There is a total lunar eclipse on the morning of the 21st. The approximate timings for this event are: Penumbral Eclipse Begins 00:35 Partial Eclipse Begins 01:43 Total Eclipse Begins 03:01 Greatest Eclipse 03:26 Total Eclipse Ends 03:52 Partial Eclipse Ends 05:09 Penumbral Eclipse Ends 06:17

Find out more on our Lunar Eclipse page.

Eyepieces Terms - The choice of which eyepieces to purchase is almost as important as which telescope and mount to choose, eyepieces couple to our telescopes to give us our observing experiences and a bad choice of eyepieces will limit the experience as much as a bad choice of telescope.

After two months of delay, a new Columbus voyage set sail aboard NASA's shuttle Atlantis on Thursday as seven astronauts rocketed toward the International Space Station (ISS) with a European-built lab. More information at http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/home/index.html

Observing challenges for February 2007.

The next monthly meeting will take place on Tuesday 5th February and will be our Andrew Trimble Memorial lecture. We are meeting in the Lecture Theatre at Ballyclare High School, George Avenue (off Rashee Road), Ballyclare, Co. Antrim commencing at 8PM (we have had to move the original date back a day to accommodate the school).

Andrew Trimble was the society's first honorary life member who sadly passed away in 2002, this lecture is held each year in his memory and is always a highlight of our season as befits his memory.

This year the lecture is:-

Tree-rings provide clues to ancient cosmic events
by Professor Mike Baillie

Mike Baillie is a Professor Emeritus of Palaeoecology in the School of Archaeology and Palaeoecology at QUB. Professor Baillie has a special interest in possible cometary induced environmental change as reflected in both tree rings and human record or myths. Professor Baillie is the author or co-author of many books on the subject including 'The Celtic Gods - Comets in Irish Mythology' and 'New Light on the Black Death- The Cosmic Connection'.

Professor Baillie is an incredibly entertaining and knowledgeable speaker and this lecture will be one not to be missed.

The Geminid meteor shower is the highlight of the year for astronomers and casual observers alike as the Earth turns to face the outslaught of up to 120 meteors hitting the atmosphere and vapourising every hour.

This year, with the new moon just past, prospects of a good event are favourable.

Space shuttle Atlantis' STS-122 mission to the International Space Station is targeted to launch no earlier than Jan. 2 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The liftoff date depends on the resolution of a problem in a fuel sensor system.

Early Sunday, one of the four engine cutoff, or ECO, sensors inside the liquid hydrogen section of Atlantis' external fuel tank gave a false reading while the tank was being filled. NASA's current Launch Commit Criteria require that all four sensors function properly.

The sensor system is one of several that protect the shuttle's main engines by triggering their shut down if fuel runs unexpectedly low. Atlantis' scheduled launch on Thursday, Dec. 6, was delayed after two liquid hydrogen ECO sensors gave false readings.

The crew of STS-122 will be heading back to Houston on Sunday evening but before leaving they expressed their gratitude for the effort to launch.

"We want to thank everyone who worked so hard to get us into space this launch window," the astronauts said in a statement. "We had support teams working around the clock at KSC, JSC, and numerous sites in Europe. We were ready to fly, but understand that these types of technical challenges are part of the space program. We hope everyone gets some well-deserved rest, and we will be back to try again when the vehicle is ready to fly."

The main objective of Atlantis' 11-day mission is to install and activate the European Space Agency's Columbus laboratory, which will provide scientists around the world the ability to conduct a variety of life, physical and materials science experiments.

A brand new layout for the EAAS newsletter and more content makes this packed full of astronomy and society news.

December sees astronomical twilight reach 6pm, hopefully the weather will prove more favourable this month.

This month highlights include Mars, Saturn, Venus and Comet Tuttle which makes a welcoe return and promises to be 5th Mag by the new year.

Here is a set of formulae and numbers that I have always wished was in one place.  Now they are.  Enjoy.

f ratio (or focal ratio) = ?

True field of view = ?

Eyepiece exit pupil diameter = ?

Lowest power useful eyepiece = ?

Find out the answers on our Astronomy Formulae article.

The December meeting of the East Antrim Astronomical Society will take place in the usual place, the Lecture Theatre of Ballyclare High School on December 3rd starting at 8PM. It is a slight change to our programme, Kieran Rooney from the society had intended to give a talk, however, due to some unfortunate circumstances is unable to give it. He has, however, arranged for a great replacement to talk on the same subject:-

Mr Dave Grennan (Astronomy Ireland & South Dublin Astronomical Society)
Digital Astrophotography: Equipment and Techniques

Dave Grennan is probably one of the most accomplished astro-photographers in Ireland. He has had an interest in Astronomy since childhood, and his special interest is in using modified web-cameras and digital SLR cameras to capture stunning vistas of the night sky. For many years the 'black art' of high resolution deep sky astrophotography was confined to professional observatories and very advanced amateur astronomers using very expensive equipment. The advent of consumer digital cameras has resulted in imaging devices being made available to the general public at far more reasonable cost. Many of these devices are well suited to taking wonderful images of the treasures of the night sky.
In his talk, Dave Grennan will uncover this revolution in digital deep sky astrophotography and will show how very detailed images of far flung galaxies, clusters, and nebulae can be recorded using equipment which many amateur astronomers may already possess. Last year he set up his own website at www.webtreatz.com along with his friend Jed Glover to share their collection of images.

This promises to be another great lecture and one of very special interest to all those who do or have ever thought about starting astrophotography.

Below is a photo taken by EAAS member Kieran Rooney taken on 13th November. The come of the Comet is now larger than the Sun and increasin in size by over 50,000km a day. Catch this comet before it gets much dimmer.

Discuss this now on our EAAS Forum.

Comet Holmes, which was discovered in November 1892 by Edwin Holmes, in London, was no brighter than magnitude 17 in mid-October. But the comet's brightness has suddenly rocketed all the way up to 3rd-magnitude, brightening nearly 400,000-times in less than 24-hours! From urban locations, a 3rd-magnitude object might be hidden by light pollution, but under rural skies it would be clearly visible.

What is most unusual about this comet is its lack of visible tail. Instead, it appears as a fuzzy, albeit distinct, star like object, but with no noticeable tail. The Moon is currently hampering our view of the comet but it is worth keeping a close eye on over the next few weeks.

Our November Stargazers by Neil McKeown is now available for viewing. Highlights this month include Mercury, Venus, Mars and Ceres. The Leonid meteor shower peaks this month on the morning of the 18th at 02:50ut.

The next monthly meeting of the East Antrim Astronomical Society will take place on Monday 5th November in the Lecture Theatre at Ballyclare High School, George Avenue (off Rashee Road), Ballyclare, Co. Antrim, commencing at 8PM.
Main Speaker- Dr Miruna Popescu (Armagh Observatory) ( http://www.arm.ac.uk/~mdp/)

Lecture - The Sun: an exciting introduction

The EAAS welcomes back Dr Miruna Popescu to lecture to us. Dr Popescu is a graduate of Bucharest University in Romania. she studied at Turin Astronomical Observatory, and subsequently worked as a research assistant at the Astronomical Institute of the Romanian Academy in Bucharest and at the National Solar Observatory at Kitt's Peak, Arizona. She completed her PhD in Solar Physics at Queen's University Belfast with her thesis "Searching for The Origins of The Fast Solar Wind". She now holds a post-doctoral research fellowship at Armagh Observatory, where she is also heavily involved in outreach work for the Observatory.

Miruna is a familiar and highly-regarded visitor to us in the EAAS, she last lectured to us in 2005 when she was in her final year of her PhD and all those who were there remember it as one of the most entertaining lectures the EAAS has ever had ( http://www.eaas.co.uk/meetings/200503.html).

A small and very faint comet has surprised observers around the world by overnight becoming bright enough to see with the unaided eye.

Comet Holmes, which was discovered in November 1892 by Edwin Holmes, in London, was no brighter than magnitude 17 in mid-October. But the comet's brightness has suddenly rocketed all the way up to 3rd-magnitude, brightening nearly 400,000-times in less than 24-hours! From urban locations, a 3rd-magnitude object might be hidden by light pollution, but under rural skies it would be clearly vsiible.

What is most unusal about this comet is its lack of visible tail. Instead, it appears as a fuzzy, albeit distinct, starlike object, but with no noticeable tail. The Moon is currently hampering our view of the comet but it is worth keeping a close eye on over the next few weeks.

The comet is currently located among the stars of the constellation Perseus and is visible all evening with best viewing around 2a.m. when it is overhead.

Why Comet Holmes has undergone such an explosive outburst is not understood. What is amazing is that it made its closest approach to the sun last May, but came no closer than 191 million miles (307 million kilometers) to the Sun. The comet is now moving away from the Sun and is currently quite far out from Earth at a distance of 151 million miles (243 million kilometers). Not exactly a recipe for the typical show-off comet.

Discusss this now on our EAAS Forum.

October's charts for Lunar rise/set times, sunirse/set times, astronomical twilight, moon phase, age of Moon phase, planet conjunctions and inferior planet's visiblity are all available on one chart for October. Check it out now.

Niell McKeown's excellent observing guide to the planets is now online; your essiential guide to what's up in the sky this month.

Mr. Donald Campbell will be talking on the subject of Weather and Astronomy.

After five years as a voluntary weather observer in Northern Ireland, Mr Campbell joined the Met Office in Edinburgh in 1985. His work there involved quality control of weather observations for Scotland, before moving to the Met Office at Aldergrove as an airfield weather observer in mid-1986. He trained as a weather forecaster in 1992, and spent the next three years as a forecaster in London, Belfast and Nottingham. In the summer of 1995 he moved to the Belfast Climate Office as head of legal and climate inquiries for Northern Ireland. In 2001 he moved back to the Met Office at Aldergrove as Principal Met Officer for Northern Ireland. He is also a keen amateur astronomer.

This season, prior to each of our main speakers, we will again be having a short talk by one of our members. This season we are inviting our members to give a short tour of their favourite constellations, first up is our Secretary, Mr Stephen Beasant.
Stevie will be giving us a run down of his favourite highlights found in Taurus and Auriga.

After the meeting there will be the usual tea, coffee and the opportunity to chat with fellow members and our speaker, if you are new to our meetings or astronomy please do not be shy, just introduce yourself and if you have any questions we will try and answer them. Hope to see you all on Monday, for what should be a fascinating lecture and which might provide us with some answers as to why the last few months have been a terrible time for observing.

Our second meeting of the season begins at 8pm sharp in the lecture theatre at Ballyclare High School, County Antrim. For directions, click here.

Whether you love the Moon or hate it, the Moon is truly a wonderful view through any telescope. Our EAAS Lunar Observing page gives you the Rise and Set times of the Sun and Moon so you can plan your observing or avoidance accordingly.

There will be an observing evening at Killylane Reservior this evening from 9pm.

Everyone is welcome to come all and join in.

For directions click below.

http://www.multimap.com/map/browse.cgi?lat=54.818&lon=-5.991&scale=25000&icon=x

Neil McKeown's Monthly Stargazers is now available for viewing on our Stargazers page. Check it out.

All meetings start at 8pm in the Lecture Theatre at Ballyclare High School, Ballyclare, County Antrim. For directions, click here.

2007

• September 3th. Dave McDonald ( Kildare Astronomy Society and IFAS Vice-chair )
  Of planets, asteroids and comets - a tour through the Solar System
• October 1st. Donald Campbell ( Met. Office )
  Weather and Astronomy
• November 5th. Dr. Miruna Popescu (Armagh Observatory)
  A Beginner's guide to the Sun
• December 3rd. Kieran Rooney (EAAS)
  Astrophotography

2008

• January 7th. Member's Night (EAAS)
  Short talks on astronomy
• February 4th. Professor Mike Baillie (QUB)
  Andrew Trimble Memorial Lecture. Tree Rings and Cosmic Events
• March 3rd. Terry Moseley (IAA)
  The Five "W"s of Astronomy
• April 7th. Robert Hill (Northern Ireland Space Office)
  Astronomy in Education
• May 12th. TBA.
  TBA

Neil McKeown's excellent June Stargazers guide is now available on the EAAS website. Check it out for what's happening in the sky this month.

This article first appeared on the EAAS Forum last year, and is a great practical guide on how to monitor your local magnetic activity for predicting aurora.

Long time member and keen observer, Andy Johnston, gives us some helpful advice on choosing a telescope.

In our second installment of atmospheric optics, John Flannery from the South Dublin Astronomical Society shows us how halos are formed and how to identify them.

Atmospheric Optics - Halos - Part Two

With the season rapidly changing to Summer, John Flannery from the South Dublin Astronomical Society takes us on a tour of other naked eye phenomenae we can see during the day or night.

May sees the beginning of the summer twilight which lasts until the end of July but that doesn't mean that night observing is over, far from it. Noctilucent clouds are a wonderful and amazing sight as they glow in the midnight sky. They are characterized by their herring bone and wavy patterns with average heights of around 80kms up. More info on our NLC observing page.

The May observing guide is now online so check it out.

The International Space Station is visible for the next couple of weeks in the evening sky.

The predictions are as follows:

Date	Mag	Starts			Max. Altitude			Ends
		Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.
14 Apr	-0.4	20:44:23	10	WSW	20:47:00	40	S	20:48:17	23	ESE
14 Apr	1.8	22:19:02	10	W	22:19:30	14	WSW	22:19:30	14	WSW
15 Apr	-0.6	21:04:19	10	WSW	21:06:59	46	S	21:07:42	36	SE
16 Apr	-0.5	21:24:18	10	W	21:26:57	42	S	21:27:00	42	S
17 Apr	-0.5	20:09:31	10	WSW	20:12:12	46	S	20:14:52	10	ESE
17 Apr	0.4	21:44:19	10	W	21:46:14	28	SW	21:46:14	28	SW
18 Apr	-0.4	20:29:26	10	W	20:32:05	43	S	20:34:12	14	ESE
18 Apr	1.5	22:04:29	10	WSW	22:05:24	15	WSW	22:05:24	15	WSW
19 Apr	0.0	20:49:23	10	W	20:51:55	33	SSW	20:53:20	20	SE
20 Apr	0.8	21:09:26	10	WSW	21:11:38	21	SSW	21:12:25	19	S
21 Apr	1.6	21:29:59	10	WSW	21:31:13	12	SSW	21:31:30	12	SSW
22 Apr	0.8	20:14:16	10	W	20:16:32	23	SSW	20:18:49	10	SSE
23 Apr	1.6	20:34:36	10	WSW	20:36:05	13	SSW	20:37:33	10	S

Be sure and have a look at this wonderful sight in binoculars or a telescope if you can track quickly as you may even see the shape of the space station against the night sky.

The Lyrid shower one of the oldest meteor showers known, first logged in Chinese astronomical records in 687 BC.

Consequently, the number of meteoroids has also diminished over the years. Nevertheless, observers can expect a peak ZHR of between 10 and 15 meteors. The meteors are bright and leisurely in motion, with the radiant near Vega, Lyra’s brightest star.

The moon is new on April 17th, so lunar interference on the 22nd hopefully should not be substantial, with a 30% Moon setting at 3am.

The EAAS will be doing a meteor watch on the night of Saturday April 21st, which is estimated to be the shower peak. We will be meeting at Killylane and having our annual barbeque to warm up what is likely to be a chilly night!

Everyone is welcome, so bring binoculars, burgers, telescopes, oxen, suckling pigs and warm clothing!

There may also be the chance to come across a few early Eta Aquarids. This shower, which is active from April 21 to May 12, originates from Comet Halley. With a ZHR of 35, the Eta Aquarids is one of the best springtime showers, producing bright meteors with yellow trails and the occasional fireball.

To find out about the Lyrids, check out our EAAS article below...

http://www.eaas.co.uk/news/lyrids.html

Just a reminder about our next meeting this Monday at 8pm at our new venue of Ballyclare High School. Directions are on our website at http://www.eaas.co.uk/location.html

Dr. Andy McCrea MBE (IAA) will be hosting our Beginners Night and Observing. The weather forecast for the evening is looking great so if you need help with setting up and using your scope or can stay around for some observing, please do bring your telescope or binoculars. Also, note that our AGM is scheduled for Monday 14th May.

The Irish Astronomical Association is also having their last meeting this incoming week on Wednesday 4th April. Ash McFadden (Greencastle Planetarium) will be speaking on "Selling Science" (i.e. selling young people on the idea of studying science) and "Comets in the Classroom"

Our annual Lyrid Meteor Watch and barbeque will take place at Killylane Reservoir on Saturday 21st April at 8pm. The shower is predicted to be around 20 meteors per hour under ideal conditions. We will also be taking the opportunity to have our last evening of observing together before the dark skies leave us from May to July.

Clear Skies

Mark Stronge
EAAS Chairman
www.eaas.co.uk

Check out our March Deep Sky Top Ten for 10 objects in the night sky to set your sights on this month.

Saturday evening saw one of the most spectacular lunar eclipses in recent years. After the threats of bad weather and being clouded out, Northern Ireland was treated to an evening of astronomical proportions.

View our report on the 2007 Lunar Eclipse
What is a Lunar Eclipse ?

Read about what's up in the night sky this month with the March Stargazers brought to you by Neill McKeown.

The EAAS are holding a public Lunar observing event to coincide with the Total Lunar Eclipse this incoming Saturday evening 3rd March. Everyone is very welcome to attend and bring your telescopes or binoculars. We are meeting at the Ballyearl Arts Centre, just 5 minutes from Corr's Corner, off the M2. We kick off around 7:30pm with some observing. Following this, we will retire to the Arts Centre where Dr Ed Barnett will give us a talk on the Lunar eclipse and cover the broader interest that is astronomy. This will be aimed at beginners and observers so there is something for everyone. There will also be a competition and prizes. Please do come along and support the society.

Our next monthly meeting will be on Monday 5th March when Robert Cobain from Bangor will be speaking to us on "Setting up a meteor observing station". Robert works in tandem with the Armagh Observatory watching for meteors and tracing their origin and their final destination. He uses a home PC and a video camera to do this and has the entire setup automated - it certainly will be an interesting talk to see what he has discovered flying in the skies above us.

See you Saturday

Mark Stronge

EAAS Chairman

On the bright and sunny morning of Saturday 9th December 2006, members of the EAAS met up at newly re-opened Armagh Planetarium for their new Christmas Show, titled "The Mystery Of The Christmas Star".

Rocket firing and meteor studying ensued along with three dimensional video presentations - it was quite a day!

Find out more.

Martin Campbell continues his stunning astro-imagery with a look at the Great Orion Nebula.

Seasons Greetings

There are a number of updates to tell you about regarding the EAAS website.

RSS Feed
We now have implemented an RSS Feed for the entire website to keep you up to date with any additions to the photo gallery, monthly newsletter or news articles. A Really Simple Syndication is a special file that holds all of the updates to the EAAS website. When a user "subscribes" to this RSS file, their newsreader software checks to see if anything has changed on the website by looking at an XML file. When something is added, then your newsreader alerts to the changes and gives you a description of the new addition. To subscribe, you will require either Internet Explorer 7 or any Newsreader software. If you need help, feel free to email me.

Saturn looking great
Saturn is now rising in the early evening and looks fantastic! Step outside on the next clear evening and have a look in the constellation of Leo for this jewel of the sky. More info and a finder chart are now on our website. http://www.eaas.co.uk/news/saturn_observing.html

ISS Passes
The ISS is still in the sky in the early evening and is visible until the 3rd January so check out www.heavens-above.com for the next pass.

Next Monthly Meeting
Our next meeting of the EAAS will be on Monday 8th January at 8pm sharp. EAAS member Andy Johnston will be giving a short talk on choosing a telescope, giving the advantages and disadvantages of various types of instrument. Our main speaker will be IAA member Martin Campbell from Dungannon. Martin is a regular contributor to our photo gallery and will be speaking on "An introduction to Widefield astrophotography".

Have a happy New Year

Clear Skies

 

Mark Stronge
EAAS Chairman
http://www.eaas.co.uk

Saturn is now rising in the early evening and is well placed for observing over these next few months.

In a telescope, Saturn's rings are truly spectacular and the rings are now flattening. At least 4 of Saturn's moons can also be viewed through a telescope so why not have a look at this celestial delight and sketch or photograph its changing appearance.

Check out our finder chart and Saturn article now.

It seems that every year, the age-old question of the possible origin of the Star of Bethlehem is asked to stargazers. Was the so-called Christmas Star an unusual, eye-catching gathering of naked-eye planets, or was that fabled "sign in the sky" a meteor, comet, nova, or indeed something supernatural? New knowledge of the old astrological beliefs and modern computer-based planetary tables may yet shed new light on this age-old question.

The beginning of winter is fast approaching with daylight hours reduced to around 7.5 hours. Make the most of these early nights and take some time to experience the stars of Christmas. The International Space Station flies past each night until the New Year while the Ursid meteors bring some celestial delights. More information can be found on the EAAS website.

Be sure and watch out for aurora too as there was some activity in the north this evening. The latest Space Weather can be found at www.stronge.org.uk/spaceweather.html

I would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Peaceful New Year.

Clear Skies

 

Mark Stronge
EAAS Chairman
http://www.eaas.co.uk

As we draw to a close for 2006, we have a number of meteor showers and an ISS pass coming soon.

The International Space Station is starting a series of bright passes from Friday but there are 2 passes on Wednesday and Thursday evening to watch out for. The Space Shuttle Discovery is currently docked with the ISS so we may even be able to see both of them as they circle the earth every 90 minutes. This is definitely one for those with high power tracking telescopes to observe and possibly image too. Here is how one amateur astronomer captured the ISS with a 10inch SCT and Philips ToUcam with special tracking software. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjUxBTWE1r0

The Coma Berenicid meteor shower has no definite peak and lasts approximately from December 12th to January 23rd. Coma Berenicids are some of the fastest meteors known, entering the Earth's atmosphere at about 65 kilometres per second, the only faster shower is the Leonids. This is quite a minor shower with up to 5 per hour under perfect conditions.

The Ursid meteor shower peaks on 22nd with the radiant being in Ursa Minor. This makes the radiant circumpolar and combined with the new moon, makes for excellent viewing conditions. The maximum you can expect is about 10 per hour under ideal conditions.

The December podcast photography competition is ongoing. Post your entries to me via email or onto the EAAS forum.

Clear Skies

Mark Stronge
EAAS Chairman
http://www.eaas.co.uk