On Tuesday evening (16th July 2019) a partial lunar eclipse will be in progress as the Moon rises. You will need a clear horizon to see it at Moonrise (21:13BST) but the Earth’s shadow will still partly obscure the Moon until just before midnight.
Clear skies.
Tomorrow night (9/7/2019) Saturn will be opposite the Sun in the evening sky. It will rise at sunset and set at sunrise, which given the short nights does not give you a lot of time to observe it. At its highest, the planet will only get to about 16 degrees above the horizon. Unfortunately this means the views won’t be great, but at least the rings will be open. See how many of its moons you can spot.
Also visible are the Moon and Jupiter, just a few degrees apart. This will make it easy to tell Saturn from Jupiter as Saturn will be the bright object on its own.
Trailing about 5 degrees behind Saturn is tiny Pluto. This will be much harder to spot and you will need a large scope to see the dwarf planet. You should plot it’s position over several nights to be sure it is Pluto you’ve seen and not a faint star.
Clear skies.
Tonight (23rd June 2019), just after sunset, Mercury will be at it’s greatest apparent separation from the Sun.
The picture above shows the view to the WNW, at 9:45BST this evening from Swindon. Mercury is only ~10 degrees high so you’ll need a clear horizon. Mars (the red dot to the right of Mercury in the picture above) can also be seen about 2.5 degrees west of Mercury.
Clear skies.
Tonight (10th June 2019), Jupiter is at opposition (i.e. it is on the opposite side of the Earth to the Sun). This means it will be visible all night, weather permitting. It will be crossing the meridian at 1AM (BST), but alas it does not get very high at just under 16 degrees above the horizon.
Clear skies
Clear skies.
We will be observing tonight (1/4) at Frillford Heath golf driving range, Tubney.
There is NO observing tonight (6/3).
There is NO observing tonight (5/3).
There is NO observing tonight (4/3).
There is NO observing tonight.
