Pythagorean Astronomy: Tumbling Space Cucumbers and 5000 sols on Mars

Posted on 1 March 2018 by Chris North

Ever taken a selfie on your birthday? Well, that’s just what the Mars Rover Opportunity did to celebrate its 5000th “sol” (martian day) on Mars. This doesn’t sound like much, but 5000 sols is about 14 years – not bad for a rover that was only expected to last about 3 months! The selfie –
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Pythagorean Astronomy: Glitterballs, habitable exoplanets and supermassive stars

Posted on 31 January 2018 by Chris North

Space is getting crowded, so the recent launch of a space glitterball (called the “Humanity Star”) by RocketLabs has irked astronomers. Our suggestion: why not go and look at the space station instead? And if you’re interested in things to not get too hyped up about, the so-called “Super Blue Blood Moon” was another example
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All Our Universe in the Classroom Education Resources in Welsh Language!

Posted on 11 January 2018 by Sarah Roberts

We’re very excited to announce that we can now offer all of our Universe in the Classroom activity guides in welsh language! Wales boasts 3,094 schools of which 483 are welsh medium (meaning education is delivered in welsh language). Universe in the Classroom aims to help improve science teaching at underserved schools in Wales. Due
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Pythagorean Astronomy: Planetary Response Network and 2017 Review

Posted on 30 December 2017 by Chris North

To some, astronomy is a purely a curiosity-driven activity, trying to understand more about the Universe around us. While that is the primary reason for a great many astronomers, there are many ways in which it benefits life down hear on Earth – including the saving of lives. Most recently, this became relevant in the
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Pythagorean Astronomy: The Star That Would Not Die

Posted on 29 November 2017 by Chris North

When a star explodes in a supernova, it’s generally assumed that once the afterglow has faded the star will never be seen again. But astronomers at Las Cumbres Observatory have found a star that seems to have refused to die. This month, Edward Gomez chats to colleague Dr. Iair Arcavi, who led the study of
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Pythagorean Astronomy: Gravity and Light

Posted on 25 October 2017 by Chris North

On 16th October a huge team of astronomers announced to the world that they had detected, for the first time, gravitational waves and light from the same event. That event was the collision of two neutron stars in a galaxy around 130 million light year away. The signal was first detected by the LIGO and
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Pythagorean Astronomy: Cassini’s Grand Finale

Posted on 3 October 2017 by Chris North

The 15th of September marked the Cassini spacecraft’s final plunge into Saturn’s gaseous atmosphere. This grand finale marked then end of a 20 year journey, 13 of which were spent orbiting Saturn, studying the ringed planet and its extended family of moons. Here in Cardiff, Dr Emily Drabek-Maunder has been closely following Cassini, and working
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Pythagorean Astronomy: Totally Eclipsed

Posted on 31 August 2017 by Chris North

August marked one of the most publicised astronomical events of 2017 – a total eclipse of the Sun which was visible the US. Totality, where the Moon completely covered the Sun, was visible from a narrow strip stretching from Oregon in the northwest to South Carolina in the southeast, while the partial eclipse was visible
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A summer in the life of an intern

Posted on 29 August 2017 by Meirin Evans

I’m Meirin Evans, studying Physics at the University of Manchester but I look forward to coming home to Cardiff every holiday so that I can spend a little time working with the Physics and Astronomy outreach team. This summer has been an especially busy one for me, which has meant it’s been very exciting! The
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Pythagorean Astronomy: Stars, Supernovae and Geysers

Posted on 2 August 2017 by Chris North

It’s been a busy month for Cardiff astronomers (and their colleagues). From gravity’s role in star formation to molecules found in a supernovae explosion, and from debris around neutron stars to organic molecules emitted from one of Saturn’s moons, there’s a lot to talk about. I took the opportunity to chat to Emily Drabek-Maunder, Mikako
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