So here we are, closer to the middle of the year than the beginning and we are barrelling fast towards the summer! Exciting news for those lucky enough to get the summer off – not so exciting for those who have exams first. In the spring night sky we have Read more…
This month is an interesting one for those of us who love to stargaze. I know the nights are still cooler, so wrap up and head out to watch the stars. While the sun will gradually set later and later until the summer solstice. We will still have plenty of Read more…
Well, time moves on, into another year as we brace for (according to some) the most depressing month of the year. At least we get it over and done with and can enjoy the rest of the year – I am sure it will be a great one… However, January Read more…
I’m writing this from the beautiful southwest coast of Türkiye, gazing up at the night sky. It’s the 26th of September, 9 PM, and the temperature is a perfect 24°C. From here, Polaris sits about 18 degrees lower on the northern horizon than it does in Northern Ireland, so all Read more…
Stargazing will be a late night activity for July since the days will be brighter and longer during the summer. It’s a great activity for those who love camping and get a clear night for it. The stars will be more visible around midnight, so we should start to see Read more…
We completed a half orbit around the Sun since I wrote the November Night Sky. It felt like yesterday, but it has been 6 months ago. The time is cruel… The days are already quite a bit longer and are still getting longer. Stargazing is getting more difficult in this Read more…
A super spectacle is happening in the night sky from this evening and won’t be seen again until 2040. The five planets — known as “naked eye planets” because they can be seen without the use of binoculars or telescopes — are Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. They will Read more…
If you are looking for a reason to celebrate then mark 7 February on your calendars as it marks the start of a new year on planet Mars. The year on Mars will be 36. So we thought we would detail some of the differences and similarities between an Earth Read more…
While 2020 was in many ways a strange and challenging year for many of us in one way or another, the heavens certainly gave us cause to look up and find some measure of celestial relief. Well there is good news! 2021 will be no different as we can prepare Read more…
Still looking for a New Years resolution or lockdown hobby? Why not get into stargazing in 2021! Take a night off your current Netflix series; wrap up warm; step outside and gaze up at the wonders of the winter night sky. Winter is a great time to observe due to the long Read more…
So the nights are drawing in and in as we get closer to the festive season, and though Christmas might not be quite the same as usual this year, there’s still plenty to celebrate. One great socially distanced activity you can do is stargazing! It’s outdoors and doesn’t require a group, and so you can easily go out and have a wee look up at the stars – just make sure to wrap up warm at this time of year!
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? Just remember, as always, to give your eyes around 20 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 to the gigantic impacts that formed the Moon and the Read more…
Welcome to October, stargazers! Autumn is well and truly into full swing now. Along with warm coats, changing leaves and Pumpkin Spiced Lattes, October also brings with it the opportunity to get some excellent planet spotting and star gazing time in. With the gradually longer nights it means you can Read more…
The late September and early October nights bring with them a few things; crunchy leaves for evening walks, pumpkin spice lattes for the masses and the best time of year to get planet spotting. There are five – yes, five – planets that are observable with relative ease this time Read more…
We have finally entered the month of September, however if you were to tell me that it was the 200th Day of March, I would honestly believe you. 2020 has been such a bizarre year, one we will never forget, but one thing we can take comfort in, is the fact Read more…
26th June is Kids in Museums ‘Digital Takeover Day’. Here at the Armagh Observatory and Planetarium we wanted to give our young followers a chance to be published in our blog. Read all about their favourite planets below. Thank you to everyone who entered! Mars My favourite planet is Mars Read more…
Happy soon-to-be summer, star gazers! June has a few things going for it; it’s the beginning of summer (officially), we have a lovely new moon, there’s some planet spotting to be done in the early morning; and the combined effects of clear, warm days with lower levels of air pollution Read more…
This week it’s Museum Week 2020 and today has the honour of being #ClimateMW day! Here at AOP we monitor the weather daily, and have been keeping weather records for over 200 years – clearly we are very interested in our weather and the climate. On Astronotes we have quite Read more…
Martina Glass looks at the morning sky and what treats it has for us! For thousands of years people used the stars to tell stories, mark the changes in seasons and to help navigate, but even with today’s technological advances many people now know less than those early cultures did. Read more…
This week out 5 Facts series continues with our little brother planet – Mars! Seeing Red Mars is famously known as the red planet as its dusty ground is tinged brownish red by iron-oxide (rust). This makes Mars look red to the human eye when we see it in the night sky. Read more…
Hello Stargazers! We are well and truly into spring now (and hopefully we have all recovered from losing that 1 precious hour of sleep when the clocks sprung forward, eh?). The high pressure weather system we have had recently means clear, crisp nights for many of us – excellent conditions Read more…
Mars 2020 Rover. What you need to know. Mars has long been the focus of many scientists’ curiosity and over the past two decades, NASA has sent many rovers and probes to the Red Planet as part of the Mars Exploration Program. These rovers have covered several miles and have Read more…
Welcome to spring! In theory at least – someone should really let our climate know that it’s time to brighten up a little bit. Depending on whether or not you adhere to the meteorological or astronomical definitions of “spring”, it officially began either on 1st March or will begin on Read more…
Astrobiology is the study of life on planets or moons other than the Earth. But, to search for life, we must first know what life is. And that might not be as simple a task as you’d think. It turns out that ‘life’ might just be an arbitrary definition that Read more…
An update from Elon Musk on SpaceX’s vision for the future.
President John F Kennedy’s speech to the United States’ Congress on the 25th of May 1961 encapsulates the romanticism that has adorned the endeavour of space exploration to this day. A President asking the representatives of his people to fund a daring, groundbreaking mission to, “before this decade [was] out, [land] Read more…
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…
Article written by: Helen McLoughlin, Education Officer Let’s face it, New Year’s Resolutions like ‘I’m going to the gym three times a week’ or ‘I’m going on a diet’ are all well and good but fizzle out after a week or two. Why not take up stargazing once a month Read more…
Some seven months ago, a NASA spacecraft called InSight was launched atop an Atlas 5 rocket and headed to Mars (Figure 1). If all goes well, the spacecraft will land on the Martian surface at around 8pm UK time this Monday 26th November and begin its science investigation. InSight is a fixed lander (see Figure 2 below), a much simpler affair than the Curiosity rover that arrived in 2012 and continues its trek across the floor of Gale crater to this day. Mobility, is however, not required for the specific aim of the mission.
October is here! It is one of our favourite months as there is so much more to see in the sky and the nights are getting deliciously darker. One thing to remember when you are stargazing is to wrap up warm when you venture outside. The nights are getting much colder, and with some of the best stargazing occurring in the early hours of the morning, we don’t want anyone catching a chill. Thermals and a thermos filled with hot chocolate or coffee will do the trick. Also don’t forget that we will be starting our Star Tracker evenings in the coming months!
This September is a relatively uneventful month (astronomy-wise). Few visible planets, quiet Sun and overall a very poor month for meteor showers.
Space is forever changing. Here is a list of 10 things we used to believe about Space.
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.
Astronomers now know many hundreds of planets orbiting other stars in our Galaxy. These show an incredible amount of diversity in their basic properties such as size and temperature with no two planets being quite the same. But the Earth is still unique among planets within or outside our solar system in its ability to support life
This July will be a very astronomically eventful month – full of eclipses, bright planets, meteor showers and bright satellite passes. If the weather permits, we will have the opportunity to witness a lot of interesting events in the night sky.
Where do meteorites come from? This question has been occupying the scientific community ever since it was realised that these “rocks from the sky” are, in fact, pieces of other worlds arriving on our planet from deep space. New research done by scientists at the Armagh Observatory and Planetarium in Read more…
Article by: Yanina Metodieva, PhD student at the Armagh Observatory and Planetarium March has certainly been an eventful month, and now we’re in to April. The Spring has definitely sprung and we’re enjoying the stretch in the evenings, even if it makes stargazing a little trickier. Sure we have to Read more…
Article written by: Heather Alexander Have you ever had a fun night out with friends, or a lazy day in with loved ones, or even just strolled down the street, and asked the question “Who discovered…?” I am the type of person who asks this question, frequently. Thanks goodness I Read more…
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…
Star Wars, the very name brings up images of childhoods spent in front of a TV or cinema screen, absorbing up stories of a galaxy far, far away. For many, it was the thing to ignite their passion for storytelling, and for others it was the thing that ignited their Read more…
It is common knowledge that the Earth is running out of resources, we’re constantly plagued with images and statistics supporting renewable energy and changing our way of thinking but what if we gathered resources from Space and gave the Earth a break from human pillaging? This is an idea from Read more…
As the summer draws to a close September is a perfect time for stargazing before the cold nights of winter finally creep in. With sunset around 9pm and a forecasted heatwave, fingers crossed for some clear skies with some lovely mild temperatures. A key feature of the summer night sky Read more…
Would you like to live on Mars? This is a question that we here at the Armagh Observatory and Planetarium ask on a daily basis. There never is a solid yes or no answer from any of the groups we ask, whether they be young or old. We usually Read more…
Let us go outside somewhere in Northern Ireland about midnight on 15 June 2016 and see what there is to see in the sky. Hercules. Muscular hero and demi-god! Killer of the Hydra! Victor over the Nemean Lion! Slayer of giants! Crusher of Cancer the Crab! And he didn’t Read more…
It’s the middle of May! Let’s go out tonight and look at the stars! At this time of year in the UK and Ireland, our nights are getting later and shorter, partly due to our planet’s axial tilt and partly due to daylight savings time, with the Sun setting soon Read more…
Goodbye January blues, hello February fun! We’re already into the second month of our new year and it’s been absolutely amazing for stargazing already. Before we get in to what you can hope to gaze at this month, I want to point out to you all that this February is Read more…
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…
New Horizon’s arrival at Pluto this year, after a nine year-long traverse through the Solar System has revealed many new things about this little icy planet. Pluto used to be the ninth planet but was demoted in 2006 to the status of dwarf planet. Until the New Horizons mission started Read more…
When I heard about this book I immediately wanted to read it, being a space enthusiast and very interested in the journey to Mars, I had to know how one man stranded on the Red Planet could try to survive. Mark Watney an astronaut on the Ares 3 mission Read more…
Welcome to October! The nights are now longer and the stars come out earlier. Yes it may be getting close to winter, but who doesn’t like autumn? October is full of exciting events, and one event that we are looking forward to here in the Planetarium is World Space Week. Read more…
Recently the idea of people living on Mars has been the talk of the astronomy circle and has captured the minds of many. Once posed with this possibility, the natural inquisitiveness of people kicked in. Is it possible? Why are people doing it? How will they survive? What will they Read more…
Already the year 2015 is proving to be a great year for stargazing with planets, comets and meteorites gracing the skies but prepare for March as it brings a ‘micro moon’ and a solar eclipse. The planets are still sticking around for an appearance this month so if you haven’t Read more…
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…
January is the marmite of every year, individuals either love it or hate it as it brings the beginning of a New Year and new opportunities yet marks the end of the festive Christmas season and a previous year filled with memories. Whilst most people make New Year’s resolutions to Read more…
On 15 June 2014 look south about 10.30pm. The sky will be far from dark, but with a little effort you ought to spy the triangle topped by the star Arcturus and with Saturn and Mars at its base. By the time an hour has passed, around 11.30 pm, this Read more…
Looking south from Northern Ireland after sunset in the middle of May and you will see there is a parade of planets dominating the sky. On 15 May 2014 about 10.30pm, sweep westwards from the rising full Moon in the east to pale yellowish Saturn lying in the constellation Read more…
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…
Astronomy is a science that knows no borders. Everyone around the world can look up to the sky and see the Universe in front of them, providing the glare from city pollution doesn’t spoil the view. In the past scholars from around the world have theorised and pondered about our Read more…
Since March means “Mars’ month” in Latin, we should find it a minor coincidence that Earth’s red terrestrial neighbour plays a more major role in the sky over the next few weeks. With continued astronomical twilight, an exploration of the centre ground astrology and astronomy share, and great opportunities to Read more…
While the winter sky may be the ‘Aladdin’s cave’ for skywatchers, and we may already have plundered deeply one of its greatest celestial treasures, the constellation of Orion, we forge ahead undeterred as February reveals yet another vault of celestial wonders awaiting exploration… No northern stargazer would wish to run Read more…
Mars, our rusty, red neighbour, has long since been a source of fascination for star-gazers, scientists and science fiction fans. This world has sparked the imaginations of many in the hunt for alien life and it may even become a potential astronaut destination in the future. Many robotic rovers have Read more…
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…
The “Red Planet”, Mars, has intrigued the imagination for centuries. Even before the first flyby of the planet by Mariner 4 in 1965 many astronomers speculated about life, water and an atmosphere existing on Mars. In 1971 the Soviets landed the first man-made object onto the Martian surface, a probe Read more…
On 25 December 2003 space exploration fans expected an extra Christmas gift. Beagle 2, a robotic spacecraft was to descend on the dusty plains of Mars. Once settled there, the tiny probe would play a musical call sign then start to photograph and poke the Martian soil in search of Read more…
New research and findings are coming to light suggesting that that we Earthlings might just all really be descended from Martians instead of that fell down to Earth on a meteorite from the rusty Red Planet. I am not suggesting that the Martian meteorite cracked up to reveal a lost Read more…
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 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…
Imagine taking two human beings and sealing them in a box for 500 days. The pair must survive on only the boxes of food and water crammed around them. Throughout their confinement they are at risk of being sprayed with a lethal dose of radiation. This is not the cruel Read more…
We live in an age when dazzling astronomical imagery is everywhere. We are privileged to have immediate access to close ups of the worlds of the Solar System thanks to interplanetary probes and stunning panoramas of nebula and galaxies thanks to hi-tech observatories. But to experience and to feel completely Read more…
From early civilizations until today man has sought to explore and discover what is beyond our world. From the ancient discovery of the wandering stars to the thousands of potential new planets found this decade, mankind has sought to make many astronomical advances. However some of these ‘breakthroughs’ that occurred Read more…
Percival Lowell was born into a wealthy Boston family on 13 March 1855. ‘No man is an island’ so like all of us he was a product of his times and class and also like many he rebelled against family traditions and expectations. He is best known for his ‘canals Read more…
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…
NASA’s Curiosity rover’s safe arrival in Gale Crater,Mars,thanks to some innovative technology, is still being applauded throughout the world.It is easy to forget that the one-tonne robot is not the first Mars rover.The most incredible new-era technology had already been deployed on Mars by NASA, is executing crucial missions at Read more…
NASA Mars Exploration Program Team are now achieving such a level of accuracy in landing craft on the Martian surface that the targeted landing area for Curiosity was like an arrow hitting the bull’s-eye from hundreds of kilometres away. Proportionally this bull’s-eye equates to a landing zone on Mars measuring Read more…
I had my doubts, but NASA didn’t let us down when the Agency’s Curiosity rover was successfully landed in Gale Crater, Mars at 5.14 UTC on 6 August 2012. The first images are unimpressive (but are of course from the hazcams, small low resolution cameras for evaluating potential Read more…
On 6 August, while many of us are enjoying the Olympics, staff at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory will be nervously watching their monitors, waiting for a message from Mars.If all goes well, their Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft will scream through the tenuous Martian atmosphere, until its parachute cracks open, followed Read more…
We are well into the wonders of the spring night sky when May begins and we ‘may’ take advantage of the many clear nights we have been subjected to recently and try our luck at finding some of those more difficult patterns and objects that are hidden away among the Read more…
In the upcoming weeks you will be hearing in the news the words “Dragon Spacecraft”, so Sinead McNicholl has the full story on what exactly this new vehicle is and what it will be used for. The Dragon is a spacecraft developed by a company called the Space Read more…
The month of April is fantastic month for stargazing and for astronomy in general with numerous dates to mark in your calendar. From Earth Day celebrated on 22 April, in aid of creating awareness of Earth’s environment and encourage conservation efforts, to International Astronomy Day on 28 April which is Read more…
In December 2014, a Delta IV Heavy rocket will thunder skywards from Florida, launching NASA’s first Orion spacecraft to an altitude that has not been achieved by a human spacecraft flight since the last Apollo lunar landing mission forty years ago. Designated Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1), this milestone test (to Read more…
At the beginning of March look west just after sunset to see three of the ‘wandering stars’. Mercury will be close to the horizon, with Venus and Jupiter shining brightly above it. Mercury will quickly set below the horizon and by the middle of the month will have disappeared from Read more…
If you look towards the west just after sunset this February you will see a very bright star in the darkening sky. Known as the Evening Star, brilliant Venus steals the celestial show. After the Moon, Venus is the next brightest object in the sky. Higher in the heavens and Read more…
It’s BBC Stargazing Live month, so even more of us will be looking skyward this January. What is there to see in the heavens these winter evenings? We are treated to several naked eye planets are this month. These “wandering stars”, as they were called by the ancients are easily Read more…
What exciting space events has 2012 in store for us? What important space anniversaries are coming up this year? Welcome to our annual guide to what the Universe has waiting ahead! This year marks twenty years since the first extra-solar planets were discovered when a pair of planets were Read more…
October marks the peak of Autumn, leaves are falling from the trees, the evenings are darkening and Halloween and Christmas are just around the corner. With dusk falling earlier in the evening, this gives ample opportunity for stargazing without having to stay up too late. This month there are lots Read more…
September features yet another delightful selection of astronomical treats. Whether you are a veteran explorer of the night sky or new to star gazing, the heavens are full of wonders! Jupiter, king of the planets, is gracing the celestial stage this month from dusk till dawn. It is well worth Read more…
NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has returned thousands of fascinating images of our neighbouring world, here is a selection some of the most striking and thought-provoking (false colour) images. Part of the Martian surface that has cracked into a natural maze, Noctis Labyrinthus (the Labyrinth of Night), lies at the west Read more…
“Is there life on Mars?” More than fifty years into the Space Age and there still is no definitive answer. Completing our series of posts on this mystery, we look at the latest ideas about the existence of beings on our neighbouring planet. In the previous part of this Read more…
Could water be streaming down Martian mountainsides? This startling vision may be a reality according to recent results from NASA’s MRO spacecraft. Here is the latest on the waters of Mars. Although we are exploring the surface of Mars through marvellous rovers like Spirit and Opportunity and their forthcoming big Read more…
Spirit, one of NASA’s Mars Exploration Rovers has finally transmitted its last data back to Earth. We look back upon the career of this valiant space explorer. Our neighbouring planet Mars came closer to Earth than it has for thousands of years, in August 2003. NASA had decided in 2000 Read more…
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 not the end of the search for life on Mars. Read more…
“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 considered in a follow up article. Why is life Read more…
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 test. (UPDATE: it all worked perfectly, for more detail see Read more…
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) is praised as one of the twentieth century’s most influential Read more…
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. Orion was intended to take astronauts to the Moon and Read more…
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 support NASA’s plans for the 1970s. Ever since then NASA’s Read more…
