The night of Monday the 29th of August was amazingly clear. The Milky Way was glittering overhead, Andromeda and the Double Cluster were visible to the naked eye, and a quick scan of the sky with even moderate binoculars turned up countless stars, and dozens of star clusters, nebulae...
The term ‘planetary nebulae’ was coined in the 18th century by William Herschel, because, when viewed through the telescopes of the time, these objects often appeared as pale blue or greenish orbs, not unlike the planets Neptune and Uranus. Despite the inaccuracy, the name has stuck. Both planetary nebulae...
Over the course of the last week or so I was lucky enough to be able to do something that I thoroughly enjoy: I did some public stargazing sessions. As part of the recent Dorchester Try This 2016, I did three sessions in the car park up at Maiden...
Yet again, with so few opportunities to do any actual observing recently, I’m going to take a look at what we can look forward to in the night sky during the rest of July and into August. Let’s get started with the Moon. Full on Tuesday the 19th of...
Before we proceed with the facts about being bilingual, let’s take a closer look at the most important definitions (according to Cambridge Dictionary).Bilingualism – ability to use two languages equally well.Monolingualism – ability to speak only one language. Did I say I consider myself painfully monolingual? I know, I’m just writing...
Recent cloudy nights and rain has meant that observing opportunities have been pretty scarce (I’ve been out only once in the past two weeks!). The ‘upside’ of this is that’s there’s been time for research and planning … Whilst perusing Stellarium on the computer I happened upon the constellations...
With the full moon been and gone (Monday the 20th), and having endured some pretty awful weather lately (and not much astronomy), I have to say I’m looking forward to the next couple of weeks, really hoping for some dark and clear nights. The fact that it doesn’t get...
A new operation commences in Dorset focusing on educating motorcyclists. Today, Dorset Police is launching Operation Wheels that will run throughout the summer period. The operation is a preventative campaign to reduce motorcycle casualties. Riders are recognised as being the most at risk road user group. Whilst motorcycles account...
Well, here we are again: June is upon us, it doesn’t get dark till nearly midnight, it’s bright again by half 4, and many stargazers will be thinking about putting away their scopes till autumn. I think I mentioned in a previous piece, though, how much I enjoy summer...
I guess it’s true of any hobby, in that no matter how much you enjoy it personally, it’s always extra special when you can share what you love with like-minded others. I’ve just returned from a fantastic weekend in South Wales’ Brecon Beacons, at the Spring AstroCamp, organised by...
