Sky Watch by Geoff Burt

This month is crammed with cool observations but first, let's start with a stargazing riddle! When is a planet not a planet?

And looking to the skies, our nearest neighbour in space, the Moon, has a …

August is a great month for stargazing in the ‘Petersphere’! We’re still in Summer, yet the nights have drawn out enough to allow properly dark skies between twilights. Temperatures are comfy overnig…

The 'Petersphere' is back in the holiday season, it's the height of Summer and seems as though the Earth is as close to the Sun as it can get, but it's not! Find out why in this month's Sky Watch.

Wr…

Summer officially arrives this month and June is famous for the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year when the 'Petersphere' receives over 16 hours of daylight! 

This June however, Sky Watch i…

By May the 'Petersphere' skies don't get dark until mid-evening. The darkest part of the sky is overhead and is ideal for observations as we head into Summer. Along with what to observe this month, S…

The 'Petersphere' is part of an International Dark Sky Reserve inside a National Park, so our location couldn't be much better for stargazing! The question is, how do you make the most of your observ…

Sky Watch has been airing monthly on Shine Radio for two years already, and this is our 25th episode! 

We might be focussed on the wonders of space, yet we can't ignore the passage of time. Speaking …

"Oh, be a fine girl, kiss me!", or, if you prefer, "Oh, be a fine guy, kiss me!" That may sound like a Valentine's message, but for us stargazers it's a handy mnemonic. Find out why in February's Sky…

Hello, Happy New Year, and welcome to 'Sky Watch' for January!

We're accustomed to embarking on a new voyage around our local star every January, but it hasn't always been that way. Based on ecclesia…

With another orbit of the Sun nearly complete, we reach the Winter Solstice on the 21st of the month.

The shortest day, the longest night, yet with the promise that Spring and Summer are on their way…

Can you name a famous event that happened during the reign of King James the First?

There is one event that everyone has heard of, and it happened in November. "Remember, remember, the 5th of Novembe…

Autumn's rich colour palette of reds, oranges, yellows and golds is at its best in the Petersphere during October. 

There's never a better time of year to appreciate our location among the South Down…

Summer has passed in the 'Petersphere', but the consolation is that the new stargazing season begins!

Look out for the Harvest Moon on the 17th/18th, a few days before the Autumn Equinox on the 22nd.…

It's shooting star season in the Petersphere and from mid-July until the third week of August you can view the best meteor shower of the year. 

Also later in the month, look out for the first Supermo…

Discover how to view the Moon inside a teapot with the Milky Way looking like the steam coming out of the spout in this month's Sky Watch.

The month of July brings the second half of Noctilucent Clou…

Astronomical twilight overlaps in the Petersphere this time of year so there's no true night and with the Summer Solstice taking place on June 20th we will bask in more than sixteen and a half hours …

Welcome to Shine Sky Watch, a monthly summary of night sky events for stargazers in and around Petersfield.

This time of year, nights in the Petersphere are distinctly shorter than the days and, offi…

Spring has sprung in the Petersphere and all around is a profusion of radiant blooms and blossoms. The nights are distinctly shorter for stargazing, but at least the skies are clearer and the tempera…

Welcome to the first anniversary of 'Sky Watch'! This March, Sky Watch celebrates one year on air; a complete orbit of the Sun of some 940 million kilometres!

March has always been an important month…

"Thirty days hath September, April, June, and November; all the rest have thirty-one,

Excepting February alone, and that has twenty-eight days clear,

And twenty-nine in each leap year."

February has …