Night skies stargazing event to take place at Birr Castle Demesne

A Culture Night night skies stargazing event will take place on Friday, September 17, at Birr Castle Demesne, from 8.30pm to 11.30pm.

Join Dr Niamh Shaw and members of Midlands Astronomy Club for a tour of the night sky over Birr using a range of telescopes and with clear skies, look out for the Moon, Saturn, Jupiter, galaxies, nebulae and star clusters.

This is a free outdoor event and attendees are encouraged to bring a torch and wear suitable clothing and footwear and entrance to Birr Castle Demesne is only via the main Gate at Oxmantown Mall.

This event is inspired by Birr's astronomy heritage from the time of William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse (1800 - 1867), to the current I-LOFAR's astrophysical observing facility within Birr Castle Demesne.

Lord Rosse performed astronomical studies and discovered the spiral nature of some nebulas, today known to be spiral galaxies. Rosse's telescope Leviathan was the first to reveal the spiral structure of M51 - a spiral galaxy, also known as the Whirlpool Galaxy and is about 30 million light years away.

In addition, he identified and observed the Dumbbell Nebula (M27), the Pinwheel Galaxy (M101), and Owl Nebula (M97), and also named the Crab Nebula (M1). A nebula is a giant cloud of dust and gas in space. Some nebulae come from the gas and dust thrown out by the explosion of a dying star, such as a supernova. Other nebulae are regions where new stars are beginning to form.

The main difference between galaxies and nebulae are an extreme difference in size, as well as their basic structure. A nebula is a cloud of dust and gas, usually tens to hundreds of light years across. A galaxy is much larger — usually thousands to hundreds of thousands of light years across.

In the lead up to Culture Night, a walking tour will take place on Wednesday, September 15, from 6pm-7.30pm led by I-LOFAR's, Education & Public Engagement Manager Áine Flood on the engineering and science behind the 19th century Leviathan telescope, before journeying nearly 200 years into the present day to the 21st century Irish Low Frequency Array (I-LOFAR) radio telescope.

The tour will explain the astronomical discoveries made at the I-LOFAR observatory and Ireland’s role in the future of radio astronomy. This tour is suitable for all, no background knowledge needed. The tour will begin from outside of Birr Theatre & Arts Centre on Wednesday, September 15, 6pm.

Both these events have limited spaces and booking is essential at www.birrtheatre.com or on 057 9122911 (Mon- Fri: 2 – 5pm). Both events will take place in line with current Covid 19 government guidelines.

Exploring Birr Skies is a community project with Dr. Niamh Shaw in collaboration with Birr Theatre & Arts Centre, Birr Tidy Towns, Birr Castle Demesne and AstroLands with I-LOFAR, led by Trinity College Dublin. Supported by the Creative Ireland Programme (2017 -2022) in partnership with Offaly County Council.