August heralds the return of the darker nights. A truly fabulous time of the astronomical year. The summer constellations begin to rise in the eastern sky quite early, bringing with them the summer "Milky Way" this is a region of our own galaxy in which we live, in fact it is a spiral arm of our galaxy that leads us to the galactic centre. Star fields are abound in this object rich region of the sky, star clusters and stellar nurseries congregate around nebulous regions of gas that populate our near universe. The sight of the "Milky Way" overhead is quite stunning from cygnus in the north down to the top of saggitarius and scorpius in the southern skies, a mervellous sight and a poigniant reminder of our place in this inspiring universe.

August also gives us a delightful treat, in the form of the "Perseid Meteor Shower".These meteors or "Shooting stars" are the remnants of a comets tail that the spinning earth passes through every year on its orbit around the Sun.When the earths atmosphere and these tiny cometry particles collide it can produce a fantastic light show not to be missed.

As part of this we are holding a series of meteor watch nights at the observatory. These nights will take place over 3 nights either side of the 12th (which is the peak of the shower). So the 11th, 12th & 13th August, the events will start at 8pm. The event evening will consist of a talk in our classroom about comets and shooting stars, then we will have a tour of the facility, showing you how it all works and answering your questions, after which we will all sit outside under the stars and wait for the meteors to arrive, this shower is a very active shower and you should be able to see many shooting stars. We will also be observing through our telescopes at some deep sky objects. A fun packed family event for all to enjoy.

Booking is easy, go to the calendar section and click on the August icon, then pick the night of your choice and fill in the form paying on line as you go. Any problems call me on 07805638469. This event will be very popular and will sell out fast, so to avoid disappointment please do try to book early.

Gary