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What’s in the night sky in October 2019
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.

How many telescopes can you fit on Mt John?
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 of all sizes, and I thought it would be interesting to write about them. Starting with the smallest. Celestion 9

Celestia: creating asteroids
Celestia is a very cool piece of software, which you can use to build asteroids. Here is how.


More Astronomy reads
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 books) check out my Good Reads page (https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/75557397-holly-mcclelland), if you only want some new astronomy reads see the list below:


Launching the Dark Sky Project
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 astro-tourism by opening a new lake-front center with a new diner, a new indoor astronomy experience, the Dark Sky Experience

What’s in the sky in August 2019
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 skies. The Centre of the Galaxy has fantastic objects such as open and globular clusters, about which we go into


Unique Stargazing Events to see in the night sky
Once you get to know your way around the sky and spend a lot of time under the stars you can start seeing amazing things. These are some of the things that I have seen in my two plus years of being an Astronomy guide, spending almost every night under the stars in a dark

The Bizarre and Confusing World of Telescope Mounts – Part One
Often when people go and buy their first telescope they don’t think much about the mount, they tend to focus more on the capabilities of the telescope itself.

Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space
The Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space was set up in 1959 to govern the exploration and the use of space for the benefit of all humanity.

50 Years Since The First Human Steps on The Moon
The first human steps on the Moon were fifty years ago today. What an amazing achievement and a moment that brought the world together.

The Lunar Eclipse that marks the Apollo 50th
A partial lunar eclipse occurring on the 16-17 July 2019 coincides with the 50 years anniversary of Apollo 11 launching to the Moon. What doest that mean?

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Pluto – Astro Reality Mini Planet

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Uranus – Astro Reality Mini Planet
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Big Fat Rocket, Big Friendly Rocket, Big Falcon Rocket, Big ###### Rocket
SpaceX is well advanced in it’s plans to build a huge rocket to take humans to Mars and they plan to do this by 2024. This article has a closer look at the Big Falcon Rocket to see what’s so special about it.

To the Moon and back (and then Mars)
With all the talk of going back to the moon, we thought it’d be good to recap on who is doing what in the coming years about returning to the Moon.

Where are the satellites?
Where are the satellites? We hear a lot about GPS, Hubble, the ISS and a load of other satellites, but not often where they are or much about how they got there, or how they stay there.

What do you see when you look up at the sky at night?
A great reason to look up at the night sky is that you might see a supernova like the the one that Albert Jones spotted in 1987.
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