Mullingar's very own rocket man

While the moon landings in 1969 changed our conciousness about the world that we live in forever, for most people watching the historic moment on TV would be as close as they would ever get to seeing pictures of the moon.For Clonkill man John Nooney, however, it was something that sparked a life-long passion for astronomy.Using one of Patrick Moore's first books on astronomy which gave basic instructions on how to build your own telescope, John set about doing exactly that and he also managed to build an observatory to put it in. His handiwork caused quite a stir at the time and the Sunday Independent ran a feature on him.Since 1969 the metal dome has marked out his house in Clonkill and since his retirement as an engineer with Mullingar factory Tarquet more than 14 years ago he has turned a large part of his house into a museum to all things astronomical.John has also added two more observatories to his home and these days uses a telescope he bought from America instead of the one he built himself.After 41 years he still remembers the first time he saw the moon from his home-made telescope."The first image that you get to look at is always the most exciting and seeing the moon was unbelievable, looking at its surface and craters. It's still the final frontier, we have never been back and it's the next place that we are going."I was just flabbergasted and that image stays in your mind and makes you want to see more."John quickly realised that his home-made telescope might not have been quite up to par and so he went to London and bought one and from there he began to look at the planets. At the same time, people also began to visit his home to use his observatory."I used to take tours through here but I don't do that so much now. The astronomy club that I belong to is based in Tullamore but a long time ago there would have been a lot of people coming through the house. I remember one time having 12 nuns from Mullingar in this observatory that we're standing in now," he laughed.Aside from the influence of his hero Patrick Moore, John's interest in science and technology was piqued by his father's love of photography and in the 1930s when cameras were still a novelty in rural Ireland, his father was taking and developing his own shots."My father had brought the camera back from Cork where he had been working in the 1920s at the time when Michael Collins was very much around and then when he came back to farm the land here he brought his equipment with him and I remember the box brownie that he had. I still have some of his pictures somewhere, they are fantastic to look at."His father's passion for photography is strangely mirrored in John's own interest in astronomy which has changed from looking through a telescope to photographing stars and planets - a very tricky skill indeed."It's a challenge and it's what most people are interested in these days. There was a time when I was fed up in the observatory and I was thinking 'why am I out here in the cold?'. When I was working in Mullingar I all but gave up on it but when I retired the interest returned and most of the stuff that you see in the house today has been added in the last 14 years."The "stuff" that John is talking about includes a model of a Black Hole built to teach kids about the concepts of space and time. When John explained the model it became clear that his easy going manner hides a sharp mathematical brain which allows him to understand science that baffles most of us. "Black holes are a theoretical possibility but the belief now is that they exist," he said. "I built this model to try and explain them. A black hole occurs when a star compresses and blows itself apart. What is left is an object in which all materials are compressed and that object pulls in light because it doesn't radiate light: it can't, it draws everything into it. There is a world of activity going on inside it but we can't see it and what is going on in there. What is going on is called an Event Horizon."In the same room John has displayed his photographs in which his shot of the Crab Nebula, the remnants of an exploded star, takes pride of place. I asked him how he knew that the star was going to explode and my question is met with a kind laugh."This happened in 1054," he smiled. "We know this because the Chinese were brilliant astronomers and they recorded it. The Crab Nebula was visible in the day sky for three weeks."It's what we call a Supernova, the remnants of a star that has blown itself apart. A star has a life span just like anything else. It burns for billions of years and then explodes and our sun will be no different."The Crab Nebula is 1400 lights years away which means that the star actually exploded 1400 years before 1054. Maths and Science are being neglected in schools," he added. "We need to start paying more attention to them."MORE THAN ASTRONOMYAside from his love of astronomy John is also heavily involved in the Clonkill hurling club and his early retirement has allowed him to get to know his neighbours and become more involved in the area of which he is very proud. John and his wife Moira have two daughters who both live close by, in fact one lives next door."It's a great place and there's a good buzz about it and there are new houses being built, the new school and of course the new hurling club. Since I retired I've been able to get to know people in the area instead of just going in and out to work everyday. I would recommend early retirement to anyone. If you can out in time to enjoy yourself it's great and I've had plenty to keep me busy. I wouldn't mind starting tours of all this stuff for schools and clubs again but we'll see what happens."