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Astronomy In Galway
Galway “City of the Tribes” is one of the most unlikely places to have an astronomy Club, as is possibly the cloudiest place in Ireland. One would ask why have an astronomy club then, but Galway is situated at the gateway to Connemara, which is home to some of the darkest skies in Western Europe.
For a city with an ever-expanding population, it was the best time for a club promoting astronomy in the region to be founded and today has a membership of over 50 people of all ages from the city and surrounding area.
Our first meeting was held in the Merlin Bar, Renmore in September 1998 and was attended by just six people, a committee was formed being led by the energetic Martin Quirke and from then the on the club expanded rapidly and moved to a larger premises at the River Inn close to NUI Galway. At this time our meetings usually consisted of astronomy slideshows or video's. Observing sessions were also an active part of our program and were held at Silver Strand as in the photo below which was the first such gathering.
Over 400 people attended this event and was a huge boost for the astronomy club. Because of the high density populated in the areas of the path, there is little doubt that this was the most viewed total solar eclipse in human history and the first visible Ireland in the since 1927. The morning started wet and cloudy but by the time of near totality at 11.11am almost 98% of the Solar disc was covered by the Moon and visible to the naked eye through cloud to the delight of the many onlookers who came to view the spectacle. In 2001 the club held its first daytrip when 25 members took part in a trip to Birr Castle, subsequent trips in the following years visited Newgrange, Armagh Planetarium, The Ceide Fields and a visit to the ancestral home of John Birmingmam in Tuam. (see History section)
In 2003 the idea of holding a one day astronomy conference similar to the Whirlpool Starparty was discussed and the Connaught Starparty was born. the first event in January 2004 was a major success with over 120 amateur astronomers from around Ireland attending. Talks from that event will shortly be available online.
Also in the same year hundreds of people driving torwards Galway witnessed a fiery spectacle in the twilight sky. It was February 12th when at 7.10am a huge fireball was seen in the sky over the city. Precise sightings were made by two people in Galway, one on the right hand side of Galway airport and the other on the left hand side of the Tuam road. The then club chairman Martin Quirke told the Galway Advertiser the fireball probably entered the earth's atmosphere at roughly 100,000mph and started glowing about 100 miles above Ireland. Other radio interviews were held that day to somewhat confused Galway City residents. The following morning the front page of local papers were dominated by this story and to eventual landing site. In the end nothing was found and was thought it landed somewhere in Galway Bay. Several people contacted the club and brought along unusual looking rocks to club meetings but these were not of cosmic origin.
The Galway Astronomy Festival was conceived out of the original Connaught Star Party with the aim to promote Astronomy in a city that is quickly becoming a centre for astronomical excellence. While through the years many famous faces have contributed to the festival including Mary Bruck, Leo Enright, Francisco Diego and Barrie Jones. The committee for 2010/11 was elected at the club AGM on the 1st of February 2010 . The members are :
Markus Woerner (Acting Chairman) This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Ronan Newman (Secretary, Webmaster) This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it 0868434003 Padhraic Noone (Treasurer) This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Barry Cahill (PRO) This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Alex Howe This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Philip Walsh (Astronomy Teaching) This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
The club also wish to thank the following people who were once members of the committee and generously gave their time to the club Martin Quirke & Sean Harte (founding members of club) Michael Conneeley Albert Reily Andrea Kwateng Wayne Davis
Meeting ArchiveFebruary 1st AGM & Ronan Newman GAC: "Columbia: Countdown to Disaster" February 12-13 Galway Astronomy Festival
Philip Walsh GAC: "The Drake Equation" Professor Paul Mohr: "Cassini, Meridani, nodding Ecliptic"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Saturday February 13th Alastair Mc Kinstry NUI Galway: "Extra Solar Planets: Climates and Atmospheres” Dr Neal Trappe NUI Maynooth: "ALMA: Exploring the Cold Universe" Proffessor Alan Smith, Mullard Space Science Lab,UK : “Space Science: The Next 20 Years” March 1st : Speaker Martin Byrne "The Hill of the Moon and the Speckled Mountain" He has a large website devoted to Astroarchaeology, maegalithic art and mythology Martin gave a very impressive talk on megalithic sites with astronomical alignments to the North Star, the midwinter Lunar standstill and the mid-winter solstice in counties Meath, Mayo and Sligo. With a special focus on Ireland's largest group of monuments at Carrowmore 3km south of Sligo town.
Here lies the remains of 60 boulder circles with Dolmen structures and have been identified as one of the largest and oldest group of ancient monuments in western Europe.
April 5th: Dr Matt Redman Centre for Astronomy, NUIG "The Birth of Stars"
May 3rd Dr Peter Gallagher Triniity College Dublin: "The Sun-Earh Connection in 3D" Our May 3rd Meeting was a brilliant success with over 40 members pf the public coming along to hear Dr Peter Gallahger talk about the Sun-Earth Connection in 3-D, His talk was then complemented by at short talk and slide show and amateur astrophotographer Dave Gradwell with some of his amazing images of the Sun.
June 14th Kevin Lawlor Kerry Astronomy Club: "The Kennedy Space Centre"
Upcoming meetings in 2010 September 6th: Mr Seanie Morris, Midlands Astronomy Club Talk Title: "The Hubble Space Telescope : History still in the making" October 4th: “Is the Universe a Machine for Producing Life?” Peter Household, Chairman, Cork Astronomy Club November 1st: “ A Beginners Guide to Cosmology: The Science of Everything” Dr Ian Mclaren, Centre for Astronomy, NUI Galway
2009
January 30-31 Galway Astronomy Festival Prof Mike Redfern, NUI Galway "The International Year of Astronomy"
Robert Hensey NUIG: "5000 Years of Ritual Astronomy and Archaeology: Cosmology in Prehistoric Ireland'
…………………………………………………………………….. Dr Patrick Browne NUIG: "Celestial Mechanics"
Feb 23rd AGM IMAX Solarmax DVD March 30th Dave Lillis SAC: “A Siberian Total Eclipse” April 27th Kevin Nolan: “Mars: A Cosmic Stepping stone” May 25th Leon Harding NUIG “The Search for Brown Dwarfs” June 29th Philip Walsh GAC: “The Drake Equation"
Sept 28th Eamonn Asbro, Kingsland Observatory: "SETV (Search for Extraterrestrial Visitations)"
Oct 26th Mathew Parkes National Museaum: “Mad about Meteorites”
Over 40 people packed out our October 2009 meeting amidst the buzz surrounding the amazing meteorite from Mars. Dr Matthew Parkes from the National Museum of Ireland began his talk with an overview of meteorite falls around the world, and passed around pieces of space rock among the guests. People were taken aback by the weight of the metallic fragments, some noting that it seemed much heavier than iron found on Earth. One such fragment - part of the meteorite that created the famous Meteor Crater in Arizona - had a beautiful shining cross section that was a source of wonder for everyone that saw it.
Dr Parkes summarised the meteorite finds and falls in Ireland, including one that smashed through the roof of an RUC barracks in Northern Ireland in 1969, and one that fell in Carlow in 1999. Following this, Dr Parkes explained how rocks from other planets make their way across space to Earth: they are the result of an asteroid or comet ramming into the surface of Mars, blowing rock fragments into space and in the direction of our own planet. A very enthralled crowd of people stayed around afterwards to get another closer look at the meteorites and rocks from Mars, the Moon, and beyond.
Nov 30th Seanie Morris TAS: “The Moon, A beginners Guide” Nov 28th Philip Walsh GAC: “Telescopes old and New”
2008
January 25-26 Galway Astronomy Festival
Dr Mark Lang NUIG :” Exploring the High Energy Universe with VERITAS"
Telescope building workshop with Michael O’Connell www.astroshot.com
Dr Simon Green: “Stardust: A New View of Comets?” Dr Matt Redman: "Is Pluto a Planet?"
Dr Nicholas Devaney NUIG: “Detecting Extra solar planets with Giant Telescopes" Ronan Newman GAC: "Gallileo A Jovian Oddessy"
February 25th Tony O’Hanlon SAC “Living in a Local Bubble” March 31st Dr Ray Butler “Where is Wally: Searching for special Stars in a crowded Starfield” April 28th Terry Moseley IAA “What, Where, When of Irish Astronomy” May 28th Kevin Lawlor KAS: “Observing Down Under in Southern Skies” June 30th Dave Grennan "Digital Deep Sky Astrophotography" September 29th Dr John Mc Donald NUIG: “The Fascinating Universe, probing Pulsars & Plasma” October 27th Prof Dick Butler, Retired NUIG “Iapatus & the Black Stuff, Strange stories from Saturn” Nov 27th Prof Paul Mohr: Naked Eye Astronomy, What the Greeks saw and knew that most of us don’t pt 2”
2007
January 27 Galway Astronomy Festival Dr. Lucie Green UCL: “Living in the Sun’s Atmosphere” Professor Chris Dainty NUIG: “Adaptive Optics for Extremely Large Telescopes”
Dr. Aaron Golden NUIG: “Observing in the Twilight Zone at the Sub-Stellar Boundary: Are Brown Dwarfs Stars, Pulsars or Planets?”
Professor Richard Butler NUIG: “Clues to the Origins of Life on Earth from Meteorites and Titan”
Digital Astrophotography workshop with imaging experts Dave Grennan & Jed Glover www.webtreatz.com
February 26th Dave Mc Donald, KAS: “Amateur Astronomy” March 26th Dr Peter Gallagher TCD: “Space weather & Sunspots”
Patrick Browne was at the time a PhD student in the School of Mathematics at NUI Galway. He has a BSc in Mathematical physics and has interests in both amateur astronomy and the mathematical models of observable phenomenon.
May 28th Anthony Murphy, Mythical Ireland: “Astronomy in the Neolithic Age” June 28th Hubble DVD Sept 24th Alistair McKinstry (NUIG): “Strange worlds beyond our Solar System” October 29th Dr Emma Whealen, DIAS “The Birth of the Stars and Planets" Nov 26th Prof Paul Mohr “Naked Eye Astronomy, What the Greeks saw and knew that most of us don’t pt 1
2006 January 28th Connaught Star Party Dr Mary Bruck, Edinburgh University RIP: “Irish Wives in Two famous Astronomical Partnerships” Leo Enright, RTE Space Correspondent: “Mars 3-D” Dr Paul Roche, Cardiff University: “Robotic Telescopes of the 21st Century, bringing the Universe into the Classroom”
Dr Sean O’Donnell: “William Rowan Hamilton, a reluctant Astronomer”
May 29th Tony O’Hanlon SAC: “The Virgo Cluster: A Stepping stone to Infinity” June 26th Ronan Newman GAC: “The Galileo Mission to Jupiter” July 24th Eamonn Asbro, Kingsland Observatory: "The Kupier Belt Objects and a 10th Planet” August 28th John Flannery SDAS: “The Story of Sunspots” September 25th Dr Andy Shearer NUIG: “Space: 15 Years of Discovery”
October 30th Dr Mark Bailey AO: “The Origin of Comets and the Oort Cloud” Nov 27th Dr Nicholas Devaney NUIG: “Adaptive Optics Systems at the 10.4 metre GTC Telescope”
2005January 29th Connaught Starparty
Professor Barry Jones, Open University UK: “Planets and Life beyond the Solar System”
April 25th Dr Sean Tobin "Time" May 30th Prof Mike Redfern NUIG: "Einstein Year" June 27th Prof Sean Tobin NUIG "The Music of the Spheres and all that Jazz" July 25th John Flannery SDAS: "A Decade of Wonder" August 29th Dave Lillis SAC: "How to Photograph the Stars" Sept 26th Dr Mark Lang NUIG: "Gamma Ray Astronomy" October 24th Prof Chris Dainty NUIG: "Optical Systems on the Worlds Largest Telescopes" November 28th Prof Dick Bulter NUIG: "The Enigma of Life On Earth"
2004 January 24th 1st Connaught Starparty Dr. Robert Lambourne Open University UK: "The New Universe"
Prof. Michael Redfern, NUIG:"Black Holes"
Dr. Andrew Shearer: NUIG:"The Crab Nebula"
Prof. Paul Mohr: Emeritus Professor, NUIG:"A Feisty Tuam Amateur Astronomer in Exciting Times"
2003 January 28th Annual AGM February 24th Radio Astronomy - Arron Golden NUIG March 31st Computers in Astronomy- Ronan Newman GAC April 28th Aliens, Where Are They? - Terry Mossely IAA May 26th John Birmingham (19th century Galway Astronomer) - Paul Mohr NUIG June 23rd Newgrange & the Stars Above - Etienne Rynne NUIG July 21st A Universe Fit for Life - David Bell Shannonside Astronomy Club August 25th The Changing Views of Mars- 45 minute Film by Society For Popular Astronomy September 22nd Showed Recording of talk by Stephen Hawking at NUIG October 20th Astronomy & Lighthouse Technology- Marcus Woerner NUIG November 24th Solar Storm Slide Show- Ronan Newman GAC Other Activities:
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It was the year 1997 when Comet HALE-BOPP, stunned astronomer's across Ireland and the world. 
In July 1999 the club moved to a more pernament venue at the Atlanta Hotel in Dominick Street and held a series of higly succesful pubic events at the Westside carpark. Firstly in early 1999 the club held a planet watch as Jupiter and Saturn made a rare conjuntion in the evening sky to be followed on August 11 by an Solar eclipse watch. 
By this time meetings became more structured and several people from NUI Galway including Professor Mike Redfern came and gave us an wonderful insight to the world of Astronomy. 
April 30th Dr Patrick Browne NUIG: “Celestial Mechanics”