Astronotes
  • Main Site
  • Latest News
    • Press Releases
    • Research News
  • Solar System
    • Earth
    • Planets
    • Comets and Asteroids
    • Moon
  • Our Galaxy
    • Stars
  • Universe
  • Space Flight
    • Earth Satellites
    • Human Exploration
    • Robot Exploration
    • Rockets
  • Weird and Fun
    • Concept Spacecraft
    • Science Fiction
    • The Future
    • UFOs and Fringe Science
  • Monthly Sky Notes
    • April
    • August
    • December
    • February
    • January
    • July
    • June
    • March
    • May
    • November
    • October
    • September
  • Podcast

Solar System

Comets and Asteroids

A Fireball in the Night: Image of the Month

An intruder from beyond Earth’s atmosphere can be seen in this image of the 21 September  fireball taken by amateur astronomer Colin Campbell from his garden in Lisburn.   Here is how Colin describes how he captured this remarkable image:  I was out in my garden experimenting with taking a Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 11 yearsSeptember 24, 2012 ago
Moon

Exploring Jupiter’s Icy Moons

Humans have been looking up to the night sky wondering and discovering what lies beyond for thousands of years.We have detected super massive black holes, discovered distant galaxies and located extra-solar planets outside of our Solar System.Despite this we have not discovered any other life forms beyond our own planet.Perhaps Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 11 yearsSeptember 20, 2012 ago
image of the Moon in Daytime
Moon

The Moon in the Daytime

I was visiting the Tall Ships event in Dublin recently when I noticed something strange in the light blue daytime sky!  Overlooking the River Liffey I could see something that looked like the Moon, but the Sun was still shining, so it couldn’t have been the Moon – or was Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 11 yearsSeptember 7, 2012 ago
Planets

8 Facts You Need to Know About the 2012 Transit of Venus

It’s the beautiful clear morning of 6 June 2012 here in Armagh and the Sun is rising into a cerulean blue sky.But look closer, and you can see a tiny circular black speck on the face of the Sun.This is a transit of Venus, one of the rarest spectacles in Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 11 yearsMay 1, 2012 ago
Image of Uranus and its rings
Planets

Astronomer, Musician, Hero…Deserter?

Sir Frederick William Herschel is one of the most well-known and highly regarded historical astronomers but many may not know or realise there was more to his genius than his passion for astronomy. So it seems a closer look is required to try and map out the life of such Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 12 yearsFebruary 24, 2012 ago
Moon

A Rolling Stone on the Moon: Image of the Month

Once, in complete silence, a large boulder rolled down a slope on the central peak of the Moon’s Schiller crater. This rock is about 9m (30ft) across, meaning that it would fit neatly inside Armagh Planetarium’s 11 m wide Digital Theatre. The Moon’s surface has been to all intents and Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 12 yearsFebruary 16, 2012 ago
Planets

To the Edge of Space

Where does space begin? Let’s look up into our planet’s atmosphere, that shell of nitrogen (about 78%), oxygen (about 20%), various other gases (2%) that makes life on Earth possible, to find out. The atmosphere gets thinner as you go further up, in fact 90% of the Earth’s atmosphere by Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 12 yearsFebruary 2, 2012 ago
Planets

Venus: Earth’s Sister Planet

Venus has always been regarded as Earth’s Sister Planet. After all, it can be the closest planet to us and it is nearly the same size as Earth. But how similar is it really to Earth?   Astronomers get asked this question very often:  “I saw this really bright light Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 12 yearsJanuary 17, 2012 ago
Sun

Northern Lights: Coming to a Sky Near You?

The aurora is a stunning celestial event associated with Earth’s polar regions. Recently Ireland has been witness to this beautiful phenomenon.   If you are standing looking up at the sky in Canada, Alaska or in Norway on a clear dark night you may see a bright reddish or greenish Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 12 yearsJanuary 13, 2012 ago
image of lutetia
Comets and Asteroids

Professor Moriarty: a Great but Forgotten Astronomer

James Moriarty (?-1891) was one of the greatest of the many astronomer-mathematicians who flourished in the nineteenth century, however among the general public his scientific accomplishments are forgotten. Mention his name and most people will think of the dark rumours about his personal life and the lurid circumstances of his Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 12 yearsDecember 15, 2011 ago
Moon

Image of the Month: Helene

Helene is a tiny moon of Saturn that shares an orbit with the much larger moon Dione. Helene reposes at a gravitationally stable position called a Lagrange point. Helene orbits Saturn ahead of Dione, and viewed from above the centres of Dione, Saturn and Helene form a vast equilateral triangle. Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 12 years ago
Planets

Haumea: Rugby Ball Planet

Dwarf planet Haumea is one of the most bizarre small bodies of the outer Solar System. It has an oddly recent surface. Even just who discovered it is controversial. It looks kind of funny too. The 2011 Rugby World Cup is taking place in New Zealand at the moment and Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 12 yearsSeptember 30, 2011 ago
Comets and Asteroids

Dawn over Vesta

202 million km (1.35 AU or 125 million miles) from Earth an explorer from Earth is investigating the giant asteroid Vesta. This intrepid pioneer is the Dawn space probe.   Orbiting about 2700 km (1700 miles) above Vesta, Dawn slowly rotates around the world beneath it. Every 69 hours, the Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 12 years ago
Planets

Postcards from Mars

NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has returned thousands of fascinating images of our neighbouring world, here is a selection some of the most striking and thought-provoking (false colour) images. Part of the Martian surface that has cracked into a natural maze, Noctis Labyrinthus (the Labyrinth of Night), lies at the west Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 12 yearsSeptember 9, 2011 ago
Planets

Image of the Month: You are here!

This portrait of the Earth and Moon together in space was taken on 26 August by NASA’s Juno spacecraft which is currently en route for Jupiter. The image was made when Juno was about 10 million km away as part of the checking procedure for the probe’s instruments. If you Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 12 years ago
Image of Happy-Mars-Astronaut
Planets

The Truth about Life on Mars (Part 3)

“Is there life on Mars?” More than fifty years into the Space Age and there still is no definitive answer. Completing our series of posts on this mystery, we look at the latest ideas about the existence of beings on our neighbouring planet.   In the previous part of this Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 12 yearsAugust 11, 2011 ago
Planets

Mars: Summer’s Salty Tears?

Could water be streaming down Martian mountainsides? This startling vision may be a reality according to recent results from NASA’s MRO spacecraft. Here is the latest on the waters of Mars. Although we are exploring the surface of Mars through marvellous rovers like Spirit and Opportunity and their forthcoming big Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 12 yearsAugust 5, 2011 ago
Image of elenin_1aug2011
Comets and Asteroids

Comet Elenin Images from STEREO-B spacecraft

The approaching Comet Elenin has triggered suspicious and fearful speculation among some observers. A contribution to this brouhaha has been the lack of images of this visitor from deep space, but at last there are images from a NASA space observatory of this oncoming comet. On 1 August 2011 Comet Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 12 yearsAugust 3, 2011 ago
Image of simulated Mercury transit
Planets

Vulcan: the Solar System’s Ghost Planet

We have been celebrating the first Neptunian year since the discovery of the eighth (and as far as we know last) planet in the Solar System. Neptune’s discovery was a famous triumph of nineteenth century astronomy. Less well-known is the aftermath, when a ninth solar planet was discovered. This planet Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 12 yearsJuly 19, 2011 ago
Image of Triton and Neptune
Planets

Happy Birthday Neptune!

Neptune, furthest planet from the Sun is celebrating its first birthday. It has been known  to humans for only a single Neptunian year. Neptune, which is not visible with the naked eye, was discovered by mathematical prediction in 1846 before being observed through a telescope. Astronomers noticed that Uranus was Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 12 yearsJuly 18, 2011 ago
Moon

Image of the Month: Tycho Crater’s spectacular central peak

The peak at the centre of Tycho Crater on our Moon has been imaged by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft. Let’s take a look at this spectacular mountain of the Moon. One of the best-known lunar craters, Tycho is not especially large at some 85 km across. However it is Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 12 yearsJuly 4, 2011 ago
Image of dawn spacecraft
Comets and Asteroids

Vesta comes into view

NASA’s Dawn spaceprobe is approaching the asteroid Vesta. At a distance of 483 000 km, the spacecraft has made images rivalling the best Hubble Space Telescope views of this fascinating little world. Between Mars and Jupiter lies the Asteroid Belt. Relics of the Solar Nebula which birthed the planets, these Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 12 years ago
Planets

The Truth about Life on Mars (part 2)

Scientists had seriously considered the possibility of plant or even animal life on the surface of Mars for more than a century. However negative results from NASA’s Viking spacecraft in the 1970s ruled out large-scale Martian life but this was not the end of the search for life on Mars. Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 13 yearsMarch 18, 2011 ago
Planets

The Truth about Life on Mars (Part 1)

“Is there life on Mars?” This must be one of the most-asked questions in astronomy.  In this article I am going to look at the historical background to this question. Current thoughts on the possibilities of Martian life will be considered in a follow up article.   Why is life Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 13 yearsMarch 11, 2011 ago
Comets and Asteroids

Return to Comet Tempel 1

Comet Tempel 1 is by far the most closely studied comet in history. We saw it up close for the first time in July 2005, when NASA’s Deep Impact mission flew past it, pelting in with a projectile on the way. On 14 February 2011, another NASA mission, Stardust-Next visited Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 13 yearsFebruary 19, 2011 ago
Comets and Asteroids

Have you seen the Zodiacal Light?

The Zodiacal light is a rarely seen yet intriguing spectacle in a dark sky. Sinead McNicholl reveals the connection between the zodial light and a famous rockstar! Have you ever noticed a whitish glow in the night sky which appears to extend upwards in the shape of a triangle or Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 13 yearsFebruary 18, 2011 ago
Planets

Pluto and Eris: when is a planet not a planet?

In 2003 astronomers discovered Eris, an object seemingly bigger than Pluto, in the frigid Trans-Neptunian wastes of the Solar System. Rather than becoming the Tenth Planet, Eris led directly to Pluto’s demotion from planetary status! But is this saga over? Martina Redpath has the details. I’m sure most of you Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 13 yearsFebruary 15, 2011 ago
Comets and Asteroids

Hartley 2: What has the Deep Impact flyby shown us?

NASA’s Deep Impact probe flew past comet Hartley 2 and revealed a odd-looking peanut-shaped nucleus. What are the first impressions from these exciting images? Only about a mile (1.6 km) from end to end, the nucleus of Comet Hartley2 is hardly the most impressive member of the Solar System. Never Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 13 yearsNovember 5, 2010 ago
Comets and Asteroids

Asteroids collide: nobody notices until a year later!

Between Mars and Jupiter lies the Asteroid Belt, a swarm  of millions of shards of rock, metal and ice.  Somewhere out here, between 5-10 February 2009, a small asteroid, perhaps 5m across, violently slammed into another, larger (120 m), asteroid at a closing speed of about 18 000 km/h. As much Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 13 yearsOctober 14, 2010 ago
Planets

The bluffer’s guide to Saturn

  Ask anyone to draw a picture of a planet and I’ll bet they draw a ringed planet like Saturn. This giant world has always stood out from the other worlds of the Solar System thanks to its amazing rings, in astronomy books it was ‘The Ringed Planet’. Thirty years Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 13 yearsOctober 1, 2010 ago
Comets and Asteroids

Hooray for Hayabusa: Japan’s asteroid pioneer

The team at the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency deserve congratulations for the amazing (and hopefully record-breaking) Hayabusa mission to asteroid 25143 Itokawa. Launched in 2003 (the spacecraft was called MUSES-C at launch, but was renamed in flight), this mission has battled against an extraordinary run of bad luck and technical Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 13 years ago
Stars

Following a rainbow back to the Big Bang

Here’s how rainbows are made. Some 13.7 billion years ago, a mere millionth of a second after the Big Bang, the first hydrogen and helium nuclei condensed out of a hot, dense soup of quarks and gluons. It took another 380 000 years or so for conditions in the ancient Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 13 years ago
Planets

Phobos: ESA’s daring encounters

  In March 2010 that superb but underappreciated probe Mars Express made a series of very close passes by the Martian moon Phobos. On one occasion it came as close as 107 km to the tiny world’s surface. The purpose of these encounters was to determine information on Phobos’ interior Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 13 yearsSeptember 24, 2010 ago
Planets

How Venus will kill you in less than 10 seconds

Venus was once thought to be a lush, life-bearing planet, but modern research has revealed an utterly lethal world. What perils await explorers of “Earth’s evil twin”?   Is there anyone who hasn’t admired the lovely beacon of Venus hanging bright in a cerulean sky? (So bright in fact, it Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 13 yearsSeptember 24, 2010 ago
Stars

Will a rogue star cause chaos in the Solar System?

At first glance Gliese 710 is not a very distinguished star. A K7 class orange dwarf a bit more than half as massive as the Sun, it currently lies about 63 light years from us in the constellation Serpens. It is moving fast though and that is why one reason Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 13 yearsSeptember 22, 2010 ago
Planets

Hubble sees Saturn in a new light

Saturn: the Blue Planet? The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope reveals the secrets of the giant planet. This false colour image from the Hubble Space Telescope not only shows Saturn in an unfamiliar light, but displays some of the giant planet’s features. The image was created in early 2009, when Saturn Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 13 yearsSeptember 17, 2010 ago

Posts navigation

Previous 1 2 3
Filter by category

Choose a Child Category
category
6518ac6536973
1
0
8,34,40,10,41,38,78,1535,30,39,796,1164,1860,1363,3,2489,2575
Loading....
RSS Intergalactic Craic
  • S3Ep5 - Craic with all these moons?
    Heather and her new co-host Dr Rok are back! Taking time out of their busy schedules they have recorded an episode all about the dramatic increase to the number of moons of the gas giants Jupiter and Saturn! They also delve into their own busy schedules and explain everything there is to know about AOP's […]
  • S3Ep4 - Wee Bitta Craic: Bout Ye Alice?
    This month is the final 'getting to know you' episode of Intergalactic Craic: Wee Bitta Craic. Ethan and Zuri interview Alice and ask her all about how she came to be doing her PhD at AOP. Find out this and more in this info packed episode!
  • S3Ep3 - Wee Bitta Craic: Bout Ye Ethan?
    In Wee Bitta Craic this month, Zuri and Alice ask Ethan all about his PhD and how he came to be at the Armagh Observatory and Planetarium. Find out more about his research and laugh along as the guys have some more quality craic. If you love listening to our students, then you can help […]
Welcome to Astronotes

Hello and welcome to Astronotes, the Armagh Observatory and Planetarium’s official blog. Here you will find the latest news and views from all those who work in our organisation, from the fascinating worlds of astronomy and space exploration. We hope you will come here to learn what is hot and exciting, profound or even weird from worlds beyond ours . So that's the introduction out of the way, now on with the Universe!

Enter the Archives!
Visit our Main Website
  • Climate
  • Cookie policy (UK)
  • Podcast
  • WebsiteNI Testing Header
Hestia | Developed by ThemeIsle
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
Cookie settingsACCEPT Reject
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT