Welcome to NEMETODE

Mike Foylan became interested in Astronomy at the age of 5, receiving his first telescope as a gift from his father at the age of ten. Since then Mike has become a keen amateur astronomer establishing, in 2010, Cherryvalley Observatory based in the small village of Rathmolyon in rural Co Meath, Ireland. This is a Recognised Observatory (Code I83) awarded by the International Astronomical Union Minor Planet Centre. Its work primarily focuses on astrometry and photometry of minor planets. Mike is a member of the British Astronomical Association, has contributed articles to Astronomy & Space Magazine and has had a number of peer reviewed papers published in the Minor Planet Bulletin.

Mike first became interested in the possibility of video meteor detections using off-the-shelf equipment in late 2006 when a chance meeting with research astronomer Dr. Apostolos Christou based at Armagh Observatory in Northern Ireland came about in which their video meteor detection system was demonstrated to Mike.

In 2007 Mike purchased the necessary equipment with which to operate two fixed camera systems. These consisted of high speed wide angle Computar lenses (8mm f/0.8) and highly sensitive Watec video cameras (902DM2S ½” CCD) utilising SonotaCo’s software suite for data collection and analysis.

Cherryvalley Observatory’s north facing camera has contributed data to Armagh Observatory in the past. Mike has now come onboard after upgrading and reorientating his systems offering data from both his cameras to NEMETODE.