BCO

When you enter BCO you have to admire the simplicity and beauty of the place. Close to Cork city and on the banks of the Lee, the site it stunning. The castle dates back to the 16th century after a request to Queen Elizabeth to construct a fort for protection from pirates and other invaders (Cork is a great port). After being used for many different things over the years, the site was finally purchased by Cork Corporation in 2001, and in a joint venture with CIT and an anonymous Irish benefactor was eventually was restored in 2006, and the BCO was online!

Blackrock Castle Observatory

A quick tour of the facilities included a look at the optics lab and the telescope at the top of the impressive castle turret. Ireland is not known for being a wondering place to stargaze given the altitude and cloud cover, but don’t let that deter you! BCO is also a an educational outreach center with state of the art computerized displays. You get to interact with sophisticated computer systems designed to help those of all ages to learn about space and astronomy. The highlight for visitors is certainly the Cosmos @ the Castle, where among other things, you can get to save the earth in a virtual environment or send a message to the stars and watch how long it takes to get there. Cosmos @ the castle is a high-tech environment that is polished, professional and educational. I was seriously impressed….

Save the Planet - Interactive state of the art theatre

There is also plenty of research and state of the art instrumentation development by CIT based right in the castle. Photometry is the primary area of research and their links with Spain, Greece and South Africa demonstrates the international outreach of the BCO.  The highlight for me was the chat inside the dome of the primary telescope at the top of the castle turret. Here is an image of a similar telescope. A 16inch Meade LX200.

Meade LX200 16inch Telescope

It is interesting to note that the “hidden” costs of operating a telescope are the mount and the dome. The mount for the telescope is typically the most expensive component, and it must ensure that the scope cannot move as much as a millimeter when it is focused on a point in the sky. Given our altitude, the shear volume of atmosphere above can become a limiting factor in what you can see. However links with other observatories ensures a healthy supply of data, so the Irish weather won’t be a limiting factor in their research.

While being driven back to the train station by Dr Smith, I noticed an image of Jupiter on the side of a building. It was explained to me that Cork City in partnership with the BCO, has a city wide scale model of the Solar System. Not something many cities can boast. For me, this simple example gives some indication of the innovation and attention to detail of the BCO.

If you get a chance, take a trip down. I’m planning a return trip already. A great family destination and a great way to learn about the universe.

http://www.bco.ie/index.php