What a treat, Gilbert and Sullivan would be so proud of the Grand Opera House Summer Youth Production and their comedy operetta Pirates of Penzance. 175 teenagers, and younger, strut their stuff this weekend and raise the roof, dancing and singing and bring joy to packed houses, today is their last experience of the wonders of theatre and without doubt it will be a lasting experience. Theatre teaches so much, above all friendship and self esteem. How Tony Finnegan schooled them into performing this slick show and how Wilson Shields teased out those young voices to perfection and lead the band to a mighty ovation at the end of Pirates is a wonder. Young stars, many of whom will continue to grace the theatre in some shape or form.
More details at www.goh.co.uk
Is anyone else tired to death of Truss and Sunak?
I don’t entirely know what they are talking about, it changes all the time, I just don’t go for either of them but that doesn’t matter a lot as it’s not up to me.
I just don’t know why it all has to be played out on television time and time again, debates, parliamentary bitching, news interviews and in-depth examinations, spin, spin, spin. And this will go on until September! The future is really scary, here, there and all over the world and it needs strong wise men and women to get us through it. There are no shoulders to lean on at the moment, we are all adrift, Oh Captain! My Captain! Wherefore art thou?
And we must remember that our daily lives continue with all the sadness and pressure this brings. There is happiness as well but all this bickering is disgraceful when loved ones are ill and dying.
CALLING BAY RUM. A few weeks ago you asked me where you could get Bay Rum hair tonic for your partner. “It makes his hair look thicker and better looking. Signed May.“ I suggested Amazon Online and I was glad to get your note of thanks and I will certainly forward your kind donation to the Children’s Hospice. But now I have even better news. A colleague suggested I contacted Cambridge Barber Shop at 623 Lisburn Road in Belfast, the best in the business he said and the most likely place to get satisfaction. And indeed May your search is at an end. Thanks to Sean Lawlor who has contacted the wholesalers and now has a supply in his shop. If you would like to write to me with your name and address, or indeed go straight to Sean, you will receive this precious tonic, which I might well try myself! If you wish to talk to Sean his telephone number is 07887654893.
STARRY STARRY NIGHTS
The Twelfth of July 2022 will go down in history. Not for the reasons you may think but for the extraordinary accomplishment of the James Webb Space Telescope and the photographs it is sending back to us on earth and so unlocking secrets of the universe. It was a red letter day for anyone who takes times to look up at the stars and wonder what it’s all about. For Terry Moseley, until recently President of the Irish Astronomical Association and currently the PR and Outreach Officer and Events Organiser, this international venture exceeded all expectations. “I knew they would good but no idea just how amazing.” Fair to say the inword in the Association is “Gobsmacked!”
In 1990 the Hubble Telescope had opened the door just a crack on the heavens and caused delight but this latest piece of intricate machinery, 100 times more powerful than Hubble, has blown the door wide on one limited area exposing parts of the universe and the planetary system only imagined before.
The James Webb is the largest item to be sent into space. Prior to launch on Christmas Day 2021 it had to be folded up and placed into a space rocket and then, once in orbit, it was released and opened out automatically. The main difference is that it’s designed to work on a different wavelength beyond red as we see it into infrared. Here it becomes very complex and this layman is lost in technicalities, suffice to say it’s fascinating.
To me the first picture reminds me of those hundred and thousands sprinkled on ice cream cones, hundreds and thousands is accurate but each coloured sprinkle has a unique meaning.
How do they know these images are from 13 million light years away? Fake news is already in circulation but it’s rubbish, calculations are intricate and real and all to do with the speed of light. Nearer earth the photons making up our sunlight actually left the sun eight and a half minutes ago whereas it takes two and a half million years for light to reach us from the Andromeda galaxy. Fact.
A Woman in a Male Dominated World,
Lurgan born Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell has long been recognised as the ultimate professional and last year she was awarded the Copley Medal for her work on the discovery of pulsars in the 1960s. This is the Royal Society’s highest recognition and the world’s oldest scientific prize, she follows in the footsteps of Charles Darwin, Steven Hawking and Albert Einstein as other recipients of the prize.
Her work has encouraged many more females to take up this career with four female professors of astronomy or astrophysics based in the RoI. Another more current Irish connection with the James Webb is Professor Tom Ray, a principle investigator who submitted an in depth proposal as to why certain elements of the telescope were essential and why; his proposal was accepted as part of this cutting edge project.
But what does it mean to the man, woman and child in the street?
“If you have an interest in where we came from and whether we are alone in the universe it will be important. The origin of the universe isn’t of great interest to most people but an awful lot of people are fascinated by whether or not there is other intelligent life in the universe and the James Webb has already detected water in the atmosphere in another exoplanet as yet only known as WASP-96b. We’ll learn more about how planets are formed and the composition of their atmosphere and that gives us a much better idea of life on other planets, a subject almost everyone has an interest in.”
Incidentally, another fact from Terry. “One other fascinating tidbit – the JWST is so powerful, and so sensitive, that it could detect the heat of a bumblebee on the Moon, 239 thousand miles away! Yep, 239,000 miles away!”
Now floating in space, in a relatively fixed position and hoping to avoid space debris a million miles from earth, James Webb is gathering information for scientists to follow for years to come. First five images and counting, each revealing deep space in a whole new light, galaxies further away, almost to the birth of the universe.
And who was James Webb? He was a United States government official who served as the second appointed administration for NASA from 1961 to 1968. During that time he oversaw the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo missions which culminated in sending a man to the moon in 1969. He passed away in 1992 which is sad as he would surely be mega proud to have such a remarkable instrument named in his honour.
As Terry always does, I sign off with the wish for Clear Skies.
Get more information about our solar system at irishastro.blogspot.com
