May
May Night Sky Wonders
In our latest night sky guide we look at the stars of late spring and early summer and ponder just what does the brightness of a star really mean. We are now well into the merry month of May and Read more…
Concept Spacecraft
10 Space Shuttles which never flew
NASA’s Space Shuttles have become a familar sight in their thirty years of service, but there have been other shuttle designs which never left the ground.Some were ingenious alternative concepts to the vehicle which is shortly to be retired, some Read more…
Armagh Planetarium
Carnival of Space: Blogs you can’t afford to miss!
Carnival of Space is the regular collection of the best blogs on space and astronomy. If want to know more, come to the Carnival! Every week, a different site or blog plays hosts the Carnival and shows off the latest Read more…
Science Fiction
The Science of Green Lantern
Green Lantern has for decades guarded Earth and beyond from evil in the pages of comic books but the cosmic superhero is about to face his greatest challenge: can he make it on the big screen? Tracy McConnell reports on Read more…
Nebulae
Image of the Month: A psychedelic portrait of the Lagoon Nebula
Lying more than 4000 light years from our Solar System, the Lagoon Nebula (M8) is a place where new stars are forming. Researchers at the multinational Gemini South telescope are uncovering its secrets. This dazzling portrait of a section of Read more…
Human Exploration
Alan Shepard: First American in Space
The first American in space, Alan Shepard, made his historic flight fifty years ago. Part of Project Mercury, the flight of Freedom 7 followed mere weeks after Yuri Gagarin’s pioneering spaceflight. The Space Race was underway! “Why don’t you fix Read more…
Other Galaxies
Image of the Month: War of the Galaxies!
An image from the European Southern Observatory, reveals two galaxies, NGC 3169 and NGC 3166, meeting in intergalactic space. What kind of cosmic drama ensues in these close encounters of galaxies? Once the Universe was a quiet and peaceful place. Read more…
Nebulae
NGC 6302: A vast cosmic butterfly
NGC 6302 is a beautiful example of a planetary nebula formed when a bloated red giant star transformed into a tiny white dwarf, belching about half its mass into space in the process. This dramatic image looks like some vast Read more…
Human Exploration
Vostok 1: Secrets of the first spaceflight
Yuri Gagarin made history fifty years ago, in the midst of the Cold War, the USSR succeeded in putting him in space. Aspects of his mission were kept secret at the time, but Martina Redpath has pushed aside the veil Read more…
Human Exploration
Yuri Gagarin: First Man in Space
Yuri Gagarin, Soviet cosmonaut, paved the way for space exploration and truly went where no man had been before. He was the first human in space, Sinead McNicholl tells his story. Gagarin’s triumphant 108 minute flight into space is one Read more…
Human Exploration
Space Shuttle: A thirty year history of tragedy and triumph
This year will see both the end of space flights by NASA’s Shuttle fleet and the thirtieth anniversary of the first orbital mission by this historic spacecraft. Our coverage of these milestones begins with an overview of the project’s chequered Read more…
April
Wonders of the April night sky
The April night sky is full of treats for the stargazer. In the 100th post of the Astronotes blog, Mary Bulman explains what you will be able to see. Stargazing is an amazing hobby. While you may use a telescope Read more…
Rockets
X-37: Secrets of the Pentagon’s spaceship
X-37: a spaceplane developed in secret for classified missions in Earth orbit. It sounds like something from a Cold War techno-thriller novel but the United States Air force’s X-37B is a real project and it is flying today. Tracy McConnell Read more…
Universe
7 Must See Wonders of the Universe
Professor Brian Cox has been back on our screens this month in his latest BBC2 series Wonders of the Universe. Over the past few weeks, the Prof has guided us through the Universe as we’ve never seen it before! Our Read more…
The Future
3 reasons why astronomy should give you nightmares
There are cosmic threats to life on Earth.Hiding in the depths of space are things lethal beyond imagining.One day the End will be nigh for real.A forthcoming conference, part of the Edinburgh Science Festival, will discuss how the Universe could Read more…
UFOs and Fringe Science
Revealed: 5 secret solutions to the UFO mystery
“I was looking into the sky and I’ve seen something strange …what was it?” Around the world observatories, planetariums and science museums, regularly encounter questions like this. Most often these UFOs turn out to be not as mysterious or alien Read more…
Alien Life
What if we picked up a signal from outer space?
“The Day the Earth Stood Still”, “Contact”, “2001: A Space Odyssey” and many other movies have depicted the first contact between humans and aliens. Do scientists really listen for messages from extraterrestrials? Are they prepared if they ever do pick Read more…
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 Read more…
March
The March Night Sky: Celestial Dreamings
What can you see in the March 2011 night sky? Mary Bulman has the answers, beginning with a tale from the folklore of Australia’s Aboriginal people. Did you ever look up at the sky on a clear starry night and Read more…
Concept Spacecraft
Clipperships of the Cosmos: Solar Sails Move from Theory to Fact
One day vast solar sails pushed along by rays of sunlight may carry payloads between the planets. Tracy McConnell explains how this romantic vision is slowly becoming a fact. The concept of sailing gracefully through the stars is a provocative Read more…
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 Read more…
Earth Satellites
Hubble Space Telescope: Ten amazing facts you didn’t know
Gleaned from NASA and Hubblesite.org, here are some facts you may not know about the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). 1. The HST’s history is longer than you might have thought, going back to just after World War II. In Read more…
Stars
Aldebaran: Red Giant at the Eye of the Bull
To observers on Earth, the great bull of Taurus has a fiery red eye. This is Aldebaran, an old red giant star which dwarfs our Sun. Let’s have a closer look at the facts and fiction about this aging star. Read more…
Armagh Planetarium
Cosmic Cuilcagh: a not to be missed out of this world event!
Cosmic Cuilagh is an exciting weekend of free astronomical events coming in 12-13 March 2011 at Fermanagh’s Marble Arch Caves Geopark. Sinead McNicholl has the details. The Marble Arch Caves Geopark, located in the rugged mountainous uplands and gently rolling Read more…
Rockets
Image of the Month: the view from the top!
Europe’s ATV spacecraft has a vital role in maintaining and supplying the International Space Station, recently astronaut Paolo Nespoli and his crewmates had a unique view of this high-tech cargo vehicle. Another shot of the Earth from space, you may Read more…
Colin Johnston
Are you an astronomer? Seven telltale signs!
Could you or someone you love actually be an astronomer? There are tell-tale warning signs, try our exciting quiz to discover if you are one of these creatures of the night! Amateur Astronomy is a fascinating and rewarding hobby, enjoyed Read more…
Science Fiction
Apollo 18: the truth about the lost Moon missions
Apollo 18 is a SF/Horror movie presented as newly-found film footage taken by the fictional crew of a lost 1970s lunar landing mission. The Apollo 18 film uses real NASA movie footage from the Moon (some of it doctored with Read more…
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 Read more…
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 Read more…
Other Galaxies
Image of the Month: Baby stars of NGC 2841
NGC 2841 is a rather beautiful flocculent spiral galaxy. The Hubble Space Telescope recently imaged NGC 2841 as part of an investigation into how new stars are created. How do stars form? It is a question which intrigues astronomers and Read more…
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? Read more…
February
Wonders of the February Night Sky
The long dark nights continue through February, but this does give us a chance to see some interesting objects in our night sky. This month features several planets. Sinead McNicholl has the details. The planet Jupiter is still visible and Read more…
Exoplanets
Kepler-11: a strange and crowded planetary system
Kepler-11 is an amazing, newly-discovered system of exoplanets. About 2000 light years from Earth, six planets orbit a star like our Sun. Each planet is bigger and more massive than the Earth. This whole planetary system is squeezed into a Read more…
Human Exploration
Apollo 14: Alan Shepard’s fight for the Moon
Forty years ago, NASA’s Apollo 14 mission landed the fifth and sixth men on the Moon. Apollo 14 was a triumph for one man in particular. Alan Shepard fought debilitating illness for the chance to walk on another world. Read more…
Colin Johnston
Remembering Challenger: the end of innocence
An older generation will never forget where they were when they heard the news of President Kennedy’s murder Alas, I have three such memories. The 2001 terror attacks in the US, the destruction of Columbia and its crew in 2003 Read more…
Human Exploration
Challenger remembered: An irony of history
Today is the anniversary of the deaths of the crew of the shuttle Challenger in 1986. The tragedy was of course recognised world-wide and letters of sympathy flooded in to NASA and the White House. Historian Dwayne Day located a Read more…
Stars
Will Betelgeuse bring doom in 2012?
The giant star Betelgeuse will soon perish in a titanic explosion. Could this happen in the mythical “doomsday” year of 2012? Could dying Betelgeuse take us with it? “Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice!” was the chant which summoned the obnoxious ghost played Read more…
Exoplanets
“An unnatural interest in astronomy”
Don Pollacco, a research astronomer at Queens University Belfast, came to Armagh Planetarium to give a fascinating talk on exoplanets in January 2011. Afterwards Dr Pollaco kindly chatted to me about his experiences. CJ: Thanks for a really interesting talk. Read more…
Robot Exploration
Unique Martian Sky Crane Tested
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is to use a unique system called a “sky crane” to touch down next year on the Red Planet. Engineers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory have just released a video of this previously untried mechanism under Read more…
Other Galaxies
Image of the Month: Andromeda through different eyes
Our Image of the Month is a radically different view of the great spiral galaxy in Andromeda from the European Space Agency. Tracy McConnell explains how it was made and describes the stellar cataclysms it reveals. The inspiration here came Read more…
Armagh Planetarium
Armagh Planetarium Blasts off for a Year of Stargazing
Armagh Planetarium kicked off 2011 in style with some amazing astronomy-based events in association with the BBC. Sinead McNicholl has a personal report of our part in the exciting Stargazing Live project. BBC Stargazing Live was a three day live Read more…
The Future
2011’s Space Odysseys
2011 will be a year of exciting and historic upcoming events in space exploration. It is is also a significant anniversary year of some triumphs and tragedies in space history. Here’s a look at what lies in store. This year Read more…
Exoplanets
Kepler-10b: world of lava oceans?
NASA’s amazing Kepler planet-searching spacecraft has made a significant new discovery. Planet Kepler-10b is an inhospitable world but it is one of the smallest confirmed exoplanets yet found and may be the most Earth-like world discovered so far. The Read more…
January
Orion, mighty hunter of the winter sky
Orion the Hunter is the easiest to recognise constellation in the skies of the Northern Hemisphere. Big, and full of bright stars and interesting objects, Orion is a favourite amongst stargazers. Best of all, Orion is one of the tiny Read more…
Other Galaxies
The Hubble bubble?
The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope continues to produce stunning images. Let’s examine a particularly pretty recent treat, revealing the aftermath of a cosmic disaster. Like so many beautiful astronomical sights, the delicate sphere in this delightful image is the remains Read more…
Armagh Planetarium
BBC Stargazing Live at Armagh Planetarium
In this first week of 2011, BBC Two is presenting three nights of extraordinary astronomical events and the team at Armagh Planetarium is joining in the fun with our own exciting contributions. Here is what is in store for the Read more…
Human Exploration
Apollo 8’s Christmas space odyssey
Christmas 1968 saw three men from Earth make a remarkable and unprecedented voyage of exploration. A dramatic and hurriedly planned mission gave the crew the first human view of the Moon’s farside and the whole human race saw our homeplanet Read more…
Human Exploration
Christmas is cancelled for Shuttle Discovery
This year we could have witnessed a Christmas-time shuttle flight as November’s STS-133 mission had been re-scheduled to 17 December, but once again Discovery’s final flight has been postponed, this time to February. Sinead McNicholl has the details. Originally Discovery Read more…
Human Exploration
Christmas Day in Space
While you are opening your presents under the Christmas tree, singing some Christmas carols or sitting down to tuck into your turkey dinner on 25 December, spare a thought for a few people above you! Yes, indeed, there will be Read more…
December
Wonders of the December Sky
The long and dark nights of December feature some spectacular and easy to spot treats for the stargazer. In our regular guide to the night sky, Martina Redpath tells us all about the celestial wonders of December 2010’s night sky. Read more…
Armagh Planetarium
Seven Amazing Astronomical Gifts for Christmas
It’s that crazy time of year again, with dark nights, frosty roads, and late night shopping, to accommodate our frantic Christmas shopping sprees. So for anyone stumped for what to get that amateur astronomer or sci-fi fan friend or loved Read more…
Armagh Planetarium
Carnival of Space 180: the greatest space blogs in the Universe
To get the latest on space and astronomy go to Carnival of Space. Every week, the host website introduces the latest and most exciting articles written about stars, planets and space exploration. This week’s Carnival is presented by the cute Read more…
Stars
Red dwarfs: The most important stars in the Universe
The smallest stars in the galaxy are the red dwarfs. Recent research suggests they are more common than previously suspected. Tiny, cool and dim compared to the Sun, they may seem unimportant. But consider this: red dwarfs not only outnumber Read more…
Armagh Planetarium
Carnival of Space No 179: Space blogs you can’t afford to miss!
Carnival of Space, the regular and vital guide to space and astronomy blogs is hosted by a different site every week. If you’re interested in everything beyond the Earth’s atmosphere, you can’t afford to miss it! This week the Carnival Read more…
Exoplanets
Exoplanet HAT-P-1b: weird, warm and fuzzy
The extra-solar planet HAT-P-1b has baffled astronomers since it was discovered in 2006. The planet is puffed up much larger than theory predicts. HAT-P-1 has a volume nearly twice than of Jupiter’s yet it contains only half Jupiter’s mass. Read more…
Milky Way
Cepheids: Inconstant Stars which break the rules
Cepheid variables are massive, pulsating stars, valued by astronomers for the precise link between their brightness and steady pulsation. Let’s look at the history of Cepheid variables and how recent discoveries about these stars shatter established theories of stellar evolution. Read more…
Armagh Planetarium
Carnival of Space No 178: a galaxy of space blogs
Carnival of Space is a great resource for finding what’s hot in space and astronomy. Each week, a different blogger plays host to the carnival, introducing the latest articles written about stars, planets and space exploration. This week’s Carnival is Read more…
Exoplanets
ESO finds weird doomed planet from another galaxy
Could HIP 13044 b be the strangest exoplanet yet found? We are getting used to the discoveries of bizarre exoplanets but newly-discovered world HIP 13044 b not only survived the cataclysm of its star swelling into a red giant, but Read more…
Milky Way
Hubble Space Telescope sees into the future
Using the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have been looking ten thousand years into the future of the vast globular cluster Omega Centauri. Nearly 16 000 light years from Earth, Omega Centauri is a vast globular cluster of several million stars. Read more…
Science Fiction
Battle LA: More dodgy alien invaders
Already Hollywood is planning next year’s marketing offensive on our wallets. One planned blockbuster for summer 2011 is Battle:LA in which extraterrestrial invaders spread alarm and dismay in southern California. But is the motivation of the movie’s aliens astronomically dubious? Read more…
Armagh Planetarium
Spacebrains: test your space and astronomy knowledge!
Spacebrains is our new and incredibly addictive astronomy quiz app for iPads/Pods/Phones. What is more, it’s completely free from the iTunes Store! It’s strange how you wait years for an exciting free astronomy app for your iPod/Pad/Phone from Armagh Planetarium Read more…
November
The Leonid meteors and other highlights of the November night sky
The darker evenings of November offer some thrilling sights to stargazers including the Leonid meteor shower. Martina Redpath has the details on what you can see in the November skies. As we get closer to the end of the year Read more…
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 Read more…
Armagh Planetarium
Pocket Sky App: Armagh Planetarium made portable!
Armagh Planetarium has launched ‘Pocket Sky’, a new app for iPhone, iPad and iPodTouch available for free from the iTunes store. This app is a result of collaboration between Dr. Tom Mason, Director of Armagh Planetarium and Mr John Kennedy Read more…
Science Fiction
HP Lovecraft: The man who saw horror in the cosmos
As it’s Halloween, we examine the life and works of HP Lovecraft, author of horror classics including The Call of Cthulhu and The Shadow over Innsmouth. How did his lifelong interest in astronomy influence his work? Howard Phillips Lovecraft (1890-1937) Read more…
Other Galaxies
Spiral galaxies in a glorious new gallery from the Very Large Telescope
The European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope brings us new face-on portraits of six spiral galaxies. But what is the science behind these delightful images? Everyone loves stunning pictures of spiral galaxies, I have said this before and will Read more…
Armagh Planetarium
Carnival of Space No 174: more unmissable space blogs
There is a new Carnival of Space ready to dazzle you with wonderful space and astronomy blogs from the furthest reaches of the World Wide Web. This week the Carnival is hosted by David Portree at his ever-fascinating Beyond Apollo Read more…
Other Galaxies
Another galaxy, far, far away seen by HST and ESO
Galaxies, distant from us in space and time, have been in the news recently. Astronomers knew that far away galaxies (and hence ancient galaxies)were smaller than those galaxies closer (in time and space) to us today in the Milky Way. Read more…
Concept Spacecraft
Could we visit an asteroid in the next ten years?
It is 14 November 2019 and the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission, when humans first walked on another world, has been and gone but today a new and exciting voyage begins. A massive booster stage pushes a Read more…
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 Read more…
Armagh Planetarium
Carnival of Space No 173: space blogs not to be missed!
If you love great articles on space and astronomy you are probably already following the Carnival of Space. If you aren’t familiar with the Carnival, it’s a regular round up of links to the most exciting blog posts about outer Read more…
Rockets
Richard Branson’s SpaceShip Enterprise boldly goes
Virgin Galactic, the space tourism company founded by Richard Branson, is celebrating the first glide test of its SpaceShipTwo spaceplane this weekend. Piloted by Pete Siebold and Mike Alsbury, the VSS Enterprise was released from its WhiteKnightTwo mothership at Read more…
Monthly Sky Notes
See giant planet Jupiter tonight
Judging by all the enquiries I have received recently, many of you are seeing a bright star in the south-eastern sky. This is not a star, especially not the star of Bethlehem, rather it is the mighty planet Jupiter. As Read more…
Other Galaxies
Supernovae spotted by Irish astronomer
David Grennan, an amateur from Dublin, has thrilled astronomers with his discoveries of supernovae in distant galaxies. Here is the inside story of his admirable achievements. Astronomy is one of the few sciences where talented amateurs can make important contributions. Read more…
Nebulae
Hubble images the spectacular Lagoon Nebula
Gorgeous! Spectacular! Awesome! What else can I say about this stunning Turneresque image of the Lagoon Nebula (M8)? A typical stellar nursery, M8 lies about 4300 light years (1320 parsecs) from Earth in the constellation Sagittarius. About a hundred light Read more…
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, Read more…
Concept Spacecraft
Project Orion: the incredible nuclear spacecraft
NASA’s next manned spacecraft will be the Orion, a capsule which will be carried into space by a rocket. Weighing 25 tonnes, each Orion will carry up to six people. Accommodation on board is cosy at best, cramped at worst. Read more…
Stars
What is light?
What is light? Here’s an easy introduction to the electromagnetic spectrum all the way from radio waves to gamma rays. Before the modern era of technological astronomy, to know anything about the Universe beyond our planet we relied on light. Read more…
Cosmology
Dark matter and dark energy: the deepest mysteries in astronomy
In, say 1975, there was only one kind of ‘stuff’ in the Universe, matter made of protons and neutrons. By 1985 there was a consensus that this was not enough, the gravity of the stars in galaxies was not sufficient Read more…
Other Galaxies
Elliptical galaxies: everything you need to know
We all love bright and showy spiral galaxies! So much so, that we tend to overlook the elliptical galaxies which make up about 30% of the galaxies out there. Smaller than spiral galaxies, elliptical galaxies may be full of stellar Read more…
Nebulae
What would you see flying through a nebula?
It is difficult to look at this Hubble Space Telescope image of the nebula NGC 2467 without thinking about what it would be like to fly through it. It is easy to imagine floating through a beautiful softly glowing mist, Read more…
Other Galaxies
Why is this nebula so shocking pink?
This fluffy pink blob is the star-forming region LHA-120-N 11 in the Large Magellanic Cloud some 170 000 light years from the Sun. N 11 (occasionally called the Bean Nebula) is about 1000 light years across. Take a moment to Read more…
Stars
Hubble shows us a spectacular star cluster
Imagine that once the Sun sets, rather than a dark sky sprinkled with a few thousand dim stars, we had a sky blazing with ten thousand or so stars blazing brighter than Venus. How different would astronomy, mythology, everyday life Read more…
Robot Exploration
How you can leave your name on other worlds!
I’d like to tell you that I’m on the surface of an asteroid called Itokawa. I travelled there on a Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency mission called Hayabusa and was left behind. Yes, I’m there, millions of miles away, among the Read more…
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 Read more…
Colin Johnston
About Colin Johnston
Who am I? I’m Colin Johnston, Armagh Planetarium’s Science Education Director. How did I get here? “According to their biographies, Destiny’s favoured children usually had their lives planned out from scratch. Napoleon was figuring out how to rule France when Read more…
Armagh Planetarium
About Armagh Planetarium Astronotes
Armagh Planetarium is the oldest functioning planetarium in the UK. Sited in the historic city of Armagh, our mission is “To advance and promote the knowledge and understanding of astronomy and related sciences” and we’ve been doing this since 1968. Read more…
Concept Spacecraft
Mars by ’85? NASA’s alternative history
In the early 1960s, the sky had no limits for NASA . Planners for the agency foresaw an ever-expanding future of exploration through the Solar System. Some amazing missions were planned. Alas in August 1967, the US Congress refused to Read more…
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 Read more…
Alien Life
What would you say to an alien?
Searching for life elsewhere in the Universe is a fascinating endeavour. It is is not a recent idea either. Astronomers in the 1800s used telescopes to search for signs of life and even civilization elsewhere in the Solar System. Some Read more…
Concept Spacecraft
Rods from god: a terrifying space weapon?
“Rods from God” is the nick-name given to a hypothetical orbital weapon for bombarding targets on the Earth from space. Just how feasible is this concept? There are undeniable links between the spaceflight and military communities but apart from Read more…
Other Galaxies
Hubble sees a messy Messier
About 100 000 light years across, Messier 66 is the largest galaxy in the “Leo Triplet”, three interacting spiral galaxies about 33 million light years from us. This new Hubble Space Telescope image shows that M66 seems to have been through the mangle. Misshapen with an off-centre core, the galaxy is not a neat spiral. It has been tugged by the gravitational pulls of its neighbours’, NGC 3628 and M65, and indeed may have suffered a close encounter with NGC 3628 a billion years or so ago which ripped away hundreds of thousands of stars.
Located just under the line between Regulus and Denebola, M66 and M65 can be seen with a small telescope or 10×50 binoculars in the spring. Why not go out to see if you can find these distant islands of stars?
(What is a Messier object? You can find out in this issue of Astronotes)
Robot Exploration
Hubble’s view of the Mystic Mountain
That amazing instrument, the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), has just celebrated its twentieth anniversary since it was placed in orbit. Since then, (after a rocky start, remember that dodgy mirror?) it has revolutionised not only what we know about cosmology, Read more…
Concept Spacecraft
The amazing Aldebaran spacecraft
The late ’50s and ’60s were a different time from the anxious era that is today. Nuclear power and space travel were both cool and wonderful new technologies. The only thing that could be cooler and more wonderful would Read more…
The Future
The end of the world
On 10 March 2010, I gave a talk covering the big picture to the IAA. I dealt with huge expanses of time from the distant past to the far future. One item I skipped over was the first scientifically informed Read more…
Cosmology
Hubble throws light on dark matter
Dark matter and its part in the evolution of the Universe is revealed by new data collected by the Hubble Space Telescope. This image could be taken for a lurid TV special effect (the Lights of Zetar perhaps?) but it Read more…
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 Read more…
Human Exploration
Virgin Galactic boldly goes where no tourists have gone before
Sub-orbital space tourism took a step forward on Monday 22 March 2010 when Virgin Galactic’s first spaceplane, VSS Enterprise, took to the air for the first time. The amazing craft was carried by its equally extraordinary twin-fuselage WhiteKnightTwo mothership throughout Read more…
Alien Life
50 Years of SETI: where are the aliens?
Fifty years of SETI with radio telescopes has so far proved negative. We have found no messages of peace and goodwill, no galactic internet, no extraterrestrial propaganda or advertising. No starships full of aliens have arrived on Earth to Read more…
UFOs and Fringe Science
Moses, Joshua and the wandering planet
We all know how the Sun, our Earth and the rest of the Solar System condensed out of a vast protoplanetary disc some 4.5 billion years ago. There were some early mishaps such as the collisions which birthed the Moon, Read more…