TVM aired a news feature on our study on light pollution in Malta; you may view it by clicking here. TVM have also uploaded an English transcript which can be accessed by clicking here.
The very first major scientific study of light pollution in Malta has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Environmental Management. A special webpage accompanying this study may be accessed by clicking here or visiting www.nightskymalta.info.
I recall many people’s hopes for an astronomical observatory since the time I was a junior member of the Astronomical Society of Malta. Today, an MoU was signed between the University’s Institute of Space Sciences and Astronomy and the Eco-Gozo directorate within MGOZ for such a project to move forward, and we’re all very excited about what it will mean for public engagement and students’ research projects alike. There are…
Talking to primary school children about space is possibly my favourite outreach activity. This age group invariably comes up with the best questions. Unbridled curiosity coupled with a feeling that any question is a valid one oftentimes results in very incisive questions, and diluted replies are not acceptable. If a kid is not satisfied with an answer, they will tell you so. Thus, the question of how planets form led to…
As a follow-up to my article published in the latest edition of the University of Malta’s Think magazine dealing with light pollution, I was invited by the lovely THINK team to talk about Light Pollution and Dwejra at one of their Soapbox events. It was a great opportunity to further spread the word on the importance of saving the night and conserving our Dark Sky Heritage Areas. Some photos follow…
Below you may find some pictures from the launch of an exhibition of my astrophotography in Valletta. Full details about the event follow. The amount of great questions by curious minds of all ages is always an incredible inspiration! Event Description The observation of the night sky has shaped human cultures since the earliest of times. People wondered about the stars, imagined shapes and figures, and fashioned stories and cosmologies…
Recently we had the first management committee meeting of MW-Gaia, held at the Institute of Astronomy (IoA) of the University of Cambridge. In parallel to this we also had the first Working Group 1 (WG1) Workshop. Below you may find a few pictures I snapped during this meeting. You may follow updates by visiting our Facebook Page.
Yesterday, we held an astronomy night for the general public at the Dark Sky Heritage Area of Dwejra. I take the opportunity to thank all the students from the Institute of Space Sciences and Astronomy and members of the Astronomical Society of Malta for their participation. It is always incredibly rewarding to witness the look of amazement on people’s faces, old and young alike, upon their first sight of Saturn’s…
Together with one of our PhD students, Josef Borg, yesterday I held an astronomy night for a local school. For this event, we headed to Dwejra, a dark sky heritage area in Gozo. It turned out to be a memorable evening – like all astronomy nights! The educational potential of the site is one of the reasons why this place should be protected and its dark night sky preserved. We observed…
Yesterday I gave a talk for Science in the Citadel, an event which, thanks to the hard work of Colleen Bower and her volunteers, has become an annual fixture in Gozo’s cultural calendar. We discussed some of the stranger aspects of our universe, focussing in particular on the recent acquisition of the first image of a black hole.