Armagh Planetarium Marks 100 Years of Planetaria with New Global Publication and Free Dome Shows

Armagh Observatory and Planetarium (AOP) is celebrating a major milestone in the history of astronomy and science education with the launch of a new international publication:100 Years of Planetaria: 100 Stories of People, Places, and Devices, co-edited by AOP’s own Matthew McMahon. Published by Springer Praxis, the book honours the Read more

April 2024 Weather Round-Up

APRIL WARMER, WETTER, AND DULLER THAN AVERAGE Armagh Observatory, 3rd May 2024: Armagh Observatory reports that April 2024 at Armagh was warmer, wetter, and duller than average. The mean temperature, approximately 9.2 degrees Celsius, was 1.3 C warmer than the 225-year long-term (1796–2020) April average at Armagh (7.92 C), and Read more

November Night Sky

Days are getting shorter Nights are getting colder If these shifts you savour You’re a true stargazer     I am writing this piece sitting next to a window, having a cup of coffee, and watching it pouring down outside. Not the best day for stargazing, however, it is a good Read more

ARMAGH OBSERVATORY AND PLANETARIUM SPEARHEADS GROUNDBREAKING STUDY OF MASSIVE STARS

An international collaboration of astronomers led by Armagh Observatory and Planetarium has launched a groundbreaking study into the most massive stars in our local dwarf galaxies, the Small and Large Magellanic Clouds. Led by the organisation’s Professor Jorick Vink, the XShootU consortium collaborated with the Space Telescope Science Institute to Read more

ARMAGH OBSERVATORY AND PLANETARIUM CELEBRATES AS ASTEROIDS ARE NAMED AFTER ASTRONOMERS

Leading astronomical research and education centre, Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, has announced that two of its Visiting Astronomers, Aswin Sekhar and Galin Borisov, have had asteroids named after them by the International Astronomical Union on June 21st. The honours were bestowed during the Asteroids, Comets, Meteors Conference 2023, which was Read more

May 2021 Weather in Armagh

WETTEST MAY FOR 18 YEARS, COLDEST FOR SIX YEARS, SUNNIER THAN AVERAGE.  SPRING 2021 SUNNIER AND COOLER THAN AVERAGE WITH ABOUT AVERAGE RAINFALL Armagh Observatory reports that May 2021 was wetter, colder and sunnier than average.  Taking March, April and May together, the meteorological spring was sunnier and cooler than average, with a little less Read more

How to name an Asteroid

The first asteroids discovered in the early 1800’s were named after Roman and Greek mythological figures like Ceres, Pallas, and Vesta. Today, most asteroids are named after people, both real and fictional, places, animals, plants, and other natural phenomena. The discoverers of asteroids are responsible for proposing the name however Read more