The Earth, One in a Googolplex

We live on a spaceship that travels around its host star at a speed of 30km per second. That star on the other hand, in fact, our whole solar system, orbits around the centre of our galaxy the Milky Way at a speed of 828, 000 km per hour. The Milky Way also travels through …

Astronomy Photographer Of The Year Competition and Annie Maunder

I was lucky enough to accompany photographer Sam King, Digital Reef Photography, to the Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition in London on 12th September. Organised by BBC Sky at Night and the Royal Greenwich Museum, and sponsored by Insight Investment, the competition is renowned across the globe. Photographers from different parts of the world …

Space: The Final Frontier

What comes to mind when you first think of Space Travel? "Punch it, Chewie"? Or maybe, "Engage warp drive, Mr Sulu"? How about "Helm, Warp One Engage!"? How many of us have dreamed about being on board of the USS Enterprise or the Millennium Falcon? Sci-fi films and literature have undoubtedly shaped us and have …

Find your way using the stars

Astronomy is the oldest science and it shouldn't come as a surprise that celestial navigation dates back to Homer's Odyssey. Sailors would use the Sun during the day to find true north, the constellations at night to find direction, and a tool called a sextant. You have probably heard of it as it's been around …

Summer Night Sky

Are you looking forward to the summer night sky? Whether you are planning a camping trip, live nearby the beach or enjoy going stargazing, the night sky has a lot to offer. Perhaps, one of the most recognisable objects in the summer night sky is the Summer Triangle and it definitely steals the show for …

A Universe Full of Stars – One Universe or Many?

Visiting Kielder The astronomical observatory in Kielder has been on my list of places to visit ever since I moved to the UK and it only took me three and a half years to go there. The observatory is located in Northumberland, England, one of the darkest places in the UK, and it recently celebrated …

Confessions of an astroholic

I find it difficult to write about myself. It is much easier to select a topic, gather information and write about something objectively. Dark Matter, Antimatter, Dark Energy, The Universe, I will take that any day of the week. However, as I have learned recently, it is good and healthy to get out of your …

The Apollo Program

That's one small step for a man. One giant leap for mankind. - Neil Armstrong Till this day, Neil Armstrong's words continue to echo in time, reminding us of how far we have come and how far we have yet to go. His step was physical, the leap was imaginary, and somehow it feels that we …

Farewell Cassini

Cassini's journey to explore Saturn and its Moons began on October 15th, 1997. The spacecraft was launched from Cape Canaveral aboard the U.S. Air Force Titan IVB/Centaur rocket and is now considered to be one of the most successful space missions ever undertaken. However, it wasn't easy as the project did encounter two major challenges …

Gravity, Light and Solar Eclipses

In 1915, when Einstein published his Theory Of General Relativity, he was hardly known to the public, but scientists across countries were fighting his predictions head-on. This is understandable, as at that time Newton's views and principals of gravity ruled the scientific sphere. Newton believed that time is absolute and that space cannot change. In his …