Latest Episodes for this Channel
Mon November 03 2008
Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the night sky from northern latitudes during November 2008.
Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the night sky from northern latitudes during November 2008.
Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the night sky from northern latitudes during November 2008.
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Fri October 03 2008
Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the night sky from northern latitudes during October 2008. A sunspot has been seen on the Sun which could hera...
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Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the night sky from northern latitudes during October 2008. A sunspot has been seen on the Sun which could herald the start of the next solar cycle. Setting
towards the west as night-fall begins are Cygnus, Lyra and Aquila. Towards the south in the mid evening is the square of Pegasus. Up to its left is the constellation Andromeda and up to the left of
that i...
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Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the night sky from northern latitudes during October 2008. A sunspot has been seen on the Sun which could herald the start of the next solar cycle. Setting
towards the west as night-fall begins are Cygnus, Lyra and Aquila. Towards the south in the mid evening is the square of Pegasus. Up to its left is the constellation Andromeda and up to the left of
that is Perseus. With binoculars, between Cassiopeia and Perseus, you should find a fuzzy bright area of the sky called the double cluster - two, close, open clusters. Below the Square of Pegasus is
Pisces and we also have Cetus over to the lower left. Orion and Taurus are becoming visible in the early morning. Jupiter is still seen low in the south west as night begins. Saturn is now visible in
the pre-dawn sky and will get higher in elevation as the month progresses. Mercury passes between us and the Sun on the 6th October and reaches western elongation on the 22nd October. Mars is too
close to the Sun to observe. Venus is very low in the west after sunset and is gradually moving, in angle, away from the Sun. Around 26th October Saturn, Mercury and the Moon will make a very nice
skyscape in the hours before dawn. Vesta is the second most massive object in the asteroid belt after Ceres( now termed a dwarf planet) but it is the brightest. In the early morning hours of October,
when Taurus the Bull in high in the eastern sky, it may be found crossing the head of Cetus the whale. In the late evening, the galaxy M31 in Andromeda is visible in the south-east.Though the
Orionids are not one of the most spectaculer showers with peak rates around 20 per hour, they are interesting as it is believed that the meteors originate from Comet Halley. It is worth looking out
for them for a week around the 21st as the shower is long lived. They will best be seen in the hours before dawn when Orion is high in the southern sky. October is another good month to observe the
planet Uranus - perhaps for the first time - with binoculars, a small telescope or even your unaided eye! For those in the southern hemisphere, Jupiter is low in the west just above the heart of the
Milky Way (Sagittarius). High in the south - almost overhead - are the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds which appear as clouds in the sky. Just to the right of the Small Magellanic Cloud is a misty
blob - 47 Tucanae - which is one of the two most spectacular globular clusters visible in the southern hemisphere. Andromeda is low in the north. Finally, Vesta is also visible up and to the left of
Pegasus.
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Tue September 02 2008
Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the night sky from northern latitudes during September 2008. The sun is setting earlier and not long after nig...
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Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the night sky from northern latitudes during September 2008. The sun is setting earlier and not long after night fall you can see Cygnus, Lyra and Aquila high
in the south-west forming the Summer Triangle. In the south-east is the winged horse Pegasus, Cassiopeia and Andromeda. Here we find the Andromeda Galaxy, M31, which appears as a faint fuzzy oval.
M31 ...
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Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the night sky from northern latitudes during September 2008. The sun is setting earlier and not long after night fall you can see Cygnus, Lyra and Aquila high
in the south-west forming the Summer Triangle. In the south-east is the winged horse Pegasus, Cassiopeia and Andromeda. Here we find the Andromeda Galaxy, M31, which appears as a faint fuzzy oval.
M31 is the nearest large galaxy to us and the photons from it having been travelling for over two and a half million years. Jupiter is the planetary highlight of the month. On September 7th Jupiter
begins to move eastwards and is a bit to the east of the handle of the teapot in Sagittarius. In northern England Jupiter and Sagittarius are rather low in the sky so we don't see this particularly
well. Saturn is in conjunction with the Sun - on the far side - on September 4th. Mercury is gradually moving towards eastern elongation on 11th September. Mars is also very low above the horizon
from the UK. Between the 3rd and 19th September Venus, Mars and Mercury are all within 5 degrees. On 11th and 12th September, we get two conjunctions and if you look south at about 14:30 BST and look
about 30 degrees above the horizon, there is a good chance you will spot Venus. If you do you should be able to find Mars and Mercury too with binoculars. Obviously, this is during the day so be very
careful NOT to look at the Sun, especially with binoculars. On 13th, at around 3:24 BST in the UK, there is a lunar occultation of the planet Neptune. On 27th September, half an hour before dawn,
you'll have a chance to see Saturn just a few degrees away from a very thin crescent Moon.
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Sat August 02 2008
Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the night sky from northern latitudes during August 2008. There is a lovely region of sky including Cygnus, Aq...
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Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the night sky from northern latitudes during August 2008. There is a lovely region of sky including Cygnus, Aquila and Lyra. The three bright stars Deneb,
Altair and Vega make up the summer triangle. Vega is virtually overhead at around 10pm. Looking up to the east of Vega you should see Epsilon Lyrae - a double star. With a telescope, under good
conditions,...
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Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the night sky from northern latitudes during August 2008. There is a lovely region of sky including Cygnus, Aquila and Lyra. The three bright stars Deneb,
Altair and Vega make up the summer triangle. Vega is virtually overhead at around 10pm. Looking up to the east of Vega you should see Epsilon Lyrae - a double star. With a telescope, under good
conditions, you can see that each of the stars is actually a double system itself. Lower down in Lyra is the Ring Nebula, M57. Following the line from Altair up towards Vega with binoculars you'll
see a rather nice asterism called Brocchis' cluster or The Coathanger. Over to the west is the constellation of Ursa Major and that has lots of lovely objects within it. Mars is now so close to the
Sun that it is lost in the glare after sunset. Towards the south-east after sunset is Jupiter. It is at its best this year but is at the very lowest part of the ecliptic, its elevation is never more
than about 16 degrees from Manchester. This affects the seeing but a green filter can help improve the image. Venus is starting the month rather close to the Sun. On 15th August it will be well worth
looking at the horizon towards the west after sunset as Venus will have just passed Saturn and Mercury in the sky. This may be the last chance you have of seeing Saturn until it comes around in a few
months time. On 1st August there was a total eclipse of the Sun. Two weeks later, on Saturday 16th August, there will be a partial lunar eclipse just after sunset. By 22:40 BST 80% of the Moon will
be within the Earth's shadow. Between 11th and 13th August we can see the Perseid meteor shower. It is best to observe the Perseids as late as possible in the early morning to avoid the full Moon.
The radiant is in Perseus but it is best to look about 45 degrees away from the radiant towards the zenith. The International Space Station has also been visible from the UK recently. It is looking
very bright and is by far the brightest object in the night sky after the Moon.
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Tue July 01 2008
Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the night sky from northern latitudes during July 2008. At the beginning of July, Leo is setting in the west. ...
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Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the night sky from northern latitudes during July 2008. At the beginning of July, Leo is setting in the west. Next to Leo is a rather blank area of sky named
Virgo which actually contains a giant cluster of galaxies named the Virgo Cluster. Low in the sky are the constellations of Scorpius and Sagittarius and the further south you are the better view
you'll ...
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Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the night sky from northern latitudes during July 2008. At the beginning of July, Leo is setting in the west. Next to Leo is a rather blank area of sky named
Virgo which actually contains a giant cluster of galaxies named the Virgo Cluster. Low in the sky are the constellations of Scorpius and Sagittarius and the further south you are the better view
you'll have. Above those is the constellation of Ophiuchus; one of the constellations of the ecliptic. Above Ophiuchus is the constellation of Hercules and the four stars making up the Keystone.
Using the bottom and top right-hand stars of the Keystone you can find the globular cluster M13. To the east of Hercules you come to the Summer Triangle made up of Cygnus, Deneb and Altair. With
binoculars you can see Brocchi's Cluster or the Coathanger. In Cygnus, you can see the lovely double star Albireo with binoculars. Mercury gets to greatest elongation on July 1st and you can see it
in the east-north-east about 45 minutes before dawn for the first two weeks of July. Venus can be seen just above the western horizon after sunset in the last week of July. Mars and Saturn appear
very close to the star Regulus. On July 5th there is a nice skyscape with the Moon, Regulus, Mars and Saturn. On July 10th Mars and Saturn are in conjunction up to the left of Regulus. This is the
best month to see Jupiter. Jupiter is at opposition on July 9th; Jupiter the Sun and Earth will be in a straight line. However, Jupiter is at its lowest level in the ecliptic so will be fairly low in
the sky.
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The Binary System Podcasts
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