Shane Lavelle ‘Back on Earth’ Landscape - Aurora Over the Altacooney River (taken in Letterkeen, Co. Mayo)

Mayo photographer shortlisted for prestigious accolade

A Mayo photographer has been selected for the next stage of the prestigious ‘Reach for the Stars’ astrophotography competition, run by the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS).

Shane Lavelle, Castlebar, has been shortlisted twice in the ‘Back on Earth’ Landscape category.

The competition aims to find the best astro-photographs taken in Ireland over the past year.

While a high-profile judging panel will select the overall winning entries, an online vote is open for members of the public to view the images and vote for their favourite in the Public Choice Award – www.reachforthestars.ie/exhibition.

Members of the public can cast their vote for the Public Choice Award, and those who wish to do so are reminded that voting is open until 5 p.m. on Thursday, July 24, and is restricted to one vote per-person.

Alongside the Public Choice Award, the overall winners will be chosen by the judging panel which includes: Professor Peter Gallagher, Head of Astrophysics at DIAS; Michael McCreary, President of the Irish Astronomical Society; Dr. Lisa McNamee co-founder Space Medicine Ireland, and Alan Betson, Irish Times photographer and multiple winner of the Press Photographer of the Year award.

The winning images selected by the judging panel and the Public Choice Award will be announced in August, with an accompanying outdoor exhibition being held at DIAS HQ on Dublin’s Burlington Road, for a limited time.

The ‘Reach for the Stars’ astrophotography competition are for photographs taken between April 26, 2024 and June 2, 2025.

The DIAS’s ‘Reach for the Stars’ competition is being run in partnership with The Irish Times and is sponsored by MKC Communications and the Astronomical Observatories of Ireland.