Tuesday 21st is the peak of the annual Orionids meteor shower, so named because the radiant point where the shooting stars appear to originate from is close to the constellation of Orion.

If you go outside from around 11pm. Orion will have risen above the horizon to the east and the radiant point of the shower will be a little to the left of the red giant star Betelgeuse.  While you are waiting for those streaks of light to appear, further to the left, Jupiter will be easy to spot.

As a bonus, that evening coincides with a New Moon, when the side of the Moon facing us is not illuminated at all by sunlight, so there will be no light pollution from our celestial neighbour to spoil the view.

Meteor showers are caused by the Earth scooping up the debris left by comets while they travel close to the Sun on their long journey from the outer reaches of our Solar System.  As we orbit around the Sun, these showers occur at the same time every year.  In the case of the Orionids, they are caused by bits left behind from comet Halley.

The shower has a zenithal hourly rate in excess of 20 meteors per hour, so you shouldn't be waiting too long before you see something and if you can't make Tuesday 21st, observing a couple of days before or after the peak should still produce some results.

Finally, an early reminder that the first of my astronomy talks and star parties for this season will be taking place at the Ham Hill Visitor Centre on the evening of Friday 28th November.  There will be a one-hour talk about the night sky at 7pm and then if it is clear, we venture outside.  Places always fill quickly, so booking is essential via the Ham Hill Rangers Office on 01935 823617.

If you pop outside just as it's getting dark on the evening of Tuesday 7th, say around 7pm and look towards the east, a Full Moon will be rising above the horizon, with Saturn visible a little to the right of it.

A Full Moon reflects so much sunlight that it creates the ultimate natural light pollution and this will spoil your view of Saturn a bit.  It is also the worst possible time to go hunting for faint deep sky targets.

We have just passed the autumn equinox and as this Full Moon is the closest to that date, it is known as the 2025 Harvest Moon.  Coincidentally, this particular Full Moon occurs at perigee, when our celestial neighbour is closest to us in its orbit around the Earth.

In astronomy, there is no such thing as a perfect circle and all objects' orbits are elliptical (or egg-shaped) to a greater or lesser degree.  In the case of our Moon, at perigee our natural satellite is approximately 225,000 miles away from us, where at the opposite point in its orbit, known as apogee, it is more like 251,000 miles away.  This cycle repeats every 27 days, which is how long the Moon takes to go around us.

The Moon appears slightly larger when it is at perigee and the difference is size between the two extremes is about 14%.  If a Full Moon occurs at perigee, it is known as a Supermoon.  So on 7th, we really have a Harvest Supermoon!

Because the Moon will be close to the horizon when you view it, you may also witness that phenomenon known as "Moon Illusion" where your eyes play a trick on you and make it appear artificially large.

If you venture outside at 1am on Monday 29th September and look towards the east north east, Jupiter will have just risen above the horizon.  To the right of the gas giant, you should also be able to make out the constellation of Orion more towards the east and again, close to the horizon.

Why 1am specifically?  Well if you aim your telescope towards Jupiter at that time, it should be possible to witness the shadow of the planet's moon Io cast onto its surface, while at the same time, another of Jupiter's moons, Ganymede, is physically passing in front of the planet.  At 1am, Ganymede and the shadow of Io will appear to be either side of Jupiter's Great Red Spot.

The Great Red Spot is a giant storm in Jupiter's upper atmosphere that has been blowing for hundreds of years.  It measures about 10,000 miles across, so is about the size of the whole Earth and has wind speeds of over 250 miles per hour!  It keeps going because Jupiter has no planetary surface that would cause friction to slow it down.  Often, when you look at Jupiter through a telescope, you don't see the Great Red Spot at all.  This is because it only takes ten hours for the storm to rotate completely around the planet, so it's often round the other side!

Look towards the south around 1am on 2nd October and Saturn will be an easy target to spot.  To the left of Saturn will be the large constellation of Cetus and with your telescope, you could try to find the dwarf planet Ceres that lives in the Asteroid Belt - it will be just to the right of Cetus with a magnitude of around +7.6

Monday 22nd is the autumn equinox.  This translates to "equal night and day" and is the point in our orbit around the Sun where the Earth's 23.5 degree tilt is sideways on to the Sun.  The same happens again six months later of course, when we have the spring equinox.  In between these times, the northern hemisphere is either pointing away from the Sun or towards it and we have winter or summer.

Last week, I mentioned about Saturn being viewable throughout the night as it appears to travel from east to west horizons.  This week, if you dig out your telescope to have a better look at the gas giant, it should also be possible to spot Neptune just above and to the left of Saturn.

Pop outside any evening next week, around 10pm - Saturn will be located towards the south east and easy to spot, shining at a magnitude of around +0.6 while Neptune will be a much harder target at a magnitude of only +7.7 making it invisible to the naked eye.

Venture back outside at 6am on Saturday 27th and Jupiter will be quite high in the sky towards the south east, with a very bright planet Venus rising above the horizon in the east.

Why have I chosen 6am on the Saturday specifically?  Well if you aim your telescope towards Jupiter then, it will be possible to see the shadow cast by two of Jupiter's moons, Io and Europa, at the same time.  How cool is that!

Please remember to pack your telescope away before the Sun rises though, as catching an accidental glimpse of that in your eyepiece would most definitely NOT be cool!

We always associate astronomy with the night sky, but it is possible to observe some brighter objects during the day, with our Moon being the most obvious target.

Look towards the south west around 11am on Tuesday morning 16th and try to spot a 28%-lit waning crescent Moon with the naked eye.  It will be quite high in the sky - about 55 degrees above the horizon.  If you have brought your telescope out, just below and to the left of the Moon, Jupiter will be shining at a magnitude of -1.9

I will repeat my usual warning though, that the Sun will be shining very brightly at a magnitude of around -26.0 a little further south and you must never accidentally catch a glimpse of it in your telescope's eyepiece, as it would result in instant and permanent blindness!

Moving on to the morning of Friday 19th, look towards the east at 6am to see a 6%-lit crescent Moon.  Just below the Moon, Venus will be easy to spot at a magnitude of -3.8 and immediately below Venus, you should be able to see the magnitude +1.0 bright star Regulus.

Don't even bother risking your telescope for this one, as the Sun will be just about to rise above the horizon in the same place!

Finally, towards the end of the week, Saturn reaches opposition and it will actually be viewable the whole night, from dusk to dawn, as it appears to travel between east and west horizons.

We will have had a Full Moon on Sunday 7th, so if you pop outside around 9pm on Monday 8th and look towards the east, you will see a 98%-lit waning gibbous Moon rising above the horizon, extremely close to Saturn.  The gas giant will be just below and to the right of the Moon.

I wouldn't bother bringing your telescope outside as, being so close to a Full Moon, the light pollution from it makes for poor viewing of those elusive faint deep sky objects.

One deep sky object that is always easy to spot though is the Pleiades open cluster of stars, also known as M45 in the Charles Messier catalogue and often called the "Seven Sisters" because of the seven prominent stars that can be seen with the naked eye.

If you look towards the east north east at 9pm on Friday 12th, a slightly gibbous Moon will have just risen above the horizon and as it does so, the Moon occults (or appears to pass in front of) the Pleiades.

The Pleiades is the closest Messier object to us and is only 440 light years away.  The bright blue stars that you see are relatively young and it is estimated that the cluster formed about 100 million years ago.  If you are looking at them, remember that you will be seeing the stars how they were 440 years ago, as the light from them has taken that long to reach us, travelling at the speed of light, which is 186,000 miles per second!

The stars are gradually drifting apart and in around 250 million years, the group will no longer be classed as a cluster, rather individual stars.

The evening of Tuesday 2nd is the optimum time to spot the clair-obscur visual effects known as the "Lunar X and V", where sunlight falling on the Moon's surface reflects off particular features and creates recognisable shapes.

Look towards the south south west around 11pm and the Moon will be about to set below the horizon.  You will need your telescope to be able to spot the "X" and "V" shapes on the terminator between light and dark on the lunar surface.

A little to the right of the "V" you can find the dark area known as the "Sea of Tranquility" where Apollo 11 landed back in 1969.  Of course there isn't really any water on the Moon, but early astronomers thought that the large dark, flat areas must be oceans and the names stuck.

Sticking with our neighbour in the Solar System, but moving on to the evening of Sunday 7th, we have a lunar eclipse.  As the Moon rises above the horizon at sunset, it is fully immersed in the Earth's shadow.

Look towards the east at 7.45pm to catch the Moon popping its head above the horizon and at that time, it will appear quite dark because it is totally eclipsed - this is called "totality".

Gradually, over the following hour, as the Moon comes out of totality and rises in the sky, you will see more and more of its surface illuminated.  If you are still watching it at 8.15pm, you will also be able to notice Saturn rising above the horizon in the same place.

Last week I had everyone up early at stupid-o'clock to try and see a thin waning crescent Moon in the dawn sky.  This week you could try catching a thin waxing crescent Moon in the evening sky.  The phase is now called "waxing" or "becoming brighter" as there was a New Moon on 23rd August and it is now heading towards a Full Moon.

Venture outside at sunset on Tuesday 26th, say from about 8pm and look towards the west south west.  A waxing 12%-lit crescent Moon will be just about to set below the horizon.  Slightly above and to the right of the Moon, it should be possible to spot Mars, shining at a magnitude of +1.6 and because the Sun will have disappeared below the horizon, it would be totally safe to use your telescope for a better view of the Red Planet.

If you have a decent-size telescope and you are feeling the urge for an early morning start, aim it towards the south west just before 5am on Tuesday 27th and locate Saturn.  Saturn's largest moon Titan will be starting to enter the shadow of the gas giant, which means that Titan will be eclipsed by the planet and will gradually become a "quarter" and then "crescent" phase.

Alternatively, point your telescope towards the east around 4am on Sunday 31st to catch the shadow of Jupiter's largest moon Ganymede as it transits in front of the planet.  The transit actually begins at 3.30am and lasts until 6.30am, so you could pick any slot between those times if you oversleep a bit!

I mentioned spotting Mercury in the dawn sky last week.  On Tuesday 19th, the planet reaches its greatest  western elongation, which in practice means that it will be in the best position for viewing, appearing above the eastern horizon about an hour before sunrise.  Mercury will have a magnitude of around +0.1

If you look towards the east around 5am on the Tuesday morning, there will actually be a veritable visual feast for the naked eye, as above and slightly to the right of Mercury, you will be able to see Venus, Jupiter and a 10%-lit waning crescent Moon forming a straight line.  Venus will have a magnitude of -3.9 and Jupiter around -1.8 so everyone will be very bright and easy to spot.

When you've finished with them, look further to the right to catch the whole of Orion, with the bright stars Betelgeuse and Rigel.  The constellation will look like it is on its side at this time of year and be quite close to the horizon.  During the winter months, it appears higher in the night sky and is then better-placed for detailed viewing.

You should be able to notice that Betelgeuse has a reddish tint, while Rigel is more blueish.  This is because Betelgeuse is a big old red giant star, but Rigel is much younger and hotter.

If you repeat the exercise at 5am a couple of days later, on Thursday 21st, the three planets will appear near enough in the same position, but the Moon will now be found just above Mercury and our natural satellite will be a very hard-to-spot 4%-lit crescent as it heads towards a New Moon phase on 23rd.

If you are up very early on Monday 11th, around 4am, it will still be dark, with Jupiter and Venus shining very brightly towards the east north east.  Jupiter will have a magnitude of about -2.0, while Venus, just to the right of Jupiter, will be even brighter at a magnitude of -4.0

Although the two planets look very close together because of the angle you are viewing them at from the Earth, in reality they are many millions of miles apart.  Venus is a rocky planet within what is known as the Inner Solar System that stretches out as far as the Asteroid Belt.  Jupiter, being one of the huge gas giants, lives in the Outer Solar System beyond the Asteroid Belt.

If you look to the right of the pair, you should be able to see the constellation of Orion on its side, closer to the horizon.  The red giant star Betelgeuse will be easy to identify.

Stay outside until about 5am to catch planet Mercury popping up above the east north east horizon.  It will be much harder to observe in the dawn sky with a magnitude of around +2.0 and as the Sun will be rising in the same place, please don't be tempted to risk using a telescope to obtain a better view!

On a completely different note, the evening of Tuesday 12th sees the peak of the annual Perseids meteor shower.  At 11pm, the radiant point where the shooting stars appear to originate from, will be located towards the north east, a little below the obvious "W" shape of the constellation Cassiopeia.  Unfortunately, a waning gibbous Moon rising above the horizon towards the east will create some light pollution.

If you venture outside any night next week, Saturn will be an easy target, shining at a magnitude of around +0.7 and at midnight, the planet will have just risen above the east south east horizon.  It then spends the rest of the night moving across the sky towards the west.

If you've brought your telescope out, planet Neptune can be found just above Saturn.  It's current magnitude of about +8.0 makes is much harder to spot!

While your telescope is aiming in that direction, it should be possible to observe some of Saturn's many moons.  Unfortunately its famous dust rings are not best-placed at the moment for observing from the Earth.

At the end of the week, we have a Full Moon.  The Moon will be visible most of the night as it travels from east to west and the light pollution from it, makes this the worst time possible to go looking for faint deep sky objects.

So instead, why not see if you can experience that "Moon illusion" that I have mentioned before, where as the Moon rises above the horizon, it looks artificially large because your brain plays a trick on you.

On the evening of Thursday 7th, look towards the south east just as it's getting dark, around 9.30pm and our celestial neighbour should be pretty obvious!  If you keep watching the Moon later into the night, as it climbs higher in the sky, it will appear to go back to its normal size.  Of course, it doesn't really change size - it is just an optical illusion!

Just as it's getting dark on the evening of Monday 28th, say around 9.30pm, look towards the west to observe a waxing crescent Moon disappearing below the horizon, with planet Mars a little above and to the right of it.

The evening of Wednesday 30th into the early hours of Thursday 31st sees the peak of the Southern Aquariid meteor shower.  Around midnight, the constellation of Aquarius, where the radiant point (or origin) of the meteor shower is located, will be found towards the south east.  It can be a great shower to watch with a Zenith Hourly Rate of around 25.....in plain English, that means on average there can be up to 25 shooting stars per hour if conditions are working in your favour.

Venture back outside again on the Thursday evening, around 11pm, to catch Saturn popping its head above the eastern horizon.  Aquarius will be to the right, so although past its peak, you may still catch a few meteors from the shower if you keep an eye in that direction.

Moving into August and swapping over to an early morning,  look towards the east around 5am on Sunday morning to see Jupiter and Venus rise above the horizon.  Both will be very obvious, with Jupiter around a magnitude of -1.8 and Venus to the right of it, shining at -3.9 which is even brighter.  No telescope required for this one and also not recommended as the Sun will be rising in the same area of the sky and you must never risk catching an accidental glimpse of it in your eyepiece!

We'll start with a bit of a visual challenge for early risers, around 4am on Wednesday 23rd.  Look towards the north east to see a very bright, magnitude -1.8 Jupiter.  Not much of a challenge there, but just above Jupiter will be a hard-to-spot thin 3%-lit waning crescent Moon.  Look further to the right to find an incredibly bright, magnitude -4.0 planet Venus.

A constellation is a group of visible stars that form a perceived shape - often animals or mythological creatures and they can date back thousands of years.  In 1922, the International Astronomical Union formally adopted the current list of 88 different constellations.  There are other patterns of stars that form easily-recognisable shapes that astronomers use to find their way around the night sky - these are called "asterisms" and they may be part of a larger constellation.

One such example is known as the "Teapot" and it is part of the constellation Sagittarius.  Towards the end of the week, if you look towards the south around midnight, Sagittarius will appear close to the horizon and the "Teapot" asterism should be obvious......it looks like a teapot with the handle, lid and spout!

A little to the right of the teapot's lid are a couple of Messier objects to aim your telescope towards - M8 "The Lagoon Nebula" and M20 "The Trifid Nebula".  M8 is classed as an emission nebula, where stars are created and with a magnitude of about +4.6 you might just be able to make out a faint fuzzy blob with the naked eye from a very dark location.  M20 is another emission nebula, but with a magnitude of +6.3 you will definitely need your telescope or binoculars for that one!

If you pop outside around 1am on Wednesday 16th, a 71%-lit waning gibbous Moon will have risen above the horizon towards the east south east.  A little below and to the left of it, you should be able to locate Saturn shining quite brightly and a much harder-to-see planet Neptune.  Neptune has a magnitude of around +7.0 so you would need a telescope to spot that one.

During the week, the Moon will have gone through its last quarter phase, when it is 50%-lit, so if you go back outside around 2am on Sunday 20th (what will then be) a 27%-lit waning crescent Moon rises above the horizon towards the east north east.  A little below and to the left of the Moon will be the Pleiades open cluster of stars and below that, planet Uranus.  Uranus will have a similar magnitude to Neptune, so it's "telescope time" again!

Talking of telescopes, at the beginning of August, I am running a "Telescope Masterclass" at the Ham Hill Visitor Centre, due to popular demand after the annual series of "Stars Over Somerset" evenings.  The date for your diary is Saturday 2nd August, 10am to 4pm.

The day is suitable for anyone thinking of investing in a telescope or wanting to get to grips with an instrument they already have collecting dust in the cupboard!  It will include talks about the different types of telescopes and accessories available, together with practical demonstrations.  You are welcome to bring your own telescope along for a health-check and to acquire tips on how to use it successfully.

To reserve places, please contact Paul McNeil at Ham Hill on 07973 887129 or via email to  countryside@somerset.gov.uk   Tickets are £10.

At the very beginning of the week, there is an excellent opportunity to spot the International Space Station.  At 1am on Monday 7th, the ISS will appear towards the west south west and pass just to the left of the red giant star Antares, before travelling directly overhead and then disappearing towards the east seven minutes later.

Antares has a magnitude of near-enough +1.0 which makes it the fifteenth brightest star in the night sky.  It is actually classed as a variable star and it's magnitude does slowly change a bit.  By contrast, the ISS will have a magnitude of about -3.9 on Monday evening, making it far brighter than Antares.

If you go back outside at 11pm on the Monday evening, Antares will now be located more towards the south and this time, it will appear very close to a 91%-lit waxing gibbous Moon.

Repeat your observing at 11pm again 3 days later, on Thursday 10th, to see what will then be a Full Moon rising above the horizon towards the south east.  Because it will be close to the horizon, you will experience the phenomenon called "moon illusion" that I mentioned the other week, where our neighbour appears much larger than it really is.

Change your gaze to the west a few minutes later to catch the ISS rising above the horizon again at 11.22pm.  This time it passes very close to the fourth brightest star in the night sky, the red giant Arcturus, before disappearing towards the east six minutes later.

A little challenge for telescope users around 2am on Monday 30th June.  Look towards the east south east to see Saturn shining at a magnitude of around +0.7 - no telescope needed for that one!  Just above and to the left of Saturn will be Neptune at a much fainter +7.9 which would be invisible to the naked eye.

Aiming your telescope towards Saturn should show its rings of dust at a 45 degree angle and some of the gas giant's many moons.

Although Neptune is the third-largest planet in our Solar System, its huge distance from us makes it appear very small and it is so far away from the Sun, that it is poorly illuminated.  In fact, Neptune is the only planet that was not first discovered by direct observation!

In the early 1800s, an astronomer named Alexis Bouvard tabulated the orbit of Uranus and noticed irregularities, concluding that they must be caused by the gravitational pull of another unknown planet.  Various other astronomers made calculations of where Neptune would be and it was finally observed using a telescope in 1846.  Neptune's largest moon Triton was discovered shortly afterwards, but it was not until the 20th century that we identified its other moons.

The Voyager 2 space probe flew past Neptune in 1989 and images of the planet reveal a large dark spot.  The planet appears pale blue due to the presence of Methane in its upper atmosphere.....I guess if you could visit Neptune, it wouldn't smell too good!

Screenshots courtesy of Stellarium

Copyright Adrian Dening and Radio Ninesprings 2025