Astronomy Ireland - the most popular astronomy society in the world<br/>
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 PRESS NOTICE March 10<br/>
 Black Holes - Killers &amp; Creators
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Black Holes killed the dinosaurs, and other species in the ancient past, which allowed mammals to evolve - leading, ultimately, to the human race.<br/>
They will also kill the us one day when a nearby black hole creation event sterilises the Earth.<br/>
"Black Holes are such fascinating and exotic beasts and we can now see them being formed on the far side of the universe" said David Moore, founder of Astronomy Ireland - the world's most popular astronomy society which will host a major public lecture by a Black Hole expert next Monday in Dublin.<br/>
"Satellite technology that was developed for the Cold War that was suppose to see nuclear bombs going off down below on planet Earth instead saw 'flashes' from gargantuan explosions out in space. When investigated they were found to be half way across the universe meaning they were explosions with unbelievable force, releasing all the energy that our Sun will put out in its 10,000 million year lifetime in just a few seconds!" said Mr Moore.<br/>
"These 'gamma-ray bursts' (GRBs) were kept top secret for many years while military scientists tried to figure out what they were." he said<br/>
We now know GRBs are caused by both black holes forming when stars a million times brighter than the Sun die and explode, crushing their cores into black holes.<br/>
These black holes acculumate at the centres of galaxies and eventually gobble up all the stars in the galaxy.<br/>
Our own galaxy, the Milky Way, has a giant black hole already 5 million times the mass of the Sun, at its core, slowly gobbling up all of the Milky Ways stars.<br/>
We, our planet, and the Sun, will one day end up being consumed by this black holes.<br/>
The long term future of the universe is doomed and scientists are pretty sure of this.<br/>
"A bleak prospect for our future which also makes one contemplate the meaning of existence if the entire universe is doomed" said Mr Moore<br/>
"To shed more light on Black Holes and these huge bursts that are being seen every day and make us realise more and more black hole 'monsters' are being created, we have invited a world-authority on the subject to explain the very latest discoveries and theories in this field to children and the public alike at a major public lecture in Dublin city centre next Monday March 13th. All are welcome and tickets or a DVD of the lecture can be had on Astronomy Ireland's website astronomy.ie" said Mr Moore<br/>
SPEAKER:<br/>
Dr Martin Topinka graduated from Charles University in Prague, worked as an astronomer in Germany, then UCD, then the Czech Republic and is now a research scientist at DIAS in Dublin.<br/>
PUBLIC LECTURE DETAILS:<br/>
Date: Monday March 13th at 8pm<br/>
Venue: Physics Building, Trinity College Dublin<br/>
(location map on www.astronomy.ie)<br/>
Who: All welcome - suitable for young people and those with no scientific training<br/>
Tickets:  5euro children, students, unwaged. 10euro adults<br/>
DVD: This talk is also available on DVD for everyone in Ireland<br/>
Details, tickets, DVD: www.astronomy.ie<br/>
ALL WELCOME<br/>
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-----BACKGROUND OF ASTRONOMY IRELAND:<br/>
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Astronomy Ireland is a non-profit group for members of the public interested in space.<br/>
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AI runs events (lectures, exhibitions, trips worldwide, viewing with telescopes and more) and publishes Astronomy Ireland magazine monthly.<br/>
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www.astronomy.ie Or call Astronomy Ireland on 086 06 46 555<br/>
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