The planet Saturn is currently at its closest to Earth for 2023 and is better visible from the UK than it has been for 10 years. Even a small telescope will show its splendid rings, which make it a unique sight in the Solar System. Read more
The Perseid meteors are the most popular shooting stars of the year. And in 2023 the maximum numbers will occur over the weekend of 12-13 August, near to new Moon, making this a great year for watching them from the UK. Here’s how and when and where to see them. Read more
The International Space Station is making a spectacular series of evening passes over the UK during July 2023, continuing until the end of the month. It’s very easy to spot this giant spacecraft, as it’s one of the brightest objects in the sky.
There’s no mistaking the International Space Station (ISS) when it glides silently through our skies. It is often brighter than any celestial object at night other than the Moon, and moves as swiftly as a nearby aircraft, but without any accompanying flashing lights or noise. Yet it’s at least 400 km above your head, and as you watch the station rapidly passes over the rest of Europe, travelling at around 460 km every minute.
A typical pass lasts about 10 minutes, although it is only easily visible for about six minutes. It always moves from the west side of the sky to the east, although its exact track depends on where you are viewing from and the stage of its orbit. It can pass directly over southern England, and even from the North of Scotland you can still view it easily.
Quite often the Station fades as you view it, as it passes into the Earth’s shadow. From the astronauts’ point of view, sunset has arrived, which is repeated every 90 minutes.
This is a great opportunity for photography, and also for showing off your predictive powers to your friends and family. To find out how to get predictions for your own location go to our help page: https://www.popastro.com/main_
The current series of evening passes over the UK ends on 27 July, with the next series of evening passes taking place from mid September until the start of October.
Currently there are seven astronauts aboard the ISS, and in a rare case of US–Russian cooperation, three are from NASA and three are from Roscosmos, the Russian space agency. Also a board is an Emirati, and together they make up Expedition 69.
A supernova has exploded in the galaxy M101 in the well-known constellation of Ursa Major. As of 23 May the star’s brightness is magnitude 11, so while you won’t be able to spot it as a new star just by looking up at the sky, amateur astronomers with medium-sized telescopes (say 150 mm and upwards) should be able to pick it out visually if they are accustomed to using the instrument. Read more
You can’t miss the evening star at the moment. The planet Venus is shining brightly in the spring skies of 2023, and it will remain with us into the early summer. But this year it disappears more quickly than usual as seen from the UK and northern Europe in particular. So what’s going on? Read more
What are those two stars in the west? Millions of people have asked this question in the past few days. The answer: the planets Jupiter and Venus. During late February and early March 2023 they are set to provide a beautiful sight in the evening sky. Read more
There’s a new comet in the sky which is already creating a flurry of interest among amateur astronomers, visible at the end of January and early February 2023. Don’t get your hopes up too high, but just be pleasantly surprised if you manage to spot it with binoculars.But don’t expect to see it looking green as the media hype says! Read more
The end of 2022 gives astronomers the chance to see all the planets, plus the Moon, in the evening sky at once. The last time this was possible from the UK was in October 1997 and it won’t be seen again until February 2025. The line-up will only be visible from the whole of the UK for a short time after sunset each evening and will require a clear view of the sky towards the south-west in particular. Uranus and Neptune are in the sky but will only be spotted after twilight. Read more
There are two really bright stars in the evening sky in the run-up to Christmas. But neither are actually stars – they are the planets Mars and Jupiter. And this December, Mars is making a close approach to Earth, and won’t be as close again until 2031. Read more
A spectacular fireball on 23 October may have dropped meteorites over the Cotswolds, according to experts. A search has so far been unsuccessful, but an appeal has been made for anyone in the area to keep their eyes open and to report any possible meteorites.