Ken Tapping is an astronomer with the National Research Council's Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory, Penticton, B.C.
Ken Tapping is an astronomer with the National Research Council's Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory, Penticton.
When we look into the sky on a dark, clear night, we get the impression of staring off into the vastness of space.
We're at the best place, near the beginning, with the end of the book nowhere in sight.
The sheer range of things available for backyard astronomy has grown enormously.
Once again many of us are faced with what to get for the family astronomer for Christmas.
Ken Tapping is an astronomer with the National Research Council's Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory, Penticton.
One of the theories as to what happened to Mars is based upon the planet having no global magnetic field.
It is hard not to be impressed when looking at a large optical or radio telescope.
Once upon a time there was great similarity between telescopes and instruments at different observatories.
In the early hours of Oct.8, there will be an eclipse of the Moon, but these spectacles are worth seeing.
Despite what one might see in science textbooks, science rarely advances smoothly.
Thanks to improved telescopes and other astronomical instruments, we now know that most stars have planets.
Visitors to our observatory often ask this seemingly obvious question. How big is the universe?
That radio telescope could pick up a cell phone if it were on Mars.
We have learned a lot about our nearest alien world, but there is still a lot we don't know, and many things we could do there.
Penticton astronomer at the National Research Council's Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory
It might not look like much, just a moderately bright, yellowish star in the southwest, but it is one of the most beautiful in the sky.
Thanks to science fiction movies and TV series, most of us have heard of black holes and wormholes.
Penticton astronomer Ken Tapping discusses where space begins
