Sleep well Phoenix – and thank you…

Two years ago today I was sat here at this very computer, nervously awaiting the safe landing of the Phoenix probe near the north pole of Mars. Thankfully the landing went well, and for the next 5 months I followed the mission closely, checking for new images every day, turning many of those images into [...]

NLC season is almost upon us again…

… so there’s a new page here on Cumbrian Sky to keep you posted with reports of any displays. To go to it, just click on the “NLC” tab up at the top of the page there.

Oi! Doctor!

Dear Doctor… That big blue box of yours – you know, the one with the flashing light on the top? That’s bigger on the inside than the outside? It’s a TARDIS! It can travel in Time AND Space! It can take you and Amy anywhere in the universe – the universe! – that you want! [...]

Gazing across the gulf of Time…

It’s always a wonderful feeling when you see a photograph and it’s so powerful, so moving, it calls out to something inside you so strongly and so loudly that it reaches into you, like a ghostly hand, takes a firm grip of your insides and squeezes them, hard. Images and moments like that are few and far [...]

View from a castle

Oh wow, I love my new camera. Ok, so it’s not really that ‘new’ any more, I’ve had it a good few weeks now, but it still feels new to me, especially when I try it out in a new place or a new situation and am impressed all over again by what it can [...]

A new iconic image of the Space Age..?

There are quite a few images taken during the ‘Space age’ widely agreed to be “iconic”: “Earthrise”… the bootprint on the Moon… Buzz Aldrin standing on the Moon in that Napoleonic pose… the discovery image of Io’s volcanoes… Introducing a new one, an image that will be featured in books for years and years to come; [...]

Busiest day ever…

Because so many people – most notably the “Bad Astronomer” Phil Plait, and Universe Today’s Nancy Atkinson (no relation) – let their readers know about the 153rd Carnival of Space being hosted here this week, yesterday was the busiest day ever for this little blog of mine, setting a new record for visits… Thanks to [...]

The poetry of science…

I am VERY chuffed and VERY honoured that the SDO team has put my “First Light” poem up on their website… http://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/mission/project/leostatus.php

Carnival of Space #153

Welcome to the 153rd “Carnival of Space”… and this week it’s a… Well, everyone else is jumping on the 3D bandwagon, so why shouldn’t I? If you’re a regular Carnival goer, then welcome to this week’s show, and welcome back to Cumbrian Sky. If this is your first visit to a Carnival, and you’re wondering [...]

Mars rovers update…

Want a REALLY detailed, in depth look at what the two Mars Exploration Rovers, “Spirit” and “Opportunity” have been up to this past month? Then go to the latest update by the Planetary Society’s excellent science writer AJS Rayl… http://www.planetary.org/news/2010/0430_Mars_Exploration_Rovers_Update_Spirit.html I’m very proud that some of my images, and thoughts, sometimes appear in these updates, [...]