Astronomy related news and current events of interest in the skies above our heads written by Matthew Hodgson
On the 11th September 2013 at 20hrs 07min 28.68secs ±0.01secs UTC, two telescopes operated in MIDAS network recorded an bright flash produced by the impact on the Moon of a large meteoroid. The peak brightness of this flash reached 2.9 ± 0.2 mag in V and it lasted over 8 seconds, with estimated energy of 15.6 ± 2.5 tons of TNT. Work has important implications for impact flux on Earth. Click to read more
More good news for those of us who treasure dark skies to enjoy the wonders of the universe. On January 27, 2014, the International Dark Sky Association named its first International Dark Sky Place in the Republic of Ireland. Not only is the first in Ireland, but Kerry International Dark… Click to read more
John Dobson, creator of the Altitude-Azimuth mount that bears his name, the “Dobsonian” and populariser of stargazing passed away on 15 January 2014, age 98. Click to read more
The 1st asteroid discovery of 2014 designated 2014 AA entered the atmosphere only 24 hrs after detection. This is only the 2nd time a detection has been made before impact and location has been narrowed using infrasound data. Click to read more
How wonderful would the look on a young child’s face be when they see Santa flying over your house on Christmas Eve? A little bit of astronomy and the International Space Station can make it happen. Click to read more
On December 9th 2013, the International Dark Sky Association (IDA) announced that it has designated two new International Dark Sky Places in the United Kingdom, including one representing the largest land area of protected night skies in all of Europe. Click to read more
A nova has erupted in Centaurus to a reported magnitude +5 to the west of Alpha and Beta Centauri. John Seach in Australia discovered on December 2nd with a DSLR patrol camera at magnitude +5.5. The nova is almost exactly centred on a star of magnitude +15. Click to read more
There has been a rapid drop in molecular emissions from comet ISON combined with a huge increase in dust, which indicates that ISON may have completely disrupted. Click to read more
Images taken of Comet ISON in the last few days by scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research and the Wendelstein Observatory of the Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Germany suggest that one or more fragments may have detached from the main nucleus of Comet ISON which may explain the recent outburst of activity reported last week. Click to read more
The HST has imaged an asteroid, P/2013 P5 twice, 13 days apart which shows 6 comet-like tails giving the appearance of spokes on a wheel. The investigators published their findings in the 7th November issue of The Astrophysical Journal Letters. Click to read more
