A quick video to show the basics of finding stuff in the night sky, no telescopes or binoculars required, just your eyes. This is part 1 so it’s just the basics of a few bright stars and two constellations in the Southern Sky.
A Kiwi perspective on astronomy and space science news and how to get the most out the night sky
Tag: stars
How do you make a star?
It’s not easy to make a star, you need a lot of cold space and a huge amount of hydrogen. But if you manage to do that then you can have your very own Sun sized star to keep you warm in winter.
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.
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.
ESA’s Gaia satellite, the release of 1.7 billion star positions
The European Space Agency (ESA) has released the second batch of data collected by the Gaia satellite revealing the positions of around 1.7 billion stars.
A family of stars
Stars don’t last forever, it might seem like 10 billion years is almost forever but not every star lives as long as our Sun. This article covers what happens when stars die and shows some very awesome images from the European Space Observatory of the surface of some stars.
Great big balls of stars
Globular Clusters are a fascinating objects to view and can be easily seen with binoculars, they are groups of ancient stars huddled together and orbiting the central bulge of our galaxy.
Astrophotography is for everyone
You don’t need expensive equipment to do astrophotography. A smartphone and a telescope is all you need to get some great shots that will impress your friends and family.
Well, after spending about and around nine years in the dark at Carter Observatory, doing what I always called the awesomest job in the world, I heard a siren call and did what felt right. So Saturday I had my last planetarium presenting show (s) in this shape and form. And just like in the movies, on my last shift, a lady came to me and grabbed me by the arm after the show. (Need I say that nobody ever grabbed me like that in nine years of working here.) She looked me in the eyes, leaned towards me and said:
"I loved your show. I can see how much passion you have for your job. I hope you will always keep that alive!"and then, vanished through the door, smiling ... I did not even have time to blink before she disappeared so the melodrama moment never quite took off but I did think "um, oops actually this is my last show..."
