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.
Lecture – 7:30pm Weds 4th November – Dr Maria Cullen – “Anazoeing Mars”
Lecture – 7:30pm Weds 21st October – David Shayler FBIS – “The Astronomer Astronauts”
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……
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:-
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.
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.
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.
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.
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”
Lecture Programme 2015-16
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.
IAA Solar Day, WWT, Castle Espie – Sun 2nd Aug 2pm – 5pm
The next popular IAA solar outreach day will be on Sunday 2nd August. 2.00 to 5.00. All the usual attractions – solar observing if clear, telescope display, meteorites to handle, exhibition of space & astronomy items. 'Telescope fixit service'. And of course the ever popular starshows by IAA members.