
“If the Earth had no atmosphere, life would be much easier for astronomers – as long as they didn’t need to breathe. “
“If the Earth had no atmosphere, life would be much easier for astronomers – as long as they didn’t need to breathe. “
“this year the summer solstice is bang on its ‘usual’ date, June 21st. “
Although it can be seen in daylight if you know exactly where to look, Venus is the morning and evening star, generally seen in twilight and hardly ever against a truly black sky.
Find out more about the planet Mercury from our guide by Duncan Lunan
“The Moon will be New on June 10th, at its furthest from the Earth, and there will be an annular solar eclipse”
“The patterns imposed on the stars by man – the constellation figures – are now standardised in use by astronomers all over the world. “
“Our map which accompanies the guide to the planets each month is drawn for 9 pm (21:00 hours) in mid-month, in Greenwich Mean Time, nowadays called Universal Time, so in summer the map is accurate for 20:00 hrs BST in the middle of the month, half an hour earlier at the beginning of the month and half an hour later at the end”
“Most of the great discoveries of astronomy, by Galileo and his successors, were made using telescopes which were very small by modern standards”
“Everyone interested in astronomy will consider buying a telescope at some point, and will ask ‘What type of telescope should I buy?”
Nobody has seen a lunar eclipse from a lunar viewpoint, though artists have been fascinated by the prospect for a long time.