Astronomy talk at Dalkey Book Festival (June 14th)

jfSDAS

Hi all,

My latest astronomy newsletter below ...

John


Sunday, June 14th: Astronomy talk at the Dalkey Book Festival
Roberto Trotta's new book, The Edge of the Sky has been described by the BBC as “making the whole of science sound like a wonderful fairytale.” Both he and writer Aifric Campbell will discuss how telling stories about science can bring the subject alive. Admission is €10. See http://www.dalkeybookfestival.org/sessionsingle/from-the-big-bang-to-black-holes-time-the-universe-and-everything/ for details


Lough Gur Dark Sky Park initiative
Congratulations to Frank Ryan Jr, Albert White, members of Shannonside Astronomy Club, and staff at the heritage centre for driving the proposal to declare a new Dark Sky Park in Ireland. Apollo 15 Command Module pilot Al Worden officially launched the Initiative on June 8th. Lough Gur will also be hosting a Summer Solstice Festival this month and you can read more details about the Centre and the event at http://loughgur.com/2015/summer-solstice-2015/


Cork Astronomy Club visit to Birr Castle on Saturday, June 13th
This coming Saturday, June 13th, members of Cork Astronomy Club are on a daytrip to Birr Castle to visit the Leviathan (Birr Telescope) and Science Museum. If you are in the area then feel free to join up with the group. I will be heading down from Dublin so give me a call on 086-8181931 to link up with us. The itinerary is to arrive at the County Arms Hotel around 12:30pm for lunch and then proceed to Birr Castle Demense for no later than 2:30pm.


Next Sky at Night broadcast
Rosetta Update: A Comet's Story is the title of the next Sky at Night episode on BBC 4 this Sunday, June 14th at 8pm. The program is repeated the following Tuesday. See http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006mk7h for more details.


Sky notes in the papers
Both the Guardian and Daily Telegraph newspapers publish excellent notes each month that are worth checking for what's happening in the sky. See http://www.theguardian.com/science/series/starwatch and http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/space/nightsky/


Science Foundation Ireland Open Call
The latest SFI Open Call for funding proposals is looking for submissions on engaging the Irish public with science. The deadline is July 28th and you can read more about applying at http://www.sfi.ie/funding/funding-calls/open-calls/sfi-discover-programme-call-2015.html


UK Space Conference, Liverpool
The UK Space Conference 2015 will take place from 13-15 July, at the Arena and Convention Centre in Liverpool. Expected to attract more than 800 delegates, the biennial conference will have the theme of ‘Space Enabled Futures’. Sessions will take place on a range of topics including space, society and culture; space and the surveillance society; opportunities for business; earth observation; spaceports and space planes, and space and life and biomedical sciences. See http://www.ukspace2015.co.uk/


ESO Planetarium show
The world’s first full-length full-dome planetarium movie freely available for planetarium use, From Earth to the Universe, has been released in high-resolution 4k full-dome format, for the worldwide planetarium community to download and use. I've no idea how big the download is but more details are available from ESO at http://www.eso.org/public/announcements/ann15040/


Astronomy and space news items

• Calculate "Pluto Time" -- For a brief moment near dawn and dusk the illumination on Earth matches that at noon on Pluto. NASA is encouraging people to record "Pluto Time" at their location. See http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/plutotime/ for details of this New Horizons outreach tie-in.
• A stunning new video combines images taken by the DAWN spacecraft which is currently orbiting Ceres. See the flyover movie at http://www.astronomy.com/news/videos/2015/06/fly-over-ceres-in-new-video
• India's Mars Orbiter Mission has returned some amazing photos of the Red Planet. The mission has been a tremendous success for the country's space program. See http://www.universetoday.com/120662/dazzling-gallery-from-indias-mom-mars-orbiter-camera/
• The Planetary Society's recently launched Lightsail mission has returned its first selfie! See http://sail.planetary.org/missioncontrol for details of this test flight ahead of a more ambitious mission next year.
• Canals on Pluto? The latest New Horizons images show more intriguing features on the distant world. See http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2015/06091643-an-enigmatic-line-across-pluto.html
• Venus and Jupiter continue to draw near on the sky for their close pairing at the end of June. See http://astronomynow.com/2015/06/06/watch-planets-venus-and-jupiter-converge-in-the-june-evening-sky/
• Remember comet Lovejoy? The celestial visitor is still on view for dedicated sky watchers as it glides through Ursa Minor this month. See http://astronomynow.com/2015/06/03/comet-lovejoys-june-swan-song-through-ursa-minor/
• The light ring around SN 1987A is starting to fade. Shock-waves from the supernova slammed into interstellar material causing it to glow but the pearls of light in the ring have grown fainter. See http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22630254.500-supernova-prized-by-astronomers-begins-to-fade-from-view.html
• The failure of an unmanned Progress resupply craft last April has caused the ISS crew rotation and cargo mission schedule to be changed. See http://spaceflightnow.com/2015/06/09/russia-updates-launch-schedule-for-iss-crews-cargo/ for the full story.
• A faint ring around Saturn only visible in infrared light has just got wider -- really wide. See http://www.space.com/29624-giant-saturn-ring-even-bigger.html

Events this June

• 13th: Cork Astronomy Club trip to Birr Castle
• 14th: Dr Robert Trotta talk at the Dalkey Book Festival. See http://www.dalkeybookfestival.org/sessionsingle/from-the-big-bang-to-black-holes-time-the-universe-and-everything/
• 18th: Irish Meteorological Society talk ... Saji Varghese of Met Éireann will speak about "Understanding the Near-surface Lifted Temperature Minimum Phenomenon". See http://www.irishmetsociety.org/programme/june-talk-saji-varghese
• 19th: “At Home in the Universe” talk ... Dublin’s Science Gallery hosts a talk by Ariel Waldman which will explore how the idea of ‘home’ may change as humans continue to explore space, and to move further out into the universe. See https://dublin.sciencegallery.com/events/2015/04/homeuniversearielwaldman
• 19th to 21st: Solarfest 2015 ... more details at http://www.dias.ie/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6773:dias-event-solarfest-2015&catid=184&Itemid=106&lang=en
• 20th: Astronomy Ireland Sun-show. See http://astronomy.ie/sunshowjune2015.php
• 21st: Cork Midsummer Festival at the Blackrock Castle Observatory ... more details of a special event to mark the mid-summer sunrise can be found at http://www.bco.ie/2015/05/midsummer-festival/
• 25th: Prof Monica O’Grady lecture at the Royal Irish Academy ... see http://www.ria.ie/Events/Events-Listing/The-2015-McCrea-Lecture
• 25th to 28th: Robert Boyle Summer School at Lismore Castle, Co Waterford. See http://www.robertboyle.ie/robert-boyle-summer-school for more details.
• 27th: IAA BBQ at Armagh Observatory

_Tombstone_

jfSDAS wrote: »

Lough Gur Dark Sky Park initiative
Congratulations to Frank Ryan Jr, Albert White, members of Shannonside Astronomy Club, and staff at the heritage centre for driving the proposal to declare a new Dark Sky Park in Ireland. Apollo 15 Command Module pilot Al Worden officially launched the Initiative on June 8th. Lough Gur will also be hosting a Summer Solstice Festival this month and you can read more details about the Centre and the event at http://loughgur.com/2015/summer-solstice-2015/

2hrs 18mins from Dublin says google maps, so probably close to 3 in reality when you hit the country roads. Jaysus, it's an eternity in a Car.

I was thinking whats the point it's so close to the Kerry one but it's actually another 2hrs 30 to get there.

I wonder did anyone ever check around leitrim...

_Tombstone_

I'm liking the newsletter, you pack alot in!! Take abit of time to get through.

Maybe stick them all in the one Thread and keep bumping it?? Be easier to follow.

jfSDAS

Many thanks for the kind words about the newsletters _Tombstone_ .... good idea about updating the thread during the month. Maybe to just title it "June's astronomy news and events" or something and just keep adding details.

I guess the potential new dark sky area will be more convenient for those in the Mid-West of Ireland. There are a number of other initiatives currently being considered and I think there's four locations countrywide with sky quality meters installed that are logging conditions. Not sure if Leitrim is one but I know there's a meter set up in Mayo. Myself and a few others have explored virtually every back road of Wicklow at this stage in pursuit of that perfect observing location close to Dublin!

John