Boyne Valley Bridge with Taurus and Mercury

The Mary McAleese Boyne Valley Bridge in the afterglow with the stars of Taurus/Pleiades and the planet Mercury.

from Flickr http://flic.kr/p/GrW9Ps
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A streak through Orion

No, it's not comet Panstarrs. It's at least a week too early to see that here, and in any case it won't be located in Orion. I was out taking pictures of the stars this evening and had framed this shot of Orion with Taurus, Jupiter and (hidden in the trees) Sirius. I had taken one or two frames when I noticed a plane was coming into the shot. So I took another one, and this is the result. One of the challenges with living 30 miles (50km) north of Dublin is that traffic in and out of Dublin Airport can regularly be seen in the skies over us. I'm not sure whether the plane has enhanced or detracted from this shot . . . I'll let you decide that!

Orion over Newgrange

This is a photo taken tonight showing the constellation Orion, flanked by Taurus the bull to the upper right and Sirius the dog star to lower left, sitting above Newgrange. I went for another filtered artistic look (created in Photoshop). I like this look because the original photo is very red and orange due to light pollution. It was just starting to cloud over when this photo was taken. I think the cloud helps to enhance the photo, although it does demonstrate just how much the Boyne Valley suffers from light pollution these days. In ancient times Orion was venerated as a god and warrior constellation in many guises. He is seen to control the movements of the sun, moon and planets, which pass through his upraised hand. Also in this image, just above right of the V-shaped head of Taurus, is the bright planet Jupiter, somewhat obscured by cloud.

Mellifont Abbey under the stars

This is an artistic rendering of a photo taken last night at Mellifont Abbey, County Louth, with the assistance of my daughter Amy. This structure is called the lavabo. It was one part of an extensive abbey built by the Cistercian order at Mellifont. It was the Cistercians who came into the ownership of Brug na Bóinne and who gave Newgrange its modern name. In the photo you can see Orion above the lavabo with Sirius to his lower left, Taurus and the Pleiades to the upper right and, just above and right of the bull's head is the bright planet Jupiter.

Cúchulainn guards the starlit ford of night

Cúchulainn, the mythical hero of the Táin Bó Cuailnge epic, has many attributes that place him among the stars, specifically as the constellation we know today as Orion. In Ciaran Carson's translation of The Táin, we read that Cúchulainn guards the "starlit ford of night", the ford being the crossing point of the Milky Way, located just above Orion, where the sun, moon and planets wander across the heavenly river.

I was out in the valley tonight, with my two daughters, star gazing and taking photographs and, as usual, getting inspiration. There was fog in the Boyne Valley, so we ventured to higher ground, near Slane, where I took this photo at a gate into a field. You can see Cúchulainn/Orion, with the Táin Bó/bull/Taurus above him to the right, and the dog star Sirius to lower left. Just above the V-shaped head of Taurus you can see the bright planet Jupiter. The yellow light behind the bushes is the floodlighting of the ruins on the Hill of Slane.