The presence of water on the Moon has long been suspected, although not in liquid or vapour form but as ice hiding deep in permanently shadowed craters found in the polar regions of the Moon. The NASA LCROSS and LRO space mission already confirmed the presence of water frost in the southern pole, but yesterdays’ NASA Read more…
By Dr Marc Sarzi, Head of Research After the first image of a supermassive black hole more than 60 million light years away from the Earth1 amazed the whole World last year, black holes are back on the news this week following the award of the 2020 Nobel prize in physics to UK mathematician Roger Penrose, for its theoretical work proving that Read more…
Mild, dry September and sunnier than average. Armagh Observatory reports that September 2020 was warmer and drier than average and with slightly more than average sunshine. This was the sunniest September at Armagh for five years. The mean temperature was nearly 13.7 degrees Celsius (56.6 Fahrenheit), which is approximately 1.2 Read more…
AN INCLEMENT MONTH: WETTEST AUGUST FOR 12 YEARS, WARMER AND DULLER THAN AVERAGE. SUMMER 2020 THE DULLEST FOR 33 YEARS, WETTEST FOR 8 YEARS AND COOLEST FOR 5 YEARS Armagh Observatory reports that August 2020 was the wettest at Armagh for 12 years, that is, since August 2008, and both Read more…
DULLEST JULY FOR 34 YEARS, COOLER AND WETTER THAN AVERAGE Armagh Observatory reports that July 2020 was the dullest July at Armagh since 1986, and cooler and wetter than average. The mean temperature was 14.65 degrees Celsius (58.4 Fahrenheit), approximately 0.2 C cooler than the long-term (1796–2010) average July temperature Read more…
A breakthrough in deciphering birth of supermassive black holes – astronomers zoom in on black hole with one of the lowest masses ever observed in nearby “ghost” galaxy. A research team led by Cardiff University scientists say they are closer to understanding how a supermassive black hole (SMBH) is born thanks Read more…
Want to learn more about what you can see with only a pair of binoculars? AOP’s own Prof. Simon Jeffery explains how to get the most out of a pair of binoculars, and also issues you a challenge! A popular caricature of an astronomer shows an elderly gentleman with a Read more…
Following the launch of the Boardroom Apprentice Programme 2020, Dr Kirstin Lemon tells us about her experience on the programme last year. Dr Kirstin Lemon a senior geologist at the Geological Survey of Northern Ireland (GSNI) participated in the Boardroom Apprentice Programme 2019 with Armagh Observatory & Planetarium, an Arm’s Length Read more…
26th June is Kids in Museums ‘Digital Takeover Day’. Here at the Armagh Observatory and Planetarium we wanted to give our young followers a chance to be published in our blog. Read all about their favourite planets below. Thank you to everyone who entered! Mars My favourite planet is Mars Read more…
In a new paper, Simon Jeffery reports the discovery of standing waves on two small hot stars similar to the pattern of jet streams seen in the Earth’s atmosphere.