Welcome to EAARO!
20 Apr 2020
EAARO talks space on the radio!
EAARO director Jason Williams speaks to Phil Lack live on Black Cat Radio about local sightings of the Starlink satellite train and the upcoming Lyrids meteor shower. Listen to his full interview here:
Next Event: The Lyrids - 21st-22nd Apr 2020
LIVESTREAM 9pm - 4:30am
CORONAVIRUS UPDATE: Due to the recent restrictions we are unable to receive visitors at our operations centre. Instead, we will be webcasting the event live on Youtube and will send the link shortly. Please feel free to make a donation if you are watching our event online.
The Lyrids are a meteor shower lasting from April 16 to April 26 each year. The radiant is located in the constellation Lyra, near this constellation's brightest star, Alpha Lyrae (Vega). Their peak is typically around April 22
The source of the meteor shower is debris from the trail of comet C/1861 G1 Thatcher. The April Lyrids are the strongest annual shower of meteors from debris of a long-period comet, mainly because as far as other intermediate long-period comets go (200–10,000 years), this one has a relatively short orbital period of about 415 years. The Lyrids have been observed and reported since 687 BC; no other modern shower has been recorded as far back in time.
7 Apr 2020
Sudden Ionospheric Disturbance detection arrives at EAARO
Our new external VLF Antenna is under construction, forming the receiver for our Sudden Ionospheric Disturbance Detector. We'll be using this to monitor sudden changes in our upper atmosphere due to solar activity such as solar flares and coronal mass ejections (large explosions in the sun's atmosphere).
Increases in solar activity affect a layer of the atmosphere 42-161 miles above the earth called the ionosphere, causing it to strongly reflect certain types of radio waves. During the day Very Low Frequency (VLF) wavelengths are reflected between the Earth's surface and the ionosphere D-layer. Our detector will monitor a number of VLF transmitters around the world to detect subtle changes in signal strength which can rise for several minutes after a solar event.
14 Oct 2019
Operations Centre moves into Cold War era bunker
Exciting news - we've finally moved in to our new building on the historic RAF Alconbury airfield. The developer has kindly donated a decomissioned bomb depot control building, a remnant of the cold war. The folks at JJM have been working hard over the last few weeks to renovate it and power it up, and at last our server farm and Space Operations Centre equipment are now in place! Thanks to all those who helped with the move!
Our Mission:
An educational charity to encourage and inspire people to pursue STEM subjects, while undertaking meaningful space research projects.
With thanks to:
Robert Laws
David K Scott