CELEBRATING 26 YEARS OF
ASTRONOMY IN IRELANDS MIDWEST

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CLUB MEETINGS TIMETABLE

Our club meetings take place at 8 pm on the first Thursday of every month 
(
except January where it is the second Thursday)  in Mary Immaculate College in Limerick.
Click here to find it in google maps.


Meetings are an informal get together. All levels of interest are catered for, 
from absolute beginner to the professional.
We start off with a
brief 'news section' in which we discuss any new 
astronomical discoveries or events of interest and offer a Q&A on this. 
Then we have a 20 minute presentation on the 10 foot projector screen using 
the planetarium software on the clubs laptop, showing the skys highlights for the month. 
Then finally we usually have a visiting or club speaker giving a presentation or workshop.

If you have a telescope and are having difficulty or need advice getting a new telescope, 
you are welcome to come along to the club meetings and seek our advice, please mention it to one 
of the committee members at the
start  of the meeting if you have a telescope with you as we have 
to vacate the room at 10pm. If you cannot make it to a club meeting, you can always drop us an email, 
we will do out best to answer any questions you may have. 
(go to the "Join/ContactUs" section and email any of us from there)
If you are a payed up member, you will receive a text on your mobile phone the day of the club meeting, as a reminder.

If you have an interesting astronomically related topic you'd wish to present at a club meeting, 
email any of the committee members or approach us in a club meeting and we'll slot you into whatever month suits you. 

 

2012 Meetings:

2012 Date Topic Speaker
JANUARY 12th Observing at the back of Mary I, Jupiter watch. Observing Session
FEBRUARY 2nd AGM +
a demonstration of the club website
AGM + 
Dave Lillis (SAC)
MARCH 1st Has the Sun died ?  Dave Gradwell
APRIL 5th Art in Astronomy  Shea Morrisey (SAC)
MAY 3rd TBD Simon Kenny (SAC)
JUNE 7th TBD TBD
JULY 5th Table Quiz Night (Teams) hosted by Roy Stewart  (SAC)
AUGUST 2nd Telescopes, a "how to use demonstration " Roy Stewart  
SEPTEMBER 6th TBD Tom Walsh (SAC)
OCTOBER 4th TBD Gordon Lawlor (SAC)
NOVEMBER 1st The Hubble Space Telescope John Keane  (KAC)
DECEMBER 6th Mars, a perilous destination. Dave Lillis (SAC)

 

 

2011 Meetings:

2011 Date Topic Speaker
JANUARY 12th Space Tourism Gordon Lawlor (SAC)
FEBRUARY 2nd Aurora Michael Johnson (SAC) &
AGM
MARCH 3rd Project Apollo   Dave Lillis (SAC)
APRIL 7th Lunar Occultation 
Observing Night
Club observing session
MAY 5th Moons of the Solarsystem Roy Stewart (SAC)
JUNE 2nd Lunar Eclipses Frank Ryan (SAC)
JULY 7th Table Quiz Night (Teams) hosted by Roy Stewart  (SAC)
AUGUST 4th Q&A Open Night
SEPTEMBER 1st The Evolution of 
the Solarsystem
Conan Mc Donnell (SAC)
OCTOBER 6th The Moon (Lunar 100) John Lally  (MAC)
NOVEMBER 3rd Webcam Imaging Dave Lillis (SAC)
DECEMBER 1st Space Weather Frank Ryan (SAC)

 

 

2010 Meetings:

2010 Date Topic Speaker
JANUARY 13th A Layman's Guide to Meteorites Michael O Connell (MAC)
FEBRUARY 3rd Space shuttle Ronan Newman (GAC)
MARCH 3rd Telescope night (observing with club telescopes)
APRIL 7th Mercury, Venus, Saturn & Mars Watch (observing with club telescopes)
MAY 5th Open Discussion Night -
JUNE 2nd Building My Observatory Dave Lillis (SAC)
JULY 7th Table Quiz Night hosted by Conan Mc Donnell (SAC)
AUGUST 4th Open Discussion Night -
SEPTEMBER 1st Astronomy on the internet Conan Mc Donnell (SAC)
OCTOBER 6th Charting the Heavens John Flannery (SDAS)
NOVEMBER 3rd The Planets - A beginners guide Gordon Lawlor (SAC)
DECEMBER 1st Basic Astrophotography Dave Lillis (SAC)

 

 

Past Meetings 2009

2009 Date & Speaker Topic Speaker Details

Jan 14th 
Frank Ryan Jr






Frank will present a talk on 
how to take widefield digital images.

 

 
Three years ago Frank began taking images
of the nights sky.
He is now a regular image contributor to  astronomical magazines & publications
such as The Sky at Night and
Sky & Telescope.

Feb 4th 
The Annual General Meeting

 

 

Once again its time for our
 Annual General Meeting.


All current members are urged to 
attend and vote in the 2009 committee.

March 4th 
Professor Michael Redfern

 


IYA2009 in Ireland

 

Mike is a Professor in the School of Physics in NUI-Galway, Director of the Centre for Astronomy
He is also the s
ingle Point of Contact for Ireland for IYA2009.

 


April 1st 
Dave Mc Donnald

 

Discovering Asteroid Fiona

Dave recently discovered the second asteroid from Ireland (2008 TM9) - the
first was discovered from County Sligo by Andrew Graham in 1848. So, as well
as having an asteroid named after himself (21782 Davemcdonald), he now has a
discovery which he can name himself.
We look forward to Daves talk about his discovery.


Dave McDonald of County Kildare regularly contributes asteroid data to the
Minor Planet Center and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (Dawn Mission) from
J65, Celbridge Observatory.

As well as running ad-hoc supernova searches and producing light-curves for
extra solar planets, Dave is keen to promote science to youngsters in his
role as a Science Ambassador for Discover Science and Engineering.



May 6th 

Telescopes Explained 


Outdoor Meeting

Weather Permitting!
Dress Warmly.

 

Everything you wanted to know about 
telescopes but were afraid to ask!
We plan to set up the current arsenal of 
club scopes in Mary I grounds
 to give you a practical 'hands on'
 look at & through each explaining as we go.

June 3rd 
Mike Scully.
'Shooting Stars' Mike is from Kerry Astronomy Club
 

July 1st 

 

'Astronomy on the internet'


Conan Mc Donnell

 

 

Dave Lillis

August 5th 

 


Siberian Solar Eclipse

Last year Dave and other Irish astronomers
travelled to Siberia to witness a 
total solar eclipse.
In this talk Dave will tell us about the trip
and the experience of witnessing
one of natures most awesome specticles.


Dave is the current observing
director of S.A.C 

September 2nd 

'Open Night'  

What's to see in the coming month
&
Astronomy news

October 7th  Time Simon Kenny
November 4th  life in the universe Peter Household


December 2nd



The Christmas Star - 
An astronomers perspective


 

Frank Ryan Jr

Franks talk will take a scientific look
at the legend that is the 
'Christmas Star'

 

 

 

Past Meetings 2008 

2008 Date Topic Speaker
Jan 9th Q&A session Dave Lillis, SAC
Feb 6th Starting off in Astrophotography Dave Lillis, SAC
March 5th Satellites Simon Kenny, SAC
April 2nd A.G.M. New members still welcome along.
May 7th Webcam Imaging John O Mahony / Dave Lillis
June 4th Topic TBC Andy Mc Crea
July 2nd Tides Simon Kenny, SAC
August 6th Summer meeting workshop.  Finding your way in the stars Want to learn the constellations, brighter stars and locations of more famous objects?
September 3rd Supernovae Dave Lillis, SAC
October 1st “Is that the Moon! How did it get that get there?” Sean Morris, Tullamore Astronomy Club
November 5th “Galileo, Galileo, who on Earth was Galileo?” Deirdre Kelleghan, Irish Astronomical Society
December 3rd Einstein and the Universe. John O Mahony, SAC