A celestial kingdom - Star designation

The people of Kerry, and those lucky enough to visit the Kingdom regularly, will not be surprised that the county has been named as one of the very best places in the world to go stargazing.

The designation refers to celestial phenomena, but any Kerry person imbued with the effervescent confidence that seems everyday in that part of the world will gladly point out that two-legged stars are obvious in equal abundance.

The top-10 stargazing listing, along with a Chilean desert and a dormant volcano in Hawaii, is reflected in the fact that Kerry was recently recognised as an International Dark-Sky Reserve, because unpolluted skies mean that star clusters, nebula, and the Andromeda galaxy are all regularly visible to the naked eye.

In today’s world, an ever-expanding human population brings light where there was once a perfect darkness.

This seems another reminder that we are having a huge impact on the world around us. After all, the sky above Cork or Antrim is not that different, we just block out its spectacular treasures with artificial light.