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Over the past few months, I've been travelling back and forth to the south of France, where I have been constructing a Remote Observatory, kindly helped by various friends - it's a huge and very exciting project which I've been documenting, as the process may be of interest to others  - to find out more, check out my new Remote Observatory section, to see how things have been progressing! :)

In March, I returned to Sherkin Island to try a Milky Way Arc shot from the Horseshoe Cove.It was pouring rain on the 5 hour drive and boat trip to West Cork, but the forecast was for clearing skies. I went to the beach after a 2.5km walk with all the gear from the catering accommodation. I waited on the beach for over 3hrs!Finally, with about 45mins before the skies brightened with the morning Sun, the clouds disappeared. This is the darkest area I have ever been to - this, despite the brightish glow on the left of the image...

In February, I traveled to the Wild Atlantic Way coast in North Mayo. This was my second venture to the Sea Stack after a reconnaissance trip on a very wet November weekend.This time I had better luck with the weather and clear skies and I ended up spending 4 hours on the cliff edge taking 3min exposures to stack for Star Trails.As you can see below, I ended producing two versions from the nights outing.This is a superb location with very dark skies, and really highlights the diverse and rugged West Coast of Ireland.  

In November, I had another successful trip to Iceland. While only one of the four nights were clear, I headed out to Pingvellir and set up early in the night.At about 22:30, the skies lit up with a superb display!Here are two images taken from the front of the Church by the Lakeside and in front of the lake from the Bridge.  

Tom O’DonoghueAfter two unsuccessful attempts previously to see all the stages of a Total Eclipse, the prospects to view the American Eclipse in August were excellent. The path of the shadow was to cross the entire country, giving plenty of locations to view it from.PlanningI had booked accommodation in Wyoming a year in advance, at Fireside campside in Jackson Hole. This area has very good weather forecasts at this time of year. There was also the bonus of the stunning local scenery from the Teton Mountain range, and Yellowstone park just a short drive up the road.     My...