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From South Dublin Astronomical Society
South Dublin Astronomical Society - Astronomy as it should be!
The SDAS are a group of amateur astronomers around the south Dublin area. We have talks in Gonzaga College in Ranelagh on the first Thursday of every month from September to May (see programme below). The SDAS Observing Site is in a dark-sky location in the Wicklow Mountains near Kilmacanogue. Read more about us in the "Club Info" section the end of this page.
Next club event -- Trip to Armagh on June 27th, 2009
Everyone is invited to join us on a trip to Armagh Planetarium and Observatory on Saturday, June 27th. Please register your interest by sending us an e-mail. No bus is organised but we will car pool and also home to meet up with members of the Irish Astronomical Association. When contacting us please indicate if you are plan to drive or not on the day.
Sky Guide 2009 available from here
Sky Guide 2009 is our FREE guide to the night sky over Ireland during the year ahead. The 36 page booklet details many celestial phenomena visible to the casual observer. It contains a lot of information for the more advanced amateur too and features a month-by-month guide as well as articles on space missions, eclipses, comets, meteors, and much more. Download your copy here (1.35Mb). The rise and set times for all the major Solar System bodies in 2009 can be found here (80k). These times are for an observer at Dublin, Ireland.
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Site updates
- 31 MAY 2009: Sky notes for June 2009 added and front page updated.
- 03 OCTOBER 2008: Directions to the SDAS Observing Site have been updated. A map is also available.
SDAS meetings
No lecture meetings until September 2009 but do check back for details of any Summer activities
Meeting venue is Gonzaga College in Ranelagh and all talks starts at 8pm. Everyone is welcome on the night and admission is free.
Sky Notes and Alerts
Regular alerts on transient phenomena such as bright comets, meteor showers, and the northern lights can be found on Space Weather
2009 MAY 31
A clearly designed sky chart for the current month can be found here while the notes provided by Neill McKeown are here
- Download our free 2009 sky guide (1.35Mb pdf) here -- right-click on the link and select "Save As".
Out and About
Here's a list of other events countrywide which you might be interested in attending. Please check the various quoted web sites for more details and updates. If you hear of any event we should mention then drop us a line! Do also check out science writer Mary Mulvihill's blog here for the latest details of science related activities countrywide.
Other Items of Interest
New Book on Mars by Kevin Nolan
"Mars -- A Cosmic Stepping Stone" is a newly published book written by Kevin Nolan. Many of you will know Kevin, as he has been the Irish Representative for The Planetary Society for many years, and has given lectures to many amateur astronomy groups throughout Ireland including the SDAS. We wish Kevin lots of success with the book. The book is available from Amazon and more details are here
International Year of Astronomy 2009
The International Year of Astronomy (IYA2009) will be a global celebration of astronomy and its contributions to society and culture, highlighted by the 400th anniversary of the first use of an astronomical telescope by Galileo Galilei. The Irish node of IYA2009 can be found here ... if you have any ideas of how the SDAS can get involved then we'd love to hear from you.
Second-hand Astronomy Items
Here's a few web sites worth browsing for good second-hand deals on astronomy equipment, books, etc.
- Astro Mart lists ads from amateur astronomers worldwide and is run by Anacortes Telescope & Wild Bird
- Cloudy Nights hosts a classifieds section and has a vibrant series of forums too with tons of extremely useful advice on all aspects of the hobby. If you've an astronomy question then you'll find an answer here
- UK Astronomy Buy & Sell is a good site for second-hand equipment. Not as many ads as Astro Mart but the sellers are generally this side of The Pond
- UK Astro Ads is another useful site but the requirement to register before viewing the ads is somewhat inconvenient
- IFAS occasionally lists items for sale by Irish amateur astronomers
- AddAll is a great site to search for second-hand books. It trawls a large number of on-line book listings and sorts by price or title
- Book Finder is another excellent book search facility
Recent books
Club info
Who Are We?
The SDAS are a group of amateur astronomers mostly drawn from the south Dublin area but we have members countrywide and abroad. The club is very informal and we cater for all levels of experience in the hobby.
We have talks in Gonzaga College in Ranelagh on the first Thursday of every month from September to May and members regularly go observing in dark sky sites in the Wicklow Mountains. We've also travelled on various expeditions to see solar eclipses and other astronomy sights abroad. You'll find a very friendly welcome in the SDAS.
Just turn up at a meeting or email an enquiry if you would like more details. Don't forget to tune into our Podcast 
(iTunes).
Membership Fee
Because we started getting hit by costs for speakers, insurance, and maintaining the web site, we decided to introduce a membership fee. The annual membership from January 2009 is 20 euro for individuals or family. Students, over 65's, and unwaged are free. The membership fee will allow us promote other activities and host an annual high-profile lecture.
Club Observing Site and Observing Nights
The SDAS Observing Site is in a dark-sky location in the Wicklow Mountains near Kilmacanogue. The page linked to here has more detailed directions. Occasionally, we use our former site at Cloon Wood, on the Enniskerry to Glencree Road.
Observing nights for members will be on the following evenings but more informal sessions are often organised if the sky looks clear. Michael Murphy acts as our observing coordinator and sends a group text/group e-mail to people signed up. Click here to mail us if you would like to join the observing group.
Book and Magazine Library
The library list has been recently updated and all volumes are now categorised. Browse through it and see if there are any books you would like to borrow. The main themes are astronomical history, lunar observing, astronomy with the unaided eye, atmospheric phenomena, some sky folklore, binocular astronomy, reference books, chronologies and encyclopedias, and much more.
Space and Cyberspace
Our links page contains a vast amount of THE best astronomy and space sites within various categories. Do check it out and drop me a line if you've got a favourite page you'd like to see included.
Getting in touch with us
As always, feel free to get in touch if you've any query about the club or if you would like to circulate any item to the wider membership.
John (Flannery) 086-8181931
Don't forget to use the search box on the left to find what you are looking for, and if you can't find what you are looking for tell us! Or even better register with the site and start writing a page or add more to an existing page! Here are some pages that need writing!