Excellent IAA Season Opener

On Wednesday evening I attended the first meeting this season of the Irish Astronomical Association. The Association has moved to new premises - the Bell Theatre in Queen's University, Belfast, and it's actually easy to get to - no problem with parking as I had worried there might be. It's a fully equipped theatre which can hold just over 100 and was at about 80% of capacity on Wednesday, so a good turnout!

The evening started with introductions and matters of business being handled by Vice-President Philip Baxter, then Past President Dr Andy McCrea MBE gave us a short tour of the sky in September - there's some great stuff on show this month - we just need the weather to co-operate!

The main lecture was by Prof Tom Ray from the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS), entitled "The Birth Of Stars and Planets: Do we really know how the Solar System Formed?".

Prof Ray gave an informative, entertaining and thought provoking talk bringing us right up to date on the thinking and evidence behind star-formation from the very small (Brown Dwarfs) up to the very large. The knowledge on this subject has advanced very much in recent years and has changed a lot of previous thinking. I certainly didn't know that in the Milky Way there is one new star formed per year!

Here is Prof Ray answering questions at the end of this excellent season opener.