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Dual site decision for SKA – experts respond
After many months of waiting, the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) Organisation has finally announced that the massive telescope array will be shared between Australia-NZ and South Africa. The SKA...
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SKA in SA – Astronomy for Africa
In a guest post for the Australian science site The Conversation, Prof Tshilidzi Marwala, Dean of Engineering at University of Johannesburg, discusses the scientific, financial and political...
View ArticleTransit of Venus 2012 – resource page
On Wednesday 6 June 2012 Venus will pass in front of the Sun’s disk — a rare astronomical event with rich historical associations for New Zealand. No one alive today has seen a transit of Venus from...
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Asteroid flyby visible to New Zealand
Saturday morning stargazers may catch a glimpse of the 45 metre asteroid called DA14 as it passes over New Zealand on its ‘near miss’ flight past Earth. The asteroid, identified last year, will pass...
View ArticleHow many other ‘Earths’ are out there?
New Zealand researchers are proposing a new method for identifying and recording Earth-like planets orbiting distant stars, anticipating there could be 100 billion such planets in the Milky Way alone....
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Flying NASA telescope in Christchurch skies
A NASA telescope will be scanning the skies above Christchurch for the next few weeks — flying 12km up in the air, mounted in the back of a modified Boeing 747. NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for...
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NZ to play key role in SKA telescope
New Zealand research groups have been confirmed to play a critical role in the development one of the the world’s largest and most ambitious science projects – the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) radio...
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Updated: Rosetta mission successfully lands probe on comet – experts respond
The European Space Agency’s Rosetta mission successfully landed the Philae space probe on the surface of the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, just after 5am (NZT) this morning. Image taken by Philae at...
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Aurora Australis lights up the skies
Credit: Flickr/A. Sparrow A magnificent light display – known as the Southern Lights or Aurora Australis – was visible even as far north as Australia on Tuesday night, with the best vantage being in...
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Pluto steals the limelight in stellar block-out
Stargazers this morning caught a glimpse of a rare astronomical event as ‘dwarf planet’ Pluto passed in front of a distant star. Pluto photographed by the New Horizons spacecraft on 18 June 2015 Known...
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Pluto photos captivate the public
From mountains to moons, new photos from Pluto have been splashed across mainstream media. Pluto poses for its close up. Credits: NASA/JHU APL/SwRI Released this week, the images were collected by...
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New project on the hunt for intelligent life
The search for extra-terrestrial life has been re-invigorated by a new initiative launched by British cosmologist Stephen Hawking and funded by Silicon Valley entrepreneur Yuri Milner. The Parke’s...
View ArticleLiquid water on Mars – Expert reaction
Salty streaks identified by an orbiting spacecraft could be the first solid evidence of liquid water – a key ingredient for life as we know it – on the Red Planet. Evidence of salty water flows on Mars...
View ArticleNew Windows on the Universe – Prof David Wiltshire
As researchers with the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) announce they have spotted gravitational waves – ripples in space itself set off by violent astrophysical events –...
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Artificial light drowning out the stars – In the news
The “New World Atlas of Artificial Night Sky Brightness” published Science Advances this week reveals that the Milky Way is hidden from more than one-third of humanity. Drawing on data collected from...
View ArticleJuno spacecraft reaches Jupiter – In the news
After five years travelling across the solar system, the NASA spacecraft Juno has begun its final descent into orbit around Jupiter to collect data. From a unique polar orbit, Juno will repeatedly dive...
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Earth-like planet around the Sun’s closest neighbour – Expert reaction
This artist’s impression shows a view of the surface of the planet Proxima b orbiting the red dwarf star Proxima Centauri, the closest star to the Solar System. Credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser UPDATED: A...
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Updated: Rosetta mission successfully lands probe on comet – experts respond
The European Space Agency’s Rosetta mission successfully landed the Philae space probe on the surface of the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, just after 5am (NZT) this morning. Image taken by Philae at...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Aurora Australis lights up the skies
Credit: Flickr/A. Sparrow A magnificent light display – known as the Southern Lights or Aurora Australis – was visible even as far north as Australia on Tuesday night, with the best vantage being in...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Pluto steals the limelight in stellar block-out
Stargazers this morning caught a glimpse of a rare astronomical event as ‘dwarf planet’ Pluto passed in front of a distant star. Pluto photographed by the New Horizons spacecraft on 18 June 2015 Known...
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