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comets

Latest News

Armagh astronomers lead international team on ground-breaking research

Scientists track comet which has been in orbit for millions of years in another solar system An international team of scientists led by Armagh Observatory and Planetarium astronomer, Dr Stefano Bagnulo has conducted ground-breaking research on a comet which has been in orbit for millions of years in another solar Read more…

By Sinead Mackle, 2 yearsMarch 30, 2021 ago
Latest News

Mars plays shepherd to our Moon’s long-lost twin, AOP scientists find

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 to the gigantic impacts that formed the Moon and the Read more…

By Apostolos Christou, 3 yearsNovember 3, 2020 ago
Solar System

What are Small Solar System Orbiters?

Article written by: Ciara, from Ciara’s Journey Blog It’s an umbrella term for Comets, Asteroids, Meteoroids, Meteors, Meteorites and Bolides.  It’s anything that is in our Solar System and that isn’t a planet or a satellite! In this blog post I have explored what each of these things are – Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 3 yearsFebruary 7, 2020 ago
Solar System

Gault – the amazing disintegrating asteroid

Article by Armagh Astronomer Tolis Christou Imagine being outdoors on a sunny day, following the Sun as it rises from the east, heading towards the south and then on towards the west where it sets. Now think back: when did you feel the hottest: when the Sun was highest in Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 4 yearsMarch 29, 2019 ago
Solar System

Comets 101 – What you need to know!

In a nutshell, comets are small bodies of ice and dust in orbit around the Sun. When they pass near the sun, they start to vaporize creating long tails of dust and gas. Even this small amount of information makes us ask so many questions about these members of our solar system.

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 4 yearsFebruary 1, 2019 ago
Monthly Sky Notes

What’s up in the Sky this September

This September is a relatively uneventful month (astronomy-wise). Few visible planets, quiet Sun and overall a very poor month for meteor showers.

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 5 years ago
Human Exploration

10 things we used to believe about Space

Space is forever changing. Here is a list of 10 things we used to believe about Space.

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 5 yearsSeptember 3, 2018 ago
Armagh Planetarium

What’s up in the sky this August

It’s the beginning of a new month, filled with new exciting events in the night sky. Here is a brief summary of what to expect in the next few weeks.

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 5 yearsAugust 1, 2018 ago
Solar System

Comet Watch – Work experience students spy on comets using GOTO

Article Written by Gavin Ramsay Comets have been known for millennia with Halley’s Comet famously being shown in the Bayeux Tapestry illustrating events which took place in 1066. They were also thought to foretell catastrophic events. Today we know them as having a small nucleus made up of ice and Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 5 yearsFebruary 20, 2018 ago
Solar System

Planetary Exploration in 2018

Since the beginning of the space age, humanity has been sending robotic emissaries to all corners of the solar system. These represent some of the most complex technological undertakings ever conceived. Travelling for years and even decades to their destinations, they have helped form a modern picture of the solar Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 5 yearsJanuary 19, 2018 ago
Solar System

The Curious Comet 96P/Machholz

Comets are small icy and rocky objects flying around our Solar System on elliptical orbits, as opposed to near-circular ones the planets are enjoying. They are strange and fantastic enough as it is: bright comets with their tails spanning across the sky have been marvelled at, recorded, and often feared Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 6 yearsDecember 1, 2017 ago
Stars

Faulkes Telescope Project Converted Northern Irish School Students Into Astronomy Stars

During our school days, children in the developing and developed world could not even dream about getting a chance to look through a professional telescope; forget about playing with it for real observations! Those days, only the best professional astronomers/astrophysicists had access to such telescopic sites and networks. However one Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 6 years ago
January

The January 2016 Night Sky

Happy New Year! Welcome to January 2016, and if you haven’t made a New Year’s resolution yet (or you have made one but want to sneakily change it,) why not challenge yourself to star gaze this year. Star gazing is a brilliant past time and is a wonderful activity that Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 7 yearsJanuary 7, 2016 ago
Comets and Asteroids

The Truth About the “September 2015 Asteroid Impact”

Maybe you have seen one of the alarming videos or emails circulating around the internet claiming that the End is Nigh. The claim is that an enormous dinosaur-killer of an asteroid is going to smash into the Earth sometime between 15-28 September 2015. The scary predictions say that the asteroid Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 8 yearsJune 29, 2015 ago
May

Stargazing in May

If you missed the Lyrids meteor shower in April, starting of May you had another chance to see some shooting stars as the Eta Aquarids meteor shower peaks on the 5th of May into the morning of the 6th. The Eta Aquarids run annually from 19 April until 18 May Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 8 yearsMay 20, 2015 ago
Comets and Asteroids

10 Lessons From ESA’s Comet Mission

In November 2014, the European Space Agency’s washing-machine-sized investigation and analysis lander lab Philae, did something that no other automated probe had ever done before, it successfully landed on a comet. But apart from this monumental achievement what has the lander probe and its Rosetta mothership so far learned about Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 8 yearsApril 10, 2015 ago
February

Stargazing in February

The shortest month of the year holds a lot of promise when it comes to the nights sky and whether you are making plans for Valentine’s Day or still wondering how we have reached February already, it is worth pencilling in a few nights for stargazing this month.     Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 8 years ago
Comets and Asteroids

Comet Lovejoy is on the Way

Comet C/2014 Q2 (Lovejoy) was discovered in August 2014. Observers in the southern Hemisphere could see it throughout the last quarter of 2014. By December 2014 the comet could be seen in binoculars or a small telescope as a faint blob with a fainter still.   The comet spent the Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 8 yearsDecember 23, 2014 ago
Comets and Asteroids

Rosetta: Exploring a Comet

On 2March 2004 the European Space Agency (ESA) launched an ambitious and exciting robotic explorer into space, and you probably have heard its quite pretty name mentioned a lot lately. It is the trailblazing Rosetta spacecraft and it has been given a task that has seen many before attempt and Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 9 yearsOctober 30, 2014 ago
Comets and Asteroids

VP113 Comes Out of the Darkness

One of the latest members of the Solar System to be discovered, 2012 VP113 is a tiny isolated world in the outer Solar System. It’s attracting attention as it could one day help lead astronomers to discover a whole new planet.   Flying outward from the Sun, away from the Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 9 yearsApril 2, 2014 ago
Comets and Asteroids

Rings Around an Asteroid

Asteroids, chunks of rock and metal orbiting the Sun, were once considered “vermin of the skies” by astronomers. This disparaging  term originated when a long-exposure image of a deep sky object on a glass plate was ruined by the trail of a distant asteroid moving across the sky. Yet today Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 9 yearsMarch 28, 2014 ago
Comets and Asteroids

8 Things you need to know about Comet Siding Spring

With the let-down of the much anticipated Comet ISON you could be feeling that you have had your quota of comets for a while, but within one year of comet ISON’s sad demise, we are to be visited by another comet, Comet Siding Spring. Unlike ISON it has not been Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 9 yearsMarch 21, 2014 ago
Robot Exploration

Rosetta: ESA’s Comet Explorer

Comets are frozen lumps of ice (often called volatiles) and rock that come from distant parts of our Solar System. As they move closer and around the Sun, the frozen materials start to melt and this causes a tail to form.  The spectacular sight of a visible comet without the Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 9 yearsFebruary 11, 2014 ago
The Future

2014′s Space Odysseys

The year 2014 could see the first 3D printer brought into space, the first fare-paying passengers leave Planet Earth on the Virgin Galactic and the first test mission of a new vehicle called Orion that might one day take humans to Mars. Exciting stuff, bring on 2014! But what else Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 9 yearsJanuary 8, 2014 ago
Monthly Sky Notes

October Night Wonders

“Double Hubble toil and trouble…”  -While some stargazers will recognise the slight liberty taken with the witches’ famous words  in Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’, more than a double take of Hubble telescope images should help us decorate our night sky for the month that hosts Hallowe’en.   Perhaps the most interesting direction Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 10 yearsOctober 4, 2013 ago
Monthly Sky Notes

September Night Sky Wonders

Although the back-to-school month may see many of us locked away in ‘darkened rooms’ on more than one occasion, where curtains are left open we may just find our rooms once again graced with a little starlight. With her bold letter-‘W’-like form grabbing your attention from high in the night Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 10 yearsSeptember 9, 2013 ago
Comets and Asteroids

Where Is Comet ISON In The Sky?

By now interest in Comet C/2012 S1 (Comet ISON) is building. This could be the most dramatic comet in years. Where should we look for this oncoming interloper from deep space? This was a monthly guide aimed at observers in the UK and Ireland to help you find it. As Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 10 yearsJuly 22, 2013 ago
Comets and Asteroids

Comet ISON Puts on a Show for Hubble: Image of the Month

Comet ISON may be the greatest comet of this century as it skims through the atmosphere of the Sun this autumn.  The Hubble Space Telescope has just the best image yet of this emissary from the outer darkness. When the image was made, the coma, the ‘head’ of the comet, Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 10 yearsApril 25, 2013 ago
Comets and Asteroids

What Killed the Dinosaurs?

In February 2013, the asteroid 2012 DA14 flew past the Earth closer than many of the Earth’s geo-stationary satellites. Although not visible to the naked eye many telescopes were fixed towards the skies in a hope of catching a glimpse of this celestial fly-by. Many other people watched live webcasts Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 10 yearsMarch 22, 2013 ago
Comets and Asteroids

Where and When to See Comet PANSTARRS

Comet C/2011 L4 PANSTARRS has been wowing observers in the southern hemisphere recently and there have been some fantastic images taken of it. So when do we in Armagh get a chance to see this visitor from the Oort Cloud? The answer is next week!   Comet PANSTARRS reaches perihelion, Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 10 yearsMarch 6, 2013 ago
March

March Sky Wonders

The skies have been quite exciting for just the first two months of 2013, with a near earth asteroid and a crazy Russian Meteorite. Hopefully March will keep the celestial entertainment rolling with the first of 2013’s two extremely exciting comets becoming visible to us. Comets are like a young Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 10 yearsMarch 5, 2013 ago
Comets and Asteroids

10 Things You Need to Know About Comet ISON

Comet ISON is here! This new comet was in January 2013 just a dim speck in the constellation Gemini, between the stars Castor and Pollux. Astronomers could not agree if it was going to develop into the greatest astronomical spectacle in a decade or into a dim and disappointing smudge- Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 10 yearsJanuary 16, 2013 ago
The Future

2013’s Space Odysseys

This year has started off with perhaps a little more promise than the last, not only did the world not end but a new Mayan calendar has started, mysterious planet Nibiru did not crash into the Earth and nor did we get wiped out with any comets/ aliens/ or stellar Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 10 yearsJanuary 8, 2013 ago
Image of orion and taurus
Monthly Sky Notes

November Night Sky Wonders

Have you ever found yourself staring up into the sky wishing you knew the name of that odd shaped star pattern, or had an endless debate with someone about what exactly that really bright object was; a planet or a star but never went as far to find out?Well that Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 11 yearsNovember 15, 2012 ago
Comets and Asteroids

Comet ISON: The Comet of the Century?

Comet ISON is coming!This newly-discovered comet may by November 2013 be an unforgettable spectacle, dominating the night sky.The comet may be even brighter than the fondly-remembered Hale-Bopp of 1997!   C/2012 S1 (ISON) was announced on 24 September 2012.It was spotted by Vitali Nevski and Artyom Novichonok on CCD images Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 11 yearsSeptember 26, 2012 ago
image of meteor
August

Wonders of the August Sky

The summer months have been particularly uneventful, or more so the events have been hard to spot in the bright summer nights but the month of August has some amazing celestial treats in store for both the weathered and the fresh stargazer.   One of the most beautiful and mesmerizing Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 11 yearsAugust 7, 2012 ago
July

Wonders of the July Sky

With the summer well underway we can really delve into some of the summertime treats the night sky has to offer us.Although the duration of darkness in the summer nights is relatively short compared to the rest of the year there are still celestial treats to behold.There are some very Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 11 yearsJuly 23, 2012 ago
November

Wonders of the November Sky: Leonids Meteor Shower

The Leonids are one of the many annual meteor showers. The name comes from how they appear to emerge from the constellation Leo- the term for their apparent point of origin is the Radiant .The Leonids tend to be brighter than average meteors and they are also very fast by Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 12 yearsNovember 17, 2011 ago
Stars

6 Theories about the Star of Bethlehem

What was the Star of Bethlehem? Recorded only in the Gospel of Matthew, this mysterious celestial object is said to have heralded the Nativity. For millennia stargazers have wondered what it may have been.     Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 12 yearsNovember 10, 2011 ago
Image of elenin_1aug2011
Comets and Asteroids

Comet Elenin Images from STEREO-B spacecraft

The approaching Comet Elenin has triggered suspicious and fearful speculation among some observers. A contribution to this brouhaha has been the lack of images of this visitor from deep space, but at last there are images from a NASA space observatory of this oncoming comet. On 1 August 2011 Comet Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 12 yearsAugust 3, 2011 ago
August

All about the 2011 Perseids

The Perseid Meteor Shower will be at its peak on 12 and 13 August. One of the annual treats on the astronomical calendar, this display of celestial pyrotechnics thrills and amazes observers. There are several dozen such shows every year but the Perseids are among the most popular and fascinating Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 12 yearsAugust 2, 2011 ago
Armagh Planetarium

Ice Worlds: A Cool New Show at Armagh Planetarium

Ice Worlds, one of Armagh Planetarium’s Digital Theatre shows for Summer 2011, is a thrilling tour through space and time showcasing some of the most beautiful and chilly regions of the Solar System. What can audiences expect from this spectacular experience? Ice is everywhere. Of the worlds in our Solar Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 12 yearsJune 20, 2011 ago
image-of-Hartley2-comet-nucleus
UFOs and Fringe Science

10 Facts You Need to Know About Comet Elenin

Comet Elenin is coming!We’re doomed!That is if you believe everything you see on the internet.Comet Elenin’s approach has been all but ignored by the mainstream media, and into this vacuum a host of bloggers and online videos have poured rumours and prophesies of death and destruction.Here are the facts about Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 12 yearsMay 31, 2011 ago
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 way. On 14 February 2011, another NASA mission, Stardust-Next visited Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 12 yearsFebruary 19, 2011 ago
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 hardly the most impressive member of the Solar System. Never Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 13 yearsNovember 5, 2010 ago
Image of Venus
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, toppled Uranus and gave Mars its present north-south divide. Also Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 13 yearsSeptember 24, 2010 ago
Stars

Will a rogue star cause chaos in the Solar System?

At first glance Gliese 710 is not a very distinguished star. A K7 class orange dwarf a bit more than half as massive as the Sun, it currently lies about 63 light years from us in the constellation Serpens. It is moving fast though and that is why one reason Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 13 yearsSeptember 22, 2010 ago
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RSS Intergalactic Craic
  • S3Ep4 - Wee Bitta Craic: Bout Ye Alice?
    This month is the final 'getting to know you' episode of Intergalactic Craic: Wee Bitta Craic. Ethan and Zuri interview Alice and ask her all about how she came to be doing her PhD at AOP. Find out this and more in this info packed episode!
  • S3Ep3 - Wee Bitta Craic: Bout Ye Ethan?
    In Wee Bitta Craic this month, Zuri and Alice ask Ethan all about his PhD and how he came to be at the Armagh Observatory and Planetarium. Find out more about his research and laugh along as the guys have some more quality craic. If you love listening to our students, then you can help […]
  • S3Ep2 - Wee Bitta Craic: Bout Ye Zuri?
    In the latest Wee Bitta Craic episode, Alice and Ethan ask Zuri all about how she came to be at Armagh Observatory and Planetarium doing her PhD. Find out more about Zuri's journey to get to where she is today, and laugh along as the guys have quality banter. If you love listening to our […]
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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