* Astronomy

Mercury is an easy target for amateur astronomer tomorrow evening.


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Mercury at 16:03 UT, 18th January 2008.

Dr Ian Sanders a meteorite expert will reveal new evidence about the origins of meteorites, their formation and just how they ended up falling to Earth.
Dr Ian Sanders will give a lecture in the Physics Building at Trinity College Dublin.
Dr Sanders, who studied at Cambridge, has taught at the Geology Department of Trinity College since 1971.

Experts at NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have said that the surprise appearance of Sunspot 10981 -- a high-latitude, reversed polarity spot  on the Sun -- on Friday, January 4,  means that a new  11-year cycle of solar storms - Cycle 24 - is now here.
This   new cycle  will build up gradually, and peak in late 2011 or mid-2012.
The resulting  solar flares and coronal mass ejections, will shoot energetic photons and highly charged matter toward Earth, and disrupt the planet's ionosphere and geomagnetic field. This is usually seen as bright Auroras.
There is also a possibility of the solar storms affecting power supplies,  military and communication satellites, Global Positioning System (GPS) signals and  threaten astronauts with harmful radiation.