The March night sky This month will give you a few reasons to celebrate. Spring is on its way. On the 20th we have the vernal equinox. After that date the days become longer than the nights. This is followed on the 31st of March when British summer times starts and it will be around 8 pm before it becomes dark. The Constellations:- The evening sky is...
Read MoreThe Battle for Galaxies
The guest speaker at the February meeting of Keighley Astronomical society held on Thursday 22nd was the popular Mr Rod Hine from Bradford AS. The subject of his presentation was entitled ‘The Battle for Galaxies’ which Mr Hine went on to explain was to evolve astronomers with strong personalities and big egos arguing about the nature of so-called...
Read MoreThe Herschel Family
The Herschels were pioneers of the systematic classification and investigation of the heavens. William Herschel was one of the first ‘professional’ astronomers, and discovered infrared radiation. His sister Caroline helped him to develop the modern mathematical approach to astronomy. These two remarkable individuals were the subjects of Dr Sue...
Read MoreThe February Night Sky
On February evenings, our sky is filed with more brilliant stars than we can see in any other month. The first signs of spring are now on the way, well as far as the night sky in concerned. The winter star patterns, Orion, Taurus and Gemini, are drifting westward as a result of our annual orbit around the Sun. Leo and Bootes are rising higher in the...
Read MoreThe January night sky
January is always a great treat for astronomers, the new year opens with a chorus line of brilliant stars, led by Betelgeuse, and Rigel, in the constellation of Orion. Nearby is Aldebaran, the bright red eye of Taurus. Capella adorning Auriga. Castor and Pollux, the celestial twins in Gemini, and glorious Sirius in the constellation Canis Major. The long...
Read MoreThe Middlesbrough meteorite
The topic of discussion at the December meeting of Keighley Astronomical society was the discovery of a meteorite that fell to Earth at 3.35pm on 14th March 1881. The guest presenter was Mr Martin Lunn FRAS. Mr Lunn introduced himself to the members and explained that he had been employed as the curator of astronomy at the York Museum before his retirement....
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