No.
Cancelled earlier in the year, a casualty to the Covid 19 pandemic, this year’s Whitby Regatta (had it gone ahead) would still have been a huge disappointment weather-wise with cloudy, misty and damp conditions prevailing across the weekend. I very much doubt whether we would have even ventured onto the West Cliff at all, such were the leaden skies. Some things never change[...] [Read more about Regatta 2020 – Did we miss out?]
Eight Moons and a Sunset... [Read more about Eight Moons and a Sunset.]
Having graced our skies throughout most of July after brightening far more than predicted, comet NEOWISE is currently residing in Coma Berenices.
Discovered in late March by the Near Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, aka NEOWISE launched by NASA in 2009, comet NEOWISE became readily visible to the naked eye shortly after rounding the Sun in early July. The comet was visible low to the north during the short hours of semidarkness in the twilight skies from approximately 23:00h until 02:45h[...] [Read more about Member Images of Comet Neowise]
Think this may have always been a challenge to view Venus’ occultation by the waning moon. And so it proved. The day itself was much improved on the previous 8 or 9 days and I had some optimism that something would be viewed. The start of the occultation occurred at 08:38h from Whitby, so with compass, tape measure, binoculars and camera on hand... [Read more about Venus Occultation by The Moon (by Mark Dawson)]
Lockdown measures continue to eased, but I think that July is still too early and impractical to host a star party. It will actually be rather light anyway until the end of July. I think therefore we shall revisit the situation in a month’s time as it may be possible to host a few star parties in August... [Read more about WDAS Diary: July-August 2020]
Mercury really is particularly small and faint in the sky; particularly as it never appears in a dark sky. Try to spot Mercury in these pictures. [Read more about Venus and Mercury]
They say June's Full Moon got its name as it's the month when wild strawberries begin to ripen. ('Evidently not named by a Canary Islander!' --Andi) Be that as it may, Mark has been out in force to take some photos for you pleasure and delight. So ('Odd-one-out' round) which of these Moons is Mark's teaser?
These are photos by Keith, that missed last month's article on the Fyling Hall Dark Sky Event.
Due to the current restrictions associated with the Corona virus outbreak, (or those very likely to come into force) it is regrettable that all foreseeable events until June have been cancelled or postponed. If the situation changes we shall let you know. We are all navigating unchartered skies. [Read more about WDAS Diary – April/May 2020]
| Sun | Rise | Set |
|---|---|---|
| Actual | 05:16 | 20:42 |
| Civil Twilight | 04:32 | 21:25 |
| Nautical Twilight | 03:33 | 22:24 |
| Astronomical Twilight | 02:02 | 23:56 |
| Moon | Rise | Set |
|---|---|---|
| 11:10 | 03:16 |
