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Upcoming Events
12th/13th August - Perseid Meteor Shower - BBQ and Observing - evening to be determined
15th August - WWT
Castle Espie - Solar Day
22nd August - NT Mount
Stewart - Solar Day TBC
31st August - Double Public Lectures at QUB - Subject: Cosmology - see article
16-19 Sept - International Meteor Conference - Armagh
Observatory
22nd Sept - First meeting of the season at QUB - as usual a packed season of 14 lectures and the 10 minute talks with something for everyone. Meetings start at 7:30pm sharp - alternate Wednesdays until April.
13th October - WWT
Castle Espie – Evening Observing with Mobile Planetarium
IAA on the Web
Front Page Archive
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Perseid Meteor Shower
This year's Perseid Meteors are blessed with very favourable conditions:
Maximum is predicted for 21h on 12 August, and the Moon will be only 2
days old, so won't interfere. The radiant is circumpolar from Ireland,
and so plenty of meteors should be seen any time after the sky gets dark
that evening. In fact some Perseids can be seen any night from early
August until about the 19th, but they are most frequent on the days
around maximum.
We will be holding a 'Perseid Party' at
Delamont Country Park, near Killyleagh, Co Down, just off the A22
between Killyleagh and Downpatrick, on the evening of Thursday 12th, or
if the weather is bad that evening, on the following night, Friday 13th,
assuming it's not a washout too! This will be a 'Fry-up', rather than a
BBQ, so bring any sort of a gas or spirit cooker you may have, plus
frying pan, and whatever grub & drinks you want. Also your own
plates, cups/mugs, cutlery etc.
Check the IAA Forum on 12th for a go/no-go confirmation on the weather.
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Image: Paul Evans
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Image: Peter Paice
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Solar Days
We have two Solar Days coming up in August - First off we're at Castle Espie in County Down on Sunday 15th - starting at 2 pm. As well as Solar Observing through special telescopes we will be running a number of Star Shows in the Mobile Planetarium.
On Sunday 22nd we'll be running a similar show at Mount Stewart near Newtownards, Co Down.
Both of these dates promise excellent entertainment for all the family! The Mobile Planetarium will be indoors on both occasions so there will be Star Shows regardless of the weather.
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IAA / QUB Double Public Lectures
In association with Queen's University we proudly present an
evening of lectures by two of the world's leading experts in cosmology,
discussing the origin and ultimate fate of the Universe. Details as follows:-
The Great Cosmic Puzzle
Tuesday 31st August 2010 7.15 - 9.00 pm
Queen’s University Belfast, Larmor Lecture Theatre (School of Maths and Physics)
“From the Big Bang to the Universe of Galaxies”
Prof.Carlos Frenk FRS (Institute for Computational Cosmology, Durham University)
and
“The Accelerating Universe: A Crisis for Fundamental Physics”
Prof. Chris Stubbs (Harvard University)
Further details here....
Free admission (pre-booking is required) - email us at iaaastro@gmail.com giving your name and no of tickets required - we will hold these for you on the door. Alternatively call QUB School of Maths & Physics on 02890-973941 or 02890-973219 during business hours.
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IAA ‘Snap
the Logo’ Competition
This is a simple
competition anyone can enter over the holiday period!
Simply download an
image of the I.A.A. LOGO and take an unusual or quirky snap
incorporating the logo. It could be with a personality, up in a hot
air balloon, underwater - the choice is yours. The photograph that
raises awareness of the Association and produces some publicity may
get extra points! The winning entry will be chosen by the I.A.A.
President and the prize will be a £25.00 book token. The winner will
be announced the October meeting.
How to enter.
Take your photograph
and either ‘post’ it on the I.A.A. forum at www.irishastro.org,
or e-mail it to iaaphil@googlemail.com
Rules
Entries to be
received by 30/09/10.
No Photoshop,
Paintshop Pro, etc. to be used.
Only one entry per
person, so pick your best!
All entries,
including the winning one, are free for use by the I.A.A. for display
in our magazine ‘Stardust’, as well as on our web page or in any
other I.A.A. publication.
Good Luck!
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Revised Membership Rates
Regrettably due to rising costs we have had to increase the subscriptions for IAA membership. For the 2010/2011 season these will be as follows:-
Single membership: £20 or €25
Family Membership (all members of a family at one address): £25 or €30
Note that this is the first rate increase in five years and still includes an unmatched programme of lectures, observing nights, other events and a subscription to our highly regarded quarterly magazine, "Stardust", delivered to your door.
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