The Mayo Dark Skies Community Group, in collaboration with the Dublin Institution of Technology, is pleased to launch a digital virtual experience of the Mayo Dark Sky Park. Following its designation as an International Dark Sky Park (Gold Tier), it is now possible to experience a part of this magnificent and pristine skyscape on your computer. This has been made possible using open source software (Stellarium http://www.stellarium.org/) and a specially commissioned digital panorama of the horizon surrounding the Ballycroy Visitor Centre, Wild Nephin National Park.

Stellarium is an open source planetarium for your computer and shows a fully realistic digital sky. The customised landscape file for Stellarium has been specially developed for this collaborative project. Once installed on your computer, this situates your viewpoint at the summit directly above the Visitor Centre. Real horizons are seen on the screen and, for the first time, the changing skyscapes throughout the year can be experienced and enjoyed. User control over the programme’s location, time and direction settings provides an incredibly powerful educational tool to learn practical astronomy.

To download a customised landscape file for Ballycroy and a display poster of the panorama surrounding the Visitor Centre as well as installation instructions please click on the following links.