Autumn skies....

As the evenings draw in, the benefits to amateur astronomers become increasingly obvious, particularly if you live in a relatively dark sky region. Here in Broadland, the Milky Way is always visible on clear nights, stretching overhead through the constellations of Cygnus and Cassiopeia: another galaxy, M31, is visible with the naked eye - the most distant object you can see without optical aids.

At the moment both Jupiter and Saturn are brilliant objects above the southern horizon: even a small telescope will reveal Jupiter's four largest Moons and Saturn's famous ring system. Interestingly, in last night's shot a bright star-like object - not an artificial satellite - drifted below and to the right of Jupiter...

in the early morning everyone's favourite constellation Orion rises in the east, preceded by the Pleiades or 'Seven Sisters'.