We are delighted to celebrate Heritage Week 2022 with a number of events of a dark sky theme, both in person and online and hope you can join us. As the darker evenings are just around the corner, Heritage Week is the perfect opportunity to start thinking about looking up into our lovely dark skies and enjoying the celestial skies above – assuming you’re far enough away from a light polluted sky!
Thursday 11th August – 10pm
PERSEID METEOR WATCH Mulranny (Murrivaugh Beach / Golf Course) – Hosted by Newport Astronomy Club – http://newportastronomyclub.com
and via facebook for Mulranny Tourism www.mulranny.ie
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Saturday 13th August – 5pm (ONLINE Event)
Perseids, Dark Skies and Citizen Science?We would love to gather data from any observations you see over the coming weeks. Dark Sky Ireland has an online form for recording Stars / Meteors and Satellites so that you can make your observations count as Citizen Science. Your data helps us identify areas of Light Pollution, Satellite tracking activity for a live Science project and the number of visible meteors sighted around the island of Ireland.
To kick start the Citizen Science campaign, we have a short webinar from Brendan Owens, Expert astronomer and Public Engagement Manager at the Institute of Physics. Brendan Owens is a passionate science communicator with a keen interest in and knowledge of astronomy and physics. He will provide some handy tips and tools to help you navigate your way in the sky and where to log your observations.
With this information, you’ll be ready to head outside on a clear dark night and start recording what you see. This is an activity for all the family and one you can do any night during Heritage Week or into the future. SIGN UP HERE
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Saturday 13th August – 9.30pm
DARK SKY WALK – #Half the Park is After Dark!
Location – Letterkeen Bothy, Mayo Dark Sky Park www.MayoDarkSkyPark.ie
Following Brendan’s webinar, we will be leading a guided walk in Mayo Dark Sky Park. Although the bright moon means it will not be ideal viewing conditions, there is still a possibility that we may catch some of the Perseid meteor shower and a little stargazing if conditions are clear. Registration for the walk is not required – meet at the bothy at 9.30pm. Click here for the Bothy Google location
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Monday 15th August – 7pm ONLINE event
Keen to keep your skies dark and free from light pollution? Join members of the International Dark Sky Association team for an informative webinar on the work of their organisation and how to apply for dark sky accreditation. This event is hosted by Dark Sky Ireland. Register HERE
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Wednesday 17th August – 7pm ONLINE event
Join our special guest Dr Travis Longcore – Ecological Consequences of Light Pollution. Dr Longcore is a leading expert on the environmental and ecological effects of night lighting. His seminal work “Ecological Light Pollution” (Longcore and Rich 2004) and 2006 co-edited book Ecological Consequences of Artificial Night Lighting (Rich and Longcore 2006) have come to define this new and rapidly growing research area in ecology.
Register here ONLINE. or via www.mayodarkskies.eventbrite.com
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Saturday 20th August – 8.30pm Newport (Meeting Hotel Newport)
Join National Park guides for a BAT WALK through the beautiful woodland of Princess Grace Park and around Newport harbour. Learn about Ireland’s amazing bat species and how to spot them. Contact Wild Nephin National Park for details:
Registration not required.
Catch our 3 online events during Heritage Week (see below):
