Article by: Matthew McMahon, Museum Collections Officer Brass might not have the appeal of other rich metals, like gold or silver, but ask anyone that has spent time around an old observatory and they will tell you that brass sparkles just as bright. At the start of 2023 we Read more…
Article by: Mark Grimley Thomas Romney-Robinson was the third director of the Armagh Observatory, long before the building of the Planetarium. He was born in Dublin in 1792 and became director of the Armagh Observatory in 1823. An office that he held for almost six decades, staying in the post Read more…
Solving a 40 year cosmic mystery about interstellar gas only to uncover an even deeper one. Author: Michael Burton, Director of the Armagh Observatory and Planetarium Hydrogen molecules have been found in clouds of shocked gas in interstellar space that are at temperatures of around 5,000 degrees. This is much Read more…
Want to know more detail about the research described in this Astronotes article on ultra-hot hydrogen molecules? Here are five papers spanning more than four decades of research that helped lead to this discovery of ultra-hot molecular hydrogen: Velocity profiles in the 2.1 micron molecular hydrogen line emission line in the Orion Molecular Cloud Read more…
World renowned astronomical research centre, Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, has co-authored a research paper that announces the discovery of eight new and very hot stars with effective temperatures exceeding 100,000K. Published by the Royal Astronomical Society, the paper* is based on data gathered using the Southern African Large Telescope Read more…
Written by AOP PhD Candidate Chris Duffy Although much of the work of a modern astronomer is behind a desk number crunching and working out what our data is telling us, there are also opportunities to be involved in taking that data. At AOP we have recently joined there BlackGEM Read more…
Written by Nick Parke, Education Officer Yes, the JWST is now in space! You may be pinching yourself to be sure the images we are seeing from the James Webb Space Telescope are actually real – don’t worry, they are! After this 30 year long wait though, your disbelief is Read more…
Written by Collections Officer, Matthew McMahon Armagh Observatory is no stranger to the amateur astronomer, and its history has been shaped, and preserved by numerous amateurs over the years such as Rev. Ellison, Patrick Corvan and many others. Today we are commemorating another amateur astronomer, who passed away eighty years Read more…
Article by Ed Snowdon Whether you are a researcher gathering data, or a hobbyist taking photos from your back garden, astronomy has always required a certain amount of good luck. Instruments can be uncooperative, data can be lost or damaged, and of course there’s the ever-present threat of bad weather. Read more…
Ask any number of astronomers who they believe to be the most influential figures in 20th century astronomy and chances are you will hear the name of Vera Rubin being uttered a few times. Recipient of numerous awards and accolades including the Royal Astronomical Society’s Gold Medal, Vera Rubin (nee Read more…