COOL SEPTEMBER, WETTER AND SUNNIER THAN AVERAGE Armagh Observatory, 3rd October 2025: Armagh Observatory reports that September 2025 was cooler, wetter, and sunnier than average. This was the wettest September at Armagh for three years. The average temperature this month, defined as half the average of the daily maximum and Read more
SEPTEMBER WARMER, WETTER AND SUNNIER THAN AVERAGE. THIRD WARMEST SEPTEMBER ON RECORD Armagh Observatory reports that September 2023 was much warmer than average, the third warmest September on record at Armagh. It was also wetter and sunnier than average. Total precipitation was 91.8 mm (3.61 inches) with no trace values. Read more
Article written by: Prof. Jorick Vink, Armagh Observatory and Planetarium. According to the European Space Agency (ESA) there is a 1-in-625 chance that Asteroid 2023DW, with the size of a Football pitch, can strike Earth on Valentine’s Day 2046. Astronomers around the globe, including those at the Armagh Observatory Read more
Armagh Observatory, 3rd February 2023: Armagh Observatory reports that January 2023 was warmer and slightly drier than average, though feeling damp, and sunnier than average. Total precipitation was 65.1 mm (2.56 inches) including 4 trace values, that is, 64.9 mm if trace values are ignored. This is approximately 89.5% of 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
Written by Apostolos Christou As far as astronomers know, the Earth is alone in its annual trek round the Sun – that is, apart from its natural satellite: the Moon. But our current understanding of how the solar system formed suggests it may not have been always so. For instance, Read more
by Apostolos Christou An international team of planetary scientists led by astronomers at AOP have found an asteroid trailing behind Mars with a composition very similar to the Moon’s. The asteroid could be an ancient piece of debris, dating back to the gigantic impacts that formed the Moon and the Read more
Among my skills as blog editor, podcast host and Education Officer Extraordinaire here at Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, I’m also a fully qualified catastrophizer! That’s right; you give me a senario and I’ll assume the worst possible version of the thing has a very high chance of happening. This came Read more
We have a number of ‘North Poles’ on Earth. Above shows the sign at the Geographic North Pole. The magnetic North Pole is what your compass points to when you are trying to navigate using it. That is different from the geographical North Pole, which is defined differently. You might Read more
Many people’s first memories of learning about meteorites were probably prefaced by “the one that killed the dinosaurs”. This most famous and yet now non-existent meteorite crashed into our planet in Yucatan Pininsula, in what is now modern-day Mexico. In science textbooks there is an ever so familiar artists impression Read more
In honour of the UN Climate Summit, we have another article in our series on climate change, Brandolini’s Law: Climate.
Measuring Gravity As part of a survey to determine the true topography of Ireland by Ordnance Survey Ireland, AOP has recently hosted an experiment designed to measure the Earth’s gravity to an incredible precision, just 10 nms-2! That’s an incredible 0.00000001 ms-2! To put into context just how accurate that Read more