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10th Dec 2018

Get the telescope out because there’s a Christmas comet passing over Ireland this week

Jade Hayden

What a time of year for it.

Look lads, we know – Christmas is a busy enough time of year.

You’ve probably got a lot on. You’ve probably got a lot of places to be. You’ve probably got an abundance of plans that you simply cannot cancel.

But if any of those plans happen to fall on Friday, December 14, you’re going to want to cancel them because there’s a Christmas comet passing over Ireland and it’s going to stunning and exciting and all those lovely things.

The Comet Wirtanen will be the closest and brightest it’s ever been to Ireland this Friday – so bright in fact that it should even be visible from city suburbs.

That’s according to Astronomy Ireland anyway, who are going to be setting up a viewing point at its headquarters in Blanchardstown to give everyone a good old look at the festive comet.

They’ll be setting up the most powerful telescopes in the country at 8pm so you’ve any interest in getting your comet on, there’s where you’ll be able to do it.

Apparently, the telescopes are one thousand times more powerful than human eyes too so, you know, you’ll probably get to see a bit more with them in fairness.

You can find out more about the comet viewing here.