When To Go Out

Astronomy, unless you’re looking at the sun, means going out at night. There are a few astronomical sights that are visible in the day time – Venus, the Moon the odd comet, but generally it’s in the dark that you’ll actually be able to see stuff.

Weather is a deciding factor. This is the ultimate fair-weather hobby because clouds will stop you from being able to see the sky and hence the stars. Even when it’s clear, not all nights are the same. High atmospheric turbulence can ruin views of the planets and murk and mistiness make deep sky astronomy impossible.

The other big decision to make is whether to be a lark or an owl. The sky changes markedly over the course of a night and there are things visible in the morning that you wouldn’t see in the evening. Personally I prefer observing in the evening. Everything ends up in the evening skies at one time or another after all.

In this blog, nearly all the objects described should be prominent at 9.30pm. In the summer the sun sets late, so you’ll have to stay up later. All these objects will require half an hour of your time, so once you’ve observed you can get back inside for that last cup of cocoa / tea / gin before climbing the stairs to Bedfordshire. Unless like me you live in a flat.

The seasons all have rather a different character in terms of what’s visible, so here’s a little potted guide to astronomical seasonality:

·         Spring – My favourite time of the year. Early Spring you still see the winter constellations and late Spring you start to see the summer ones. One drawback is that in Spring we’re looking up out of the Milky Way, mostly at faint galaxies, out of the reach of urban astronomers. There are a fair few globular star clusters around though. And sunset is still early while the nights aren’t excruciatingly cold.

·         Summer – I love observing in the summer. It’s the time when the galactic centre in Sagittarius is visible. The most obvious stars form a triangle dubbed, “The Summer Triangle” – Deneb, Vega and Altair. The Milky Way runs through this area, with many of the finest nebulae and clusters. Nights are at their warmest, although an extra layer is often necessary. The only problem is the length of the night. In June it never gets fully dark, and often you need to stay up until gone 11pm to see anything.

·         Autumn – Not a big fan of autumn for astronomy. It’s the other time of year when you’re looking out of the plane of the galaxy, so all there is to look at are a few globular clusters and galaxies. To make up for it, a lot of star clusters are at their zenith, and some of the most impressive clusters and galaxies are visible. Look out for the square of Pegasus. Nights are drawing in too but aren’t so cold, although fog is often a problem.

  

         Winter – Winter is great, as long as you can take the cold. In Britain the climate is not conducive to astronomy all the time but when it clears, boy is it clear. You’re looking in to a spiral arm although I find there’s less to see now than in summer. Having said that, the incomparable Orion Nebula is high overhead, and that alone is a sight worth schlepping out for on a cold, crisp evening.