Category Archives: Astronomy

All about astronomy: What it is, how the Solar System works, famous astronomers and more

Finding your bearings

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One of the most practical skills in Astronomy is the ability to find your bearings.  Once you know where North is, you know East, West, South and all directions between.  There are many ways to find these directions, but the easiest and most accurate is by using a gnomon, and the sun. Knowing where your cardinal points are is important in astronomy.  Directions to find a particular object are either given in absolute coordinates (RA 11h56m25s, Dec -25°33’21”), or relative … Continue reading →

The Astronomer’s Enemy

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There’s one problem with Urban astronomy, and it’s a big one.  It is the reason so many historical observatories, places where great discoveries were made and the foundations of modern astronomy were set down, have been shut down and even demolished.  That problem is light.  Modern cities pump so much light into the sky that many of us have never actually seen a night sky at all.  Ask somebody what colour the sky is at night and they’ll confidently assert … Continue reading →

Solar Eclipse

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As the Earth revolves around the Sun, and the Moon revolves around the Earth, it happens sometimes that all three fall into alignment.  When this happens at New Moon, the Moon covers up the Sun in our skies, and we have a Solar Eclipse.  It is an interesting coincidence that both the Moon and the Sun appear to be the same size in the sky, since both their actual sizes and their distances from earth are radically different, but this … Continue reading →

Setting Up

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An urban astronomer has low standards by necessity, so getting started is both cheap and easy.  The first thing you need is somewhere to do your stargazing.  Go into your garden, and find a spot where you have a reasonably unobstructed view of the sky, and the minimum number of lights shining on you.  Congratulations, you now have your viewing spot, and can start without reading further. Next you will need to get some equipment.  You’ll need some sort of … Continue reading →

A Wet Moon

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A Dry Moon On 13 November 2009, the LCROSS mission put out a press release announcing that they had found water on the moon.  This caused quite a stir and was picked up by many newspapers, as we had always understood the moon to be a fantastically dry and arid place.  What did this new discovery mean?  How embarrassing for all those science teachers who’d taught that there was no water to be found on the moon!   However, the … Continue reading →