We completed a half orbit around the Sun since I wrote the November Night Sky. It felt like yesterday, but it has been 6 months ago. The time is cruel… The days are already quite a bit longer and are still getting longer. Stargazing is getting more difficult in this Read more…
“To find the universal elements enough; to find the air and the water exhilarating; to be refreshed by a morning walk or an evening saunter. To be thrilled by the stars at night; to be elated over a bird’s nest or a wildflower in spring – these are some of Read more…
We’re heading into the warmer months again this time of year and looking forward to the brighter, warmer evenings, which may allow us to stargaze a little easier, if also a little later in the evening. There’s lots to look at this month, anyway, with a few meteor showers and Read more…
The month of May has finally arrived, and you know what the means, spring has sprung! The days are longer and brighter, the promise of warmer weather and (most importantly) there’s not one, but two bank holiday weekends! If you are anything like me, you’ll be doing some stargazing. But, what exactly is there to look out for this month? Well, let me tell you. Early this May Read more…
So, it’s been a weird spring so far this year, with most people working from home and stuck in their houses. But we’ve been getting some good weather over the last few weeks, allowing us to get out for our daily exercise, or even just into the garden. Well, now might Read more…
There’s lots to look forward to in the Month of May: the evenings are brighter, there’s the promise of good weather and most importantly – not one, but two bank holiday weekends! There’s also lots to look forward to and look out for in May’s night sky. There’s the chance Read more…
The spring night sky has well and truly sprung, and although these months are sign of brighter evenings and therefore later bedtimes if you want star gaze, there are still lots of interesting patterns and objects that we can see. So let’s delve in and find them. The spring night Read more…
It’s the middle of May! Let’s go out tonight and look at the stars! At this time of year in the UK and Ireland, our nights are getting later and shorter, partly due to our planet’s axial tilt and partly due to daylight savings time, with the Sun setting soon Read more…
If you missed the Lyrids meteor shower in April, starting of May you had another chance to see some shooting stars as the Eta Aquarids meteor shower peaks on the 5th of May into the morning of the 6th. The Eta Aquarids run annually from 19 April until 18 May Read more…
Looking south from Northern Ireland after sunset in the middle of May and you will see there is a parade of planets dominating the sky. On 15 May 2014 about 10.30pm, sweep westwards from the rising full Moon in the east to pale yellowish Saturn lying in the constellation Read more…
If you find yourself in the great outdoors any evening during May and it’s a cloudless night, turning your eyes towards the heavens could be an unusually interesting way for you to spend a few minutes. We’ll start by looking southwards. So once again look about 90 degrees to the Read more…
We are well into the wonders of the spring night sky when May begins and we ‘may’ take advantage of the many clear nights we have been subjected to recently and try our luck at finding some of those more difficult patterns and objects that are hidden away among the Read more…
In our latest night sky guide we look at the stars of late spring and early summer and ponder just what does the brightness of a star really mean. We are now well into the merry month of May and the nights are getting much warmer. The beauty and majesty Read more…