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    Discover the wonders of our dark skies

    Enjoy the great outdoors at night and discover the fascinating mysteries of the universe above.

    We’ve put together seven downloadable guides to star gazing in the countryside, including moon and constellation charts, a podcast and a photo gallery, plus a wealth of other information on this exciting subject.

    It’s a popular time for star gazing; our walks coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo's discovery of the subject and the International Year of Astronomy 2009 (IYA 2009) is using this as the perfect chance to put together a global celebration of the social and cultural benefits that astronomy has offered us over the ages. So, this is a great opportunity for you to reach for the stars and discover for yourself what’s out there in the vast expanse of space.

    The IYA 2009 is a chance for people to experience astronomy first hand, with over 140 countries taking part in regional, national and international events. Have a look at their website for handy tips on star gazing, information on the constellations, planets and our moon, plus the chance to get involved yourself.

    The Moon

    Dark skies walking
    guides

    Stars

    Our universe

    A child with binoculars

    Getting started

    Orion's belt

    Light pollution

    The Hubble Space Telescope floating in the earth's atmosphere

    Podcast

    A star forming; the orange star centered in this remarkable telescopic skyview is T Tauri, prototype of the class of T Tauri variable stars. Surrounding T Tauri is a dusty yellow cosmic cloud named the Hind's Variable Nebula (NGC 1555/1554). Over 400 light-years away, at the edge of a molecular cloud, both star and nebula are seen to vary significantly in brightness but not necessarily at the same time, adding to the mystery of the intriguing region.

    What's in the sky
    this month?

    A new star, likely the brightest supernova in recorded human history, lit up planet Earth's sky in the year 1006 AD. The expanding debris cloud from the stellar explosion, this remnant supernova, found in the southerly constellation of Lupus, still puts on a cosmic light show.

    Photo gallery

    The big Corona; most photographs don't adequately portray the magnificence of the Sun's corona. Seeing the corona first-hand during a total solar eclipse is best. The human eye can adapt to see features and extent that photographic film usually cannot. Welcome, however, to the digital age. The above picture is a combination of thirty-three photographs that were digitally processed to highlight faint features of a total eclipse that occurred in March of 2006.

    Links

    A shot of the bright moon and starry sky over water

    Local astronomy
    clubs

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    Earth and moon
    © NASA
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    CPRE, At-Bristol and IYA 2009 logos
     
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