Astronomy Ireland is inviting star-gazers to a special fund-raising barbecue this weekend at which they will be able to look through "the biggest telescopes in Ireland".
Included will be the Millennium Reflector, the biggest telescope in the State and the largest yet built here. It collects 6,000 times more light than the human eye. Targets will include the Andromeda galaxy, almost three million light years away. Jupiter and Saturn will be watched. There will also be a naked-eye tour of the night sky.
The event begins at 9 p.m. on Friday, with a meeting at the car-park of the Kilternan hotel in Co Dublin, and from there to "the dark sky site" a few miles south where telescopes, barbecue, etc will await. If cloudy, proceedings will be postponed to Saturday evening.
Tickets are £15 for adults and £10 for under-16s.