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.

Uranus: a better image

The sky was clear and bright at 05.30 this morning, and the Pleiades were conveniently placed above the western horizon: for confirmation, I attach an image from the 'Astronomy,com' website.

Uranus: found!

Walking home from an excellent supper with friends Sue, Peter and Margaret, I was delighted to see that the sky was dark and crystal clear: so much so that I could locate Uranus by eye, before grabbing a couple of photos.

Can you find Uranus?

If it's clear at any time for the next few weeks, Uranus is comparatively easy to find with binoculars: at magnitude 5.6 - and with no Moon at the moment - it might even be visible with the naked eye if you enjoy dark skies. It's to the right of the well-known 'V' of Taurus and just below the Pleiades (Seven Sisters) A ten second exposure with your tripod-mounted DSLR, set at f2.8 and 1600 ISO should reveal the seventh planet's greenish colour. Take photos over a few nights and you'll notice it moving against the background stars...

Marsh Harrier past the garden

This female Marsh Harrier has been backwards and forwards just past the end of the garden this morning: it seems that local birds are increasingly adopting the habits of their continental cousins, becoming more frequent over arable land than marshland.

Blizzard conditions!

Well: hardly! Still, it did snow for an hour or so today, but - to the little Snowman's disappointment - it failed to settle!

Happy Anniversary!

Lovely Linda and I have been married thirty one years today: despite the gloomy prognostications, we're still ecstatically happy!

A morning on the North Coast

Before picking up Norman I had to spend ten minutes defrosting the car: nevertheless we reached Cley before 08.00, starting with a brief seawatch at the Coastguards. Lots of gulls, but nothing more exciting than the odd Common Gull. Several seals were feeding close in, suggesting shoals of bait fish. Just past the pill box we found a very flighty flock of fifteen Snow Buntings that refused to settle for decent photos.

A move to Bishop's Hide added brief glimpses of Water Pipit and Kingfisher: Pat's was almost devoid of interest, apart from a solitary Pinkfoot, so we took a walk along the East Bank, before the obligatory coffee.

Last stop was Walsey Hills. Snipe's Marsh held a couple of Grey Wagtails, while the feeders were attracting a good selection of finches and tits: the path along the top added Yellowhammer and a very large flock of Linnets, as well as a distant Raven.