This year is International Year of Astronomy (IYA2009) and, like many other countries, there are several events organized in Ireland.
An attractive way for really everyone to have a go at astronomy this year is to direct your digital camera (or even telephone) upwards, experiment with taking pictures of the sky and send two nice ones in for the competition ‘Eye on the Sky’, organized by the School of Physical Sciences of DCU and National Centre for Plasma Science and Technology (NCPST). The deadline for submissions is 30 September 2009 and there several prizes to be won (all details on http://www.astrophysics.dcu.ie, including rules for participating). It can not be easier, but can also be much more advanced with for instance the help of a telescope. One has to note that whatever the level of equipment, the artistic merit of an image will also be taken into consideration. Many celestial objects are photogenic, such as moon and planets. And to mention one event this month: on 17 September the first planet discovered after Antiquity, Uranus, will be opposite the Sun and be visible all night. Just reaching naked eye brightness, one may attempt to capture the green colour of the disk of this planet.
Looking forward to many science’at’culture submissions,
best regards,
Evert Meurs
(Professor of Astronomy)