Solving a 40 year cosmic mystery about interstellar gas only to uncover an even deeper one. Author: Michael Burton, Director of the Armagh Observatory and Planetarium Hydrogen molecules have been found in clouds of shocked gas in interstellar space that are at temperatures of around 5,000 degrees. This is much Read more…
Want to know more detail about the research described in this Astronotes article on ultra-hot hydrogen molecules? Here are five papers spanning more than four decades of research that helped lead to this discovery of ultra-hot molecular hydrogen: Velocity profiles in the 2.1 micron molecular hydrogen line emission line in the Orion Molecular Cloud Read more…
Burcu Gunay, Ege University, Turkey We have developed a new method to look for carbon compounds in space, akin to prospecting for oil on Earth. Between the stars lie vast amounts of interstellar gas and dust, spread thinly throughout our Galaxy. The dust can contain compounds of carbon. When it Read more…
The story of Jocelyn Bell Burnell’s discovery of pulsars is one of the best known in astronomy. The story of how, as a graduate student at the University of Cambridge, she detected “a bit of scruff” on the chart recorder of the radio telescope designed by her supervisor Anthony Hewish. Read more…
How astronomy can help us understand the spread of a pandemic Article by Michael Burton, Director of the Armagh Observatory and Planetarium The Hill of Infinity of Armagh, in the Astropark of the Observatory and Planetarium, contains a scale model of the universe, illustrating the place of planet Earth in Read more…
Article by Professor Michael Burton, Director of the Armagh Observatory and Planetarium July 20, 2019 marks 50 years from the day Neil Armstrong stepped onto the Moon, humanity’s first foot steps on another world. As much an awe inspiring feat then as it remains today. Indeed, despite the revolution in Read more…
Our final piece in our Astronomy & You series is a fascinating piece on lab astrophysics and the discovery of buckminsterfullerene (c60) by Armagh Observatory and Planetarium’s own Michael Burton. He is our Director and before coming to Armagh was the Director of Teaching at the School of Physics in Read more…
This week’s Astronomy & You article covers the relationship between the everyday uses of x-ray and how it originated in astronomy. This piece is by Armagh Observatory and Planetarium’s Michael Burton. He is our Director and before coming to Armagh was the Director of Teaching at the School of Physics Read more…
To follow on from last week’s post on grid computing in our series on the technological applications of astronomy to society we have an article on spectroscopy and the discovery of a new element in the cosmos – helium – by Armagh Observatory and Planetarium’s Michael Burton. He is our Read more…
Apollo 10 was the mission that almost made it to the Moon. Designed as the full dress rehearsal for Apollo 11, the lunar module “Snoopy” approached to just under 15 km from the Moon’s surface with astronauts Thomas Stafford and Eugene Cernan aboard. It was May 22, 1969 – 50 Read more…
To kick off our new weekly series on the Technical Applications of Astronomy to Society, inspired by a recent publication of the IAU (The International Astronomical Union), our Director Michael Burton has written a brief summary of the history and purpose of the IAU, as well as outlining some of Read more…