Theo Fountoulakis
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Calendars, clocks, and how the measurement of time links to the Earth and the solar system were Prof Malone’s theme when he joined us by Zoom from Maynooth University. He called his talk “How to tell the time” and time was the one thing lacking, the question session lasting 25 minutes after the meeting was meant to close. David Malone… “read more”
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Amanda Bauer, Head of Education and Public Outreach at Vera C Rubin Observatory, joined us by Zoom from Tucson Arizona to tell us about a sizeable telescope due to commence operations in Chile at the end of 2022 which will open a bigger window on the universe and allow citizen scientists to download an app and contribute to analysing data.… “read more”
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Launched in 1977 the twin Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft are exploring where nothing from Earth has flown before. Each is three times farther away from the Earth and Sun than Pluto is, and travelling at 10 miles a second. In 2012, Voyager 1 made the historic entry into interstellar space, the region between stars. Incredibly, these spacecraft are still… “read more”
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British cosmologist and astrophysicist Martin Rees sees space as the realm of robotic exploration, not human colonisation. A handful of privately funded thrill seeking adventurers will probably settle on Mars but the idea of mass emigration there, proposed by some as the solution to Earth’s problems, he views as a dangerous delusion. Martin speculated the universe might be beyond… “read more”
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Senior Astronomer at the SETI Institute Seth Shostak joined us by Zoom from California to discuss the failure so far to detect extra-terrestrial intelligence by searching the sky for artificial radio signals, and new initiatives being developed or under consideration. We are likely to encounter alien robots before alien biology, he thinks. Seth spends much energy on outreach activities,… “read more”
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Vatican astronomer Bro Guy Consolmagno, Director of the Vatican Observatory – Specola Vaticana, joined us by Zoom from Tucson, Arizona to talk on the harmonious relationship between science and religion. Bro Guy argued that logic and reason must always start with assumptions, and the assumptions behind science are, at their root, religious assumptions. Our core beliefs not only determine how… “read more”
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To coincide with the Mars opposition Kevin Nolan gave a talk on past, present and near-term future Mars exploration. What have we learnt, what can we hope to learn? Looked at the present and continuing unmanned program for Mars which commenced in 1996 with Pathfinder and will continue into the future at least until a sample return mission in 2031… “read more”
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Opening our new season of public online lectures, Frances McCarthy and Danielle Wilcox of Blackrock Castle Observatory’s outreach team talked about observing and photographing the night sky’s largest and most changeable object, the Moon. We learnt that the word “moon” is connected with words for to measure, reflecting the fact that from earliest times the Moon’s phases have been used… “read more”
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Our 2020/21 season of public lectures was held remotely using Zoom due to the Covid-19 public health emergency. Mon 14th Sept 2020 “Observing and photographing the Moon”─ Frances McCarthy & Danielle Wilcox, Blackrock Castle Observatory Outreach Team. Mon 12th Oct 2020 “Mars, a Cosmic Stepping Stone” ─ Kevin Nolan, Author of Mars, A Cosmic Stepping Stone: Uncovering Humanity’s Cosmic Context… “read more”
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Our annual new members morning is at Blackrock Castle from 11 am – 1 pm on Saturday 19th October. This is a members only event (but you can join at the door). “New member” can be interpreted flexibly. If you would like to know more about how the Club works and chat informally to committee members, then this event is… “read more”