So, party season is over and we’re looking towards a long, cold January before the weather starts to heat up again. However, January is a great time to go stargazing as the nights are long and we can start our lookout in the late afternoon. Not to mention that the Read more…
At certain times of the year, the Earth passes through streams of dust left behind by comets, leading to a natural fireworks display: a meteor shower. One of the best-known is the August Perseids; at the peak of the shower, one can see about 100 meteors per hour on a Read more…
The month of December offers us the most intense meteor shower of the year. These are the Geminids, so-called because they appear to emanate from the constellation of Gemini the Twins. At the peak of the shower, over 120 meteors – two meteors every minute – can be spotted under Read more…
Armagh Observatory and Planetarium reports that, if skies are clear on the morning of 10th June 2021, sky-watchers will witness a partial eclipse of the Sun. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun, in effect casting a shadow on our planet. When the Read more…
What do a tree, a colander and a piece of cardboard have in common? The answer: they can all be used to observe a solar eclipse! Our Sun – the brightest star in the sky – has been the subject of intense scrutiny ever since human beings began to interrogate 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…
It’s International Day of Light today! In honour of this international event, we at Astronotes decided it would be an excellent chance to explain how light could be the future for our climate and the answer to our questions about how we can power our planet! What is light? Light Read more…
Moving on to our February Night Sky article (already) featuring htings to look out for while the sun still sets nice and early. Watch out for the cold, though!
This is the first Night Sky blog article of the new decade and hopefully I’ll be able to point out some interesting things for you all to see in the night sky this month.
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…