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One on OneAstronomer Jiří Grygar on a life of promoting stargazing and scepticism

It’s pretty fair to say that anybody in the Czech Republic who knows anything about astronomy has learned at least some of it from Dr. Jiří Grygar. Something of a Czech Carl Sagan, Dr. Grygar has been a frequent personality of Czech and Slovak television screens since his popular programme “Windows Wide Open to Space” in the late 1970’s. He was the chairman of the Czech Astronomical Society and is one of the founding members of the Czech club of sceptics, Sisyfos, which battles pseudoscience and charlatanism in the Czech media. I met Dr. Grygar in his tiny office at the Physics Institute of the Academy of Sciences, and asked him to tell me about how he first became interested in his life’s passion. More

Science JournalScience Journal

We are not going so very far from Earth today, only two and a half light-minutes or so, to a point where, come 2017, Czech technology will be orbiting our Sun, and helping to answer some of its secrets. More

NewsObservatories see heightened interest over partial solar eclipse

Current AffairsWorld's astronauts, scientists, technicians meet for annual space congress

More than 2,000 astronauts, engineers and scientists are currently rubbing shoulders at the Prague Congress Centre, for the annual International Astronautical Congress. The meeting, being held here for the first time since 1977, covers subjects as diverse as the future of the International Space Station and whether there’s life on Mars.  More

NewsPrague astronomical clock statue vandalized by tourist

Current AffairsMulti-million-crown projector becomes new star attraction at Prague Planetarium

The Prague Planetarium has gone digital. On Saturday, the attraction unveiled a new, state-of-the-art, projection system, which allows onlookers to witness the skies as they were hundreds of years ago. Earlier today, I paid a visit to the Planetarium in the capital’s Stromovka Park to talk to technical director Jan Šifner about the site’s newest attraction:  More

One on OneAstronomer Jiří Grygar on a life of promoting stargazing and scepticism

It’s pretty fair to say that anybody in the Czech Republic who knows anything about astronomy has learned at least some of it from Dr. Jiří Grygar. Something of a Czech Carl Sagan, Dr. Grygar has been a frequent personality of Czech and Slovak television screens since his popular programme “Windows Wide Open to Space” in the late 1970’s. He was the chairman of the Czech Astronomical Society and is one of the founding members of the Czech club of sceptics, Sisyfos, which battles pseudoscience and charlatanism in the Czech media. I met Dr. Grygar in his tiny office at the Physics Institute of the Academy of Sciences, and asked him to tell me about how he first became interested in his life’s passion.  More

SpecialDanish researchers hope to solve 400-year-old “murder mystery”

Fame, envy, intrigue and murder –that is what some suspect surrounded the mysterious death of Tycho Brahe, a Danish astronomer who died in Prague in 1601 as one of the most distinguished scholars of his time. Several theories exist about the cause of his death, and some experts actually claim he was given a lethal dose of mercury. A team of Danish experts are now going to officially ask the Czech authorities for permission to open his grave in order to analyse his remains.  More

Current AffairsDanish experts ask to open astronomer Tycho Brahe’s grave

A Renaissance mystery is beginning to unravel in Prague. A team of experts from Denmark have asked the authorities for permission to open and explore the grave of the Danish-born astronomer Tycho Brahe who died in Prague in 1601. They are hoping to learn more about one of the most famous scholars of the time – and perhaps to throw more light on his mysterious death.  More

Current AffairsInternational Year of Astronomy due to kick off in Prague

The year 2009 has been designated as the International Year of Astronomy, as it marks exactly 400 years since Galileo first used an astronomical telescope to study the skies. As the presiding head of the European Union, the Czech Republic has been chosen to launch the Year of Astronomy with an official celebration taking place this coming Wednesday on Prague’s Old Town Square. One of the organizers of the events here in the Czech Republic is the Czech Academy of Sciences. Earlier today, I spoke to its director Václav Pačes:  More