Welcome to Astronotes
Hello, I’m Colin, welcoming you to Astronotes, the Planetarium’s official blog. Here you will find the latest news and views from the fascinating worlds of astronomy and space exploration. We hope you will come here to learn what is hot and exciting, profound or even weird from worlds beyond ours . So that's the introduction out of the way, now on with the Universe!
Visit Our Main Website
-
Our Galaxy Archive
-
Image of the Month: On Fire Off Orion
Posted on May 11, 2012 | No CommentsThis image of the reflection nebula Messier 78 (NGC 2068) includes the soft glow of submillimetre-wavelength (infra red) radiation from clouds of interstellar dust grains running through the nebula.Dense clouds... -
M55: A Glorious Globular!
Posted on May 9, 2012 | 1 CommentA globular cluster is made of hundreds of thousands or even millions of stars packed together in a pretty compact ball.The stars in globular clusters are old and there’s never... -
The Other Sirius Mystery: Red or White
Posted on April 27, 2012 | No CommentsToday Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky is an unmistakable blue-white in colour although it does twinkle a lot and can appear to change colour. However no one... -
The Largest Stars in the Universe
Posted on March 14, 2012 | No CommentsHow big is the largest known star? Compared to planets, stars will always be the overall group winners in terms of superior size. When you look at the night sky... -
What is a Nebula?
Posted on February 24, 2012 | 1 CommentBeautiful colour images of nebulae grace astronomy books and websites and have spread to mainstream culture. They are now familar to the public but what are these gaudy celestial spectacles?... -
The Heart of the Omega Nebula: Image of the Month
Posted on January 6, 2012 | 1 CommentA new image of the Omega Nebula reveals amazing detail in a cosmic landscape of gas clouds, dust and newborn stars. Captured by the Very Large Telescope (VLT) at the... -
6 Theories about the Star of Bethlehem
Posted on November 10, 2011 | 4 CommentsWhat 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... -
What are the stars?
Posted on October 14, 2011 | No CommentsA clear night sky is a thing of beauty and wonder. Thousands of scattered stars twinkle in the darkness. What are the stars? How do they live and die? Could... -
The Mysterious Heart of the Crab
Posted on October 7, 2011 | 1 CommentThe debris from a vast cosmic explosion, the Crab Nebula in Taurus is a well-known spectacle. But what is it and how was it formed? On 4 July 1054... -
Looking Up from the South: The Amazing European Southern Observatory
Posted on September 29, 2011 | No CommentsThe European Southern Observatory (ESO) is an intergovernmental research organisation for astronomy which is supported by fifteen countries. Established in 1962 it operates some of the most technologically advanced telescopes...