The Night Sky

If you have a look outside and see where the crescent moon is dipping below the horizon, to the top left you can see Venus, the next brightest light out there. To the top left of Venus is Mars, fainter and smaller but easily identified due to its red hue. Tomorrow the moon will appear between the two planets, the day after it will be to the top left of Mars. If you have good bins or a tele on a camera then Neptune can be found just to the left of Mars.

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It is pissing down here!

and here :angry:

Cumbria, Godā€™s own and all that.

Lovely clear skies in Lancashire, bit nippy mind.

Grabbed my bins and had a look around. The horizon is obscured from my garden by other houses, so the moon and Venus are gone for tonight. but found Mars and I think Neptune right next to it. Saw a couple of meteors due north too, Quadrantids shower i think, which peaks in couple of days.

Thanks for the heads up Bob.

Last time I was in Cumbria I turned a corner on the way home from the pub, it went pitch black, I looked up and it was a real ā€˜holy fuckā€™ moment - the sky is nothing like what you get near London!

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[quote=ā€œAmDismal, post:7, topic:672ā€]
I looked up and it was a real ā€˜holy fuckā€™ moment[/quote]

God had to find a way of distracting northerners from the fact they live in the north :slight_smile:

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Similar experience in (very) rural Shropshire. Literally couldnā€™t see my hand at the end of my outstretched arm.

Same with me in Ironbridge, Shrops last night. Fuck, I was pissed.

google Sky Map (free download) is useful

Itā€™s very clear here right now and the moon, Venus, Mars etc seem to be where theyā€™re supposed to be. Mars is perfectly clear, and noticeably pinky/orange, despite the fact that weā€™re in a town and the sun hasnā€™t been set for all that long. Pretty.

VB

just been looking at the same. I like the night sky but know very little

Clear as a bell up hear again, lovely.

I just pulled the telescope out to look at the moon, Mars and Venus with the kids :+1:

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Clear sky here - Mars and Venus perfectly located as described. Thanks Bob Iā€™d have missed that otherwise. Just had a bunch of guys out or the pub to have a look. Janā€™s just come in saying how bright Venus is.

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Yup, was great. My little boy was very excited to see it all.

I really want a telescope now!

Cycling on unlit roads last night with a friend we had a fantastic view of what my friend thought was Mars and Venus.

Looking at this link, I think it was Mars and Saturn. Venus would have set, and looking at the relative size and brightness charts- the larger planet which was noticeably red was brighter and clearer
https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/night/@2647778

Looking here, we were in a small area with relatively low light pollution when we saw them
https://www.lightpollutionmap.info/#zoom=13&lat=7563245&lon=-315210&layers=B0TFFFFFFFF
Coordinates: 56Ā° 00ā€² 57ā€³ N 2Ā° 49ā€² 40ā€³ W

Up until recently I had no fucking idea that you could see Saturns rings with a relatively inexpensive telescope!

I found a review of inexpensive telescopes and the Orion ones seem well regarded- something like this?

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Tempted to get this as a first foray into telescopes. Thoughts?

It might not be the most powerful, but seems to be a reasonable starter scope, and it seems light enough that I could cycle out of the city with it so more likely to use it in areas with lower light pollution