EUROPEAN RUGBY BUDS
AND A PERSONAL GLOBAL STAR PARTY

-text and photos Andrei Dorian Gheorghe
design Florin Alexandru Stancu-





In 2017, after the vernal equinox,
the doors of the astronomical spring opened again in Bucharest
and I photographically caught the explosion of nature,
connected to the beautiful Sun.























On March 26 during a cloudy day,
I returned to the National Rugby Stadium,
one week after Romania had historically defeated Georgia (8-7),
re-becoming the continental champion of the Rugby Europe (after 7 years).

This time for another championship of the same organization,
dedicated to the players under 20 years
(without the 6 major rugby nations in the northern hemisphere
- England, France, Wales, Scotland, Ireland and Italy - plus Georgia).

There, in the quarter finals, Romania hardly defeated Belgium (28-22),
but it was a good beginning.



































Then, for two other days,
another photo-hunt…



































On March 29 I watched the semifinal Romania-Portugal (14-21).

Sadly, the Romanians could win, but missed a try in the last minute.

Happily, it was a superb spring day.

























































Two new days for spring hunt…





























On April 1 I watched the match for the 3rd place.

Although disappointed and tired,
the young Romanian team attacked more for 70 minutes,
but the last 10 minutes were disastrous
and Russia U20 categorically won (33-5,
only 3 weeks after the first team of Romania had categorically defeated
the first team of Russia, score 30-10).

Thus, the Rugby Europe Championship U20 closed its doors
(this time Romania was not the competition champion,
but just a champion in organizing international rugby competitions),
watched by the close statue of Evanghelie Zappa,
the Vlach-Greek-Albanian-Romanian hero who had lived in the Romanian Land,
and from here, with his fortune made in this country,
had re-founded the Olympic Games in Greece in the 19th century.


























































But the spring triumphantly continued…














































And even more, a stone imitation of Jupiter in the Youth Park
made me remember that, on the same first day of April,
a new edition of the Global Astronomy Month began,
and its inaugural world program was the Global Star Party.



So I celebrated it, trying to photograph
the brightest heavenly bodies on that evening:
the Sun setting,
the Moon…









…and after the fall of the darkness

the Moon and Betelgeuse (far and down on the left),
Procyon,
the Moon and Mars (down on the right),
Rigel,
Arcturus,
Capella,
Sirius
and… Jupiter.










Passing from rugby
To a global star party
Means to move from human discipline
To celestial liberty.

*

© 2017 SARM
(Romanian Society for Meteors and Astronomy)