Stamps that are Out of this World!
5 June 2007
The stamps are the first in a series on The Planets which will be issued over a two year period during 2007/2008. The planets featured in this first issue are the four Gas Giants, which form the outer Solar System.
Speaking about the stamps, David Moore, Chairman of Astronomy Ireland, said: “Astronomy Ireland welcomes the issue of An Post’s beautifully produced stamps featuring The Planets, particularly at a time when two brilliant planets are visible in Irish skies and have been exciting much public interest. Ireland has a proud astronomical heritage from the oldest astronomical building in the world at Newgrange, to the world’s biggest telescope for over half a century at Birr Castle. You could say it’s in our genes so in a very real sense the stamps reflect the interest of Irish society and culture.
After the Big Bang, during which space and time were created and expanded, it took the universe a billion years to evolve into an elaborate tapestry of galaxies and stars. Over the next twelve billion years, more stars and galaxies gradually weaved themselves into existence, re-incarnated from the dying embers of elderly predecessors.
Our Solar System, which is made up of the Sun, the planets, their moons, asteroids and comets is a relative newcomer in the field of cosmic creation.
Jupiter, which has 63 moons, has a diameter of 142,984 kilometres and is the largest planet in the solar system. It was named after the King of the Roman Gods, and its day lasts 9 hours and 55 minutes Earth time.
Neptune was discovered in 1846 and since then has yet to make a complete orbit around the Sun; this is because one Neptune year lasts 165 Earth years!
Saturn is 1.35 billion kilometres minimum distance away from the Sun and has more than 30 moons, and a day lasting 10 hours and 39 minutes Earth time. The amazing rings around Saturn are made up of chunks of rock and ice, some of which are just tiny pieces of dust while others are more than 0.8 kilometres across.
Astronomer William Herschel is credited with the discovery of Uranus in 1781. An odd planet, it sits on its side with the north and south poles sticking out the sides. Like Saturn, Uranus has rings surrounding it, but in its case they are dark and narrow, unlike Saturn’s, which are bright.
The stamps are specially elongated which is very unusual for a stamp issue, and are printed se-tenant which means they come perforated in pairs – Saturn and Uranus both at the international rate of 78c, and Jupiter and Neptune both at the national rate of 55c. The stamps are based on photographic images of the four planets, with the Earth represented as a design feature only. An additional graphic on each stamp shows the size of the planet relative to Earth.
The stamps are available from main Post Offices, and a Minisheet, two First Day Covers and a Prestige Booklet are available from the Philatelic Shop in Dublin’s GPO, by calling 01 705 7400 or via www.irishstamps.ie
