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 and Challenges from Next-Generation Observatories”, Dr Michael Tremmel, Lecturer, UCC’s School of Physics
Spring 2024
January 8 – “The Astronomy of the Medieval Irish Monks”, Dr Paul Callanan, Professor of Physics and Astronomy, UCC
February 12 – “How do planets form?”, Dr Bertram Bitsch, Professor, UCC’s School of Physics
March 11 – “Luna – Terra Cognita? The rise and decline of Apollo’s false paradigm”, Eddie Lyons, Member of Cork Astronomy Club
April 15 – “Fighting to improve Ireland’s night skies”, Dr Brian Espey, Associate Professor of Physics, Trinity College Dublin Founder of Dark Sky Ireland.
May 13 – final lecture for the season, Members Night – two short presentations and some songs “Looking Up – the amazing achievements of the Grubb, Parsons and Holland Families of the 19th and 20th Centuries”; “The James Webb Space Telescope and Supernova Encore” and songs about Titan, Mars, Europa, and the Pinwheel Galaxy
May 20 – extra lecture – “Vera C. Rubin Observatory: A Big Data Machine for the 21st Century” by William O’Mullane, Deputy IT Project Manager of the Rubin Observatory in Chile
Public lectures are free and are held in UCC’s Ashley Cummins building (formerly known as Civil Engineering, near College Road entrance to the main campus). Start 8 pm, please arrive 10 minutes early. All welcome. Meeting closes 9.40 pm followed by tea.
