This Multi-angle Imaging Spectroradiometer (MISR) nadir-camera imageof Ireland was acquired on May 5, 2000. The location of the town of Armagh in NorthernIreland is marked. Armagh is the site of the 200-year-old ArmaghObservatory. The observatory's contributions to astronomical researchwere recently commemorated by the official naming of two asteroids,"ArmaghObs" and "Ardmacha". The latter is the ancient Gaelic name forthe town, which was founded in 445 A.D. by St. Patrick.
The asteroids were discovered in July 1987 by planetary astronomerEleanor Helin, Principal Investigator of JPL's Near-Earth AsteroidTracking (NEAT) program. The new names were published in the January2001 Minor Planet Circular of the International Astronomical Union.
The Irish Sea and the Isle of Man are located on the right-hand side ofthis image. Southwestern Scotland is visible in the upper right corner,and portions of northwestern Wales can be seen in the lower right.
References & Resources
Image NASA/JPL/GSFC/LaRC, MISR Team
