Astronomy

A widefield view of the North America Nebula and the Pelican Nebula. Image: Panagiotis Andreou. The North America Nebula (NGC 7000/Caldwell 20) in Cygnus is a fantastic emission nebula, an iconic object providing one of the highlights of the summer sky. These days amateurs like to give a name to deep-sky objects and many monikers leave one head-scratching, trying to match a figure or pattern to the name. The North America Nebula is different: it really does bear an uncanny resemblance to the North American continent! It’s also a great imaging target and can be seen through a pair of binoculars under a dark sky. The North America Nebula is located in Cygnus, a few degrees east of Deneb (alpha [a] Cygni). AN graphic by Greg Smye-Rumsby. How to observe The familiar form of Cygnus, the Swan, ...

Armagh Observatory & Planetarium (AOP) has partnered with Libraries NI to distribute across the province 200 free copies of its brand-new children’s science book, “Big Book of Experiments and Bright Ideas.” Designed and written by AOP staff, the book was inspired by the success of the Planetarium’s ‘Science@Home’ online programme, which AOP introduced during the lockdown to ensure that the NI public retained access to information about the world of science. The success of the programme, which saw budding young scientists and their families engage in at home science experiments, inspired the team at AOP to compile this easily accessible information into an engaging book that has proven a useful resource for those wishing to access science in a fun and practical way. AOP Team at Armagh L...

The Dumbbell Nebula (Messier 27) is one of the finest deep-sky objects in the entire sky. Image: Steve Milne. The glorious Dumbbell Nebula, in Vulpecula, is unquestionably one of the top planetary nebulae in the entire sky. It was the first planetary nebula discovered, in 1764 by Charles Messier, and John Hershel coined its nickname after his father William had recognised its two-lobe shape. Also well known as Messier 27, it’s bright enough to be detected through a modest pair of binoculars, and even a small telescope will begin to reveal the hour-glass or dumbbell structure that gives it such a distinctive appearance. Add to this is the fact that many observers rate the Dumbbell as one of the easiest of all planetary nebulae to observe, as it shows up well in a light-polluted or moonlit ...

Using the CHIME radio telescope, astronomers detected a three-second flash from a far-off galaxy that contained beat with a surprising regularity. Photo courtesy of CHIME, with background edited by MIT News Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are extremely powerful flashes of radio waves that typically last only a few milliseconds. They are usually detected as singular events, but a few have been found to repeat. The vast majority of those observed so far have come from far beyond our galaxy, and their origins remain mysterious. But now, an international collaboration has detected a unique FRB that might finally give us some answers. Fast Radio Burst Origins The Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) radio telescope in British Columbia is well-su...