Author Archives: Derek

Gamma Virginis , officially named Porrima is a binary star system in the constellation Virgo ~ it consists of two almost identical main sequence stars at a distance of about 38 light-years.

The “greatest illuminated extent” of Venus shows its largest illuminated area is the moment when the illuminated portion of the planet appears largest as seen from Earth ~ it’s at a point in its orbit where the illuminated portion visible … Continue reading →

The Sickle in Leo looks like a backward question mark and represents the head and shoulders on the lion in the constellation Leo – Regulus is the brightest star in Leo and the Sickle.

The moon will pass the Beehive Cluster or Praesepe, a collection of stars also known as Messier 44 (M44). Guides to the night skyDeep Sky Object: M44 (Messier 44 / NGC2632 / Beehive Cluster / Praesepe)Constellation: Cancer (Cnc) How to sign open … Continue reading →

From Milton Keynes, the Moon & Mars will be too widely separated to fit within the field of view of a telescope, but will be visible to the naked eye or through a pair of binoculars in the constellation Gemini … Continue reading →

Good news for the deaf people Live subtitles – that’s fantastic to hearIt’s heartening to see steps being takento make such events more inclusive. For the first time, they provided live subtitles for the talks, making the event more accessible … Continue reading →

The view was spectacular and there is even the Jewelled Handle, which can be seen only once a month for some hours.

The four largest moons of Jupiter, known as the Galilean moon (Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto) are bright enough to be seen through binoculars ~ when observing Jupiter with a good pair of binoculars, you’ll notice this Callisto below the … Continue reading →

Look out for the Moon tonight with Jupiter and following each night till Sunday ~ Mars lies close to a Moon on the early evening of Sunday 9th February at 6pm.oIf you are at very north of Scotland, Orkney or … Continue reading →

This will create a beautiful celestial pairing ~ you can look for this event in the constellation Taurus, reaching high in the southern sky at 20:00 / 8pm.