What's your name? Introduce yourself to IFAS!

I should have wrote this a few days ago but here it is now???
Hi My name is Rossa Im31 I live in north leitrim. Im a paramedic based in the north east of the country. I always had interest in stars and space since i can remember....staying up late as kid to watch patrick moore on the sky at night when ever I was allowed......I am originally from mayo and when I was groing up the internet just was available and no such thing as local clubs....so i never had a chance to really get into it. Well I was lucky enough to get one this christmas from my wife a meade etx 70 AT with autostar (now i know what im looking at) :lo
Its a start and i have an interest in the photography side of it as well I just need to get a lot more equipment but have tried using a web cam etc...Joined the forum to get questions I had answered and learn from other peoples experiences so its all good. Im not in any club at the moment..but may look into it when i get a bit more experience....anyway see ye around great forum!!!

Hey again,

Just spotted this thread after posting last night but might aswell add a bit more info. As with you all i've always been amazed looking up at the sky. I guess what gets me most is trying to get my head around the vast distances, sizes of galaxies, where does space end and so on. Can't say I have any particular area of interest but maybe i'll figure one out in time. Most memorable moments were seeing Halley's comet, a solar eclipse, a giant fireball, Hale-Bopp, a lunar eclipse and countless "shooting stars".

I'm 34, been with Jay (the better half) for 10 years and we have 2 daughters aged 5 and 9. Actually, one of the coolest things about getting the scope has been watching the girls, especially the older one, get really excited about seeing things through it. They were amazed at the detail on the moon and only the other morning I was in trouble for not waking her and getting her out of bed to see the rings on Saturn. Should have kept my mouth shut She'll see them over the next few weeks i'm sure. Anyway she's constantly asking questions in exactly the same way I did as a kid so I know she's hooked for life I went down to my folks house over Christmas and pulled out all my old astronomy books for her, needless to say i've ended up reading them again myself

I work in IT, work for a large multinational in the locality and have been there for over 10 years.

My main interests outside astronomy are camping, classic VW's and music (both playing and listening). We love nothing more then taking the kids up the mountains, building a fire and camping out for the weekend. We also spend most of the Summer driving and camping around the country in our 78 combi, taking in as many music festivals as possible along the way. Hoping to head over to the UK this year and drive round the south coast.

I'm very involved in the VW scene and am an admin on type2ireland.org where, just like here, many like minded people meet, share information and organise meet ups and sessions through the year.

Anyway that's it in a nutshell. I look forward to meeting some of you, learning from others and just generally annoying you with stupid questions that you've answered a million times already. Although I promise to use the search function first :lol:

Cheers,

Swanner.

Hi Swanner.,
I have to say there is nothing better then seeing the look on a kids face when they see the moon for the first time through a scope, its great to see such enthusiasm.

Yes people I'm another new person here. From the north west (Derry/Donegal), unfortunately I don't take much interest in cloud observation so I seem to live in the wrong place. Hopefully next week will clear up a bit! Have some excellent dark skies here, no lights within miles when you're up the bog lands, on the beaches of Inishowen, or even just in the back garden where you can't see your hand in front of you. Don't know anyone else up this direction into astronomy or at least with a scope. I have a 200mm reflector and the usual binoculars etc. Outside of looking through the eyepiece, I am a student, a photographer, and a heavy metal guitarist.

Can we all come live with you?

Sounds like ideal conditions.

Another heavy metal fan, you and Frank (aka barberskum) will get on like a house on fire.!