By Prof. Simon Jeffery Enter the name ‘PHL 417’ in the public database which tells you nearly everything known about nearly every star in the sky, and you will find an almost blank entry. It is enigmatically identified as a ‘Blue object’ of the 17th magnitude, or about 200,000 times fainter than the faintest stars visible Read more…
Armagh Observatory & Planetarium to host out of this world outdoor illuminations Space Lights will be a new spectacular light trail show within the grounds of the Observatory and Planetarium running from Wednesday 16 until Wednesday 23 December. The immersive Read more…
Another month, another lockdown. We have one very good outdoor socially distanced activity that everyone can do – stargazing! November does have a few meteor showers and interesting objects to see, so why not give it a go this month? Read more…
Sunniest October at Armagh for 12 years, slightly wetter than average, roughly average temperature. Armagh Observatory reports that October 2020 was much sunnier than average, slightly wetter and with roughly average temperature. This was the sunniest October at Armagh for Read more…
by Apostolos Christou An international team of planetary scientists led by astronomers at AOP have found an asteroid trailing behind Mars with a composition very similar to the Moon’s. The asteroid could be an ancient piece of debris, dating back Read more…
The presence of water on the Moon has long been suspected, although not in liquid or vapour form but as ice hiding deep in permanently shadowed craters found in the polar regions of the Moon. The NASA LCROSS and LRO space mission already confirmed the presence Read more…
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 Read more…
by Galin Borisov and Apostolos Christou This September, we had the first opportunity to make astronomical observations while physically present at the telescope since the start of the COVID19 pandemic. Our instrument of choice was the 2-m RCC telescope at Rozhen Observatory on the Rhodope mountains in SW Bulgaria. So here we are at 1700m above sea level with a Read more…
By Dr Marc Sarzi, Head of Research After the first image of a supermassive black hole more than 60 million light years away from the Earth1 amazed the whole World last year, black holes are back on the news this week following the award of the 2020 Nobel prize in physics Read more…
Mild, dry September and sunnier than average. Armagh Observatory reports that September 2020 was warmer and drier than average and with slightly more than average sunshine. This was the sunniest September at Armagh for five years. The mean temperature was Read more…