.
 
Dave lives in the West Midlands and enjoys spending time with his wife Bel, Jenna a rather large white German shepherd (who is also our company mascot) and indulging in his love of cooking.
 
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.

Lecture – 7:30pm Weds 7th October – Terry Moseley – “Our Sun: Friend or Foe?”

In a a change to the programme, the lecture will be given by Terry Moseley BEM, current PR Officer and Meetings Organiser of the IAA, not to mention Past President for a total of 10 years in four stints over a period of 35 years! 

Terry's Lecture, entitled "Our Sun: Friend or Foe?" will tell us plenty about our nearest star……

"We take the Sun, our own star, for granted. Without it, life as we know it would be impossible on Earth. And of course it has lots of other benefits, ranging from Solar Energy to lovely sights such as the aurorae, rainbows and magnificent sunsets.
 
But it's actually a huge seething cauldron of superhot plasma, powered by incomprehensibly powerful nuclear reactions in its core. And it's not entirely static or stable, and when things happen on the Sun, they can have very serious consequences for us on Earth.
 
This talk will look at all the benefits we get from the Sun, and contrast them with the known and possible dangers, answering some common questions such as How long will it shine? What happens if it gets hotter? Will it expand and engulf the Earth? Will it explode like a nova or supernova?"
 
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.

Total Lunar Eclipse night of 27th/28th September

In the early hours of Monday morning – ie late Sunday night – the first Total Lunar Eclipse to be visible from Ireland for several years occurs. The eclipse will be visible from 01:11 to 06:22 although in the firts and last hours there is very little to see in reality. The Moon will be visible 35degrees high in the South at the start of the eclipse and 20 degrees in the West a the end. During totality, the best part, it will be 28 degrees high in the South-West.

Timings for our timezone – British Summer Time (BST) are as follows:-

Timings

The view of the Full Moon before 01:11 will be as follows. For photographers, this is an exposure of 1/125th sec ISO 100 f10. Ideally photographs will be taken with a DSLR camera mounted on a driven telescope, however quite good results can be achieved using a modern Superzoom "Bridge" type camera with a 30x or more zoom lens provided it is mounted on a tripod and either a cable release or the self-timer is used to keep it very still. ISO should be set no higher than 400, or 800 at a pinch during the totality if it is very dark, and exposure needs to be manually controlled – see the guidance figures by the pictures below.

Full Moon

This is the same camera exposure part way through the Partial phase of the eclipse. Note that the Penumbral shadow has considerably darkened the visible portion of the Moon.

Partial Eclipse

This exposure has been increased to show the part of the Moon in shadow, completely overexposing the Penumbral area. The exposure time has been increased to 2 seconds – ie 250 times as much as the previous picture.

Partial Eclipse

Note the bluish band here – this is believed to be result of refraction of sunlight through Ozone in the upper atmosphere of the Earth.

Next we have the Totality. Exposure here is equivalent to 20 seconds – 2500 times that of the uneclipsed Moon. A similar exposure could be achieved with a camera lens set to 2 seconds at f5.6 with ISO 400 or 1 second with ISO 800. This would reduce any blurriness due to the rotation of the Earth.

Total Lunar Eclipse

Unlike the Solar Eclipse earlier in the year, there are no particular safety considerations such as eye protection. Also, there is much more time to enjoy the spectacle – a Total Solar Eclipse is much more spectacular, but it is over in a couple of minutes. The totality here lasts well over an hour!

Enjoy!

Opening Lecture – 7.30pm 23rd September – Leo Enright – “Pluto, New Horizons, and the Edgeworth (Kuiper) Belt”

This year's season opener features a return visit to the IAA by well known broadcaster and journalist Leo Enright. The subject will be what is currently the hottest topic in astronomy and space exploration: the amazing pictures returned from the New Horizons probe on its close pass through the Dwarf Planet Pluto's system. The lecture, "Pluto, New Horizons, and the Edgeworth (Kuiper) Belt" includes the Irish connection with Kenneth Edgeworth who proposed the existence of the disc of icy material beyond Neptune some 10 years before Gerard Kuiper!
 
Leo is not only a renowned expert on anything to do with space science, but an excellent and very entertaining speaker as those who have atteneded his recent visits to IAA will know.
 
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.

Lecture Programme 2015-16

Our new lecture programme has now been published and is available here…..
 
The lecture programme is held in association with the School of Mathematics and Physics, Queen's University Belfast.
It runs from September until the end of April and is held in the Bell Lecture Theatre in the Physics Building, main campus, Queen's University, Belfast. Meetings start at 7.30pm sharp and consist of a short talk given by one of our members followed by the main lecture, usually given by a Professional Astronomer.
 
The lecture over, light refreshments are available free of charge. At this time members are free to mix and discuss the latest astronomical news and events. The meeting finishes at 10.00pm. Non-members are also welcome to attend!

Michael West Lecture – 27th Aug – Larmor Lecture Theatre, QUB

 

Professor Ignas Snellen (Leiden Observatory, Leiden University)

Exoplanets and the search for extraterrestrial life

Thursday 27th August, 7:30pm
Larmor Lecture Theatre, QUB

Free Admission

REGISTER HERE TO RESERVE YOUR SEATS

A true revolution is unfolding in the study of planets orbiting other stars than the Sun. Soon we can start to search for life on planets like Earth. Do we know what to look for, and what to expect?

Professor Ignas Snellen from Leiden University is a world leading expert on the study of exoplanet atmospheres using ground-based telescopes. 

We expect this lecture to be very popular and seats will fill up quickly, so please register as soon as possible to avoid disappointment. More info on our Michael West Lecture wiki page.

IAA Perseid Meteor Barbeque – Weds 12th Aug

With the Moon notably absent, this year's Perseid Meteor shower shows every chance of being an excellent one.

The 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 around 100 which is good.

We have chosen Weds 12th August for this event this year – it is actually the best night in terms of expected meteor numbers and the weather looks as if we might at least see something. Meet at 8:00pm for the Barbeque with observing from 10:30pm onwards.

Astronomy in Northern Ireland and Beyond