Category: Astronomy
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June and the Summer Solstice
In the previous video we took a look forward to the very early part of June, particularly the planets that we will get to see in the morning. Despite Mercury and Jupiter being too close to the Sun for us to see in Ireland, from other locations four planets would be visible in the sky…
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Solar Day, Sidereal Day, and the Parade of Planets
I mentioned in the last article that there are different ways to measure a day, among them are the sidereal and solar days. This little tidbit was not mentioned in the previous video attached to that article, just one of the many little bonus facts readers of the website get. In the above video, I…
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What we Can See in Late May and Early June
At the start of May, we looked ahead to the whole month, but now as we approach the end I think it’s worth a second look. Even though the weather is getting hotter, the Earth is actually approaching its furthest from the Sun in our elliptical orbit. How close we are to the Sun in…
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Na Gealaí, nú Gealán agus an Spéir Anois
Today, as we come up to the end of May and beginning of June, we are going to review the kinds of things that are visible in the sky, starting by looking forward the 24th of this month and the Full Moon. The Moon can be quite bright, especially when it’s full, and the Irish…
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The Aurorae and the 11 Year Solar Cycle
Recently, the Aurora Borealis or the Northern Lights has been visible from the South of Ireland. This is thanks to a solar storm, so we will begin by looking at the Sun and move from there to the aurorae and how likely we are to see more of them. Although you should never look directly…
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Transits of Venus and an Eclipse on Mars!
Continuing the theme set by last week’s video, where we looked at the transit of Mercury coming up in 2032 and the return of Halley’s Comet in 2061, we are going to look even further into the future this time. the next transit of Venus that will be visible from the Earth is almost 100…
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Looking Forward: Comet Halley in 2061 and Mercury’s Transit in 2032
As promised last time, we are going to be looking far ahead into the future to take a look at Halley’s Comet. Halley’s Comet has a period of about 75 years, though this varies due to the planets effect as it passes them. Right now, we have to wait 37 years for it to return…
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Comets Continued: Time to Say Goodbye to 12P/Pons-Brooks
While comet 12P/Pons-Brooks was making its approach to the Sun, it became visible to the naked eye from the Northern Hemisphere, under good conditions at least. It was also quite close to Jupiter in the sky during the recent total solar eclipse visible from North America. This lead to the comet getting a lot of…
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A Closer Look at the Saturn: The Ringed Planet
Now that Saturn is returning to the early morning sky, even becoming visible to the naked eye in the city, we are going to take a closer look at the planet. It is still tricky to see from higher latitudes, but as long as you are up early enough and have a clear view of…
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A Look Ahead to May: What We Can See as the Nights Get Shorter
We are back to looking a month ahead, to see what the sky will look like in May as we come to the end of April. In the last video, about a few meteor showers, we touched on the Eta Aquariids, which are one of the big astronomical events in May, but the sky is…
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