On the 2nd December, CIT President Dr Brendan Murphy officially launched the first CIT iApp CIT Cosmos, which is free to download for the iPhone and iPad.

The free app CIT Cosmos, designed by John Kennedy of CraicDesign and supported by CIT Blackrock Castle Observatory, will put a virtual observatory in your pocket with a real-time view of the sky from any location in Ireland, displaying the night sky, including stars, constellations, the sun, moon, and planets.  Kennedy is known for developing Pocket Universe, one of the biggest selling software applications for the iPhone that allows users to lift up their iPhone to the sky and see the names of the stars and planets that they are looking at. 

Kennedy said “It was a pleasure to be able to work with the Observatory to help bring a little Astronomy to everyone with an iPhone or iPad. Today’s mobile devices are becoming invaluable learning tools, and this App is a great way to answer the question “What’s that in the sky?”.  Also, given Ireland’s notoriously fickle weather, this might be the only way to see stars for weeks at a time!”

Joining Dr Murphy for the launch of CIT Cosmos was 12 year old Cork whizzkid Harry Moran who is officially the world's youngest Mac app developer with his game PizzaBot. 

According to Dr Brendan Murphy “The launch of the CIT Cosmos iApp is another great example of innovation in CIT’s educational delivery reaching out into the community – in this instance both the local and global community.  Through exciting developments such as this, CIT is clearly playing an increasingly important role in the formation of the next generations of scientists, engineers and business entrepreneurs. And the CIT Cosmos iApp has the added advantage of being a free, fun and educational iApp in time for Christmas.”

The app, which is free to download, also provides information on visiting Cork’s unique science centre CIT Blackrock Castle Observatory, its integrated award-winning public exhibitions, current events and monthly newsletters. Through innovative workshops and partnership, this centre of excellence in research, education, and outreach brings education alive for students of all ages and is a crucial provider of on-going science education for teachers.

The app is available to download for FREE from the iTunes store.

About Blackrock Castle Observatory

Blackrock Castle was originally built on the Lee in 1582 by the citizens of Cork as a watch tower and fort to guard the river entrance against pirates and other invaders. Now, in an exciting collaboration between Cork City Council and the Cork Institute of Technology, Blackrock Castle Observatory - the Space for Science, watches the skies above, the world around us and the future in its quest to bring new adventures in science to its many visitors. Cosmos at the Castle is the international award-winning interactive astronomy exhibit at Blackrock Castle Observatory. It is also home to BCO Research Labs, the Cork Science Café, the open night First Fridays at the Castle and a member’s film club, Movies by Moonlight.