astronomers.ie – ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY of IRELAND

Member Organisations

Astronomical Society of Ireland

The Astronomical Society of Ireland (ASI), founded in 1974, is a learned society that represents the interests of astronomers in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland by promoting research, education and outreach. Consisting of a number of affiliated universities and other organisation representatives, the society is one of the oldest cross-border bodies on the island of Ireland.

Activities of the society include: coordination of academic initiatives; staging of the annual Irish National Astronomy Meeting (INAM); and engagement with international astronomy organisations. Indeed, it is an affiliated society of EAS as well as the adhering body for the IAU. Of note in recent years, the ASI has acted in service of major developments in the community, including the funding and construction of the I-LOFAR radio telescope at Birr in 2017, and the accession of Ireland to the European Southern Observatory (ESO) in 2018.

As of 2021, the professional astronomy community consists of almost 60 permanent academic staff based in the island’s various universities and research institutes, as well as a large number of post-docs and PhD students. The society also enjoys representation from industry and amateur societies.

Public outreach is a major part of astrophysics research, and there are many links here to events happening all over the island of Ireland as well as information on how to contact scientists about giving talks at events and in schools.

The Irish astrophysics community conducts research in areas such as stellar physics, solar system science, galactic physics, cosmology, high-energy astrophysics, extra-solar planets, and solar physics. Our researchers use scientific instruments on European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA missions, and at a variety of ground-based observatories.

INAM 2023

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Who Can Join?

ASI is open to all professionals in the science and research space. Full membership is open to academics with an interest in astronomy and astrophysics research. Membership provides access to a valuable network, news and events.

ESO Membership

The ESO has been in existence since 1962, and it is one of the largest centres of advanced astronomy in the world. Member states have unparalleled access to its array of telescopes across the globe. Ireland’s excellence in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM), access to research, and our chance to search the cosmos will benefit greatly from ESO membership.

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European Space Agency

The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.

ESA is an international organisation with 22 Member States. By coordinating the financial and intellectual resources of its members, it can undertake programmes and activities far beyond the scope of any single European country.

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I-LOFAR

I-LOFAR is the Irish station in a European-wide network of state-of-the-art radio telescopes, used to observe the Universe at low frequencies (10-240 MHz).

With the award of €1.4 million from Science Foundation Ireland, the I-LOFAR consortium have built a cutting-edge astrophysics observing facility in Birr Castle, Co. Offaly, in the midlands of Ireland. This facility connects Ireland to the International LOFAR Telescope, which is one of the most sophisticated and advanced astrophysics research projects in the world.

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