Category: Sky Guide

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What to look out, and up, for in November.

This month we tour a few simple objects that you can show to a child and spark their interest in the night skies.

In our beginners’ guide, Ursa Major shows us now to find true north and points out a few galaxies to observe in a small telescope. Then we take a look at the moon, showing us some lovely phases in the middle of the month and finish with two dates on which the moon will help you find the outer most planets, Uranus & Neptune.

Next we round up all the planets visible in October, with a stunning conjunction of Venus, Mars & Jupiter in the early hours. The Northern Taurids and the Leonids provide us with two meteor showers in November while we hold our breath for a naked-eye visible comet at month’s end.

We round off the show with our deep sky challenge and encourage you to take a look at the clusters in the constellation of Auriga.

What to look out, and up, for in October.

This month we take a look at the constellation of Perseus the Hero for the beginners guide – we begin with the Alpha Persei Cluster around bright star Mirfak, swing by Algol, the Demon Star, and finish up with the Double Cluster – arguably the finest cluster (or clusters) in the Northern Hemisphere.

Next we round up the planets that are visible in October: Uranus & Neptune are still hanging on while Mars, Jupiter and Venus combine to make some stunning planetary conjunctions most of the month. We bring you the month’s moon phases and two meteor showers – the Draconids and the Orionids.

Then, for our deep sky challenge, we take a look at one of the finest globular clusters in the northern hemisphere, a galaxy that’s thought to be a mirror image of our own Milky Way, a grouping of five galaxies and the brightest galaxy of them all, Andromeda, as we tour the adjacent constellations of Andromeda & Pegasus.

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This month we take a look at the constellation of Queen Cassiopeia for the beginners guide. We have:

• The beautiful Owl Cluster; NGC 7788 or Caroline’s Rose, discovered by Caroline Herschel.
• NGC 185, a dwarf elliptical galaxy discovered by Caroline’s brother, William Herschel.

Next we round up the planets, solar system events and deep sky treats that are visible in August:

• Uranus, Neptune, Saturn & Mercury.
• We look at the month’s two lunar treats: a series of conjunctions between the moon and bright star Aldebaran.
• A perfect lunar eclipse for many listeners on the 28th September.
• Comet Churyumov Gerasimenko will be visible this month near the Beehive Cluster in Cancer (sadly we won’t see ESA’s Rosetta spacecraft orbiting it!)

Our deep sky challenge delves into the constellatinos of Sagitta the Arrow and Vulpecula the Fox for a tour of clusters and a planetary nebula.

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What to look out, and up, for in August.

This month we take a look at the constellation of Cepheus the King for the beginners guide – we have the first galactic tape measure: the original Cepheid Variable, a red supergiant star: Hershel’s Garnet Star and the Elephant’s Trunk Nebula.

Next we round up the planets that are visible in August: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus & Neptune. We look at the month’s moon phases and enjoy a supermoon (or perigee-syzergy) on the 29th. August treats us to the best meteor shower of the year – the Perseids – falling on the 12th August with no moon to dampen the show. We also look forward to rare comet conjunction occurs in August with Rosetta’s Comet 67/P and comet 141/P sharing the same field of view in telescopes. For our deep sky challenge we look at the constellation of Aquarius for a tour of globular clusters and planetary nebulae.

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What to look out, and up, for in June.

This month we take a look at the constellation of Lyra the harp for the beginners guide – we have one of amateur astronomy’s favourite nebulas, M57 the Ring Nebula, hanging between the stars Sheliak & Sulafat like a suspended smoke ring and the Double Double stars – Epsilon Lyrae.

Next we round up the planets that are visible in June: Venus, Jupiter in the evening & Saturn later on. Comet Lovejoy continues to put on a show for those with small telescopes and Comet Kopff tempt those with larger aperture telescopes. and the Lyrids in the low eastern morning sky.

For our deep sky challenge we look at the constellation of Scutum the shield. We tour the Wild Duck and M26 open clusters, globular cluster NGC6712 and finish off with planetary nebula IC 1295.

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What to look out, and up, for in May.

This month we take a look at the constellation Ursa Major for the beginners guide – we’ll point you in the direction of an unaided eye binary star and a few of the brightest galaxies in the entire northern hemisphere sky.

Next we round up the planets that are visible in May: Mercury (early in the month), Venus, Jupiter & Saturn later on. We take a look at Comet Lovejoy as it’s still visible in small telescopes, and the Lyrids in the low eastern morning sky. For our deep sky challenge we take you on a tour of Hercules’ magnificent globular clusters and a couple of overlooked galaxies.

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What to look out, and up, for in April.

This month we look in the direction of Leo the Lion for the beginners guide – taking a look at the bright binary stars and a very special grouping of entire galaxies to observe in our spring skies.

Next we round up the planets that are visible in March 2015: Jupiter, Venus, Saturn and the return of Mercury. April brings us some nice lunar conjunctions and a well timed Lyrid meteor shower. And for our deep sky challenge we take you on a galaxy tour of Virgo and Coma Berenices.

What to look out, and up, for in March.

This month we look in the direction of Cancer the Crab for the beginners guide – taking a look at open clusters Messier 67, The Beehive Cluster and the planet Jupiter beaming down from up on high.

Next we round up the planets that are visible in March 2015, say goodbye to Comet Lovejoy, take a look at this month’s eclipse, explore the phases of the moon and finish off by rounding up the galaxies and globular clusters for telescope observers in Canes Venatici.

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We start with the big bold northern hemisphere constellation of Orion. The swollen supergiant Betelgeuse, 5 stars in one in Sigma Orionis, and the magnificent Orion Nebula stellar nursery in our beginner’s guide.

Next up, we have a four body conjunction of Venus, Mars, Uranus & the moon, while Jupiter continues to dominate overhead, reaching opposition on 6th February. There are a good few stars occulted by the moon this month, while Comet Lovejoy continues to delight binocular and telescope observers. Then we round up the best of the deep sky offerings for the month in the constellation Ursa Major.

What to look out, and up, for in January.

We start with three Messier open clusters in Auriga and a tougher nebula in our beginner’s guide.

Next up Mercury rises high in our Northern Hemisphere skies, Jupiter dominates the night sky and Saturn, Venus, Uranus & Neptune can be found with the right timing. We bring you the phases and libration events of the moon, the Quadrantid meteor shower and a new comet to take a look for. Then we round up the best of the deep sky offerings for the month in the winter constellations of Cancer & Lynx.