Action Comet at Maynooth University during Science Week 2014
Action Sun at Birr Space Camp
Balloon Planets at Dunsink Observatory Dublin - February 2013
Many thanks to Dunsink Observatory for inviting me to showcase my new Solar System presention. We had full houses on all evenings . The family audiences gave it a great reaction. Thanks to all my planet holders , who helped the sun do its job for one hour. Special thanks to Claire , Ciaran and Emer Connolly for their photos. If you would like a Balloon Planets presentation get intouch with me skysketcher@gmail.com. Slide show below
I was very pleased indeed to visit my old primary school in Crumlin and do my latest workshop with them. Here are a few images from my visit to St Agnes School Crumlin Dublin 12 .
Action Sun was great fun at St Pauls Girls Senior School in Dublin read more here Action Sun continued to be fun when the Kilkenny Sun visited Dunsink Observatory during SOLARFEST 2012
Action Sun May 19th 2012 - Kilkenny Castle , National Drawing Day, Dublin City of Science and NASA Sun Earth Day 2012 all in one . More on this read my blog Thanks to Max Gronowski , Daragh Lynch and Matthew Shortall for taking part. Click into images to see them bigger.
Action Sun - A Dublin City of Science event - St Cronans National School , Bray, Co Wicklow
On May 4th we took the sun from the sky and created it on the Earth . Read my blog
Deadly Moons in Dalkey April 23rd
St Patricks National School children in Dalkey created 44 wnderful moon drawings at my Deadly Moon workshop Much fun was had and the teachers helped put up an exhibition of the moons in the school hall My thanks to St Patricks school for a great morning !! A Global Astronomy Month event
Some drawings of Molecular Clouds by children from Scoil Mobhi Glasnevin Dublin during Science Week 2011. 100 drawings were created and are now on exhibition.
My workshop is called STARSAREUS , its proving to be very popular indeed.
My workshop is called STARSAREUS , its proving to be very popular indeed.
Below a selection of childrens drawings in a slideshow from my workshops in at Morriscastle near Kilmuckridge Co Wexford Deadly Moons , Rapid Rockets & Wicked Robots , plus The Suns Massive .
The workshops were followed by a Sky Talk and Moon viewing for all the children and parents.
Oatfields Leisure Park were my hosts.
Rapid Rockets & Wicked Robots Special Drawing Workshop at Dunsink Observatory April 16th 2011
Four paintings by Irish children also BOUNCED off the Moon on Sunday April 10th at 7pm click on the paintings to read about OPTICKS GAM2011
ART / SCIENCE / OUTREACH/ EDUCATION / LIVE ONLINE EVENT
April 10th 2011 at 7pm
Click on the children paintings to read about their work
ART / SCIENCE / OUTREACH/ EDUCATION / LIVE ONLINE EVENT
April 10th 2011 at 7pm
Click on the children paintings to read about their work
OPTICKS Global Astronomy Month 2011 a Science / Art Project
The 25 Meter Dwingeloo Radio Telescope at Westerveld in The Netherlands received the Moon Bounce
My paintings of Saturn and the Sun BOUNCED off the Moon on Sunday April 10th at 7pm click on paintings to read more about my work.
Deadly Moons for Our Lady of the Wayside National School, Bluebell, Dublin 12 Sept 27th 2011
by Deirdre Kelleghan
Bluebell, what a lovely fresh word evoking joy, wonder and energy. These were the qualities I found in the children who took part in Deadly Moons at their school in west Dublin on Tuesday September 27th. This group had multicultural backgrounds, Irish Travellers, Irish, Polish, African the Philippines and other communities were represented in their little faces.
The woman in the Moon ( adapted ) from a Traveller legend was one of the stories I told about the full Moon. I used Peter Riesett’s black and white harvest Moon image to put over this story as his photograph clearly illustrated the Woman in the Moon hidden in the lunar maria very well indeed. Several children were captivated by this story which I found on The Barefoot Pavee website. I like to tell tiny stories about various moons in the presentation as children listen and retain stories better than just plain facts.
Once again Saturn’s moon Tethys was a must do for some children, while the image of our Moon in false colour prompted many positive vocal gasps. Lennox was very keen to try to draw the harvest moon in black and white including the Woman in the Moon. Eddie age 9 was such a busy helpful boy, he produced an energetic drawing of our moon in false colour including Tycho and its rays. Ben age 8 created a gorgeous subtly shaded moon in false colour and added an explosive Tycho crater ray system afterwards. There was great variety in the drawings produced by this group , Atlas by Aaron age 8 , Callisto by Saviour , First Quarter Moon by Alannah age 9 and a half, all wonderful drawings !!
The entire group were very engaged, there was a lot of energy in the room all going into the drawings and the learning. As each moon was finished they were put on display until all the work was on the wall, looking great.
Our Lady of the Wayside National School is under the DEIS scheme and benefits in many ways because of it. Creativity in the Classroom facilitator Liz McMahon invited me to run my workshop for the children of Ms.Dalton's 3rd and 4th and Ms. McDermott's 3rd and 4th classes. The school also had an excellent audio visual set up, this is one of the many extra‘s this school has at its disposal because it is in a designated disadvantaged area.
Liz McMahon is intending over the next few weeks to build on what the children have learnt and continue to create drawings and creative works inspired directly from their experiences at my workshop. Our Lady of the Wayside National School Bluebell Dublin
Moon cards provided by Jane Houston Jones JPL/NASA were given to each child. Educational outreach material which was also provided by JPL/NASA was given to each teacher for the classroom.
A few children who lived near the school were invited to talk to me after the workshop to see how it all went for them. The interview is here, unedited just the way it unfolded, some quiet children, some very vocal children, all little gems.
Chinese Moon Festival
Deadly Moons for The Chinese Moon Festival in Tipperary – Deirdre Kelleghan September 17th 2011
The Irish Chinese Contact Group invited me down to Dundrum, Co Tipperary to do my workshop Deadly Moons. This is a support group for Irish parents who have adopted children from China. The group has a mission which aims to foster awareness of the rich Chinese cultural heritage in the minds and hearts of these beautiful children. Deadly Moons slotted perfectly into the global Chinese Moon Festival. I adapted the workshop to show off the Harvest Moon in particular, so we could talk about the traditional Chinese activity of looking at the full moon and thinking of people we love.
During the presentation we learned about 張鈺哲 Zhang Yuzhe the father of Chinese Astronomy some of the children helped me to pronounce his name. We learned that he had discovered an asteroid and named it China, and that he has a large crater named after him on the Moons far side.
In keeping with Chinese tradition the presentation had several images of full moons. We learned about the lowlands ( maria) and highlands on the moon using one of Peter Riesett’s moon images taken on September 12th. Stefano De Rosa had also given me the use of his Harvest Moon image (APOD on Sept 16th ) rising over the Basilica of Superga in Turin. I used Stefano’s image to talk about the dust in our atmosphere giving the moon an appearance of colour as we look at it rising close to the horizon.
When it came to the voting on which moon everyone was going to draw, there was a voluminous cheer for Tethys which surprised me as it is all white and a difficult drawing target. An equally vocal cheer went up for Stefano’s Harvest Moon.
The interest in Tethys was sparked by their affinity to the name of the large crater Penelope; this group fell in love with the name Penelope and did not seem to perceive any problems in drawing a predominantly white ice moon. Wonderful efforts were made by other children. A stunning Io by Cliona age 7 and a half, and an unusual drawing of Hyperion by 8 year old Min. Mei Qian age 8 produced a delicate drawing of Tethys with lots of subtle craters.
Several Harvest Moons were drawn, these were so well done and even included the basilica and in some drawings the bird makes an appearance. Maia age 8 created an outstanding drawing of Tethys with crater Penelope and little Orianna age 7 put a first quarter moon on paper with great care and attention. Cliona age 7 and a half worked away on Io and produced a wonderfully structured drawing as she tried to include the complex surface of this moon on her page.
At the end of the workshop we decided to have a parade of the Moons to show them off to the other children enjoying the event at the scout hall. However when we got down stairs the children were applauded by their parents, we were surrounded by interest and many photos were taken. I gave moon cards to each child and a few children were given the DVD Eyes in the Skies because their drawings were exceptional. Many thanks to Jane Houston Jones JPL/NASA for the Moon Cards and Lars Lindberg Christensen ESO for the DVD's
The Irish Chinese Contact Group invited me down to Dundrum, Co Tipperary to do my workshop Deadly Moons. This is a support group for Irish parents who have adopted children from China. The group has a mission which aims to foster awareness of the rich Chinese cultural heritage in the minds and hearts of these beautiful children. Deadly Moons slotted perfectly into the global Chinese Moon Festival. I adapted the workshop to show off the Harvest Moon in particular, so we could talk about the traditional Chinese activity of looking at the full moon and thinking of people we love.
During the presentation we learned about 張鈺哲 Zhang Yuzhe the father of Chinese Astronomy some of the children helped me to pronounce his name. We learned that he had discovered an asteroid and named it China, and that he has a large crater named after him on the Moons far side.
In keeping with Chinese tradition the presentation had several images of full moons. We learned about the lowlands ( maria) and highlands on the moon using one of Peter Riesett’s moon images taken on September 12th. Stefano De Rosa had also given me the use of his Harvest Moon image (APOD on Sept 16th ) rising over the Basilica of Superga in Turin. I used Stefano’s image to talk about the dust in our atmosphere giving the moon an appearance of colour as we look at it rising close to the horizon.
When it came to the voting on which moon everyone was going to draw, there was a voluminous cheer for Tethys which surprised me as it is all white and a difficult drawing target. An equally vocal cheer went up for Stefano’s Harvest Moon.
The interest in Tethys was sparked by their affinity to the name of the large crater Penelope; this group fell in love with the name Penelope and did not seem to perceive any problems in drawing a predominantly white ice moon. Wonderful efforts were made by other children. A stunning Io by Cliona age 7 and a half, and an unusual drawing of Hyperion by 8 year old Min. Mei Qian age 8 produced a delicate drawing of Tethys with lots of subtle craters.
Several Harvest Moons were drawn, these were so well done and even included the basilica and in some drawings the bird makes an appearance. Maia age 8 created an outstanding drawing of Tethys with crater Penelope and little Orianna age 7 put a first quarter moon on paper with great care and attention. Cliona age 7 and a half worked away on Io and produced a wonderfully structured drawing as she tried to include the complex surface of this moon on her page.
At the end of the workshop we decided to have a parade of the Moons to show them off to the other children enjoying the event at the scout hall. However when we got down stairs the children were applauded by their parents, we were surrounded by interest and many photos were taken. I gave moon cards to each child and a few children were given the DVD Eyes in the Skies because their drawings were exceptional. Many thanks to Jane Houston Jones JPL/NASA for the Moon Cards and Lars Lindberg Christensen ESO for the DVD's
Here is a slideshow showing some images of the workshop and the lovely drawings
Hubble Drawings and Poems on exhibit in Greystones Library
A few images from my talks and workshops
Hubble 20th Anniversary Drawing Workshop at St Peters National School Walkinstown Dublin
The 20th Anniversary of the launch of The Hubble Space Telescope was celebrated in St Peters National School Walkinstown Dublin 12 on April 23rd. As an outreach educator I decided to put on my Astronomy hat and my Artists hat that morning and bring the enormous printed image of the Carina Nebula to the attention of the children and teachers from 5th class.
The beautiful drawings inspired by The Carina Nebula Image created by the children from St Peters Natioanl School
Image Bernard Kelleghan
The beautiful drawings created by the boys from St Peters National School Walkinstown
Hubble 20th Anniversary Celebration Print Visits St Brigids In Greystones
Cassini Talk for Raheny Library Telescope viewing Raheny Library Solar System talk in Kerry
Deadly Moons Workshop in New York Cassini Presentation House of Commons Solar System Talk Ballyfermot
Galileo Talk in Hofstra University New York Solar Viewing in Bluebell Moon viewing in Richmond Street Dublin
Talk in Dunsink Observatory Astronomy and other Cool Stuff in Finglas Deadly Moons in Blackrock Castle Observatory