History & Culture
Outback starman
How does a former mineworker from Broken Hill end up working for the world’s biggest space agency, NASA?
Tag: astronomy
Science & Environment
Australia’s space race: From red dirt to the stars
Despite the lack of a strong, overarching national strategy, engineers, scientists, academics and entrepreneurs across the continent have been busy developing Australia into a spacefaring nation, building our modern space industry from the ground up.
Science & Environment
Stargazing in broad daylight
Astronomers at Macquarie University have pioneered a new technique for observing celestial objects during the day, potentially allowing around-the-clock visual monitoring of satellites and greatly improving safety on Earth and in space.
News
What your school textbook didn’t tell you about the Earth’s orbit
Earth, the Sun and a bike wheel: why your high-school textbook was wrong about the shape of Earth’s orbit.
News
How to see the Eta Aquariid meteor shower from Australia
Meteors – commonly known as shooting stars – can be seen on any night of the year. But some nights are better than others.
News
How to see the ‘devil comet’ from Australia
If you’re a fan of all things space, you’ve doubtless heard about the ‘devil comet’, which has been captivating keen-eyed observers in the Northern Hemisphere for the past few weeks.
News
Searching the stars: how scientists discovered 49 unknown galaxies
Stars are born from huge clouds of mostly hydrogen gas floating in space.
Science & Environment
A puzzle in the infant universe
If astronomers ever needed something to gloat about with scientific colleagues in other fields, their ability to look directly backwards in time is an obvious candidate.
Science & Environment
What is a lunar eclipse?
Total, partial, and penumbral – the different types of lunar eclipses can be confusing. Find out what each means, and how the phenomenon occurs in the first place.
News
‘The ghost has taken the spirit of the Moon’: how Torres Strait Islanders predict eclipses
It’s eclipse season. The Sun, Earth and Moon are aligned so it’s possible for the Earth and Moon to cast each other into shadow.