Continuing our weekly instalments outlining astronomy’s impact on your everyday life, we have an article by Jan Mathijs van der Hulst. Thijs is an astronomer, Professor of Radio Astronomy at the University of Groningen, and member of the IAU’s Division B steering committee. Below he outlines how time keeping owes Read more…
Apollo 10 was the mission that almost made it to the Moon. Designed as the full dress rehearsal for Apollo 11, the lunar module “Snoopy” approached to just under 15 km from the Moon’s surface with astronauts Thomas Stafford and Eugene Cernan aboard. It was May 22, 1969 – 50 Read more…
Continuing our weekly series on the application of astronomy to technology, we have an piece written by Dmitrij Bisikalo; Professor at The Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Astronomy and the President of the International Astronomical Union’s Commission B1 on Computational Astrophysics. In this piece, he outlines the link between Read more…
As part of Museum Week 2019, some of the staff from Armagh Observatory and Planetarium have written a few words about which women in STEM inspire them particularly. Katherine Johnson by Helen McLoughlin With the excitement surrounding the 50th Anniversary of the first ever moon landing in 1969, I wanted Read more…
This week’s instalment of the Technical Applications of Astronomy to Society features a piece written by Professor Antonio Mario Magalhaes; astronomer, IAU member and Full Professor at the Instituto de Astronomia, Geofisica e Ciencias Atmosfericas of the University of São Paulo in Brazil. In this piece, he outlines the wider Read more…
To kick off our new weekly series on the Technical Applications of Astronomy to Society, inspired by a recent publication of the IAU (The International Astronomical Union), our Director Michael Burton has written a brief summary of the history and purpose of the IAU, as well as outlining some of Read more…
While you may be familiar with black holes from sci-fi and many artists’ renditions of the phenomenon, our first actual view of the event horizon of the supermassive black hole which is at the centre of a neighbouring galaxy, Messier 87, was released 4 weeks ago to the day. What Read more…
In celebration of the 50th Anniversary of The Bovedy Meteorite falling in Northern Ireland on Friday 25th April 1969, Artist Noel Connor has compiled some thoughts and reflections on his experience with Bovedy. The sky always seemed low over our street in Andersonstown, with the Black Mountain looming behind the Read more…
To celebrate the 50th Anniversary of The Bovedy Meteorite falling in Northern Ireland, some of The Education Team at Armagh Observatory and Planetarium have written pieces about their favourite meteorites and craters from across the globe. The Mysterious Mbozi by Helen McLoughlin The Mbozi meteorite is the eighth largest meteorite Read more…
Looking up at the wonders of the night sky is an amazing pastime, and whether you use a telescope or binoculars all you really need is the naked eye, but remember to give your eyes at least 20 minutes to adapt to the dark to ensure that you can see Read more…