Public Lectures
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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”
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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”
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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”
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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”
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Not all telescopes capture visible light. Dr Josh Reynolds, a lecturer in the Department of Physical Sciences in MTU, told us about VERITAS – a ground-based very high energy (VHE) gamma-ray instrument. It operates at the basecamp of the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory 1.3 km above sea level in southern Arizona USA, and consists of four 12 m Imaging Atmospheric… “read more”
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Mon 12th Sept 2022 ─ “JWST – what’s all the fuss?”. Dr Niall Smith, Head of Research, MTU Cork Campus Mon 10th Oct 2022 ─ “Tour of Duty in the High Desert at VERITAS“- Dr Josh Reynolds Mon 14th Nov 2022 ─ “Too many satelites in the night sky? Be a satelite detective” – Frances McCarthy, MTU Blackrock Castle… “read more”
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The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is on the lips of every astronomer. Dr Niall Smith of MTU and the brains behind Cork’s Blackrock Castle Observatory told us why. Launched on Christmas Day 2021 JWST is sending back images of the universe in previously unimaginable detail. Crucially this telescope observes in the infrared, which is necessary when observing the early… “read more”
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Cork Astronomy Club is back at University College Cork! On 11th April, after a two year absence, we are delighted we can restore our monthly lectures to UCC. And our first in-person lecture will be from Paul Callanan, Professor of Physics and Astronomy at UCC and honorary member of Cork Astronomy Club. Gravitational waves are ripples in the fabric of… “read more”
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Cork Astronomy Club looks forward to welcoming Prof Alan Fitzsimmons of Queen’s University Belfast. Some comets are predicted years or even centuries in advance, whilst others appear at only a few months notice. But in every case they are eagerly anticipated by amateur astronomers, and if taken up in the mass media, by the public at large. This anticipation… “read more”
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Cork Astronomy Club welcomed prominent Northern Ireland amateur astronomer Paul Evans, maker of highly regarded monthly sky guide videos, and Chair of the Irish Federation of Astronomy Societies. Paul spoke to us remotely by Zoom Since the Solar System is essentially flat, though crucially not quite flat, it does occasionally happen that viewed from Earth, one object will pass… “read more”