Tracking Artemis II
There are exciting times ahead, and that’s something we really need in the world these days. Much as Earth-orbiting space stations have advanced since 1972, humans have been…
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A Comet Sparking Internet Hysteria: The 3I/ATLAS Story
Comet 3I/ATLAS created an enormous amount of online speculation last year.# Now it is safely making its way out of the solar system, I thought I’d pick apart…
Affinity Version 3: A New Era in FREE Creative Software.
I have been using Affinity for quite a few years now and ditched the expensive Photoshop about three years ago. 😁 Affinity Photo gave me most of the…
Why do we do this crazy hobby?
With a fairly bright comet C/2021 A1 (Leonard) developing very nicely in the eastern morning sky, we will have limited time before if dives below the horizon. As…
Sky Diary for July 2021
My Sky Diary for June 2021 is now available to view on YouTube. As well as the electronic version below, the Sky Diary is published electronically using a…
Sky Diary for May 2021
My Sky Diary for May 2021 is now available for viewing on YouTube using the link below. An electronic version of the sky diary is also available on…
Sky Diary for March 2021
My Sky Diary for March 2021 is now available to view on YouTube. The Sky Diary is also available on TeamUp, where you can download the app and…
Sky Diary for October 2020
My Sky Diary for October 2020 is now on YouTube. You can access my TeamUp Sky Diary on The Web: www.star-gazing.co.uk/Diary Or if you install the app, you…
Look Out For Venus
My YouTube video shows you what to expect over the next few weeks as the planet moves ever closer to The Sun and lower in our evening sky.
Letchworth and District Astronomical Society – 26th February 2020.
Tomorrow evening (26th February) I will be presenting to Letchworth and District Astronomical Society. http://www.ldas.org.uk I’m looking forward to showing them all about the fantastic Rosetta and Philae…
Raunds Community Library Apollo 13 Event
As part of the Apollo 50 celebrations, I am helping to organise an Apollo 13 Event at Raunds Community Library. This will be held on Saturday the 7th…
Rugby & District Astronomical Society – 16th February
Tonight I will be re-visiting my friends at Rugby & District Astronomical Society to give another presentation. Out of the Darkness: Pluto, New Horizons & Arrokoth. We will…
Venus Passes Neptune – 27th January 2020
On Monday the 27th of January Venus passes just 4 arc minutes south of Neptune in the evening sky. Venus is moving much faster than Neptune, so you…
Comet C/2017 T2 passes the Sword Handle
Comet C/2017 T2 (PANSTARRS) is approaching the Double Cluster (Or The Sword Handle) in Perseus over the next few days. See my blog entry below for more details…
Comet C/2017 T2 PANSTARRS
Comet C/2017 T2 PANSTARRS is getting brighter. It will come to perihelion in early May, when it will be in the constellation of Camelopardalis. It will be at…
Pale Blue Dot – 30th Anniversary Celebration
The 14th of February marks the 30th anniversary of Voyager 1’s Pale Blue Dot Image. The image below is the image in question, showing the distant speck of…
What a Stupid Hobby.
So, the social media frenzy starts again! We have had an ideal Christmas and New Year break for doing astronomy. Lots of spare time, and no Moon to blot…
Moon and Venus – 29th December 2019
As the final days of 2019 count down, later this evening The Moon and Venus are still fairly close together. So as the sky darkens, look towards the…
Starlink – What’s all the fuss about?
Tonight there will be an opportunity to see the last set of launched Starlink satellites passing over the UK skies. The last couple of launches have stirred up…
Dimming of Betelgeuse – Supernova or not?
When I’m doing my planetarium shows, the children really love the fact that Betelgeuse is so huge if it were in the same position as our Sun, it…
Betelgeuse Fades – But not likely to go supernova.
When the weather gives you a chance, get out and have a look at the bright red giant star Betelgeuse in the right shoulder of Orion. It looks…
Comet 289P (Blanpain).
Comet 289P (Blanpain) is heading northwards and should become a better placed object for us in the UK during December and January. It will at it’s brightest on…
Starlink – Latest launch visibility.
On November the 11th, Elon Musk’s SpaceX launched the second cluster of Starlink satellites. This launch saw another 60 satellites go into orbit, making it “largest commercial telecommunications…
Lincoln Astronomical Society – 3rd December 2019
On Tuesday the 3rd of December, The Flat Tim and Dave roadshow will be bringing fun and games for all ages once again for my very last evening…
Sky Diary for December 2019
My very last free monthly sky diary for December 2019 showing the events of the night sky visible from the UK is now available in a printable pdf…
I’m a serious astronomer you know!
After a recent astronomy event, I heard some people were making comments about people not being serious about the hobby and their attitudes dumbing it down. Added to…
Apollo 12 – 50th Anniversary: Reentry and Splashdown.
50 years ago today is the day the three Apollo 12 astronauts, Pete Conrad, Dick Gordon and Alan Bean return to Earth. Unfortunately, I am not able to…
Apollo 12 – 50th Anniversary: Almost Home.
50 years ago today the three Apollo 12 astronauts continue their coast back home today. They perform a mid-course correction to keep their angle towards Earth correct for…
Alpha Monocerotids – Possible Meteor Storm
It is predicted that there could be an outburst, or even a storm of the Alpha Monocerotids meteor shower tomorrow morning. The outburst is predicted to be at…
Apollo 12 – 50th Anniversary. The Journey home.
21st of November 1969. 50 years ago today, in orbit around The Moon, the three Apollo 12 astronauts performed a great deal of landmark tracking and photography from…