A Co Wicklow solar physicist has described partaking in an aerial mission to record images of this week’s eclipse as the highlight of her career.
Dr Laura Hayes was part of a group of Irish scientists who were flown towards Iceland by the Air Corps to record images of a total eclipse and gather new information about the Sun.
The group, including astronomers from the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS), worked with colleagues from the European Space Agency and Italy’s National Institute for Astrophysics.
The plane departed Casement Aerodrome and flew over Conamara continuing out into the Atlantic Ocean.
The destination, in the eclipse’s path of totality, was 540km west of Conamara.
Once in the right area to capture the total eclipse, the plane descended to 10,082 feet and the team opened a window.
This was so their specialised camera could get a clear shot of the eclipse without the distortion caused by filming through glass.
The group included astronomers from the Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies
Preparations have been under way for more than a year and the team had just two minutes to capture their data.
Dr Laura Hayes, Assistant Professor at DIAS, held the camera on a specially designed gimbal.
“A year of preparation has come down to these two minutes and I genuinely don’t think I took a breath for those two minutes of observation,” Dr Hayes said.
Watch our video to hear Dr Hayes describe the experience.