The first two asteroids to be discovered, Ceres and Pallas, can both be spotted with binoculars in the night sky this autumn. They should be fairly easy to locate too, since both lie near recognisable asterisms, or star patterns.

We’ve got a new updated video of the sky for August 2021 as seen from the UK. It gives a quick look at some of the more easily overlooked constellations, so make the most of any clear spells, look for Jupiter down in the south-east or south, and get stargazing!

Midsummer skies are not ideal for stargazing as it doesn’t get dark until late in the UK. But this is the time of year when spectacular clouds can appear at the edge of space.

After only a few hours of glory, the nova in Hercules has faded considerably to about magnitude 8.5 as of 23h UT on 13 June.

Update 13 June 2021, 19h UT

A fairly bright nova has been discovered in the constellation of Hercules by Japanese observer Seiji Ueda. The star is now about seventh magnitude and is visible in binoculars.

A partial eclipse of the Sun takes place on the mid-morning of Thursday, 10 June as seen from the UK. Although this won’t be anything like as spectacular as a total solar eclipse, it will be interesting to watch – but you need to take precautions to observe it safely.

The nova in Cassiopeia that appeared on 18 March has provided another surprise – an outburst of over five times its brightness in a matter of a few days, to become bright enough to be visible with the naked eye.

The mercury might not be rising as much as we’d like in early May in the UK, but Mercury is certainly doing so. The closest planet to the Sun is in the evening sky right now, in the north-west just after sunset.