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Nationwide Lecture Tour
"The Day the Sun
attacked the Earth"
Credit: NASA
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Galway
* Cork * Dundalk
Astronomy Ireland, as part of its new
initiative to organise and promote more events throughout the
country, is proud to announce the first in a series of countrywide
lectures. This pilot scheme begins with lectures in Galway, Cork,
and Dundalk by the renowned author Dr. Stuart Clark.
This event is being organised for
members throughout the country so please support the society by
coming along. It's also a chance to meet amateur astronomers and
other interested people in your part of the country.
Very soon we hope to announce another lecture tour of the country by another well known speaker.
The pilot scheme begins with the
following exciting event:
"The Day
the Sun Attacked the Earth"
In September 1859, our planet was
battered by a blob of superheated gas, spat out during the most
violent solar flare in recorded history. When the superheated gas
collided with our atmosphere, the northern lights were seen as far
south as the Caribbean! Around the world telegraph systems crashed,
machines burst into flames, and electric shocks rendered operators
unconscious. Compasses and other sensitive instruments reeled as if
struck by a massive magnetic fist. These bizarre effects caused a
huge debate among astronomers, many of whom doubted that the Sun
could affect the Earth this way across a distance of 150 million km.
The 1859 solar flare was the most
widely observed astronomical event in history, but until this year
it was largely forgotten. Interest in the event has been revived
because 2007 is the International Heliophysical Year – with teams
of astronomers across the world cooperating in the study of our
local star, upon which all life on Earth depends.
A new book about the 1859 event
has recently been published. The Sun Kings:
The Unexpected Tragedy of Richard Carrington and the Tale of How
Modern Astronomy Began, was written by Stuart Clark,
European Space Agency science writer, former editor of the British
magazine Astronomy Now, and one of the UK's best known
popular science authors. His book also reveals new details about the
sordid scandal that destroyed Richard Carrington's reputation and
led him from the highest echelons of science to the lowest reaches
of love, villainy and revenge.
Dr Clark is doing a promotional lecture
tour and book signing for Astronomy Ireland in
Cork, Galway and Dundalk at the following venues -
Admission: 5
euro (3 euro to AI members, Under 18's, OAP's)
Organiser: Astronomy Ireland All Welcome
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