The IAA issues two awards, the Fitzgerald and Opik medals.

“The Aidan P. Fitzgerald Memorial Medal is the prestigious award of the Irish Astronomical Association, and is named in memory of one of its leading members back in the 40’s and 50’s. It is presented not more than once per year for “Outstanding Service to the Association” to someone usually, but not necessarily in a Council post.

Aidan Fitzgerald was born in Limerick, Ireland and had a keen interest in astronomy since childhood. Later he bought telescopes and other equipment and set them up in an observatory in his back garden. He became a leading light in the Belfast Centre of the old Irish Astronomical Society, and later became Chairman. He was also on the editorial board of the Irish Astronomical Journal. By profession, he was a principal officer in the Northern Ireland Ministry of Health and Local Government, and had been awarded the O.B.E. He never married, and died suddenly in January 1965 from a heart attack, just short of his retirement.

In June 1954, the planet Mars was closer to earth than it had been for several years, but the most ideal conditions for observation were from the southern hemisphere. Astronomers from all over the world co-operated to make observations of the planet and a committee was set up under the chairmanship of Professor Earl C. Slipher from the Lowell Observatory in Arizona.

Slipher was probably the greatest authority on Mars and was to observe and photograph the red planet from the Lamont-Hussey Observatory at Bloemfontein, South Africa  using the great 27-inch refractor, (now dismantled)  Fitzgerald was invited to join him at the invitation of the National Geographic Society who sponsored the studies, which were to last some four months.

As to the medal itself, it is tastefully minted in bronze gilt, and on the obverse shows the profile of the famous “South Refractor” at Dunsink Observatory outside Dublin, while the reverse has the recipients name and date engraved inside a laurel wreath.” (Many thanks to John C McConnell for the above words)

IAA Fitzgerald Medal recipients 1989        David Beesley        1990        Terence P Murtagh 1991        – none 1992        Terry Moseley 1993        Ronnie Ormonde 1994        Bruce Hardie 1995        Andy McCrea 1996        Dr Mart de Groot 1997        Sam Lyttle 1998        Pat O’Neill 1999        John McConnell 2000        John Hall 2001        Barry Loane 2002        George Brannan 2003        – none 2004        Danny Collins; Derek Heatly 2005        – none  2006        Robert Hill 2007        Philip Baxter 2008        – none 2009        – none 2010        Paul Evans 2011        David Stewart 2012        Jo Magill 2013        Peter Paice 2014       Brian Beesley 2015     Tony Kempston 2016     Ivan McAllister 2017       Professor Mark Bailey 2018       Bernie Brown 2019 – none

IAA Opik Medal recipients

Later work included the 1922 determination of the distance of the Andromeda Galaxy – with a fair degree of accuracy, and the 1932 postulation of the existence of the Oort cloud, also called the Opik-Oort cloud.

• 2000 First Opik award this year, presented to David Beesley by Lembit Opik

  2005 Terry Moseley