Physical Science

A “shooting star” is the term commonly used for a meteoroid when it enters the Earth’s atmosphere and burns up, leaving a streaking trail of light in the night sky. A meteoroid is essentially a very small space object, ranging…
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Celestron have been known in the past to be a little hit & miss where eyepieces are concerned. While their telescopes are of an exceptional quality their eyepieces are somewhat more sporadic in how they’ve been received. So where does…
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The unexpected discovery of extrasolar planet Gliese 581g in September 2010 set off wild speculation about what appeared to be the most Earth-like planet found orbiting another star yet. The man who headed up the planet-hunting team which found it, Steven…
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Observing the night sky in an urban area makes stargazing more difficult but not impossible. An urban stargazer is never going to see the same things as an observer situated in a rural area but careful thought in selecting a…
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The Cetus Constellation is a scientific term which refers to the constellation star, Cetus which was long ago translated to Latin from the Greek language where the word, “Cetus,” could be defined as a sea monster of some kind, like…
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Star charts are a wonderful way to familiarise yourself with the night sky and are a particularly useful tool for complete beginners. Complete star charts which list stars, constellations, star clusters and nebulae can be confusing if you are just…
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Comets have both fascinated and terrified man since ancient times. A comet’s visible presence in the night sky is something that most people find magical and it will generate enough interest to get people gazing skyward in their backyards and…
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Jupiter Named by the Romans after their God and translating as God-father, and now commonly known asThe Red Giant’. The largest and most mysterious planet in the Solar System. It has some amazing features that no other planet comes close…
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Understanding the Moon’s influence on the Earth means going well beyond the Moon’s role in causing the tides, although these are the most obvious short-term manifestations. Essentially, understanding the Moon’s influence on Earth means asking the question, what would the…
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The constellations are human designed patterns in the sky which link various stars. Most of the names used for today’s constellations date from classical Greek and Roman times and therefore include many mythological and classical figures. All of the constellations…
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