Climate
Brandolini’s Law: Climate – Climate & The Ocean
In honour of the UN Climate Summit, we have another article in our series on climate change, Brandolini’s Law: Climate.
Climate
World Cleanup Day
Ever been on a walk and noticed rubbish on the side of the road, footpath, on the beach or in a park? Probably. I can’t count the number of times I have. While it might not be the most pleasant thing in the world to pick up other peoples’ rubbish, Read more…
Climate
Brandolini’s Law: Climate – How Climate Change Works
Following from last week’s introduction to our climate change series, this week we have an article explaining how climate change actually works and why it happens. Firstly, we will be drawing on our sister planet Venus as an example. Earth’s Evil Twin Earth and Venus are, on the face of Read more…
Moon
A private spacecraft heads for the Moon
Next week, all being well a Falcon 9 rocket will take off from Cape Canaveral in Florida carrying a very special payload: a spacecraft built by a Tel Aviv-based company aiming to be the first privately-funded mission to land on the Moon. The launch follows an announcement, about a year Read more…
January
Early riser’s delight: The total lunar eclipse of 21st January 2019
21st January 2019, sky-watchers will witness a rare total eclipse of the Moon. This will be the last opportunity to view a total lunar eclipse from the British Isles for three-and-a-half years, until 16 May 2022.
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.
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.
July
Dark Moon Rising: the total lunar eclipse of 27 July, 2018
The Armagh Observatory and Planetarium are holding a special event to mark the lunar eclipse, coming at almost the same time as the opposition of Mars. The event has proved so popular that tickets sold out within a couple of hours of being released, so we have written this blog entry to tell you about what will happen if you missed out on obtaining a ticket or are going to try to observe the eclipse from elsewhere.
About Us
10 things you should never ask an astronomer
This article has been inspired by the many questions we get asked here at the Armagh Observatory and Planetarium. We love being asked questions but we thought it would be funny to have a look at the questions you really should never ask an Astronomer. We hope this gives you a bit of a laugh!
Astronomers
A new ultra-compact binary star
Approximately every other star in the Milky Way galaxy is in a ‘binary’ system. These binaries are made up of two stars orbiting around a common centre of gravity. The time taken for the stars in the binary to make one revolution is called the ‘orbital period’. Binaries have a wide range of orbital period. The closest stellar system to the Sun is alpha Centauri which has two stars not unlike our Sun orbiting around one another every 80 years. A third member of the system, Proxima Centauri, which is much smaller red dwarf star, orbits around these two stars once every 10,000 years.