As anticipated: a beautiful aurora

As I'd hoped, yesterday's intense solar activity produced a pretty impressive aurora last night, from around 7.00 - 8.30 pm. The near-full Moon diminished the effect a little, but the display was visible to the naked eye. Friend and neighbour Sue invited me into her back garden (which enjoys an unrestricted dark northern horizon) allowing me to take these photos:

Amazing sunspots!

Yet another big cluster of sunspots is crawling around the Sun's surface: maybe we'll see more auroral displays soon (or - God forbid -  a Carrington Event)

The Star of Bethlehem

I've just had my monthly astronomy chat with Suffolk Sound's lovely Jules Button. This month (perhaps unsurprisingly) we were talking about the Star of Bethlehem: here're the main points of our discussion. 
(I should just add that there were two impressive conjunctions at around the general time of Christ's birth: Jupiter, Venus and Regulus in 2 & 3 BC and Jupiter and Saturn in 7 BC)

A day in the Brecks

With nothing much new on the North Coast, Norman, Brian and I decided to brave the A47 / A11 and their horrendous roadworks to look for some Breckland specialties and a possible year tick.

First stop was Lynford Arboretum: no Hawfinches, but at least three flocks of Crossbills, with back up from a confiding Goldcrest, Siskins and Redwings. We drove south east to Lackford, where despite two hours searching through a large number of Eurasian Teal, there was no sign of the long-staying Green-winged Teal: lots of Snipe and a Barnacle Goose weren't much consolation. Still: an enjoyable day out in great company.

The night sky in December

Plenty to see on the longest, darkest nights of the year...

The god of the skies!

Uranus was not universally recognised as a planet - the seventh in the Solar System - until March, 1781, despite having been observed as far back as 128 BC. The British astronomer William Herschel initially thought he had discovered a new comet, based on the movement of the object against the background of stars: this parallax motion is evident in the photos below that I took six nights apart. (Since Uranus is around 1.8 billion miles away, the apparent movement is quite small - but visible!)

It took nearly seventy years for  a name to be generally agreed upon : the German astronomer Bode suggested calling the planet Uranus - the latinized  version of the name of Greek god of the skies, Ouaranos.

Halo!

A complete 'moonbow' tonight... After the sky cleared at around 8.30, Saturn could be seen just below the Moon: some terrific crater fields, including Copernicus - its central peaks and terraced walls were plainly visible.

Some fascinating lunar features

Despite tonight's watery haze, some terrific lunar landmarks - mountains, mountain ranges, faults etc. - were visible on the waxing first quarter Moon. (The Alpine Valley is the scar left by an oblique meteoric or cometary impact)

The International Space Station in December

It's so sad that - with co-operation between the US and Russian space agencies in a somewhat fragile state - the ISS is scheduled to be de-orbited in 2030. If you've never watched its majestic transit of the night sky, you have some decent opportunities from mid-month.

Daily visitor!

This female Great Spotted Woodpecker has become an almost daily visitor to our feeders: despite the apparent evidence of the photos below, she's pretty intolerant of other birds!

Terrific day on the North Coast - including a year tick!

Despite a less-than-promising weather forecast, the 'Summer Wine Crew' met early and were at Cley by 08.00. The seawatch just provided views of seals and Kittiwakes, but Bishop's was better: close views of a Water Pipit, associating with a ringed Grey Wagtail. Lots of Marsh Harrier action too!

After coffee we headed eastwards to Kelling, where a slog out to the shingle was rewarded by decent views of four Velvet Scoters - a curiously belated year tick!

A brief stop at Letheringsett Mill (Redwings!) was followed by a walk along the western side of Bayfield Lake, where we enjoyed views of Siskin, Kingfisher and a fabulous drake Goosander.