Wind-blown Wolf-Rayet bubbles are among the most rare, intriguing and tantalising objects to observe. And NGC 3199's gorgeous glowing cosmic bubble is even more rare, being one of only a handful of known X-ray-emitting Wolf-Rayet bubbles.

Small, faint and seemingly insignificant, the few faint stars that make up Pyxis, the mariner's compass, symbolize a truly historic instrument that changed the world and holds so much meaning and significance for many different reasons.

If ever there is a place to see the colours of the mythical Phoenix - the beautiful firebird that lived in the Arabian desert and whose plumage was the colours of fire - it is the Kalahari at sunset.

Pavo, our beautiful southern peacock, is filled with galaxies floating in space like the eyespots in the terrestrial peacock’s magnificent plumage.

Last night I observed quasar 3C 273 which lies 2.4 billion light-years away. Recently I found a 2.4 billion year old stromatolite fossil... the first evidence of life on Earth. It is impossible to fathom the distance from us humans in both light and evolution...

A Star Named Melville

Everyone has heard of Sigma Octantis, our southern pole star. But how many of us have ever heard of a star named Melville that lies even closer to the south celestial pole? 

Wind-blown Wolf-Rayet bubbles are among the most rare, intriguing and tantalising objects to observe. And NGC 3199's gorgeous glowing cosmic bubble is even more rare, being one of only a handful of known X-ray-emitting Wolf-Rayet bubbles.

Small, faint and seemingly insignificant, the few faint stars that make up Pyxis, the mariner's compass, symbolize a truly historic instrument that changed the world and holds so much meaning and significance for many different reasons.

If ever there is a place to see the colours of the mythical Phoenix - the beautiful firebird that lived in the Arabian desert and whose plumage was the colours of fire - it is the Kalahari at sunset.

Pavo, our beautiful southern peacock, is filled with galaxies floating in space like the eyespots in the terrestrial peacock’s magnificent plumage.

Last night I observed quasar 3C 273 which lies 2.4 billion light-years away. Recently I found a 2.4 billion year old stromatolite fossil... the first evidence of life on Earth. It is impossible to fathom the distance from us humans in both light and evolution...

A Star Named Melville

Everyone has heard of Sigma Octantis, our southern pole star. But how many of us have ever heard of a star named Melville that lies even closer to the south celestial pole?