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IFAS 2017 calendar pdf and more astro news

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  • 30-09-2016 12:01am
    #1
    jfSDAS
    Registered Users Posts: 352 ✭✭


    Hi everyone,

    Hope you managed to catch up on a few events recently. Amazingly, there's been more announced since my last post in "Out and About"! Space Week Ireland has a couple of new listings while The Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies School of Theoretical Physics has their Statutory Public Lecture in November on gravitational waves, the hot topic of the moment in astronomy.

    Also, the Ulster Hall in Belfast hosts an evening on October 18th with astronauts Tim Peake and Tim Kopra. See http://www.nisciencefestival.com/ for more details.

    Lots happening in the sky too, with more details below. There's also been some pretty spectacular aurora seen from higher latitudes over the last few nights. Check out the gallery on http://www.spaceweather.com/ while http://aurorawatch.lancs.ac.uk/ and http://www.solarham.net/ are sites that you can use to monitor aurora activty. Also, Sam Bleyen has a solar observing blog at https://samuelastronomy.wordpress.com/

    All the best,

    John


    IFAS Calendar 2017
    The FREE edition of the IFAS Calendar for 2017 is now available as a 735Kb pdf for download.

    It does not include the photos taken by IFAS members but these will appear in a printed edition of the calendar which will be available for purchase (details to be announced during October on the IFAS site www.irishastronomy.org).

    The pdf contains extra pages with various useful tables of data. Drop me a note if you see any errors and I'll make the corrections.

    Grab your copy of the 2017 calendar now at https://www.dropbox.com/s/scvrsyl3zs9h74w/IFASCalendar2017.pdf?dl=1


    Beginners Astronomy Classes
    A 10-week astronomy course in Malahide Community School started last Tuesday and is run by IAS member John Daly. Topics covered include planets of the solar system, galaxies, the lives of stars, a brief history of astronomy, advice on choosing a telescope, the latest happenings in space and much more. See https://sites.google.com/a/malahidecs.ie/adult-education/


    Dublin Stargazers Meetup and the Burren Star Party
    Two observing events on opposite sides of the country will be held this Saturday, October 1st. The Dublin Stargazers Meetup Group plan to observe from the Sugar Loaf car park in Wicklow if the sky is clear Saturday evening. See http://www.meetup.com/The-Dublin-Stargazers-Group/ for more details.

    The Burren Star Party, hosted by the Shannonside Astronomy Club, is an observing weekend at the Poulnabrone Dolmen Car Park. This year it is on the nights of Sept 30th and Oct 1st. More details at http://www.shannonsideastronomyclub.com/sac_burren_starparty.htm


    Two missions
    The end of the Rosetta mission will occur on September 30th when the spacecraft will be targeted to crash "gently" on the smaller of the 2 lobes of Comet 67P. Follow its final days at http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Rosetta

    Coverage of Rosetta has probably overshadowed mention of ExoMars (a joint ESA-Roscosmos mission) for the moment. ExoMars will arrive in orbit around the Red Planet on October 13th and deploy the Schiaparelli lander which will touch down on the surface of Mars on October 19th. See http://exploration.esa.int/mars/


    The hunt for Tiangong-2
    Here's a challenge: Who will be the first to spot China's latest space station during one of its passes Tiangong-2 over Ireland? Tiangong-2 was launched on September 15th, marking the next phase of China's project to develop a permanently manned orbiting lab. Two taikonauts are scheduled fly to the station on October 16th for what is planned to be a 30-day stay. See http://spaceflightnow.com/2016/09/15/chinas-tiangong-2-space-lab-successfully-blasts-off/ for more info.

    Using http://www.heavens-above.com/ to look ahead, I found Tiangong-2 makes a series of morning passes over Ireland for a few days beginning on October 14th. It may be possible spot the manned Shenzhou 11 in orbit after launch on Oct 16th as it chases the station before docking.


    Sky notes for October
    Download a free sky chart for the month at http://www.skymaps.com/

    Evening: Venus is a bright object, setting an hour or so after the Sun during October. Look for the thin crescent Moon to the planet's upper right on the evening of Oct 3rd. Saturn sets an hour after the Sun at the end of October. It's rings are wide open at present and simply mesmerising. Mars is crossing a rich region of the Milky Way in Sagittarius - it was within 2° of M8, the Lagoon Nebula, on Sept 27th - and spends October in the Teapot asterism. The planet will be near lambda Sagittarii (mag. 2.8), the star marking the knob of the pot's lid, on Oct 8th. The planet's disk is now only 9 arc-seconds wide -- about half that of last May's opposition.

    Morning: Mercury continues its fine showing from mid-September and remains on view above the eastern horizon before sunrise until after the second week of October. Jupiter passed through solar conjunction on Sept 26th and then reappears as a morning object towards the end of the second week of October. It pairs off with Mercury on the 11th when the two are less than one degree apart.

    Other events: An occultation of some of the stars in the Hyades in Taurus occurs in the wee hours on Oct 19th. Use http://www.calsky.com/ to generate detailed predictions. The Orionid meteor shower peaks on Oct 21st but is badly affected by the Moon just one day before Last Quarter. See http://earthsky.org/?p=27937

    Uranus is at opposition on Oct 15th in Pisces when it will be magnitude 5.7. See the end of the article at http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/celestial-objects-to-watch/planets/ice-giants-neptune-and-uranus/ for a chart. Ceres, the first discovered asteroid (in 1801), is at opposition on Oct 21st in Cetus when magnitude 7.4.


    Out and about
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Comments

  • Options
    #2
    mickmackey1
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 3,288 ✭✭✭mickmackey1


    jfSDAS wrote: »
    Presume that's the other way about, John.


  • Options
    #3
    jfSDAS
    Registered Users Posts: 352 ✭✭jfSDAS


    Many thanks! I've that corrected now.

    A couple more events ...

    · Oct 4: Gamma-Ray Burst Astrophysics: playing detective with the Universe, 6:30PM, Icon Theatre (H1.13 UCD Science Hub)

    · Oct 4: Rosetta: To Catch a Comet! – Prof. Mark McCaughrean. 19:30-20:45, Schroedinger Lecture Theatre, 2nd floor, Fitzgerald Building, Trinity College Dublin. Free: tickets should be booked on eventbrite for the TCD Rosetta talk. There is a strict limit of 120 on the capacity of the Schroedinger lecture theatre.
    https://www.eventbrite.com/e/rosetta-to-catch-a-comet-tickets-28188163556

    THE SKY AT NIGHT will be showing 'Goodbye Rosetta:A Sky at Night Special ' on Sunday October 2 at 10pm, repeated on BBC FOUR on October 6 at 7:30pm.


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