Stargazers spot space station at barbecue
ASTRONOMY IRELAND 'STAR-B-Q' IN ROUNDWOOD
Ryan Kelly, Gavin McDaid and Morgan Kelly at the event in Roundwood.
THE CROWDS attending Astronomy Ireland's Star-B-Q in Roundwood had more than stars in the eyes on a recent Saturday evening.
More than 400 people turned up at the local GAA grounds for the annual Astronomy Ireland event, many of whom got more than an eyeful when the scattering of clouds melted away, leaving clear skies.
'It went superbly well,' said Astronomy Ireland chairman David Moore. ' The skies cleared in the end and people got to see a lot of things, including the International Space Station.'
The stargazers also enjoyed the rare opportunity to view a new comet called Garrard using some of the high-tech equipment brought along by Astronomy Ireland.
' This comet is invisible to the naked eye and barely visible with binoculars but you can see it no problem with the equipment we had,' explained David, who was delighted to add a few hundred more to the numbers of people in the world to have seen a comet.
The night also held informative an interesting talks by the BBC's Paul Abel, who discussed black holes, and David Grennan, the only Irish man to have found a supernova, who revealed how he did it.
There was also lots of delicious food and fun activities for children during the night.
Next year's Star-B-Q date has already been set for September 15 in the same venue.
- EMMA STAFFORD
