I decided to change our normal venue from Blackrock to the coastal carpark at Seabank. Here the skies are considerably darker and it suits people better from the mid and South Louth areas. I must apologise to all those 'courting couples' who had to find an alternative venue for their nights entertainment! 

Approximately 10 were in attendance, but I was very happy with this turnout as all were enthusiastic astronomers. It was good to see people travelling up from the Drogheda area and we made links with several members of the DKIT astronomical society, who were also present. The network is growing and I will be arranging several local telescope nights in the near future.

The skies remained clear for the first 45mins. Saturn and Titan were very impressive.

A great night and at last a healthy grouping is forming up here. Pity 'Joe Soap' and the general public didn't take advantage of the event. Pity also that the cloud arrived as Jupiter would have been on view later on and Comet Macholz, which I was observing last night, is still quite impressive.

Saturn Watch Killerig Report

Carlow Report (by Gerry Moloney)

Unfortunately yet again a Carlow observing event was ruined by the weather (this is the 8th in a row!!). About 10 people turned up in the hope of seeing our beloved celestial neighbour but despite the fact that 3 telescopes and a massive pair of binoculars were on hand mother nature took no notice. For about 15mins around 9oc the clouds threatened to dissipate only to consolidate again every time we turned the scopes skyward. We were left counting the bricks of the local concrete factory wall about 2.5 miles away!      

So, around 10, under balck skies we adjourned, some to the club bar and others back home to their mothers to prepare for mothers day. Hopefully these mothers will be much kinder to them than mother nature was on Friday night.

Donegal Report (Seamus Byron)
Cloudy night with breaks in the clouds. A lot of moisture in the sky so very poor viewing conditions.  Nine people turned up from the public (none from the club). Only had my 6inch and 25x100 bions for viewing. We stayed for two hours to try and get better viewing conditions.

Tipperary Report (Ray Parle)
The Tipperary watch went ahead at 8 p.m. on Friday night and was very successful. We were fortunate to have relatively clear skies although the venue was quite cold and windy. About 25 people, mostly from various parts of South Tipperary turned up and all got to have a look at Saturn and Titan in my 150mm refractor. I gave a talk on Saturn and a little about the Cassini-Huygens mission, as well as viewing the Orion nebula and explaining what it was. We also took a 'walk through' the constellations on view. There was a great level of enthusiasm and interest and I strongly encouraged those non-members present to join up. 
The night was also of interest in facilitating a number of us members to
meet, following which a number of us hope to meet up for some informal
observing sessions.
We finished up at around 9 p.m. as everybody was getting very cold but I
have to say I was very pleased with the night.

Wexford Report (Oliver Gargan)
Unfortunately, the night was not very clear.  There were occasional breaks
in the cloud, but not enough to see Saturn clearly.  9 people turned up and
received a copy of the Event List for 2005.  Disappointing all round, as
the interest in viewing Saturn was quite high. 

Clare Report (Angus Sealy)
Here in Clare we had highly variable weather, ranging from rain with
solid cloud to some brief periods of totally clear skies. A number of
people did turn up, both from nearby and from as far away as Limerick.
Although some of the people from the immediate vicinity did not get a
chance to see anything due to cloud and rain, everyone from farther away
were lucky enough to time their arrival with our brief clearings. They
were all fascinated with the magnificent view of Saturn through my DTG
8.75" with a 12mm eyepiece. Those who didn't get a view are all very
nearby and hopefully will get another chance if we have another clear
night in the near future!