Fáilte
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). Members regularly go observing in dark sky sites in the Wicklow Mountains. Read more about us in the "Club Info" section the end of this page.
Download our FREE 20-page 2008 sky almanac -- right-click on the link and select "Save As" (1.15Mb pdf)
Contents |
Site updates
- 09 April 2008: General update to remove old items. April sky notes will be updated shortly
SDAS meetings
10 Apr 2008 Movie Night! 08 May 2008 "The Virgo Cluster" by Tony O'Hanlon, Shannonside A.C.
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
no alerts at present
A clearly designed sky chart for the current month can be found here while the notes provided by Neill McKeown are here
- Now available is our comprehensive 20-page guide to what's up in Irish skies during 2008. The almanac gives a month-by-month summary of planetary phenomena, detailed notes on the Sun, Moon, visible comets, meteor showers, eclipses, minor planets, variable stars, space missions in 2008, and much more. Download your free copy (1.15Mb 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!
- now open -- LIGHTWAVE is part of the newly opened Science Gallery in Trinity College. To book tickets or for further information on the Science Gallery please see their web site.
Other Items of Interest
The Gogarty Scholarship
The Gogarty Scholarship for Irish students to attend the International Space University in Strasbourg was formally launched on Tuesday, April 8th 2008 in "The Oliver St John Gogarty" pub in Temple Bar. The initiative is backed by Dublin business man Martin Keane. The evening was hosted space journalist and broadcaster Leo Enright, and featured an entertaining speech from Senator David Norris. More details can be found at the ISU web site
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
Dr Ian Elliott recently mailed us about a two-volume history of Irish science called "It's Part of What We Are". The books are written by Dr Charles Mollan who is a long standing member of the Royal Dublin Society's Committee of Science and Technology. Details of the publication are available at the RDS web site here -- the book is a landmark publication and strongly recommended.
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 Walter Mee 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 September 2007 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. Download our application form here
Many thanks to all of you who enrolled in the SDAS recently. We had a great response and it will help us make future plans for you the membership. If you have any ideas then do feel free to get in touch or voice them at a meeting.
Club Observing Site
Cloon Wood is open again although Michael Murphy was saying it's a little bit harder to get down the track where we normally set up our equipment. Darragh Sherwin has suggested an alternate site just off the road to Roundwood and near the Greater Sugarloaf. More details to follow.
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, deep-sky and 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!