The Perseids meteor shower is one of the most spectacular annual meteor showers. Made of debris from comet Swift-Tuttle they have been observed by sky-watchers for thousands of years and this year the LIC1 camera of the Canary Long-Baseline Observatory (CILBO) at Tenerife captured the peak of the 2020 Perseid Read more…
An interview with resident PhD Student Rok Nezic about his recent adventure to the European Planetary Science Congress 2018, held in Berlin, Germany.
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…
Get your sunglasses on, and break out the sun tan lotion! July is here and we’re glad to see it. Summer is fully upon us and many of us will be on our summer holidays this month. The month of July was named after Julius Caesar by the Roman senate, Read more…
It’s August and suddenly the nights are getting a bit longer so what is there to see in our night sky this month? Everyone should watch out for August’s amazing Perseid Meteor Shower. You probably know already that there are a number of regular meteor showers over the Read more…
A spectacular multi-coloured fireball was witnessed in Ireland and Scotland by dozens of people on the evening of 29 November 2015. This was the fiery descent of a meteor through the Earth’s atmosphere. The meteoroid itself was a tiny stony or metallic piece of natural space debris, essentially 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…
It is already one of the biggest films to hit cinemas this year, and if you haven’t seen Avengers: Age of Ultron yet, then I urge you to go and see it. Not only is it a brilliant action film, there is also a fantastic piece of space science involved Read more…
June is finally upon us, and the summer is officially in full swing. The nights may be brighter for longer, but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t some brilliant stargazing to be had. If anything, summer is a wonderful time to go stargazing, as you don’t really need to worry Read more…
As we head into spring it’s time for dusting off those telescope lenses and brushing up on some constellations. With the warmer weather coming in there’s also hope to see some meteors as April finishes off with the Lyrids meteor shower and a glimpse at the gas giants. Starting of Read more…
So far this year we have seen QVC presenters discussing whether the moon was a star or a planet. On having searched online a voice in their earpiece told them the moon is a natural satellite, however this did not solve their dilemma and seemed to just cause more confusion. 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…
Despite November marking when it really becomes colder and everyone has to adopt of the coat once again, it is a great month for stargazing and especially for those wanting to witness some meteors. Observing meteors can be a time-consuming event, and often it can be unpredictable. The weather, Read more…
October is an interesting month for astronomers as World Space Week falls from 4 October until 10 October and coincidentally it’s a good month for keen astronomers to take to the skies. This time of the year is perfect for spotting the Milky Way’s sister galaxy, M31 in Andromeda. It Read more…
In August the Summer Triangle continues to dominate the seasonal sky. This classic asterism is defined by three bright stars of the constellations Cygnus, Aquila and Lyra, these are the distant but dazzling Deneb (Alpha Cygni), Altair (Alpha Aquila) and Vega (Alpha Lyrae). Running through the Triangle is the pale Read more…
While you may have plans afoot to adorn a certain coniferous sapling of verdant hue with all things bright, shiny, and sparkling in the next few weeks, let’s for a moment indulge in considering what will be the final display of celestial ‘fairy lights’ we’ll connect up in space for Read more…
The month that takes its name from the Roman Emperor Augustus Caesar provides us with a prime opportunity to locate a celestial king. This and the small but sure monthly progression back to astronomical twilight (total nocturnal darkness) as the year marches on guarantee that the different items in August’s Read more…
With the longest day of the year imminent for those of us in the northern hemisphere, we will no doubt be hoping to enjoy a little more sunshine and warmth each evening than in the months just passed! This however does not preclude there being some really fascinating sights to Read more…
Despite meteorites falling to the ground often throughout the Earth’s lifespan, there are still many myths some stranger than others existing around these elusive fragments from space. Meteorites are radioactive One common myth about meteorites is that they contain strange unusual minerals, elements that would bring Superman to Read more…
If you find yourself in the great outdoors any evening during April and it’s a cloudless night, turning your eyes towards the heavens could be an unusually interesting way for you to spend a few minutes. If we look at star charts we can see the night sky divided Read more…
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…
Since before the dawn of history we have admired our planet’s amazing moon and enjoyed its beautiful light.Since the 1600s we have known that some of the other planets of the Solar System have multiple moons.This started some astronomers thinking; perhaps we do have more than one moon! If Read more…
An intruder from beyond Earth’s atmosphere can be seen in this image of the 21 September fireball taken by amateur astronomer Colin Campbell from his garden in Lisburn. Here is how Colin describes how he captured this remarkable image: I was out in my garden experimenting with taking a Read more…
Something dramatic happened in our skies on Friday evening.I missed seeing it myself so I’m quite green with envy of the reports from eye witnesses of spectacular fireballs racing through the night. So what were these bright balls of light?From collated reports this sight is thought to have been Read more…
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…
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…
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…
Where does space begin? Let’s look up into our planet’s atmosphere, that shell of nitrogen (about 78%), oxygen (about 20%), various other gases (2%) that makes life on Earth possible, to find out. The atmosphere gets thinner as you go further up, in fact 90% of the Earth’s atmosphere by Read more…
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…
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…
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…
The darker evenings of November offer some thrilling sights to stargazers including the Leonid meteor shower. Martina Redpath has the details on what you can see in the November skies. As we get closer to the end of the year the nights are becoming increasingly longer and colder. This is Read more…