We all know of some myths surrounding our only natural satellite. We’ve gazed at it for thousands of years, and it has inspired some great and unusual stories over time. We are quick to say that a full moon causes insanity or madness (doctors and nurses in A&E seem to lead Read more…
Mars is the only other planet in the solar system apart from the Earth that combines a clear – albeit thin – atmosphere and a solid surface. Therefore, an astronaut standing on the surface may observe and record phenomena on the martian sky, both astronomical and atmospheric. One of these 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…
The Perseids meteor shower is one of the most spectacular annual meteor showers. Made of debris from comet Swift-Tuttle they have been observed by sky-watchers for thousands of years and this year the LIC1 camera of the Canary Long-Baseline Observatory (CILBO) at Tenerife captured the peak of the 2020 Perseid Read more…
Are you up for a free ‘firework show’ from Space? If so, this is the month for you because on the 11th August (Tuesday), the Perseids Meteor Shower is coming to town! As our planet silently glides through the cold void of the Solar System (at the phenomenal speed of Read more…
By Apostolos Christou, Researh Astronomer Every 26 months, the positions of Mars and the Earth align in such a way to allow probes launched from Earth to reach Mars (see how to calculate launch windows here). The next such launch window has just opened, with three separate missions under starter’s Read more…
The first asteroids discovered in the early 1800’s were named after Roman and Greek mythological figures like Ceres, Pallas, and Vesta. Today, most asteroids are named after people, both real and fictional, places, animals, plants, and other natural phenomena. The discoverers of asteroids are responsible for proposing the name however 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…
A myth deeply engrained into popular culture is that the Moon is made of green cheese. The Apollo missions showed beyond reasonable doubt that the moon is made of rock and not, sadly, of one of our favourite dairy products. That being said, data brought back from Apollo and the Read more…