I’m happy to announce the first event of the new 2023/2024 stargazing and astronomy program at Abriachan forest will take place on Friday 10th November under Moonless skies.
Fingers crossed for a clear run this year after last years frustrating snow disruptions.
Expect the usual blend of astronomy, storytelling, stargazing, outdoor activities and home baking. A complete program plus guest speakers will be announced in October along with ticket links for the first November date.
The peak of the Perseids meteor shower will occur in the small hours of August 13th. With the Moon is a slender waning crescent phase, this year will potentially preset ideal conditions for observing one of the most active shooting star displays on the celestial calendar.
Officially the shower is active now so do head out under clear skies any night you can, however peak activity will occur between 11th – 14th August, with the early morning of the 13th predicted to produce absolute peak rates.
Please do not get carried along by the hype from some sectors of the media promising displays of 90 meteors per hour. These rates are under the best possible conditions of darkness, seeing and elevation. If you catch a few zipping shooting stars and some brighter fireballs during your vigil you’ll have had a great night. Go in with low expectations and just enjoy being out under a canopy of distant stars. As you wait the Pleiades star cluster and Jupiter will be on display in the rough direction of the radiant.
Ideally you’ll want it get away from bright city lights and head out somewhere dark with good views of the sky and horizon. After midnight on peak nights should mean the radiant of the shower in the constellation Perseus is suitably elevated in the sky but you don’t need to stare at the radiant as shooting stars will appear to come from random directions.
No special optical aids are needed to enjoy a meteor shower, just your own eyes and some patience.
Good luck and clear skies.
On Thursday 16th March at 7pm I’ll be participating in a live streamed event organised by An Lanntair. Details below:
“What are your biggest questions about the night sky, stars, galaxies, nebulas, constellations, black holes…. and the whole Universe?
As part of this year’s Hebridean Dark Skies Festival we’re hosting a live streamed event where you can put your astronomy questions to a panel including Stephen Mackintosh of Highland Astronomy and the team from Dynamic Earth Planetarium.
Join us in An Lanntair’s auditorium or from home via Facebook Live.
We’ll get through as many questions a possible on the night but if possible please submit yours in advance to andrew@anlanntair.com.“
Big thanks to astronomer Steve Owens and Celtic storyteller Alis Ballance for hosting our astronomy and storytelling streams this evening up at Abriachan Forest.
Cosmosis was realised by a combination of Alis’s captivating Gaelic creation myths and Steve’s tour de scientific of the Solar System.
Although skies started off cloudy we were blessed with decent patches of open sky at the end for a deftly guided laser pointer finale, taking in Orion and other bright constellations. Plus binocular and telescopic views of the crescent Moon
Thanks to everyone who came along.
The above montage shows six recent images of ‘potentially’ massive galaxies photographed by the James Webb space telescope, going back to epochs around 600 million years after the universe began.
If the six red dots are confirmed to indeed be large galactic structures, these examples contradict almost all known models of galaxy formation from the early history of the universe and would suggest stellar masses over 100 times greater than previously predicted in this early period. Existing models of galaxy formation predict large galaxies would require several billion years to form, so if true these findings will require extensive revisions to our understanding of the large structure evolution of the universe.
Truth told we still know very little about the formation of galaxies. Their evolution is still shrouded in deep mystery, for example what forms the large bars we see in the centre of most mature spiral galaxies, including our own Milky Way?
And of course their rotational dynamics have lead to the conclusion that clouds of invisible matter must surround them in giant halos (dark matter).
I’ll be sky and star guiding from remote and beautiful Lewis this March, for the 2023 Hebridean Dark Skies Festival, with dates spanning 18-21st March. Tickets and event info below and in the accompanying link. On Thursday 16th March I’ll also be joining the HDS panel for a special facebook live session “Ask the Astronomers”.
Event details:
Join astronomer Stephen Mackintosh (aka Highland Astronomy) for an evening of fascinating insights into the cosmos and – weather permitting – a walk under the stars at some of our best stargazing spots.
Grinneabhat, Bragar, Saturday 18 March, 7pm
Gallan Beag, Aird Uig, Sunday 19 March, 7pm
Calanais Stones and Visitor Centre, Monday 20 March, 7pm
Scaladale Centre, Tuesday 21 March, 7pm
Tickets can booked in advance via An Lanntair’s box office. A limited number may be available on the door on the night if the event is not sold out.
The Hebridean Dark Skies Festival runs from 9-21 March 2023 with arts and astronomy events for all the family at An Lanntair and across Lewis and Harris. Browse the full festival programme here.
The festival is supported by Caledonian MacBrayne and Outer Hebrides Tourism, in partnership with, Calanais Visitor Centre, Stornoway Astronomical Society, Gallan Head Community Trust, Lews Castle College UHI, Cala Hotels, and VisitScotland.
March Star Stories at Abriachan Forest
Join us up at Abriachan Forest on March 25th (a Dark Sky Discovery site) for an evening of stargazing and storytelling.
For March we welcome HAS’s Maarten De Vries as our guest astronomer with a talk titled “Comets – Ancient Icy Visitors from the Edge of our Solar System”. Maarten had his first experience with comets when he was 11 years only and has been an ardent observer of the night sky ever since.
Additionally we welcome Fiona Macdonald our guest storyteller for the evening, sharing tales over the campfire.
Plus outdoor naked eye stargazing with astronomer Stephen Mackintosh if conditions are favourable.
Due to site and classroom capacity, booking via Eventbrite is essential. Admission is free for under 16s with accompanying adults but please inform Abriachan of any large booking requests.
Ticket can be purchased here.
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