The Pleiades are a fascinating star cluster that is easily spotted not far from the Hyades cluster in Taurus and is visible in the Southern Hemisphere summer, Northern Hemisphere winter.
News from the Galactic Centre
World space news and astronomy outreach through (Milky Way) Kiwi eyes.
The night sky, this week, 11-17 June 2018
The night sky this week is a great opportunity to get your binoculars and telescopes out to see the fantastic nebulae that sit between Scorpius and Sagittarius.
The week in space, in a minute, 28 May to 3 Jun 2018.
A summary of the week in space in a minute. This week it was the return of Expedition 55 from the International Space Station, a meteorite puts on a display over Botswana and SOFIA arrives in New Zealand.
The sky at night this week, 4-10 June 2018
The night sky this week has a few treats including the asteroid Vesta, Mars and the Moon getting close, Jupiter’s moons crossing the planet and the fantastic nebulae in Sagittarius showing off.
How to find Vesta
Vesta is at opposition in June and will be easy to spot with binoculars.
Mars is getting closer!
Mars is getting closer this year and will at it’s closest by the end of July. But don’t worry it’ll still be about 58 million kilometres away.
Mars and a new telescope
Using a telescope for the first time is not the easiest thing to do, expectations need to be realistic.
Orbital ATK and the Cygnus spacecraft
Orbital ATK is one of the commercial providers of transport services to the International Space Station (ISS) with its Cygnus spacecraft.
The night sky this week, 28 May to 3 Jun 2018
The night sky this week will be dominated by the Moon, so it’s a good time to get out and appreciate the planets that are getting into a more favourable position for viewing.
Getting stuff to the ISS on HTV, ATK and Progress
The Japanese and Russia are the only non-US nations currently routinely sending cargo to the ISS. ESA did a few missions with the ATV.
Milky-Way.Kiwi interviews Ian Cooper – A giant of New Zealand astrophotography
Ian Cooper is a giant in New Zealand astrophotography. He has been capturing the night sky since the 1970s and in this article he takes us through some of the highlights and give us some tips.
Failed Supernovae
Stellar evolution is a fascinating topic and what happens in the last phases of a star’s life is mind boggling. Some stars are so big that their collapsing core turns straight into a black hole that suppresses the supernova.
Space and Science Festival 2018, Wellington.
The 2018 Space and Science Festival, held at Onslow College in Wellington was fantastic, with great talks from NASA and Rocket Lab and plenty of interesting displays.
ESA’s CHEOPS exoplanet hunting mission
ESA is planing on launching the CHEOPS satellite later this year. It will be used to collect more accurate information on exoplanets from systems known to already have exoplanets.
The New Zealand Space Challenge 2018
Helping drive space innovation in New Zealand is Space Base and their New Zealand Space Challenge.
NASA, Juno and our trip to Jupiter
NASA launched Juno to look at Jupiter in 2011 and since 2016 it has been sending back fantastic images of the Solar System’s biggest planet.
Spinoff technologies from space exploration
Space exploration drives a lot of technological development that has spinoffs for Earth-bound applications.
The week in space, in a minute, 12 May 2018
The week in space includes the launch of the Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket, the planned helicopter for Mars and the BepiColombo mission is getting closer to launch.
Highlights of the night sky – 11 May 2018
A short video of some highlights of the night sky in the Southern Hemisphere from 11 May 2018.
When weird things meet
Supernovae are quite amazing but there are even bigger and weirder events in the universe that occur when neutron stars and black holes get a bit too close for comfort.
Venus wasn’t always the forgotten planet
In the 1960s and 1970s the Soviet Union and the United States launched a number of spacecraft to Venus that greatly increased our understanding of Earth’s twin.
