Welcome to September! And the beginning of Autumn’s dark nights. I hope you all enjoyed August’s eclipse. Myself and my family saw the full eclipse in Valencia, and I know others also travelled to Spain. It really was a special event to see. In York, around 500 people visited Beetle Bank Farm, where the society has its observatory to see the event. Continue reading
A monthly look at astronomical events in the sky and on Earth
Compiled and written by Steve Sawyer
Welcome to August! This is going to be up to be a truly great month for astronomy, rightly dubbed “eclipse month”. The absolute highlight is the highly anticipated solar eclipse on August 12. Whilst for those of us in the in UK and Ireland will be treated to a very large partial eclipse (over 90%), those willing to travel to Spain or Iceland will witness Europe’s first total solar eclipse in 27 years.
Continue readingA monthly look at astronomical events in the sky and on Earth
Compiled and written by Steve Sawyer
Welcome to July! For observers in northern latitudes, the short summer nights mean that true darkness is still quite elusive, with twilight persisting for much of the night. However, this keeps our chances alive for spotting the beautiful, electric-blue glow of noctilucent (“night-shining”) clouds low on the northern horizon.
Continue readingA monthly look at astronomical events in the sky and on Earth
Compiled and written by Steve Sawyer
Welcome to June! As we approach the summer solstice on June 21, observers in northern latitudes will notice that true darkness becomes elusive, with a form of twilight persisting throughout the night. While the light skies hide the fainter stars, this is the perfect time of year to look out for the ghostly, electric-blue glow of noctilucent clouds shining high in the northern sky Continue reading
A monthly look at astronomical events in the sky and on Earth
Compiled and written by Steve Sawyer
Welcome to May’s “What’s Up”, we’re now in the final month of Spring and the night skies are becoming ever brighter making the nights shorter. Grab these warmer, clear evenings and nights (hopefully) before true astronomical darkness ends in early May.
This month we can look forward to the Eta Aquarid meteor shower that peaks in early May. This month is also a great time to view the bright Milky Way before the lighter summer nights hide it from view. Continue reading
A monthly look at astronomical events in the sky and on Earth
Compiled and written by Steve Sawyer
Welcome to April’s “What’s Up”, where Spring is now well and truly underway. The clocks have gone forward, the evenings are stretching out, and we’re starting to get that magical mix of warmer air and darker skies.
Continue readingA monthly look at astronomical events in the sky and on Earth
Compiled and written by Steve Sawyer
Welcome to the March 2026 edition of “What’s Up”! This month marks a major transition in our skies as we say goodbye to the dark depths of winter, and hopefully the murk and damp that seems to have been the weather since the start of the year!
Welcome the astronomical start of spring. The Sun crosses the celestial equator on March 20, bringing the Vernal Equinox, where day and night are of almost equal length. For observers in the UK and Ireland, don’t forget that British Summer Time (BST) begins on March 29, so clocks will go forward.
This month we’re using Monet inspired images.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Monet
A monthly look at astronomical events in the sky and on Earth
Compiled and written by Steve Sawyer
Hi and welcome to Februarys column. I hope you found some clear skies amidst the January murk. January saw some spectacular auroras around the world, including parts of the UK. I missed them due to the weather! I hope you managed to catch a glimpse.
This month the winter constellations of Orion and Gemini still dominate our southern skies. For planetary observers, this is a headline month: a rare “planet parade” emerges in the final week, featuring six of our solar system neighbours—Mercury, Venus, Saturn, Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune—stretching across the western horizon shortly after sunset.
More on these later on but first…. Continue reading
A monthly look at astronomical events in the sky and on Earth
Compiled and written by Steve Sawyer
Welcome to the first edition of What’s Up! for 2026
2025 was another brilliant year for astronomy. I hope you all managed to catch a peek of the Aurora over the last year.
2026 looks like being another great year for astronomy. Here are some of the highlights we can look forward to.
A monthly look at astronomical events in the sky and on Earth
Compiled and written by Steve Sawyer
Welcome to the December edition of “What’s Up”!
As the nights draw in and the air turns crisp, we reach the finale of another incredible year of astronomy. It feels like no time at all since we started 2025, yet here we are, wrapping up and looking back on twelve months of celestial highlights.
Continue reading