Sligo Astronomy Group

...

Derek,

Good to meet you again the other night in Ballaghadereen.
I have a couple of other guys that may be interested in observing from the Roscommon area.

The plan of just having it as a group of observers is much better one that should be successful. I was with a club (Breffini Star Walkers Club) based in Ballinamore, Co. Leitrim failed after a 2 years starting. Members had to travel from as far as Donegal, Sligo, Roscommon and Cavan, it was focussed mainly on talks. Unfortunately, the main venue shut down, which only left the Ballinamore library for limited times in the evening.

I look forward to observing from some of the locations mentioned by you.

Eamonn

Hi Eamon,
I remember coming across the Breffini Star walkers club, here on IFAS, its unfortunate it didnt work out, its great that you may have a few more guys for the group,
It would be great if it was a Club I was starting, but the fact is I would not have the time to get a club up and running, and then to keep it running. aswell as working five and a half days, I also work late some evenings, so it would be impossible,

so the group will be simply get together for observing, when we get the weather, their is a lot of interest, in the group on Facebook, im looking forward to seeing where this goes, I think I did mention to you that Ronan Newman is looking into organising a star party in Mayo, which would be under very dark skies,

so clear skies and were off :scope:

Derek

Great initiative Derek.
I thought about a club in the region too but as you say it takes time and dedication. Personally, I am only interested in observing and imaging so getting together with an informal local group is good for me. Even when I was in Aussie I rarely went to club meetings but I attended all the observing nights and the public outreach events. These events are great for drumming up interest in astronomy as it is so hands on and friendly too.
I used to go to an event at Macquarie University in the heart of Sydney with my scope for their annual astronomy night. One evening, we had two thousand ticket paying members of the public turn up. I remember that for 4 hours I had at least 30 people constantly lined up behind my scope to have a look at the moon and Jupiter. Great fun. Won a few converts there.

Setting up a club in the region would be a challenge as it is so sparsely populated. It might be hard to get a critical mass of core people to support it..

The Sligo group had a very successful night for the Eclipse, we had close to twenty people turning out, and most stayed until the end, we had a BBQ at midnight to keep us going, very enjoyable night, onwards and upwards
Derek

Nice image