March 20th Solar Eclipse: What are clubs doing?

Perhaps the events mentioned above should be included on Professor Gallaghers page?
It would bring them some publicity and place them in the one site.
I see there is to be a live stream from Galway, Armagh and Dublin on the day.
Details in Events Eclipse 2015

Deirdre

We in the IAA have yet to confirm our events - to be discussed on Weds at a meeting that I sadly won't be at, however as soon as we have the details I'll circulate it here and to the Eclipse 2015 site. Last thinking was for two public events on the morning, one North Coast, one near Belfast. The North Coast has slightly more eclipse, Belfast has greater public exposure and generally better weather.

Whatever else is decided, I will be giving a Public Lecture on the subject at QUB on the evening of Weds 18th March which will cover the science as well as explaining what to see and how to see it SAFELY. We're hoping to get some media coverage to help us along too, and the message has to be safety - this can't be emphasised enough.

I'll confirm our arrangements when they're nailed down.

Paul.

Gents,

We have a mere 46% depth here in Greece and I am seriously considering traveling abroad. London is around 86% whereas Dublin seems to be around 92.5%.

How are the weather prospects in Ireland during mid-March and can you recommend a very picturesque foreground for a somewhat widefield sequence?

I have seen many references to Birr Castle in the past and I was wondering if this is a recommended location. In fact, do the skies permit for star trail work during the evening before the sunrise eclipse and would official permission be required?

Hi Anthony,
The weather prospects here are not good tbh, the odds are against us getting a clear sky that morning, we wont know for sure until the Thursday afternoon with any kind of certainty what kind of sky we're going to get on the Friday morning.
We have a number of plans in the making to try capture this partial eclipse, if the weather permits, then we're going to observe it from the stone circle at Lough Gur, a neolithic structure, picturesque but not a stone henge.
IF the weather is DEFINITELY looking dicey and is looking better up north, then we're heading up overnight on Thursday night to a better location.
As for the grounds of Birr castle,its a nice location, but the town does add a dose of light pollution,I'm not sure how long exposure star trail pics would come out.

P.S.Lough Gur is a great dark site location, assuming its not blowing a gale, flogging down with rain, snowing.... you get the idea lol

Weather in Ireland in March is mixed year on year. In 2013, My brother got married on March 22nd, and it was wet and windy with top temperatures of 9 degrees. Yet, in 2011, we had the hottest March in decades with gorse fires on the bog 1km from our home (on March 18th) and had to consider evacuating at one stage.

ayiomamitis wrote: I have seen many references to Birr Castle in the past and I was wondering if this is a recommended location. In fact, do the skies permit for star trail work during the evening before the sunrise eclipse and would official permission be required?

If you do come over, I'm less than 20 minutes away from Birr Castle, got a spare room too!

Seanie.

Dave and Seanie,

Many thanks for the feedback.

It is quite unfortunate the eclipse was not during a much better period of the year and which would have led to a really neat trip to Ireland! Nevertheless, I did some background research on Birr Castle and I am quite interested in a visit anyway at some point, for some very dramatic results can be produced involving the rising sun/moon and perhaps star trail at work as well with careful ISO and exposure selection.