The 27-year-old expressed a desire to move on 12 months into a three-year contract, believing Team Sky’s stated ambitions and his own no longer matched.
The Orionid meteors will be visible to all – no special equipment required – and Astronomy Ireland describes the event as “a beautiful display of celestial fireworks”.
Did you see a fireball last night? If you did, you’re urged to get in touch with Astronomy Ireland, who are trying to determine if it landed on Irish soil.
IRELAND MAY BE IN THE GUTTER, but tonight we could all be looking at the stars.
Shooting stars that is – because for the next few days, the yearly spectacle that is the Perseid meteor shower will be visible.
More than 60 meteors an hour will be shooting across the night sky, which according to Astronomy Ireland‘s chairman, David Moore, could mean that you could see one star a minute catapulting across the skies.
The Perseids have been observed for around 2,000 years and are only visible if you live north of the equator. They can be seen perfectly with the naked eye – although if you want a good view of the amazing “trains” that the burning meteors leave in their wake then it is a good idea to use binoculars.
The shower reaches its peak on Thursday night between midnight and 3am. So set up your coffee machine and get ready for one of the most rewarding astronomical events on Earth.
Check out what to expect by watching a video of last year’s Perseid meteor shower:
NEWSPAPER BARON Rupert Murdoch has been battling online telecoms firm Skype for over five years, according to new documents revealed. Murdoch is claiming trademark infringement and is attempting to prevent the firm from using the first three letters of its name Sky as they spell Sky – the TV firm which is 39% owned by the Australian.
Sky said that people may assume that Skype is part of Sky – which is not the case.
“Sky is involved in a long-running dispute with Skype in relation to several trade mark applications filed by Skype, including, but not limited to, television-related goods and services,” the spokesman said. “The key contention in the dispute is that the brands ‘Sky’ and ‘Skype’ will be considered confusingly similar by members of the public,” a spokesman for Sky said.
The firm said that its concerns were backed up by consumer research.
A NEW STUDY has claimed that the number of deaths caused by smoking in the home could be comparable to the number of road deaths recorded in Ireland.
According to the NUI Galway-led research, the concentration of particulate pollution in the homes of smokers (who smoke indoors) is six-times higher than the World Health Organisation’s recommendation for general outdoor air quality, 10 times the allowable level for healthy breathing in homes and up to 17 times greater than levels actually found outdoors.
Smoking at home causes greater levels of air pollutants than using solid fuels such as coal, wood, peat and gas, says Dr Marie Coggins.
Since the introduction of the smoking ban in Ireland, many people have found it easier to stop people smoking in their own homes. So, in today’s poll we ask: Do you allow smoking in your home?
Clouds and sun
Max: 13 °C
Min: 4 °C
Some sun with a couple of showers; cool
Max: 10 °C
Min: 4 °C
Partly sunny
Max: 13 °C
Min: 3 °C
