Irish Astrophotography Exhibition November 2018

I have not been able to get to the exhibition but at the same time, want to add my thanks, along with Richard & John, to the whole team that put all this together. Let's not forget those in attendance daily to assist the public and answer their questions. It really is a team effort and so sorry I could not 'lend a hand'.

A special thanks to John Dolan who is the driving force (as far as I can see) behind all this. I am sure the various clubs will reap some reward from your efforts - perhaps the exhibition will travel as did the last one.



Brendan.

Thanks for the kind comments, Richard, John and Brendan.

So we came to the end of another successful exhibition yesterday and took it down today. During the three weeks, visitors expressed their interest and appreciation for the photography on many occasions. The team were able to explain and discuss various aspects of the night sky through the photos which enhanced the visitor experience and it certainly demonstrated once again the curiosity and appetite among the general public for anything astronomy-related. Although it was hard work the team had a lot of fun and satisfaction dealing with visitors. Lets hope it encourages people to take up astronomy and maybe even bring more astrophotographers to our attention in future.

The addition of the display boards explaining the light pollution problem in Ireland was new this year and it attracted a lot of public interest. So much so that we ran out of the International Dark Sky brochures before the exhibition finished. The light pollution talk by Prof. Brian Espey was also well attended.

We were lucky with the weather for the Stargazing night at the Botanic Gardens and the event went very well. The event advertised capacity for 150 places and it was booked out in two hours on Eventbrite.

Many thanks to all who contributed in any way. First a big thanks to the photographers whose efforts made the whole event possible. And a special thanks to the project team and volunteers who were involved in the hard work of planning and staffing of the exhibition and supporting the stargazing event. The focus on light pollution would not have been possible without the help of DarkSkyIreland, Albert White and Brian Espey and we appreciate their support.

We must also thank our hosts the Botanic Gardens and thanks again to Canon Ireland for their help with printing and the frames.

Ian Carruthers captured this great photo during the Stargazing event.