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13th September 2019
10:11am BST
James Fenton
Ramon likes to limit groups to 10 people so as not to lose the intimacy of the experience and, basically, to ensure everyone can get a fair go and nobody hogs all of the equipment. On the night we went, there were seven people including ourselves and once pleasantries were exchanged, Ramon got things started.
He began with a brief intro into stargazing and posed questions like "who knows what a star is?" which of course we were all confident enough to have a stab at answering. A "big burning ball of gas in the sky" was the general consensus and to be fair, we weren't far wrong.
With his handmade chart and laser pointer, it was clear that Ramon had done his homework and his preparation even stretched to having tea, coffee, hot chocolate, and biscuits on hand to serve to everyone as we waited for the last remaining clouds to pass.
As things became a bit clearer up there, we were told that what we thought were particularly bright stars were actually Jupiter and Saturn. With that, we all took a turn through the viewing equipment and sure enough we all got a great look at both planets, with Ramon providing information on each one, something that would become a theme of the evening.
Our host's passion for the night sky was plain for all to see and not only was he informative, he ensured that the whole evening was great fun too. He clearly has a bit of the 'messer' about him and every story he told us was punctuated with one-liners and funny little anecdotes that helped bring this group of strangers together.
An appropriate soundtrack of ambient music was provided throughout the night and as we checked out Saturn, we even got to hear actual recordings from the planet itself. A real treat for the senses and pretty trippy too, to say the least.
Along with Saturn and Jupiter, a number of other items of interest were pointed out to us, including the International Space Station doing a few laps of the Earth as well as Andromeda, AKA the Milky Way's neighbouring galaxy. Throughout the evening though, Ramon kept telling us that we hadn't seen anything until we had viewed the Moon up close. All we had to do was wait until it overcame its shyness and crept out from behind the clouds. In fairness, it was a pretty big anniversary and we all get a bit timid at our own parties, don't we?
About 90 minutes in, it looked like our opportunity had arrived. The Moon poked its head out of a large cloud and even without the aid of any viewing equipment, it looked magnificent from our view high in the Wicklow Mountains. As mentioned earlier, luck plays a big part in your experience when you go stargazing so when we saw that the Moon looked almost completely full, we felt quite fortunate indeed.
One by one, Ramon invited us all to have a peek through the binoculars and when it got to my turn I sat down expecting to be pretty satisfied with what I saw. Understatement of the year, right there.
What transpired was I sat speechless for a few seconds as the sight started to soak into my eyes. The Moon, that us humans are so used to admiring from a distance, was now so visible that I could pick out every single nook and cranny. Each crater was laid out in plain sight and the word 'mind-blowing' does not do the experience justice. I could have sat there for hours not even turning my head, just staring at this giant yellow ball hanging in the sky. While I was taking it all in, I made a comment about how cool it was that 50 years previously, on that very day, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were taking mankind's first steps on the Moon and now here I was looking at its every detail. Sure, like most kids I was interested in space back in the day but as of that very moment I am now proud to call myself a space nerd.
After I reluctantly got up to give Sarah-Jane a turn, she slowly mouthed the words "Oh. My. God," to which Ramon responded "This is why I do this. The reactions of the people." Everyone present pretty much reacted in the very same way and as the minutes passed, we all got a few more chances to have a look, a definite benefit of having a small group.
All the while we were craning our necks, we were enjoying this shared experience and enquiring about when the next meet-up would take place. It was getting close to 1.30am when we finally thanked Ramon, his colleague Chris and the talented photographer Jason (whose images can be seen throughout this article) and said our goodbyes.
Galactic Wicklow is the new stargazing experience you that didn't know they needed. It's guaranteed to leave you absolutely breathless and once you've done it once, you'll be coming back for more.
The fee is currently €45 per person but given that the company is still in its infancy, different price points are still being worked on. Ramon is also aiming to roll the experience out nationwide and recently a tour took place on Actons Eco Beach in Connemara. The guys are also hoping to set up Airbnb experiences when the time is right.
It takes a lot for me to say that something should jump to the top of your Irish bucket list but if I had to pick something then Galactic Wicklow would be it.
Whether you have a passing interest in space or are a full-on galactic explorer, the experience is something that will live long in the memory. In the meantime, keep watching the skies.
