Friday, July 18

Astronomy

February Night Sky 2025 – Astronotes
Astronomy

February Night Sky 2025 – Astronotes

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 dark sky time. While we do, find somewhere with as little light as possible to look out to the universe.  Constellations  We are going to see some recognisable constellations for this month including Orion the Hunter (best known for his belt of three stars) and Taurus with some notable deep sky objects of its own. Both constellations are quite old, recorded by an astronomer called Ptolemy in the 2nd century, but he did not create or imagine them. They were two of forty eight constellations that he learned of while studying the stars. Back...
NASA’s Hubble Traces Hidden History of Andromeda Galaxy – Astronomy Now
Astronomy

NASA’s Hubble Traces Hidden History of Andromeda Galaxy – Astronomy Now

In the years following the launch of NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have tallied over 1 trillion galaxies in the universe. But only one galaxy stands out as the most important nearby stellar island to our Milky Way — the magnificent Andromeda galaxy (Messier 31). It can be seen with the naked eye on a very clear autumn night as a faint cigar-shaped object roughly the apparent angular diameter of our Moon. Though the Milky Way and Andromeda formed billions of years ago, evidence shows they have very different evolutionary histories despite sharing the same cosmological neighbourhood. A century ago, Edwin Hubble first established that this so-called “spiral nebula” was actually very far outside our own Milky Way galaxy —at a distance of approximately 2.5 million light-years or r...
Astronomy

‘We’re very fortunate’: stargazers to see almost all planets aligned in the night sky at the same time | Astronomy

Stargazers are being treated to a rare planetary alignment this month, also known as a “planet parade”, with most of the planets visible in the night sky at the same time.Astrophysicist Dr Rebecca Allen, co-director of Swinburne University’s space technology and industry institute, said it would be a rare opportunity to see so many planets align, especially outer ones such as Neptune.Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Venus would be the most conspicuous, especially around 21 January, although stargazers may also spot Neptune and Uranus lined up above the horizon with the help of binoculars or a good telescope.“They happen to all be in their orbits on the same side of our sun, within the same degrees in our sky, so that we can see them,” she said. “That is special.“Really it’s about perspective. All...
Could We Detect Advanced Civilisations by their Industrial Pollution? Probably Not.
Astronomy

Could We Detect Advanced Civilisations by their Industrial Pollution? Probably Not.

The hunt for aliens goes hand in hand with the hunt for habitable planets. Astronomers are on the hunt for exoplanets with atmospheric chemicals that could be a sign of an advanced civilisation. These chemicals, known as technosignatures are found on Earth and are the result of burning fossil fuels. A team of researchers have been exploring Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and whether they could detect them. Over the decades, researchers have developed a number of different ways to hunt for advanced civilisations. From scanning stars for abnormal radio signals or laser pulses to searching for evidence of water the techniques have so far returned no positive results. Initiatives like SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) have used some of the world’s most powerful radio...
January Night Sky 2025
Astronomy

January Night Sky 2025

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 is my favourite month, with crisp cold days and a refreshing feeling after the indulgence of Christmas – anyone else starting back at the gym this month? Moving on, though, to less stressful things; looking at the night sky can be a great way to relax after the hard work of the week. Looking up at the stars can be a great way to practice mindfulness, especially as to let your eyes adjust to the dark and stargaze properly you must put away your phone! Some ways to do this: Mindful Stargazing – Mark Westmoquette Right from the start of the year...