Whitby & District Astronomical Society

It is with great sadness that we report the death of one of the founding members of the society - Rosemary Bowman.  [Read more about Rosemary Bowman 1943 - 2021 ]

A wedding in the Society - the first in 25 years.  

  [Read more about Society Wedding ]

Perseverance and Ingenuity are continuing to expand their horizons on the red planet, with Ingenuity making an 8th flight and Percy undertaking roving science. The Chinese Zhurong rover is also on the move, and taking selfies.  [Read more about More (brief) Tidings from Mars ]

Summer evenings from the UK are annoyingly light throughout July, with bright twilight persisting until after 2200hrs. Overhead, the sky is dominated by the large asterism known as the 'summer triangle', three prominent stars each marking an apex of this large shape, the brightest of which is the lovely stellar jewel of Vega in the constellation of Lyra - the Harp. Let's go and pluck a few strings.    [Read more about The Harp - Lyra ]

The next instalment of Paul Money's Night Scenes almanac is now available on PDF or Kindle e book format. Details are as follows..

We have had the first 'successful' star party on the West Cliff for well over a year. At least we called it successful...  [Read more about Summer star parties - update ]

In this month's edition:

• Planetary Skylights 
• Partial solar eclipse review
• July Meteors  
• Noctilucent cloud season -peak month
• July 2021 Sky Charts

Located high to south in the northern celestial sky during the summer months, a small and pleasing circlet of stars to the west of Bootes (highlighted by Arcturus), marks the distinctive northern crown of Corona Borealis. It normally contains only one reasonably conspicuous star and no obvious deep sky objects. It does however harbour two of the more remarkable variable stars in the heavens.  [Read more about The Northern Crown - Corona Borealis ]

The next instalment of Paul Money's Night Scenes almanac will shortly be available, again on PDF or Kindle e book format only. Details are as follows..

It’s almost becoming crowded on Mars with yet another rover arrival, the first from China. The Zhurong rover is already sending its first images back to Earth. Meanwhile, NASA's helicopter drone Ingenuity has now completed 6 flights, just! Percy starts to rove doing real science... [Read more about Tidings from Mars ]

In this month's edition:

• Planetary Skylights 
• Strawberry Super Moon
• Partial Solar Eclipse
• June Meteors  
• Noctilucent cloud season 
• June 2021 Sky Charts

It looks as though lockdown restrictions are being eased as planned; so far. As we continue to take tentative steps to some form of normality, it is time to map out a likely summer Star Party events schedule.  [Read more about Summer Star Party Schedule - in Brief]

High up in the sky, almost overhead at this time of year, two dogs are snapping at the heels of a bear, held in check by a man with hook and leads in hand. Has the author been out picking mushrooms, or is there a strange tale to tell here.  [Read more about Canes Venatici - the Hunting Dogs ]

"We have lift off", or so it might have been said in days gone by, but such a phrase could aptly have been coined when Ingenuity - NASA's small helicopter drone, took to the thin Martian air on April 18th - 2021...around breakfast time BST. Having located a suitable piece of Martian ground in proximity to the initial landing site, Percy dropped off its small 'cling on' companion late last month. Since then scientists have been conducting tests in readiness for the first flight. [Read more about Ingenuity Takes One small Flight]

In this month's edition:

• Planetary Skylights 
• Meteors: The Eta Aquarids
• Noctilucent cloud season 
• Comet 2020 ATLAS R4
• May 2021 Sky Charts