If it is cloudless and starry, then it will be cold, so be sure to wrap up warm, wear sensible footwear to allow for wet grass in the Wild Flower Meadow and possibly mud in the car park.
The plan is to meet in the Country Park car park at 5:30 and go straight to the Wild Flower Meadow (check the map in our notice boards to see where that is) for John to point out what stars, constellations, planets and satellites that we can see.
We will be hoping to see the Orion Constellation as well as the Moon, Mars and Jupiter.
Orion is easy to spot because of the 3 stars in a row that form Orion’s belt. The red smudge ‘hanging’ from the belt is the fabulous Orion Nebula, which is shown in more detail in our main poster.
This photo of Orion Constellation is by Marc Sendra-Martorell on Unsplash.com
There will also be at least one telescope set up so that we can get a good look at the Moon and, hopefully, Mars and Jupiter.
It would be a good idea to bring a folding chair or ground blanket so that you don’t crick your neck when searching the night sky.
After our session in the Wild Flower Meadow, we will retire to the Drovers’ Return for hot drinks and a Q&A session with John to discuss all things universal.
John is a UK Ambassador for the James Webb telescope which started transmitting amazing pictures in August, so expect to get a good explanation of them.
If you want to check out the stars and planets, etc. before January, remember you can get Planispheres and apps for phones which will let you know what you can see and when. You can use our article written after John’s last evening with us in March (Astronomy Evening Part 2) to get details of a lot of these.
If weather conditions are not suitable on Tuesday 3rd January, we’ll postpone and try again on Wednesday (4th January).