Archive by Author

Blue Moon Eclipse

Blue Moon Eclipse

So here’s something that totally passed me by: there is a partial lunar eclipse tonight! Thanks to Astropixie and Astronomy Blog for pointing it out – I would have missed it otherwise. This is an event where the Moon passes into the shadow of the Earth. In this case the Moon is only partially covered [...]

Rosette Nebula and HOBYS

Rosette Nebula and HOBYS

Many amazing images were released at the Herschel meeting last week but one that seems to have slipped by is this incredible montage of data from the Rosette Nebula.

The Winter Solstice

The Winter Solstice

Looking for a nice link to send someone explaining the concept of the Solstice, I came across this excellent series of images from the Wikipedia article on the subject. They show a small island at differing latitudes along with the track of the Sun during both the Summer and Winter solstices.

What was the Star of Bethlehem?

What was the Star of Bethlehem?

So it’s that time of time year – “what was the Star of Bethlehem?”. This is a question a lot of astronomers will be innocently asked by all sorts of people over the festive season. Best answer: “nothing, it doesn’t even make sense”.

Herschel Stares into Aquila

Herschel Stares into Aquila

Herschel has done it again – releasing an incredible image filled with beauty and science. This time it shows a distant, dark cloud located a thousand light years away in the constellation Aquila, the Eagle.

Merry Fucking Christmas

Merry Fucking Christmas

I’m not one to engage in STFC politics – I’m far too vulnerable and ignorant as PhD student – but I can make a few observations about the UK’s impending funding disaster.

Teleporting Santa

Teleporting Santa

The only way I can think that Santa might be able to deliver so many presents on Christmas Eve is that he must be able to teleport – unless he can time travel. Here is a little festive demo I’ll be doing on Wednesday.

Chromoscope

Chromoscope

Chromoscope, allows anyone to view the Milky Way and the distant Universe more easily than ever before. The site shows the sky – projected in a way that highlights the Milyk Way – in a range of wavelengths, from high-energy gamma rays through to the longest radio waves.

.Astronomy 2009

.Astronomy 2009

Well I can hardly believe it but the second .Astronomy conference is nearly here. Next week (Monday to Friday) 50 astronomers gather in the Lorentz Centre in Leiden to discuss all things digitally astronomical. I created and organised the first .Astronomy conference last year in Cardiff and was approached by Sarah Kendrew and Carolina Ödman [...]

Copyright © 2010 Robert J. Simpson. Twitter @orbitingfrog