International Space Station to pass in front of moon as viewed from Ireland tonight

Rare space event takes place at 8:54pm

The biggest and most expensive spacecraft ever put into orbit around Earth will pass in front of the Moon as viewed by people along a line from Dublin to Bantry, Co Cork, tonight. See map at bottom of this post.

The International Space Station (ISS)

At 8:54pm (Thursday, October 10th) the International Space Station will rise in the west and blaze through the sky towards the Moon in a spectacular sight. Astronomy Ireland urges everyone to go out and see the spectacle.

"The ISS will almost look as if it will crash into the Moon, but of course this won’t happen, as the Moon is about a thousand times further away than the space station," said David Moore, Editor of Astronomy Ireland magazine. "However, if you imagine a line drawn from Dublin to Bantry Bay in Cork, people along that line – or within 16km either side of it - can look up and see the ISS pass in front of the Moon. This is a very rare event and we want everyone who can to go out and see it!"

"Because this is so rare, we want people to send in their observation reports and photos for publication in our magazine. Email them to observe@astronomy.ie," said Mr Moore.

A map of Ireland showing where people can view the International Space Station pass in front of the Moon can be found below.

The ISS will continue to pass over Ireland every evening until October 26th, and the times it will be visible will be posted online at www.astronomy.ie/iss each afternoon.

Interview about a giant fireball with Dundalk Democrat

I was recently interviewed by the Dundalk Democrat (a newspaper of which I used to be Editor) about a giant fireball which had been seen in the night sky over Louth.

Although fireballs, which are very bright meteors or shooting stars, are very common, much less common is the occurrence of fragments of a fireball hitting the ground.

Astronomy Ireland chief David Moore regularly calls upon the public to help provide information about fireball sightings. He is hoping that a precise path of a fireball witnessed over Ireland can be triangulated in the hope that perhaps some fragments did hit the ground and can be recovered.

Most fireballs don't make it to the ground, burning up instead in the atmosphere. However, in 1999 fragments of a fireball were recovered in County Carlow after an extensive search. Here is the text of the article:

ASTRONOMY Ireland has called on Louth astronomers, requesting information regarding a giant fireball that tore across the night sky this week.

What was described as a massive fireball was spotted blazing across the Irish sky on Wednesday night by thousands of people and Astronomy Ireland subsequently received reports via its website (www.astronomy.ie) from people from all corners of the country.

The fireball is likely to be a piece of a comet or asteroid that passed near Earth’s orbit sometime in the past, or the result of debris floating in space left over from when the Solar System and the planets formed billions of years ago.

Louth-based astronomy expert and author Anthony Murphy spoke to the Dundalk Democrat about the event and its significance.

“While sightings of bright meteors, known as fireballs, are quite common in Ireland, very few of these meteors ever make it to earth. This makes the finding of meteorites such a valuable pursuit. Lumps of space rock can fetch huge prices - tens of thousands of euro.

“I have seen several major fireball events, including the huge fireball break-up event seen over  Britain and Ireland last September.

“These can be stunning visual displays of cosmic power, but usually the rock (meteor) burns up before ever hitting the ground. Meteors can travel at up to 100 kilometres per second.

“In February this year a huge daylight fireball over Russia was descibed as the largest meteor blast in 100 years. Shockwaves from the meteor caused many windows to blow in and several hundred people were injured.

“The chances of finding pieces of a fireball are remote, but in certain cases where enough eyewitness accounts are provided, an accurate trajectory can be worked out and, in rare cases, such as Carlow 1999, the meteor fragments are discovered.”

From the Big Bang to Black Holes and Beyond!

New Summer School to teach the wonders of the Universe


The Big Bang, black holes, the 'God Particle', the Sun, Moon and planets. All these topics and more will be explained in the first Astronomy Summer School for beginners being run by Astronomy Ireland!

The brand new Astronomy Summer School begins this evening (Wednesday, July 18th) in Trinity College Dublin, and was developed by Astronomy Ireland to give newcomers to astronomy a good grounding in observational astronomy and how to find one's way around the night sky. Students will learn about the constellations, the Moon and the Sun, the history of astronomy, how telescopes work, and what to see in the night sky, as well as a good overview of the history of the Universe and how it was created.

This course is ideal for those who want to get more out of their stargazing sessions, how telescopes can be used, and where to find celestial objects in the sky, without going deep into the more complex details of astrophysics and cosmology.

"It won't be too long before the evening sky begins to get dark earlier as winter draws in, and the cooler weather will also mean more regular clear nights, ideal for some breathtaking astronomy," said David Moore, Editor of Astronomy Ireland magazine. "This Summer School is therefore an ideal way to get started in a new hobby and to prepare yourself for some excellent stargazing later in the year!"

The Astronomy Ireland Summer School will commence this evening, and will run each Wednesday evening for four weeks. The enrolment fee is only €140 for non-members and €100 for members, and group rates can be arranged.

For more information on these classes, please visit www.astronomy.ie/summerschool