First "Skelligs Star Party" August 22nd/23rd 2014

Hi all

Got around to working on some of the images I took. All images were taken with a Nikon D7000, a Sigma 24-70 f/2.8 lens, 30 second exposures at ISO 6400.

First is a meteor streaking through Persues with M31 close by.
www.flickr.com/photos/32880031@N03/15008...hotostream/lightbox/

The Southern Milky Way, with ghost.
www.flickr.com/photos/32880031@N03/15008...hotostream/lightbox/

Finally, the Coathanger.
www.flickr.com/photos/32880031@N03/14844...hotostream/lightbox/

Thanks for looking, still can't get over those amazing skies.

Paul

Hi all,

Had a super weekend. It was a long drive down from the North, but it was so worth it. The skies on Friday night were amazing and the craic on Saturday was great with the talks, quiz and the pub! Big thanks to Roy for putting it together, Kevin and Liz for the BBQ and Stephen for the quiz prizes.

Neill

Unbelievable weekend!
I think we should make it a week long next year. Great company, dark sky and beautiful part of the country. Thanks to Jouke who donated burgers on Friday, Stephen for the Quiz prizes, Frida for being an excellent host and to Roy for the perseverance and pushing it to conclusion. Nice to meet those I had not met before and hope to see you all soon.

The grand total for the Barnardos kitty including the BBQ and Quiz was €230 and a £1 coin : )
Meath Astronomy will be hoping to do at least a couple of charity event over year and as usual everyone is welcome.
Please find and Astronomy for Good Link. www.facebook.com/barnardosireland?ref=br...ps/1459802997638206/ please post your great pictures and maybe we can start somehting good.

Clear Skies!

You are welcome to Captain Morgan Stevie but its Liz you should be thanking as was hers and kindly offered by yours truly! Apologies Liz ,will bring nice bottle next year

Looking at the moon phases for next year, new moon is on Fri Aug 14th and Sun Sep 13th. If you go with the August weekend, you have to wait until around 23:30 for astronomical twilight to end and you get around 4 hrs of darkness. If you wait until September, you get over 6hrs of darkness with twilight ending around 22:00 through to 04:50. Approx sunset times are 21:00 in August and 19:50 in September. I suppose given that one of the main reasons for being there is to observe the Southern sky with Sagittarius and Scorpius etc, is it better to wait until the darker skies of September? Discuss

Cheers for that info Neill ... and good to see you at the weekend in Kerry.

I'd go for the weekend of September 11th to 13th. It's not just for the longer hours of darkness but the fact some clubs organize events around the August Perseids such as the MAC camp-out in Tullamore.

I think the September date also lets us see the transition from Summer skies, through Autumn, and then the Winter constellations over the course of one night. There's a nice gathering of Venus, Mars, and Jupiter in the morning sky before dawn too. The very thin crescent Moon joins the trio on the Friday (11th) morning.

I definitely will take a couple of extra days next year as the scenery is spectacular and there is so much to explore on the various peninsulas. Michael, Paul, and myself spotted a wild mink at one stage while we were driving around Valentia Island.

John