I’m writing this from the beautiful southwest coast of Türkiye, gazing up at the night sky. It’s the 26th of September, 9 PM, and the temperature is a perfect 24°C. From here, Polaris sits about 18 degrees lower on the northern horizon than it does in Northern Ireland, so all Read more
Welcome one and all to your favourite ‘happy place’ – the AOP night sky blog, where you can kick off your shoes, cosy up in a comfortable chair and chill-out amongst the shimmering stars! It’s also the month with the confusing name which begins with “Oct” -which implies the 8th month, Read more
Welcome to October, stargazers! Autumn is well and truly into full swing now. Along with warm coats, changing leaves and Pumpkin Spiced Lattes, October also brings with it the opportunity to get some excellent planet spotting and star gazing time in. With the gradually longer nights it means you can Read more
October is here! It is one of our favourite months as there is so much more to see in the sky and the nights are getting deliciously darker. One thing to remember when you are stargazing is to wrap up warm when you venture outside. The nights are getting much colder, and with some of the best stargazing occurring in the early hours of the morning, we don’t want anyone catching a chill. Thermals and a thermos filled with hot chocolate or coffee will do the trick. Also don’t forget that we will be starting our Star Tracker evenings in the coming months!
Hello and welcome to my first attempt at an Astronotes blog! My name is Stephen and I’m finding out about our sky as I go during my time here in the Armagh Observatory and Planetarium. So, I hope you’ll join me on our journey through the October night sky. Read more
As we welcome back the colder weather we are also welcoming back the beginning of the best months of stargazing thanks to the onset of longer dark evenings. Mix this with the spooky objects visible in the crisp autumn month of October and we have a recipe for fun and Read more
Welcome to October! The nights are now longer and the stars come out earlier. Yes it may be getting close to winter, but who doesn’t like autumn? October is full of exciting events, and one event that we are looking forward to here in the Planetarium is World Space Week. Read more
October is an interesting month for astronomers as World Space Week falls from 4 October until 10 October and coincidentally it’s a good month for keen astronomers to take to the skies. This time of the year is perfect for spotting the Milky Way’s sister galaxy, M31 in Andromeda. It Read more
“Double Hubble toil and trouble…” -While some stargazers will recognise the slight liberty taken with the witches’ famous words in Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’, more than a double take of Hubble telescope images should help us decorate our night sky for the month that hosts Hallowe’en. Perhaps the most interesting direction Read more
Autumn is well and truly settled in and we are in the ‘Hallowed’ month of October so many exciting things grace our sky!This month we can try and see what spooky sightings usually turn out to be, as well as some frightful objects that roam the October sky!The longer dark Read more
October marks the peak of Autumn, leaves are falling from the trees, the evenings are darkening and Halloween and Christmas are just around the corner. With dusk falling earlier in the evening, this gives ample opportunity for stargazing without having to stay up too late. This month there are lots Read more
