What Can I See in the Sky in March 2021?
The month of March is upon us which means it’s officially spring. The spring equinox occurs on 20th March. This is the time when the Sun crosses the celestial equator and the length of the day and night are equal. After this the nights will be shorter than the days. In Ireland, the clocks alsoContinue reading “What Can I See in the Sky in March 2021?”
Radio Telescopes
Last week I wrote about optical ground based telescopes. In this post we learned about the electromagnetic spectrum and how visible light makes up only part of the spectrum. We also learned that all parts of the spectrum are useful in different ways for astronomy. In this article I am going to focus on theContinue reading “Radio Telescopes”
Perseverance’s 7 Minutes of Terror
This Thursday (18th Feb), if everything goes smoothly, NASA’s Perseverance Rover will touch down on the surface of Mars. The landing sequence required to get it safely to the surface is like something from science fiction. It is a complex landing sequence, made all the more difficult by the fact that real time communication withContinue reading “Perseverance’s 7 Minutes of Terror”
Ground Based Optical Telescopes
Small amateur telescopes are great for exploring the night sky from our gardens, but what tools do professional astronomers use to explore the universe? The truth is that they use a wide variety of ground based telescopes, space based telescopes as well as other experiments and detectors such as gravitational wave detectors. This post willContinue reading “Ground Based Optical Telescopes”
What Can I See in the Sky in February 2021?
As we head into the second month of 2021 and the last month of winter, we will start to see the days get noticeably longer. The Sun sets at 18:00 by the end of the month which still leaves plenty of time to get out and look at the sky without staying up late. TheContinue reading “What Can I See in the Sky in February 2021?”
What is an Orbit?
We often talk about things being in orbit. The Sun orbits the galaxy, the Earth orbits the Sun, the Moon orbits the Earth and so on. But what is an orbit? In the 1600s, an English scientist named Isaac Newton came up with three laws of motion. The first of Newton’s laws state that anContinue reading “What is an Orbit?”
A Beginner’s Guide to Star Gazing
Many of us have gone outside and wondered about the night sky but how can you get the best out of that experience? You don’t need a lot of equipment to enjoy the night sky. This post will give you some tips to get started with star gazing. Before you step outside one of theContinue reading “A Beginner’s Guide to Star Gazing”
5 Biggest Space Missions of 2021
With the first week of 2021 behind us, let’s look forward to the coming year and see what the major space missions are and what we can expect to see in 2021. Artemis 1 Artemis is NASA’s programme to land the first woman and next man on the Moon and create a permanent presence there.Continue reading “5 Biggest Space Missions of 2021”
What Can I See in the Sky in January 2021?
We have now passed the winter solstice and although we won’t really notice it yet, the days are starting to get longer. Despite this, we are still in the depths of winter and January is one of the coldest months of the year. You would expect that the coldest days of the year would coincideContinue reading “What Can I See in the Sky in January 2021?”
The Year of Science 2020
Now that we are coming to the end of 2020 I thought I would do a quick review of what has happened in the past year in science and technology. Despite everything else that has happened, 2020 has been an extremely busy year for science. COVID 19 – Research and Vaccine There is no doubtContinue reading “The Year of Science 2020”
Loading…
Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.
Follow My Blog
Get new content delivered directly to your inbox.
