June Dark Skies Update

Great that Spring watch came from the Kielder Forest Dark Skies Park! Some good sightings, but back to Yorkshire Dark Skies.

I am busy with some bat work when I can spare the time – believe it or not the best time for bats is early morning, as they return to roost.

This month early morning is the only time you are going to see the planets. Sunrise is about 04.30, so I am afraid its a 03.45 step out of bed to see in the South East a bright early morning star – this will be Venus. The other really bright “star” will be the biggest planet – Jupiter. Pretty unmissable in the sky.

This month sees what is termed a super moon – this is when the moon is closer than normal to the earth and is thereabouts 7% bigger than the norm. If you miss it due to clouds there is another super moon in July.

Watch out for some of the photographs on Paul the weatherman on BBC as there are likely to be shots of noctilucent clouds – these are eye-catching silver / blue ice formations in the clouds that reflect the late sunlight. These are unusual clouds as they form high up – about 80km up!

Look just at sunset to the north for sightings.