Kilcullen dentist a winner in astrophotography competition

This picture, Aurora above the Golden Fields, won the Back on Earth — Landscape category in the Reach for the Stars 2025 photography competition hosted by the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS), writes Brian Byrne. It was taken at Narraghmore by Raluca Lica during a geomagnetic storm in May last year.

Raluca is a dentist with Kilcullen Dental and has a passion for astrophotography. Her second entry in the competition, Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS at Old Kilcullen Round Tower, has been selected for the public exhibition at DIAS's premises in Burlington Road, Dublin, which will open to the public next Thursday.

More than 170 photographs were submitted for the competition by astrophotographers from around Ireland, with 37 shortlisted for the final round, across five categories.

The DIAS judging panel were astrophysicist Prof Peter Gallagher; president of the Irish Astronomical Society, Michael McCreary; space medicine expert, Dr Lisa McNamee; and Irish Times photographer Alan Betson.

Raluca describes the occasion of taking the Aurora photograph as 'an unbelievable experience'. "There were many moments that night when I couldn't figure out where to point my camera."

The comet picture was taken in October of last year, when it was at its closest to the Earth, some 70 million kilometres away.

All the winning images can be seen on the Irish Times here.

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