In May 2017, Astronomy Ireland magazine featured an article I wrote on the Trappist 1 system. Down load the article here or click read more below
Trappist 1 system
Space
27 years of Hubble Space Telescope
The pillars are part of a small region of the Eagle Nebula, a vast star-forming region 6,500 light-years from Earth. Stars are being formed deep within the pillars.
27 years ago, in April 1990 the Space Shuttle Discovery blasted off carrying what was to become one of the most successful scientific missions of all time, The Hubble Space Telescope. Hubble and the images it produces, have more than any other mission since the heady days of the Apollo space programme, brought the magic of space to the public. Hubble has probed the depths of space and brought it’s wonders to our magazines, televisions and computer screens where humanity has looked on in awe.
Rogue space rocks
Every so often scientists announce that a large space rock or asteroid will pass within a couple of hundred thousand kilometres of Earth. The tabloid press proclaim a near miss and that we were lucky to dodge Armageddon. Headline grabbing stuff it may be, but the truth of the matter is, that it is only a matter of time until the Earth experiences an impact event when one of these asteroids makes it through our atmosphere and explodes with tremendous force creating significant damage.
Observing Jupiter in Binoculars
For the last number of months, Venus had dominated the western sky after sunset. Now it is moving into the twilight on it’s journey around the Sun. In the evening sky, the planet Jupiter will dominate proceedings over the coming months. Jupiter, a gas giant consisting primarily of hydrogen and helium gases is the largest planet in our solar system with a diameter of almost 140,000 km. These nights, Jupiter rises in the east shortly after eight o’clock and there is no mistaking it, as only the moon or Venus shines brighter in the night sky. It glows with a silvery brilliance that is unmistakable.
NASA announces spectacular exoplanet system
In a previous post, I discussed Pluto and the existence of planets in orbit around other stars (exoplanets). Since then, NASA has announced and held a press conference on Wednesday announcing further discoveries in this field. In the conference, NASA provided details of an exoplanet system located around a relatively close star. The star, Trappist-1 is an ultra cool red dwarf, much smaller than our Sun and located 39 light years from Earth. The star plays host to a remarkable planetary system.