[adapted from a Press Notice being issued to over 600
media contacts on Friday morning! Check Newslines for any last minute updates on
Friday afternoon if you can]
Rush hour traffic congestion in Dublin on Friday could be
a little worse if motorists stop on or near the Red Cow Roundabout at 5:31pm to
watch the biggest man made object in space blaze across the face of the
Moon.
The 100 billion dollar International Space Station is
the brightest star like object in the sky when it flies over Ireland every night
this week and next week so bright city lights will NOT be a
problem.
It is extremely rare to see I.S.S. pass in front of the
Moon so Astronomy Ireland is urging everyone in the capital to watch the Moon at
5:31pm on Friday. No matter how bright streetlights may be in your area you will
easily see the I.S.S. as it approaches the Moon and then passes in front of it.
Everyone in Dublin will see I.S.S. pass close to the Moon
and those along a thin track covering most of the south side of the city will
see the Station pass in front of the Moon for about 2 seconds.
A thin line from Clondalkin, over the Red Cow Roundabout,
to Terenure and then to Booterstown is the ideal place to see I.S.S. pass across
the centre of the Moon, but 5 km north or south of this line will see a
"transit" of the Moon.
Dublin is not the only place favoured on Friday.
Anyone living along a line from Clifden to Tuam to Athlone to Dublin, and
all parts in between, will see I.S.S. pass in front of the Moon or very very
close to it.
I.S.S. looks like a brilliant 'star' to the naked eye. It
is home to three astronauts, two men and one woman, over the holiday
period.
Over the coming nights I.S.S. will blaze across the sky at
different times each evening until January 3rd when it will be the most
spectacular sight in the sky.
This is an extremely rare event but it should be repeated
for different parts of the country every day until early into the New Year so
Astronomy Ireland has set up a phoneline on 1550-111-442 to issue daily
predictions.
Although we have predicted this before, only two
people in Ireland has ever seen I.S.S. cross the Moon since it was launched in
1998.