Crawford Observatory UCC, Cork

Had an interesting night recently shooting timelapses from inside the Crawford Observatory recently. Being right in the middle of the city it was somewhat of a challenge to get the right exposure. It turned out pretty well however, with a little bit of post processing magic we were able to bring out the night sky nicely, without affecting the foreground image. I should also add that the moon was out, so not a bad result considering the conditions.

Not too shabby at all.

I met a NASA Astronaut

It just so happened that my visit to the Crawford Observatory coincided with a visit from NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough which was very exciting. He gave a talk to the physics students of UCC, and me hiding in the back, and answered many questions about his experiences as an astronaut which was incredible to hear from someone who's actually been "up there".

After a short interview, as time was short, we were able to grab him for another great photo opportunity for my blog. The fact that I'm wearing a blue t-shirt matching the blue of the ISS suit is entirely coincidental.

Left-Right:Prof. Paul Callanan, Lt. Col. Shane Kimbrough, Me.

Here is the interview which can also be viewed on the UCC youtube channel:

How far we've come

These days it's common place for any amateur astronomer to go out with their telescope and CCD camera or DSLR and image planets and other astronomical objects. Back in the eighteenth century however it wasn't as easy.

I spotted this silver emulsion photographic plate image of the moon taken through the giant refractor in the last post. What would Howard Grubb have said if he saw us looking at a photo of the moon in a DSLR screen and deleting it because the exposure was a little too short or something. 

It's really amazing how easy it is for us now, to do meaningful astronomy and astrophotography.

UCC Crawford Observatory

I had the pleasure of visiting the UCC Crawford Observatory in Cork city, Ireland recently. As my dad was filming there on the day I took the chance to visit and view some of the most amazing antique telescopes I've ever seen, dating back to the late eighteen hundreds. Among them was a gigantic equatorial refracting telescope and a spectroscope, all hand made by Irishman Howard Grubb, who was well known for his work with various optical systems.

As it was during the day we weren't able to use any of the telescopes and I'm not even sure if they are still functional but I took advantage of the photo opportunity.