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 …

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 …

Eyes in the Sky

I was recently invited to attend an astronomy evening in Swanage, Dorset. As you can imagine, I didn't have to think twice - an evening watching the night sky with people, who were equally fascinated and captivated by the stars as I am, who can say no? The evening kicked off with with a lecture …

Interstellar Explained: It’s Relative

Have you recently seen Interstellar and didn't quite understand the physics behind it? You are not alone in this, but before we delve into the film and analyse the events, we need to better understand Einstein's theories of Special and General Relativity. In 1905 Einstein proposed a theory that explains how space and time are linked …

Jupiter – a failed star or a successful planet

Jupiter, the God of Sky and Thunder and the king of the Gods according to Ancient Roman religion and mythology. The fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in our Solar System, Jupiter's beauty is indisputable. The gas giant has 64 moons, the largest of which are Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. They were first …