Party Time – Astronomy Style!
So you want to invite some friends over and you need a theme for your party. Why not make it as big as the universe, and take your guests on a view of the cosmos? It’s fun, it’s easy, and you don’t need a degree in the finer points of astrophysics (although that could be a hoot as well). The goal is for everyone to have a good time and not necessarily to earn three college credits in astronomy when the night is done. So let’s get started.
Everyone knows about water on Mars, but very few people could brag like I can that they have discovered Hot Chocolate on Mars!
With this video you will be able to find a star that is possibly in a binary pair with a black hole. It’s 1000 light years away and is the closest black hole to us.
This is a short video to help you find the constellation Scorpius.
Celestial objects have looked down on every event that has affected humanity; times of conflict or celebration, times of famine or plenty, times of disease or vitality.
Milky-Way.Kiwi reunites across the hemispheres to talk about the night sky. We are all in lock down but looking at the same sky.
Today at 2:35 was the last Supermoon for 2020 but the Moon will not rise until tonight so it will be passed the phase of Full Moon when it does. If you get a chance, go outside and have a look. If you miss it, don’t worry, it’ll be back next year.
What’s in the sky this month of the year you wonder? So did we and since we are locked inside our houses — or at least some of us are, we wanted to take you stargazing with us — virtually.
April is an amazing month, that ancients dedicated to the goddess Aphrodite and is also the Global Month of Astronomy.
Instructions for looking up in December 2019
Holly looks at three significant comets she observed.
On a Saturday night in New Zealand’s largest city, three thousand people went along to see one of the most notable science communicators of our time. Professor Brian Cox’s Universal world tour was putting on a show and Holly McClelland went along.
Holly McClelland makes a great pledge for using solar glasses even when we don’t look at eclipses.
What’s in the night sky from New Zealand in November 2019
Thank you for the great feature @Notednz
Get your observing on! Here comes October and what are we going to look at? New Zealand switched to summer time, that is we put our clocks forward one hour. We are seriously starting to think now about solar astronomy. As the fishhook of Maui sinks towards the western horizon, and with it the galactic centre, there are still many wonderful objects to see in the night sky. The Magellanic Clouds are still there and especially the Small Magellanic Cloud is good to observe after sunset. Grus, the Crane – famous constellation with double doubles is getting close to the Zenith this month, the Sun is in Virgo until November the 1st and Pisces lay on the horizon at sunset. Mercury, Venus and the Moon all get up close and personal just after sunset on 30 October. Mercury and Venus will be just under three degrees apart and the waxing crescent Moon will be just 8 degrees away from the pair of planets. Through a telescope you’ll see the three different phases of the different celestial bodies, with the Moon being just a slither, Mercury being 35% illuminated and Venus, nearly full at 94%. To achieve this configuration Venus is on the other side of the Sun to Earth’s position, with Mercury almost half way between. Observable comets are also in the Southern Sky, 289P/Blanpain and C/2018 W2 Africano at the Aquarius end of Pisces.
How many telescopes can you fit on Mt John? Mount John, New Zealand, is the home of University of Canterbury’s research observatory and Dark Sky Project’s stargazing tours. So, there are a lot of telescopes […]
Celestia is a very cool piece of software, which you can use to build asteroids. Here is how.
More reads from Holly
I have been reading more books this year at a rapid pace. These are the astronomy books that I have been reading. If you would like to follow what I am reading (not just astronomy […]
During the nationwide observance of Matariki, on a mild winter morning in Takapō (Tekapo), the Dark Sky Project was launched. The Dark Sky Project, formally Earth and Sky, took the next big step forward in […]
Prepare your telescopes, we have two amazing planets to observe. If you don’t have telescopes, join us at Space Place at Carter Observatory where we have telescope viewings every Tuesday, Friday and Saturday nights clear […]
A short video on how to find the Southern Cross.
