Donegal photographer’s image showcased as part of outdoor exhibition

A Donegal man’s photo, ‘Northern Lights at Dunfanaghy’, has been selected to be showcased as part of an outdoor exhibition in the 2024 Reach for the Stars astrophotography competition run by the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies.

‘Northern Lights at Dunfanaghy’, taken by Ozgun Ozdemir from Letterkenny captures the Northern Lights on the western horizon at New Lake, Dunfanaghy, Co. Donegal. The photographer grabbed their camera and captured the extremity of the solar storm back in May.

Mr. Ozdemir’s image will be on display at DIAS headquarters at 10 Burlington Road, Dublin, from Friday July 26. The 23 top-rated images from the competition will be displayed alongside Mr. Ozdemir. The exhibition is free to attend.

Taking the winning prize in the ‘Back on Earth – Landscape’ category, was an image of May’s spectacular aurora borealis over Fanad Head Lighthouse in Donegal. The image, ‘Fanad Head – Aurora 2024’, was taken by Patryk Sadowski, from Derry City.

Tom O’Donoghue, from Malahide in Dublin, was the winner of the ‘Back on Earth – Landmark’ category. The winning image ‘Sentinel’ captures the Baltimore Beacon standing watch as the Milky Way rises over the ocean.

Martin McCormack, from Glasnevin, Dublin claimed first prize in the ‘Out of this World – Deep Sky’ category. The winning image ‘The Jewels of the Swan’ captures the Crescent Nebula, a 25 light-year-wide emission nebula in the constellation Cygnus. Featured in the image is a star at the centre of the nebula shedding its outer layers into space resulting in a dense shell of scorching hot material giving the nebula its shape.

The winner in the ‘Out of this World – Planetary’ category with his image of the moon rising over Bray Head was Anthony Lynch from Stoneybatter, Dublin. Capturing this image involved a last-minute 200-yard dash down the beach for Anthony, to ensure he had the shot lined-up perfectly.

Mr. Lynch also scooped the top prize in the Public Choice category. His image ‘Cave Man’ which captured the Milky Way from a cave at Goat Island, Ardmore, received the most votes in the online public vote. This year over 5,000 people cast their votes online for their favourite image.

The inaugural ‘Night Sky in Your Hand’ category was won by Seanie Morris, from Blueball, Co. Offaly, with his image ‘Sam and Lucy's first BIG aurora’ which shows the silhouettes of his children against the backdrop of May’s spectacular aurora display. The images in this category had to be taken on a smartphone, and without telescopes, of an astronomical scene.

The winners were selected by a judging panel following a meticulous judging process of over 200 entries. The judging panel included Prof. Peter Gallagher,  Head of Astrophysics at DIAS, Brenda Fitzsimons, former Picture Editor, The Irish Times; Michael McCreary, President, Irish Astronomical Society; and Niamh Breathnach, Director, Alice Public Relations.

would like to extend my congratulations to the winners of the competition on their spellbinding entries” commented Dr. Eucharia Meehan, CEO and Registrar of DIAS. 

“Each year I am blown away by the talent and creativity of astrophotographers in Ireland. What is most important is that the images are a window into what is happening in our universe, and they can contribute to our understanding of the night sky.

“It’s exciting to see such high numbers of engagement with the competition this year in both entries and the public vote. We hope that more people stop by to visit the physical exhibition at Burlington Road over the coming weeks to appreciate the images in person. I’d like to thank all of those who entered for sharing their passion and creativity with us. I hope that the night sky continues to be a source of inspiration, creativity and wisdom going forward.”

 The winning images are all available to view online here