astronomy

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to work in the space sector? It goes way beyond astronauts ...

Astronomers studying space have two big problems:

Astronomy is a fascinating, complex and deeply rewarding subject. Celestial objects have been studied by humankind for millennia and are ...

Tātai arorangi, Māori astronomical knowledge, is fundamental to te ao Māori. It forms a significant pillar of whakapapa stretching back ...

Although Aotearoa New Zealand is a relative newcomer to the international space industry, a deep knowledge of space enabled early ...

Winter brings opportunities to view the night sky and the opportunity to incorporate authentic cross-curricular science learning. Aotearoa first celebrated Matariki as an official public holiday ...

This article has been republished from The Conversation under Creative Commons licence CC BY-ND 4.0. It was written by Ralph Cooney, Professor Emeritus in Advanced Materials, ...

In the 20th century, most people would have considered being an astronaut the number one job related to space. Now, in the 21st century, opportunities to ...

Space and aerospace projects can have positive impacts on Aotearoa New Zealand that you might not expect. For instance, our space industry brings important opportunities to ...

In te ao Māori, space has a complex and extensive whakapapa. The narratives differ from iwi to iwi but follow similar themes. Māori astronomy is fundamental ...

When we talk about space, we often mention big numbers – after all, space is vast. When it comes to space debris, the numbers may surprise ...

Astronomer, Dr Sara Webb is fascinated about viewing distant galaxies. She is a galaxy hunter and explores the universe through the eyes of many different telescopes ...

This article explores light pollution and practical ways to minimise it. Readers are introduced to key science ideas including the Bortle scale (a way to measure ...

When children draw pictures of the Sun, they often show rays radiating outwards – similar to the image below. At this stage of our Sun’s life ...

An eclipse is an astronomical phenomenon that occurs when something obscures something else – it eclipses it! This may sound very simple, but there are various ...

A significant part of our nightscape, the Moon has been the subject of myths, alternative conceptions and conspiracies for decades. Let’s take a look at some ...

On 5 August 2017, 54.6 million kilometres from Earth, amongst the red dust and rocks, the familiar tune of Happy Birthday sang out on Mars as ...

In 2018, NASA launched a thrilling mission unlike any other to date. From Cape Canaveral, the Parker Solar Probe was scheduled to launch within a small ...

Using the Matariki star cluster as a context for learning can cover many different subjects. Matariki is also known as the Pleiades, and it is a ...

Black holes are a scientific mystery – there is so much still to discover. The first image of a black hole was captured in April 2019. ...

Our Solar System, and all other star systems, form from a collapsing nebula. Often called stellar nurseries, nebulae are the birthplace of stars. They are made ...

Māori ancestors possessed a wealth of astronomical knowledge that they referred to as tātai arorangi. The knowledge was important for many aspects of daily life, from ...

Taking science and technology to new heights. Rocket science includes ideas of forces and motion, how rockets work and some of the challenges for those wanting ...

In November 2014, the European Space Agency (ESA) Rosetta Mission landed a space probe called Philae onto the surface of Comet 67P, while Rosetta continued to ...

The European Space Agency (ESA) launched the Rosetta spacecraft from Earth in March 2004. It then took Rosetta 10 years to catch Comet 67P. Avionics engineer ...

Waka is the Māori word for canoe. Māori ancestors were great canoe builders, navigators and sailors. Thousands of years ago, Māori ancestors left South-East Asia, moving ...