Public Lectures

On 20th May our Club welcomed William O’Mullane (small photo), all the way from Chile’s Rubin Observatory, who talked to us about this new observatory.   The opportunities it presents for citizen science were explored over a Zoom hook-up with a colleague from Chile.  This was a Cork Astronomy Club public lecture. A recent article in the Guardian says this state-of-the-art… “read more”

all lectures Mondays Autumn 2023 September 11 – “Be a citizen scientist – How amateur astronomers contribute to science”,  Frances McCarthy, Blackrock Castle Observatory, Education and Outreach Officer, Blackrock Castle Observatory October 9 – “There and back again: A Universe’s tale”, Dr Mark Kennedy, Lecturer, UCC’s School of Physics November 13 – “Studying the Dawn of Galaxy Formation: New Insights… “read more”

Not all science is done by scientists.  Amateur astronomers have made significant contributions to measuring light pollution and identifying best and worst localities, yielding results that sometimes contradict satellite data.  The science of Jupiter’s atmosphere has advanced as far as it has in large part by professional scientists having access to images uploaded by amateur observers to special websites. Outreach… “read more”

Cork Astronomy Club monthly lectures are open to all, and visitors are welcome.  Lectures are held at 8 pm in the Ashley Cummins Building at UCC (formerly known as Civil Engineering).  Visitors who would like reminders should sign up for our monthly guest bulletin.  Monthly meetings include a briefing on what to look for in the sky this month, as well… “read more”

A Cork Astronomy Club public lecture held in UCC’s Ashley Cummins Building on Mon 8 May 2023 Eddie Lyons ─ “Exploring Jupiter: Past, Present, Future” Dan McLoughlin ─ “3-D printing: how does it work, what can it do for amateur astronomy?”    Geoffrey Eastaway ─ “Uni-verse:  Poetry and astronomy” Left to right: Geoffrey, Eddie, Dan This was “Members Night”.  At the… “read more”

A Cork Astronomy Club public lecture held in UCC’s Civil Engineering (Ashley Cummins) Building Not all astronomy is done with a telescope. Large-scale computer simulations, run with the help of high performance computing facilities around the world, provide a unique view of the cosmos as well as crucial theoretical predictions that inform astronomical observations. Dr Tremmel, a lecturer in UCC’s… “read more”

A Cork Astronomy Club public lecture held in UCC’s Civil Engineering Building Telling the time is one of the earliest applications of astronomy, and the sundial, the earliest device to tell time of day and divide daylight into hours. James Quain, a member of Cork Astronomy Club with a lifelong interest in sundials, told how these installations work and the astronomy they… “read more”

A Cork Astronomy Club public lecture held in UCC’s Civil Engineering Building Dr Paul Callanan, Professor of Physics and Astronomy at UCC and honorary member of Cork Astronomy Club, gave his annual lecture. His topic – “The European Southern Observatory at 60”. Based in Chile’s Atacama Desert, it’s where Irish and other European astronomers can observe the southern sky. Prof… “read more”

A Cork Astronomy Club public lecture Cian O Regan talked about human factors in space flight, problems that arise and what is being done to learn how best to cope with them. Cian is a PhD student at MTU, and his thesis will investigate these questions. Cian wears a pilot’s cap in an aircraft cockpit, at left of lefthand photo. … “read more”

A new development in recent years is the launch of thousands of low earth orbit satellites,  with Elon Musk’s company Space X being the leader in the field.  Frances McCarthy, Education officer at Blackrock Castle Observatory (part of Munster Technical University) will describe how this cascade of satellites has become increasingly unwelcome to astronomers both amateur and professional as they… “read more”