Whitby & District Astronomical Society

In this month's edition:

• Planetary Skylights: Venus, Saturn, Mars, Jupiter and Mercury
• Meteor Showers: Piscids, Giacobinids/Draconids and Orionids
• October 2016 Sky Charts

In this month's edition:

• Planetary Skylights: Jupiter, Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Saturn
• Meteor Showers: Perseids
• August 2016 Sky Charts

As we head toward summer, nights grow ever lighter with the deepest level of darkness; known as astronomical twilight, absent until early August.  The duration of the three ’twilight zones’ continually change from mid northern latitudes, but is perhaps most noticeable around the solstices - particularly the summer solstice.

Using the evening as an example, following sunset civil twilight exists until the Sun drops six degrees below the horizon... [Read more about The Twilight Zones]

With bright twilight now persisting well into the night, observers of the sky should watch out for a particularly beautiful type of cloud formation seen only at this time of year. 

Known as Noctilucent cloud, these delicate formations appear above the northern horizon, long after sunset, often around midnight.  Shining quite brightly, Noctilucent cloud is filamentary in structure, having a characteristic silvery-blue colour... [Read more about Noctilucent cloud]