Astronomy Ireland
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Astronomy Ireland is one of the national astronomy clubs of Ireland (both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland).
[edit] Astronomy Ireland
Astronomy Ireland (AI) was founded in Dublin in 1990 by David Moore, who is currently the chairman of the organisation, following a bitter split from the Irish Astronomical Society. AI is a non-profit educational organisation, though no accounts are published to members, dedicated to promoting interest in astronomy (and science in general) throughout the island of Ireland. With relatively little financial support from the government it depends upon membership dues, event fees, and the generosity of an army of volunteers, who are willing to invest both time and money in promoting the cause of astronomy among young and old, amateur and professional.
The British astronomer and broadcaster Sir Patrick Moore is an honorary member of the society.
Among the regular activities and services of the society the following may be noted:
- Observing Sessions: eclipses of the Moon, meteor showers, favourable planetary apparitions, etc. The society tries to arrange as many of these as possible so that members in all parts of the country can be accommodated. In Dublin the most popular meeting place is beside the Papal Cross in the Phoenix Park, which is probably the darkest part of the city.
- Lectures: among the guest speakers who have delivered lectures are Chris Lintott and John Gribbin. The lectures are recorded by the society and are made available on the AI website for free download for a limited period of time. DVDs of each lecture may be purchased for a small fee (currently €5).
- Star-B-Qs: an annual barbecue held at Roundwood, Co. Wicklow.
- Astro-Expo: an annual astronomy and science exhibition held in Dublin.
- Astronomy Course: to provide new members (and non-members) with a grounding in the basics of astronomy.
- Foreign Trips: these are generally arranged to observe total solar eclipses. Among the places visited are Turkey in 2006.
Members are kept up to date via email newsletter ; there is also a premium rate telephone news service to alert Irish and British astronomers to any celestial happenings from flyovers of the International Space Station to meteor showers.
Astronomy & Space Ltd. produces a monthly magazine for Astronomy Ireland, Astronomy & Space, which is aimed mainly at young people and relatively inexperienced amateur astronomers.
A weekly radio program, AIRS (an acronym for the "Astronomy Ireland Radio Show"), is broadcast every Tuesday on FM radio and on the Internet. Previous shows may be listened to thanks to the mp3 archive on the AI website. There are also mp3 recordings of various other radio programs of interest to astronomers (e.g. interviews with famous astronomers).
Associated with Astronomy Ireland is the Astronomy & Space shop, a private venture owned and managed by the society's chairman David Moore.
