In 4 days it’s the 50th anniversary of Apollo 8’s arrival at the Moon and tomorrow is the 50th anniversary of its launch.
A Kiwi perspective on astronomy and space science news and how to get the most out the night sky
Tag: Earth
The stars that we can see (except one)
The night sky is full of stars and some of the very brightest we see have some very interesting characteristics. Next time you’re looking at Sirius or Canopus you’ll be able to appreciate just how big they are compared to our very own star – the Sun.
Observing the planets and their apparent relative sizes
When observing the planets in astronomy it can be quite surprising to see the different sizes that appear in the eyepiece and how this can change over time.
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.
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.
Our Sun, solar flares and the neighbour’s superflares
Our Sun has had a few outbursts that have knocked out power grids and telegraph networks as well as disrupted satellite communications. These are nothing compared to what stars similar to our Sun have been observed doing.
Weird Wednesday – Magnetars
Magnetars are a fascinating type of object that are really mind boggling. These incredibly powerful star remnants are worth giving a closer look.
NASA’s Parker Solar Probe – Journey to the Sun’s Corona
NASA’s Parker Solar Probe is set for launch on 31 July to begin it’s journey to the Sun’s corona to help us understand more about the solar wind and why the corona is so hot.
It’s Moon week, according to us
The Moon has been with us for quite a while and Milky-Way.kiwi is going to celebrate our long term companion by declaring this Moon Week.
The Beginners Series – The Universe to Earth
In this article in the Beginner Series we look at the size of the universe and our place in it to give some context to the amazing sights available to the budding astronomer.
Our amazing universe
This article looks at a few of the amazing objects in the universe and some of their attributes that make them truly mind boggling.
A little bit of astrosociology
We did a bit of thinking about astrosociology and considered how the future of space will be under different scenarios of cooperation between the US, Russia and China.
