Galway Astronomy Club’s AstroFest 2020 will take place in the Harbour Hotel, Galway, this Saturday. For anyone interested in astronomy and science this is an event is not to be missed.
The day-long festival includes talks, trade displays, photographic displays, and a lunchtime workshop with Mike Foylan of the Cherryvalley Observatory in Co Meath.
There will also be a special screening of the documentary Apollo 11 at the Eye Cinema on Friday evening at 7.30pm. Described as a cinematic journey that should only be experienced on the big screen, this film features never-before-seen large format footage of the mission to land on the moon led by Commander Neil Armstrong and pilots Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins.
Registration for AstroFest will open on Saturday from 9.15am.
The talks on this year’s programme include Tales from the Solar System by Megan Schwamb of Queens University Belfast; The E-ELT, Biggest (and Best ) Eye on the Sky by Mike Redfern from NUI Galway; EIRSAT-1: Ireland’s first satellite by Lána Salmon of University College Dublin; and Particle Physics – what really goes on at CERN by Luke McConnell University College Dublin.
The Patrick Moore Memorial lecture will feature Irish NASA scientist Julie McEnery, who is project scientist for the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. She will discuss the telescope and this exciting project which she has been working on in recent years.
The talks are geared toward a general audience and will appeal to both scientists and laypeople. All are welcome to the event, including children over 11 years with an interest in all things space.
Tickets are €25 for guests, €15 for club members, €15 for students and seniors. Children under 16 are free. The festival dinner on Saturday evening is €30.
For full details visit www.galwayastronomyclub.ie or find Galway Astronomy Club on Facebook.
