Star Search

Focus on Saturn this month In July, we have our coldest nights, however with the cold comes the clear. The frosty weather provides us with the clearest skies of any time of the year, which allows us a chance to see objects in the night sky with clarity, both near and

Focus on Mars The winter Milky Way is starting to return to our rural evening skies. It can be seen low in the east after sunset, and will move gradually overhead over the next couple of months. Once overhead it is a spectacular sight. Have a look one moonless night; the people

Chart (9pm on the 15th May) produced using the Stellarium software package Three planets feature this month May provides us with progressively longer nights and cooling weather, and the bright stars of summer start to disappear towards the west after sunset. The more sparse skies of autumn replace them in the east,

Jupiter the ‘star’ this month April provides us with longer nights to enjoy the night sky, but colder weather is starting to return. The bright stars of summer are starting to move lower in the west after sunset, with the stars of autumn returning in the east. Bright stars visible this month

December heavens above December nights are short and warm, and also give us the first sight of the bright stars of summer in our evening skies. Rising in the east is ‘Orion’s Belt’, the familiar and famous collection of three bright stars all in a line. It is one of the

Star Search with Dr David Weldrake November nights are warm and growing shorter, with the stars of winter setting in the west. The bright stars of summer are beginning to appear, reminding us that hot dry weather is just around the corner. Bright stars are few and far between in November, but include

Extract from the Washington Post article. http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/10/15/the-strange-star-that-has-serious-scientists-talking-about-an-alien-megastructure/ “It was kind of unbelievable that it was real data,” said Yale University astronomer Tabetha Boyajian. “We were scratching our heads. For any idea that came up there was always something that would argue against it.” She was talking to the New Scientist about KIC 8462852, a distant star with

with Dr David Weldrake The weather starts to improve in September, the nights get shorter, the days get longer and the frosts become less common. This change in the seasons can be seen in the skies too, with the first of the bright stars of summer reappearing low in the east.