Tips for Observing the Night Sky...
- Check the weather; clear skies with no precipitation are needed
- Check the time the sun sets; it needs to be completely dark when you observe in order to see the most. This means that winter evenings are perfect for stargazing.
- You can easily find out both of these using a weather app or website (we recommend BBC Weather)
- Stargazing after sundown in winter can be very cold! Remember to wear thick coats, hats etc. Shoes with thick soles also help as it means your feet do not get as cold!
- Give yourself time to adjust to the night! It takes around 20 minutes for your eyes to reach their optimum in darkness, which you need in order to get the most out of your stargazing session. You need to not stare at any bright lights for these 20 minutes and during your session - if you are using a phone, laptop or tablet as a sky map (see below), make sure to shift them to red light mode.
Planning what you are going to see is important! There are multiple ways to do this:
- Stellarium - this is on the school PCs, but you can download it for free to your own computer, £2.19 on Android or £2.29 on iOS: It is especially relevant as you can change the time of day and your location in order to know exactly what you will be able to see.
- Another website we recommend is sky maps. In this website you can print of sky maps for free, with information on the back about what you will be able to see.
- The BBC Sky at Night magazine is also great and also offers monthly highlights for things to observe!
Some things of interest to see include:
- Planets (Mars, Venus)
- The Milky Way
- Bright Stars like Cassiopeia pattern
- Andromeda
- Summer Triangle
- AND MANY MORE!