Category Archives: News and Updates

News about Astronomy and Space Science. Find every news item and update here, in blog format. You can get these updates sent straight to your mailbox by subscribing here, or you can subscribe to the RSS feed by clicking the link.

Welcome to Urban Astronomer

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  Welcome to The Urban Astronomer, where we understand what it’s like to be trapped in the city and denied the full glory of a properly dark night sky. Here you will find articles on how to set up an observing site to minimise the effects of light pollution, and guides on how to get the most enjoyment from naked eye, or small instrument viewing. There are more detailed articles explaining the science behind common astronomical concepts (from Eclipses to … Continue reading →

Another great day at Scopex 2013

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  ScopeX 2013   As planned, I spent Saturday at ScopeX, the prime astronomy and telescope exhibition in South Africa.  I was one of the volunteers manning the ATM desk for an hour or so, entered a photo in the astrophotography competition, sat in on a few talks, took loads of photos (I think I got almost all the telescopes), caught up with some old friends and generally had a great time. The only blight on the day was learning, … Continue reading →

Say cheese

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Tonight at 11:27pm, South African time, you need to step outside and look upwards.  Bring a camera.  As an Urban Astronomer reader, you already know that the Cassini robotic spacecraft will pause in its mission to study Saturn and it’s moons to look back home and take a photograph of Earth.  The camera’s shutter will be held open for 15 minutes (at a billion kilometers distance, Earth is a surprisingly dim dot) so you’ve got that long to take part … Continue reading →

The Solar System’s tail, mapped by IBEX

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Astronomers have assumed for some time that our Sun has a tail, formed from material ejected in the solar wind, and shaped by the Solar System’s passage through the interstellar medium (ISM).  Repeated announcements from NASA about the Voyager spacecraft’s passage from the Solar System through to interstellar space are really stories about how they’re passing through the surface of that tail.  But new data from NASA’s Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) have given us our first clear view of what … Continue reading →

Scopex 2013 – updated

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In case you missed the earlier announcement, ScopeX (South Africa’s top astronomy and telescope exhibition) will begin it’s 12th run on 20 July, and runs for the entire day at the military history museum in Johannesburg.  This update just came in from Eridanus Optics, one of the commercial sponsors of the expo.  For the record, I have no link with the company, and have never even been a customer, but I did meet Andrie at the 2010 ASSA symposium, and … Continue reading →