
COSMOS 2015 - 17th to 19th April 2015
- Seanie_Morris
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Replied by Seanie_Morris on topic COSMOS 2015 - 17th to 19th April 2015
Is there observing Fri/Sat night as a few going from Galway, they asked.
Looking forward to it, weather prospects are excellent
Hi Ronan,
Yep, both nights, all going to plan. We have exclusive use of St. Peter's GAA, only a few minutes by car and offering a good location with minimal light pollution. Or, we do have some of the car park and the permission to turn off all the carpark lights too. We'll judge it on the evening(s) itself. So, yes, bring all your astro observing gear!
(We'll generate a map for the GAA grounds and how to get there soon)
Seanie.
Radio Presenter (Midlands 103), Space Enthusiast, Astronomy Outreach Co-ordinator.
Former IFAS Chairperson and Secretary.
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- Seanie_Morris
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Replied by Seanie_Morris on topic COSMOS 2015 - 17th to 19th April 2015
ISS Passes for the Weekend (Based on location of hotel)
17 Apr -1.0 22:37:12 10° WSW 22:38:58 14° SW 22:39:29 13° SSW visible
18 Apr -1.4 21:42:54 10° W 21:45:24 20° SSW 21:47:51 10° SSE visible
Iridium Flare Info (Same location)
Day Time Mag Altitude Azimuth Sat Distance to flare centre Brightness at flare centre Sun altitude
Apr 17, 22:20:53 -0.4 45° 61° (ENE) Iridium 41 41 km (E) -8.0 -14°
That's brilliant, thanks for posting Neill.

S.
Radio Presenter (Midlands 103), Space Enthusiast, Astronomy Outreach Co-ordinator.
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- Seanie_Morris
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Replied by Seanie_Morris on topic COSMOS 2015 - 17th to 19th April 2015
Radio Presenter (Midlands 103), Space Enthusiast, Astronomy Outreach Co-ordinator.
Former IFAS Chairperson and Secretary.
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- Neill
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- Red Giant
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Replied by Neill on topic COSMOS 2015 - 17th to 19th April 2015
17 Apr - 21:00:02 10° W 21:03:10 42° SSW 21:06:16 10° SE
along with 2 dragon passes on the 17th and 18th:
17 Apr 1.8 21:34:54 10° WSW 21:36:24 17° SSW 21:37:43 11° SSE
18 Apr 2.3 21:36:03 10° SW 21:36:55 12° SSW 21:37:49 10° S
All 3 will be post sunset, but in twilight so not sure how visible they will be.
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- dave_lillis
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- Super Giant
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Replied by dave_lillis on topic COSMOS 2015 - 17th to 19th April 2015
The weather prospects are indeed looking good, but I cant see the hotel been any good for observing, its in the middle of Athlone. Where are the GAA grounds, I cant find it on google maps..
Is there observing Fri/Sat night as a few going from Galway, they asked.
Looking forward to it, weather prospects are excellent
Hi Ronan,
Yep, both nights, all going to plan. We have exclusive use of St. Peter's GAA, only a few minutes by car and offering a good location with minimal light pollution. Or, we do have some of the car park and the permission to turn off all the carpark lights too. We'll judge it on the evening(s) itself. So, yes, bring all your astro observing gear!
(We'll generate a map for the GAA grounds and how to get there soon)
Seanie.
Chairman. Shannonside Astronomy Club (Limerick)
Carrying around my 20" obsession is going to kill me,
but what a way to go.

+ 12"LX200, MK67, Meade2045, 4"refractor
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- flt158
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Replied by flt158 on topic COSMOS 2015 - 17th to 19th April 2015
I agree with Dave Lillis. It has to be the GAA grounds to do some great observing.
Please inform us when we arrive on Friday afternoon of the location.
Aubrey.
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- Seanie_Morris
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Replied by Seanie_Morris on topic COSMOS 2015 - 17th to 19th April 2015
Observing will be at ST. Peter's GAA. Here's a Googlemaps layout:
www.google.com/maps/dir/Shamrock+Lodge+H...96781!2d53.41657!3e0
Seanie.
Radio Presenter (Midlands 103), Space Enthusiast, Astronomy Outreach Co-ordinator.
Former IFAS Chairperson and Secretary.
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- dave_lillis
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Replied by dave_lillis on topic COSMOS 2015 - 17th to 19th April 2015
Chairman. Shannonside Astronomy Club (Limerick)
Carrying around my 20" obsession is going to kill me,
but what a way to go.

+ 12"LX200, MK67, Meade2045, 4"refractor
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- eansbro
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Replied by eansbro on topic COSMOS 2015 - 17th to 19th April 2015
Eamonn
www.kingslandobservatory.com
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- johnflannery
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Replied by johnflannery on topic COSMOS 2015 - 17th to 19th April 2015
Roll on the next event!
John
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- brendanc
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Replied by brendanc on topic COSMOS 2015 - 17th to 19th April 2015
Brendan.

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- kevinb
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Replied by kevinb on topic COSMOS 2015 - 17th to 19th April 2015
Just wanted to add my thanks to all the good people in MAC for a great weeekend in Athlone. Really enjoyed it and met loads of nice people. The event was really well run. A lot of hard work, but the ever cheerful organisers took it all in their stride ...looking forward to next year.
warmest regards
Kevin Berwick
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- flt158
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Replied by flt158 on topic COSMOS 2015 - 17th to 19th April 2015
We were both thrilled to meet Kate Russo. We loved reminiscing Total Solar Eclipses with her. Roll on August 2017!!
The visit to Birr Castle ought to be held every year as long as we are meeting in Athlone. It was to catch up on all that Terry Moseley is doing to get the Leviathan back in action.
Now on a personal note: I did bring my 6.2" apochromatic refractor: it performed very well. Seeing Callisto's shadow on Jupiter was a huge event on Friday night.
Then on Saturday night when the skies were completely clear, Brendan, who lives in the area, joined up with me to do some serious observing. We looked at no less than 21 great spectacles. Brendan loves double stars -so we observed many: Castor @ 112X, Kappa Geminorum @ 112X, 20 Geminorum @ 40X, Izar @ 167X, Algieba @ 112X, Nu Draconis @ 40X, Porrima @ 140X, Praepes @ 225X, Tegmine @ 225X, Stf 1191 @ 112X, 24 Cancri @ 40X, Stt 186 @ 225X, Stf 1197 @ 140X, Stf 1201 @ 40X and Stf 1202 @ 167X.
The most dramatic sight we saw on Saturday night was M 44 the Beehive Star Cluster. Normally back home in Dublin with all the light pollution, I can see hundreds of stars even at 40X. But at St. Peter's Football Club, we could see myriads of extremely faint stars in the far background of M44. The 3D effect was very powerful.
Altogether Brendan and I observed for 3 hours 30 minutes on Saturday night, and we were both calling it a night at about 11.30. I suggested we observe one final thing before we pack up. Leo was at its highest point in the south. We headed south of Chort (Theta Leonis) to naked eye visible star 73 Leonis, and immediately we saw M 65 and M 66 galaxies!! There were side by side at 40X, and I could still see them both in the field of view at 112X. I have searched for these many times over the years; but I have failed time after time. These galaxies are 38 million light years away. M 65's diameter is 60,000 light years wide, and M 66 is 50,000 light years wide. Their separation is 180,000 light years apart. This was the perfect way to finish a 3.5 hour observing session. It is truly amazing what amateur astronomers can see from a very dark site.
I would like to thank in particular Seanie and Jason for the most memorable Cosmos we have attended so far in my life.
Let's do it all again next year.
Aubrey.
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- Neill
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Replied by Neill on topic COSMOS 2015 - 17th to 19th April 2015


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- Paul Evans
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Replied by Paul Evans on topic COSMOS 2015 - 17th to 19th April 2015
Well done all!
Here's a wee bit of fun, 3 mins of rocket launching highlights

Enjoy!
Paul.
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- Frank Ryan
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- Super Giant
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Replied by Frank Ryan on topic COSMOS 2015 - 17th to 19th April 2015
The event was very enjoyable.
Talks were great and the day was a very nice easy pace; we got plenty of time to mingle and chat with speakers and attendees.
The meal was lovely and the quiz was good fun. We even managed to come joint 3rd!
Dave and I eventually made it over to the observing site by the GAA pitch.
(we just missed you Aubery) but we did meet John and his wife who were there.
Looking forward to next year.

Shannonside Astronomy Club __________________________________________
Meade ETX-125PE, Bresser 10 x 50 Binos & Me Peepers
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- Seanie_Morris
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Replied by Seanie_Morris on topic COSMOS 2015 - 17th to 19th April 2015
We had an uneventful journey back home and all is well.
I wanted to write to thank you for inviting me to take part in Cosmos 2015 and for the very warm welcome and great hospitality shown to my wife and I throughout the weekend and I hope that my talk was pitched correctly for your audience. The jovial atmosphere over the weekend was fantastic and I met and spoke with a wide range of enthusiastic astronomers with many interests and I certainly enjoyed listening to the other speakers – it was a pity that the unavoidable flight times meant that I didn’t hear all of Keith Geary’s talk. Your colleague, John Flannery, was also a great ambassador for the event and his generosity in driving us to and from the airport and many other kind gestures through the weekend were much appreciate by both of us.
The trip to Birr Castle was an outstanding success and everyone was buzzing with it on the return journey and back at the hotel - what a bonus for the speakers have that wonderful opportunity.
It was a privilege to have been involved with Cosmos 2015 and I wish you many more successful events in the future.
Kind regards,
Steve.
Radio Presenter (Midlands 103), Space Enthusiast, Astronomy Outreach Co-ordinator.
Former IFAS Chairperson and Secretary.
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- Seanie_Morris
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Replied by Seanie_Morris on topic COSMOS 2015 - 17th to 19th April 2015
A short note to say thank you very much for organizing things for me on Saturday at COSMOS, for the lovely cheese basket and for the cheque, very much appreciated. A pleasure to meet you and your colleages, as well as many old friends from the astronomy world. Sorry I couldn't stay longer. Congrats on running an event like this, it's great to have the astronomy community so well served and I hope the rest of the weekend went well.
Best wishes,
Brian Harvey.
Radio Presenter (Midlands 103), Space Enthusiast, Astronomy Outreach Co-ordinator.
Former IFAS Chairperson and Secretary.
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- R Newman
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Replied by R Newman on topic COSMOS 2015 - 17th to 19th April 2015
Ronan Newman
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- Neill
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Replied by Neill on topic COSMOS 2015 - 17th to 19th April 2015
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- flt158
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Replied by flt158 on topic COSMOS 2015 - 17th to 19th April 2015
Don't I look good?
Aubrey.
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- Seanie_Morris
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Replied by Seanie_Morris on topic COSMOS 2015 - 17th to 19th April 2015
www.irishtv.ie/westmeath-matters-43/
And yes, once you removed the ferret on your head Aubrey, you looked the part!!



Radio Presenter (Midlands 103), Space Enthusiast, Astronomy Outreach Co-ordinator.
Former IFAS Chairperson and Secretary.
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- Neill
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Replied by Neill on topic COSMOS 2015 - 17th to 19th April 2015
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- Seanie_Morris
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Replied by Seanie_Morris on topic COSMOS 2015 - 17th to 19th April 2015

Seanie.
Radio Presenter (Midlands 103), Space Enthusiast, Astronomy Outreach Co-ordinator.
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- lunartic_old
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Replied by lunartic_old on topic COSMOS 2015 - 17th to 19th April 2015

Rich Cook
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