First Gigha Dark Skies Festival an astronomical success

Isle of Gigha residents and visitors had an out-of-this-world time at last weekend's inaugural Dark Skies Festival.

 

Run by the island’s Dark Skies Gigha group, the festival kicked off on the Friday with space science activities in Gigha Primary School, provided by visiting astronomers from Cosmos Planetarium.

 

In the afternoon, the children continued their spacey adventures by marking the 50th anniversary of the last human moon landing on a visit to a stunning mobile planetarium set up in the village hall.

 

The main event took place on Friday night and was run jointly by Cosmos Planetarium and Dark Skies Gigha.

 

The village hall was packed with islanders and visitors who took in a planetarium show, watched space science videos, examined meteorites, had a go at a space quiz and made use of immersive virtual reality headsets provided by Cosmos Planetarium.

 

Unfortunately the clouds outside would not clear so no stargazing could be undertaken this time.

 

Saturday morning saw two Gigha groups, Our Gigha and Me and Gigha Bookbugs, watch more planetarium shows and the children also got the chance to pose in white and orange spacesuits with a large image of British astronaut Tim Peake.

 

After a lunch provided by Dark Skies Gigha, washed down by a specially commissioned dark mild beer from Gigha Brewing, the community and visitors headed north to the island's recently awarded Dark Sky Discovery site where the island’s Dark Sky Theatre has been created.

 

It consists of a large night sky information panel on a stone plinth surrounded by several benches.

 

The theatre was then officially opened by astrophysicist Dr Chris Leigh from Liverpool’s John Moores University.

 

The festival weekend concluded in Gigha Hotel on Saturday night with an engaging talk on robotic telescopes by Dr Chris Leigh followed by a lively ‘Ask an Astronomer’ session involving Dr Leigh and the Cosmos Planetarium astronomers.

 

'Despite the lack of clear skies, the Gigha community and visitors who attended were the real stars for making this event such a success,' said an event spokesperson.

 

'Thanks also to our funders: Institute of Physics Scotland, Tesco Community Fund, Isle of Gigha Community Fund, People’s Postcode Trust and the National Lottery Community Fund.'

 

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