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Robot Exploration

Latest News

Public Names ‘Moonikin’ Flying Around Moon on NASA’s Artemis I Mission

“Commander Moonikin Campos” is the official name of the manikin launching on Artemis I, NASA’s uncrewed flight test of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft around the Moon later this year. The Moonikin received its name as the result of a competitive bracket contest honoring NASA figures, programs, or astronomical Read more…

By Sinead Mackle, 6 months ago
Solar System

The Geminid meteor shower: Tears of the Sun God

The month of December offers us the most intense meteor shower of the year. These are the Geminids, so-called because they appear to emanate from the constellation of Gemini the Twins. At the peak of the shower, over 120 meteors – two meteors every minute – can be spotted under Read more…

By Apostolos Christou, 1 yearDecember 9, 2021 ago
Solar System

Lunokhod: The first Moon car

When Apollo 15 astronauts David Scott and Jim Irwin touched down near the lunar Appenine mountains in the summer of 1971, they brought along a rover to aid them in their exploits. The use of this Lunar Roving Vehicle – or LRV as it was called – was the first Read more…

By Apostolos Christou, 1 yearAugust 2, 2021 ago
Solar System

MULTI-MOON SUMMER MADNESS

How many moons can you see with the naked eye? The answer may surprise you.. Of the hundreds of moons orbiting the planets of our solar system, all but four are too faint to see with the naked eye. One of the four is, of course, Earth’s own Moon. The Read more…

By Apostolos Christou, 2 yearsJune 11, 2021 ago
Latest News

Mars, Perseverance, and Ingenuity

The planet Mars has been shining brightly in the night sky for the better part of a year now, and a number of spacecraft have been speeding towards it most of that time. Among them, Mars 2020 mission, with plans to land the Perseverance rover on the Red Planet on 18th February 2021 shortly before 9pm GMT. Mars remains clearly Read more…

By Rok Nezic, 2 yearsFebruary 18, 2021 ago
Earth Satellites

5 Satellites You Should Know About

Juno NASA’s Juno Spacecraft launched from Cape Canaveral August 5th 2011, beginning its long journey to the mighty gas giant Jupiter with the aim to reveal and understand the formation and evolution of the planet. Juno was equipped with many scientific instruments to investigate the existence of a rocky inner Read more…

By Ria Mee, 2 yearsOctober 9, 2020 ago
Solar System

Fifty years of robotic sample return

When the first astronauts came back from the Moon more than half a century ago, they brought back a scientific treasure trove of soil and rock samples. These were – and still are – intensely scrutinised in laboratories all over the world, allowing scientists to gradually piece together the history Read more…

By Apostolos Christou, 2 yearsSeptember 21, 2020 ago
Human Exploration

The scudding clouds of Mars

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…

By Apostolos Christou, 2 yearsAugust 18, 2020 ago
Solar System

The 2020 international Mars flotilla: three countries, two rovers and a helicopter

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…

By Apostolos Christou, 3 yearsJuly 14, 2020 ago
Planets

Venus and the cup anemometer

When Thomas Romney Robinson, director of the Armagh Observatory, invented the cup anemometer in 1846, little did he know that one day his invention would be recording the alien breeze on the surface of another world. Fast forward 130 years: On 20 October 1975, a small capsule detached from the Read more…

By Apostolos Christou, 3 yearsJune 4, 2020 ago

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RSS Intergalactic Craic
  • S3Ep1 - Wee Bitta Craic: Welcome Ethan, Alice and Zuri!
    Want a Wee Bitta Craic? Then say hello to some of our PhD students, Ethan, Alice and Zuri. They will be hosting their own Wee Bitta Craic episodes and will give you an insight into the life of a PhD students here at AOP!
  • Season 3 - What's the craic?
    What's the Craic? Intergalactic Craic is back and it's shaking things up! Join Heather and her brand new co-host to find out more!
  • Space is Cloudy, Who Knew? Featuring Kerem Çubuk
    This week Heather and Courtney interview Armagh Observatory PhD Candidate Kerem Çubuk on his area of research - molecular clouds! Turns out we can't escape the cloudy conditions, even millions of lightyears away.  Kerem and his colleagues also have a Youtube Channel dedicated to science communication in Turkish. To find out more, visit ahtapot.club 
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!

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