What’s Up?

The calendar below shows you a brief outline what is visible in the sky each day. If you are new to astronomy and need some help with the terminology used in sky notes, take a look at this article which will help you.

Additionally my husband Mark has done some planetary visibility and conjunction calculations which show the visibility of each of the planets for the next few years in easy to understand graphs which show magnitudes and apparent diameter of the planets. Click the links above for more information.

Monthly Sky Charts
The constellations change position each month. Some are visible every night of the year but they will be in a different part of the sky, whereas others are only visible during certain seasons. Astronomy Now have created an excellent, interactive star map which will show you what you can see on any given date. View the map here. You can also download the free planetarium app called Stellarium on your laptop or smart device which is an excellent tool for planning your observing sessions.

International Space Station
The International Space Station (ISS) is a manned space station which is in low-earth orbit. It is travelling at approximately 17,000 miles per hour and orbits the Earth approximately every 90 minutes. Sometimes the huge solar panels are illuminated by the Sun and we can see the ISS passing across our skies, looking a fast moving, bright star. To find out when the ISS and other bright satellites are visible, visit Heavens-Above or download a satellite tracking app such as ISS Detector.