Birr Castle Demesne observatory opens today

Birr Castle Demesne is the venue for the official opening of the Rosse Solar-Terrestrial Observatory today (Saturday). The observatory is a teaching and research facility for Trinity College Dublin's School of Physics. It will be opened at 3pm today, Saturday, June 28.

The new observatory will be devoted to studying the Sun and its effects on Earth, and is the proposed site for the Irish LOFAR radio telescope.

Instruments to be operated on site include solar radio burst monitors, a sudden ionospheric monitor and seismic and geomagnetic instruments provided by the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies.

Guests at today's opening will have an opportunity to view the control room and see the live data feed. Trinity's School of Physics will also have research posters in place, as well as sketches of planned developments for the site. Students will also be available to explain the observatory to guests.