Remember, remember to look up in November! Yes this optimum time of year for celestial observing has a whole goodie bag of autumnal treats to be enjoyed throughout the month – so plant some sparklers or toffee apple sticks on these dates in your diary to keep yourself inspired by Read more
October’s Night Sky: The Ultimate Halloween Event Come one, come all to witness the ultimate Halloween event hosted by our night sky! Admission is free and the doors never close. Just take a step outside tonight and look up into the spectacular night sky. A show that has been running Read more
Can you believe we are in August already? Let’s hope for another sunny heatwave and some clear skies for stargazing. Read below to know what to look out for this month! Sturgeon Moon Mark your calendars! The next full Moon will grace the skies on 9th August at 8:55am (UK Read more
Welcome to summer stargazing 2025. We are going to have a look at the night sky and some of the things we can see through June. Hopefully, these nights are warm enough to feel comfortable stargazing. We will have to wait a bit to see the stars as the sun Read more
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
Another month down, and we’re officially into April! With it, we’re welcoming brighter mornings and brighter evenings – thank you, daylight savings! We’re getting closer to retiring the winter coats and swapping hot drinks for iced ones. Spring is here! Pink Moon The ‘Pink Moon’ will be the full moon 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
During December we will be able to start stargazing from earlier in the evenings, weather permitting of course. This means that on clear nights we get a view of more stars and objects in the night sky; but it is better to be prepared for the colder weather (and more Read more
As the leaves turn vibrant shades of red and gold, and the air grows crisp, autumn brings a special magic to the night sky. With longer nights and clearer views, this season is perfect for stargazing. Here are some highlights you won’t want to miss! Constellations Pegasus Pegasus is Read more
The Armagh Observatory and Planetarium (AOP) has successfully captured images of the Tsuchinshan-ATLAS comet, a rare celestial object making its closest approach to Earth for the first time in 80,000 years. This comet, named after its simultaneous discovery by the Purple Mountain Observatory in China and the ATLAS astronomical survey, 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
Who would have thought it?! – as the clamour of summer 2024 dies away and we make our way into early autumn, the month of September presents us with a great opportunity to pause, retune our dials and take in the first refreshing breath of cooler night air as we Read more
So we’re heading for the end of the summer already and we here at the Planetarium can’t believe it – our favourite part of the year drawing to a close! While it can be quite hard to stargaze at this time of year, due to it being light so far 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
Night Sky June Summer is almost here so welcome back for another month of objects to look out for in the night sky, with some good weather (fingers crossed)! June has a few things for us to see, first thing being the summer solstice. Summer Solstice Thursday 20th of June 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
April, is that you? Jaysus you’re lookin’ well! That’s right, can you believe it, we’re already in April. March was a bit of a crazy one, with some days feeling like all the seasons had been rolled into one. We’re past that now, and from here on out we’re hoping Read more
It really feels like we are settling in to 2024 at this point, and hopefully the year is going well for you so far! We are finally heading into the spring months, and hopefully the constant weather warnings will abate long enough for us to get out and do some Read more
Welcome to February, the shortest month of the year, but there is still plenty to see in the night sky. Over the last few weeks, the evenings have been getting a little brighter, which is nice for us, but it means that it takes a little more time to see Read more
Happy new year stargazers! I hope 2023 was a blast and I hope 2024 is even better!! We are still on the winter night sky, so that’s perfect, there is so much to see and definitely so much to talk about!! It’s still cold in January, so wrap up Read more
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
Welcome one and all to your favourite ‘happy place’ – the AOP night sky blog, where you can kick off your shoes, cosy up in a comfortable chair and chill-out amongst the shimmering stars! It’s also the month with the confusing name which begins with “Oct” -which implies the 8th month, Read more
Written by Sinéad Mackle As the warm days of summer gradually give way to the crisp autumn air, the September night sky presents an exquisite canvas of celestial wonders for stargazers. With longer nights and clearer skies, this time of the year offers a remarkable opportunity to observe planets, constellations, Read more
Hopefully during this month we will have some nice, dry weather for stargazing and warmer evenings to do it with! As July have longer days, you will be well into the night before you will get to see anything in the night sky. However, this just means an excuse for Read more
“April is the kindest month. April gets you out of your head and out working in the garden.” – Marty Rubin, Author. It is Springtime, and I’m sure we are all very glad to see the back of winter. With a shockingly cold start to March, here is hoping that Read more
Article by: Lovisa Redpath Thankfully, the LONGEST month in the year is behind us, we finally have money again, and we are in February! With, hopefully, nice clear night skies I will tell you what you can see throughout the month. If you are interested in stargazing, let me Read more
June night sky has plenty to offer – as long as you don’t wish for long, dark nights, that is; those are rather hard to come by in the month of the summer solstice! This means I’ll be talking mainly about things that don’t need a lot of darkness to Read more
Welcome to the summer! Here at AOP we’ve started our summer programme and we are delighted to welcome the public back through our doors. It may be a late night in the summer but stargazing is still a very worthwhile activity! Have a look out for some of these events Read more
Welcome stargazers! This is an interesting time of year for those of us in the Northern hemisphere, because despite the shorter evenings, we have some more unusual celestial objects with which to satisfy our cosmic observational appetite! So close those house blinds, avoid any nearby street lights and if you Read more
AOP’s StarTracker Online Dates: January 27th, 24th February, 31st March 2021 Time: 8pm Ticket Price: free (donations are welcome) To book you ticket visit: https://armaghobservatoryplanetarium.ticketsolve.com/shows *Please note you only need to book one ticket for one household.* Armagh Observatory and Planetarium hosts “Armagh StarTracker Online”, a star show where we Read more
Mankind has been looking to the cosmos for thousands of years to help answer some of our biggest questions, but now, people are turning to the night sky during lockdown for a soothing, relaxing experience to enjoy at home. Throughout January and February there are a number of astronomical events 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!
Moving on to our February Night Sky article (already) featuring htings to look out for while the sun still sets nice and early. Watch out for the cold, though!
Looking up at the wonders of the night sky is an amazing pastime, and whether you use a telescope or binoculars all you really need is the naked eye, but remember to give your eyes at least 20 minutes to adapt to the dark to ensure that you can see 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
The long cold dark nights have well and truly settled in, and now that it’s December it’s officially acceptable to say the C word. Christmas, Christmas is coming! And so is Santa Claus! Decorations are going up, there’s mad panic to buy Christmas presents and families are organising who’s having dinner and where. Ahh I love this time of year.
October is over and the nights are drawing in. Instead of lamenting the fact that we are driving to and from work in the dark, let’s think of the positives – more time to stargaze! And there’s plenty of interesting objects and constellations to look out for in November.
This September is a relatively uneventful month (astronomy-wise). Few visible planets, quiet Sun and overall a very poor month for meteor showers.
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.
Hello again Planetarichums! It’s Stephen here, ready to do my very best to explain some of the upcoming wonders in our night sky as we head into winter and the Christmas holidays. So, first things first, we’ll talk a little about our celestial neighbour, the Moon. On December 3rd our Read more
October is over, and November is now upon us. The days are definitely getting colder, the night are definitely longer, which means the time for gazing into the night sky is now! One of the best things about November is the fact that there is not one, but two meteor Read more
Hello and welcome to my first attempt at an Astronotes blog! My name is Stephen and I’m finding out about our sky as I go during my time here in the Armagh Observatory and Planetarium. So, I hope you’ll join me on our journey through the October night sky. 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
It’s hard to believe that the summer has come around and we are half way through 2017. Time may be flying by but the good weather means a chance of clear skies at night and with lots to see this month let’s hope the rain stays at bay. Read more
The spring night sky has well and truly sprung, and although these months are sign of brighter evenings and therefore later bedtimes if you want star gaze, there are still lots of interesting patterns and objects that we can see. So let’s delve in and find them. The spring night Read more