2011 Events Membership DVD Shop
1. Star-B-Q 2011 - €10 Off This Month Only – Only One Week Left
Star-B-Q 2011, promises to be our biggest ever with an exciting night of guest speakers, an array of telescopes to look through, junior section for children, evening entertainment, and Astronomy Ireland Shop displays. All of this is included in the price of your ticket, as well as food and refreshments.
EARLY BIRD SPECIAL OFFER
Only seven days left to receive 10euro off each adult ticket purchased.
Full price tickets cost 39euro (adults) or 29euro (U16). Family and group rates are available on request.
For more information about Star-B-Q 2011 click HERE call us on (01) 847 0777.
2. Space Shuttle’s Final Voyage
The world watched as Atlantis was lifted into the skies in what was to be its final voyage. The 30 year shuttle programme by NASA will retire once the shuttle lands on Earth on the 21st of July. The shuttle carrying four astronauts finally undocked from the International Space Station today after delivering more than four tonnes of cargo including food, clothing and spare parts. The world’s eye will now turn to commercial shuttle programmes such as Boeing and SpaceX to fill the void left behind by the iconic space shuttle programme by NASA.
The following TV shows will be aired this week and next document the Space Shuttle Programme over the past 30 years.
· The Space Shuttle’s Last Flight, Saturday, July 23rd at 7.30pm and July 26th at 12.25am on Channel 4
· Space Shuttle: The Final Mission, Sunday, July 24th at 9.00pm on BBC 2
3. NASA Spacecraft Snaps the First Close Up Picture of Vesta
In slightly more upbeat news for the scientific community, NASA’s Dawn spacecraft captured fascinating pictures of the asteroid Vesta. This asteroid is the second largest object in the main asteroid belt lying between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Among the pictures was the polar region of Vesta which has a diameter of 530 kilometres. Dawn will stay on the asteroid for the next year making observations that will allow scientists to understand the formation of our solar system better.
4. Last Chance to See Saturn!
Astronomy Ireland’s largest ever sale continues with incredible offers over many telescope ranges. It is the perfect time to buy as this may be your last chance to see Saturn before it slips too close to the sun! Jupiter however, is on its way back and with the first hints of Mars in the early morning, it certainly is an exciting time to be an astronomer!
Over the coming weeks the nights will begin to get longer and darker. Now is the perfect time to start brushing off your telescope or upgrading to that CPC you’ve always wanted!
For more information on what to see in the night sky or to speak to someone about purchasing your new telescope, call the Astronomy Ireland Shop on (01) 847 0777 or email at sales@astronomy.ie
5. Michael West Lecture Series in Astronomy
The Astrophysics Research Centre of Queen's University Belfast presents two lectures as part of the 2011 Michael West Lecture Series in Astronomy.
The first lecture, "SuperMassive Black Holes", will be given by Professor Reinhard Genzel, Director of the Max-Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, who is an international expert on investigating black holes that weigh millions of times more than our Sun. This lecture will be held on Friday 22nd July.
The second lecture, "Killer Asteroids" will be given by Dr. Robert Jedicke from the University of Hawaii. Dr. Jedicke is a renowned asteroid hunter, and is leading the search for dangerous asteroids with the new PanSTARRS1 telescope in Hawaii. This lecture will be held on Wednesday 3rd August.
Both talks will take place in the Larmor Lecture Theatre in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Queen's. Attendance at the talks is free of charge, but seats must be booked either by phone at 028 9097 3202, or by visiting the website http://tinyurl.com/MichaelWestLectures and registering there.
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Wingtip vortices only affect the portion of the wing closest to the tip. Thus, the longer the wing, the smaller the affected fraction of it will be. As well, the shorter the chord of the wing, the less opportunity air will have to form vortices. This means that for an aircraft to be most efficient, it should have a very high aspect ratio. This is evident in the design of gliders. It is also evident in long-range airliners, where fuel efficiency is of critical importance. However, increasing the wingspan reduces the manoeuvrability of the aircraft, which is why combat and aerobatic planes usually feature short, stubby wings despite the efficiency losses.
The medical evacuation yesterday was just one of a number of similar incidents involving Coast Guard crews around Ireland in the past 48 hours; 
At 16:38pm on Thursday the Shannon-based Coast Guard Helicopter Rescue 115 lifted an injured crewmember from a fishing vessel in the Shannon Estuary where he were later transferred by ambulance to the mid-Western Regional Hospital. 
