Richard Darn
richard@richarddarn.com
0775 367 0038
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- Lyrids meteor shower 22/04/2022 The Lyrids meteor shower peaks overnight on 22 April. It is produced by dust particles left behind by comet C/1861 G1 Thatcher burning up in the Earth's atmosphere. I've never had much luck with this shower, but you simply never know. Perhaps this is going to be a stormer! As with all such showers you…
- Perseid meteor shower 12/08/2022 The wonderful Perseids meteor shower reaches its climax overnight on 12/13 August. Generally this is one of the highlights of the year. Unfortunately the nearly full moon this year will block out all but the brightest meteors. BUT the shower itself runs from approximately 17 July to 24 August. A good tactic might be to…
- Saturn at its best 14/08/2022 Magnificent Saturn is at its closest to the Earth on 14 August and will be visible all night long. You will need a modest telescope and a magnification of about 35x to bring the famous rings into view. The same combination will also show you its moon, Titan. To the naked eye Saturn looks like…
- Jupiter at its best 26/08/2022 The only planet in the solar system bigger than Saturn is marvellous Jupiter. It reaches its so called "opposition" on 26 September and stands a mere 480 million miles or so from the Earth. Binoculars will show up to four of its mons, but with a telescope there's chance to glimpse the complexity of the…
- Orionid meteor shower 21/10/2022 The Orionids meteor shower reaches its peak overnight on 21/22 October. This is one of the few shooting star events not compromised by a bright moon this year so make the best of it. Although text books refer to it as an "average shower" I'd have to disagree. It's a little beauty with lovely shooting…
- Partial solar eclipse 25/10/2022 at 09:00 – 10:30 On 25 October there's a partial solar eclipse visible from the UK. This is when the Moon comes between the Earth and the Sun and seems to take a bite taken out of the latter. To observe this with a telescope you will need one equipped with a special solar filter to ensure your safety.…
- Uranus occulted by the moon 05/12/2022 Uranus is the second most distant planet in the solar system and at its nearest to Earth the gap between us is still over 1.6 billion miles. So despite being a large planet it is not visible to the naked eye, but it is a very easy binocular object if you know where to look.…
- Mars at its best - and dances with the Moon! 08/12/2022 On 8 December Mars makes its closest approach to the Earth. It does so every two years, but not all such events (or oppositions) are equal. This one is a corker. The red planet will swell in brightness in the preceding months and will be visible all night. It also grows in apparent size as…
- Geminids meteor shower 13/12/2022 To close out the year the Geminids meteor shower takes centre stage and it's by far the best of the lot Shooting stars are visible well before and after the peak overnight on 13/14 December which is good news as the climax is a bit affected by a big moon which rises at 8.30pm. We…
Dark Skies UK 
I got interest in Dark Skies out of a concern about excessive LED streelighting in my area, and sone evidence of effects on human health, including MY health. I also think darker skies would encourage people to stop living in fear of crime, which is still sometimes exaggerated, and of course, I love sharing all aspects of nature with new friends, including the stars. Here is a report from CNN you should read. https://edition.cnn.com/2019/05/16/health/blue-light-led-health-effects-bn-trnd/index.html
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