The winter constellations are on their way out by the time that it gets dark in early April.
Soon, we will lose sight of Orion, Lepus and Canis Major, with Taurus soon to follow.
Bright Jupiter will stand out better in the twilight, but in a few weeks it will also be gone

This image was captured on Saturday morning by Solar Section member Carl Bowron using a hydrogen-alpha filter. It shows sunspot group AR3615 which is approaching the solar limb
popastro.com/main_spa1/sola…

As we reach the end of March, the bright star in the east at the start of the night is Arcturus, the brightest star in Bootes.
Another bright star can be seen in the NNE, albeit lower down. This is Vega, the brightest star in Lyra. Both will climb higher as the night progresses

Pix of Comet Pons-Brooks taken from Kendal last night. Again every weather app/forecast lied about it being clear over Kendal, so the comet dimmed by cloud. Images: crops from processed stacks of multiple tracked images taken with Canon 700D/135mm lens/iOptron astronomy Sky Tracker

First Light with Vaonis Vespera II
M81 - Bodes Galaxy
60 minutes
M51 - The Whirlpool Galaxy
28 minutes
Both images here are exactly as they came off the Vespera, no processing at all!
I am very very impressed with this scope!
Many thanks to First Light Optics

Comet 12P Pons-Brooks
Seestar S50
Saturday 30th March 2024 at 20:11
The comet was very low, lots of light pollution and murky skies so this isn’t a good image, but I’m happy I got it.

The post evening twilight sky is changing quite rapidly at this time of the year.
A month ago, Orion was in the south eastern sky when it was getting dark. Now it is already due south. In a month's time, Orion will already be in the south western sky by the time that it gets dark

Sunday night's fireball over SW Scotland

A #fireball #meteor over south-west #Scotland at 2 minutes past 8pm on Sunday night. Captured from #Lochearnhead by a camera of ukmeteornetwork Bill Ward Popular Astronomy.

Betelgeuse Eclipsed
Image Credit & Copyright: Sebastian Voltmer

Explanation: Asteroid 319 Leona cast a shadow across planet Earth on December 12, as it passed in front of bright star Betelgeuse. But to see everyone's favorite red giant star fade this time, you had to stand near…

There's still time to order Christmas gifts from the SPA Shop.
Last posting date is December 15th.

popastro.com/main_spa1/shop/

Still struggling to find a Christmas present for an astronomy enthusiast?

Here's an idea ...

What do you buy the astronomy fan in your life for Christmas?

Check out the SPA Shop for some great ideas
popastro.com/main_spa1/shop/

#AuroraBorealis picked up twice on our auroracam in Oxfordshire on 4th Nov 2023. The 1st time it was competing with car headlights + fireworks, but later the fog briefly cleared for a brighter show. The camera is a modified #RaspberryPi #MeteorCamera #NorthernLights

We will be marking our 70th anniversary year by holding our October meeting in Wolverhampton on the afternoon of Saturday 28th October
popastro.com/main_spa1/meet…

Most Deep Sky reports received nowadays feature images, but our Deep Sky section also welcomes drawings such as this one which included the recent supernova in galaxy Messier 101

Noctilucent Clouds visible from Kendal, Cumbria, low in sky, at 02:08 on July 8th...

There's a bright 'star' in the eastern pre-dawn sky of July.

We may have lost Venus from the evening sky in the UK, but Jupiter has now emerged from the morning twilight.

The Pleiades are also back - low in the north east

July nights start with the 'Summer Triangle' of Deneb, Vega and Altair already quite high in the south eastern sky.
Meanwhile, the stars of the 'Plough' are starting their descent in the north western sky, while Arcturus is still at a good altitude in the south west