darkskies

December Stargazing at Abriachan – Featuring Professor Martin Hendry

/ Stephen Mackintosh / Leave a comment

Join me on December 13th up at Abriachan Forest (a Dark Sky Discovery site) for an evening of stargazing and astronomy with Professor Martin Hendry. (ticket links in comments)

If skies are clear Martin and I will host an outdoor stargazing session and discussion under the stars (with potential telescopic views of Jupiter and Saturn). Following this Martin will present his indoor guest talk titled “Empire of the Sun”: the past, present and future of Solar System Exploration.

The Abriachan team will also be on hand to keep younger (and older) audience members entertained with some suitably themed STEM activities.

Martin Hendry is Vice Principal at the University of Glasgow and Vice President of the Royal Society Edinburgh. As former Head of the School of Astronomy and Physics he continues to be a passionate advocate for STEM education and science engagement with schools and public audiences. He is the author of more than 200 scientific articles and is a senior member of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration, the global team of more than 1400 scientists which made the first-ever detection of gravitational waves – a discovery awarded the 2017 Nobel Prize for Physics.

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.For directions to the forest classroom please follow directions to Abriachan Forest Classroom.

Ticket Links can be found here.

Dark Skies at Torridon

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The Milky Way over the grounds of the Torridon Resort

I’ve had some fantastic excursions out to the Torridon Resort recently, where I deliver outreach astronomy and stargazing for guests at the hotel.

Weather can be unpredictable this far west but when conditions open up the skies are undoubtably some of the darkest in Scotland, easily surpassing the darkness levels over the Cairngorms, which are still hindered by skyglow from the populated Moray coast.  This far west there’s almost no skyglow and inky black skies allow amazing views of the Milky Way and deep sky objects like the Andromeda galaxy, open star clusters and faint nebulae.

In addition to hosting several stargazing dinners I was also involved in some filming with the BBC up at the Torridon and look forward to seeing if the starry sky sequences make the final cut.

If you’d like to treat yourself or a loved one to a special stargazing experience please see the details here on the Torridon’s website.  Meanwhile, enjoy some recent pictures I took from the hotel grounds and nearby Achnasheen.

The Torridon Resort
A passing meteor at the Torridon
The Milky Way near Achnasheen
The Pleiades rising over the trees near Achnasheen

Hebridean Dark Sky Festival

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I’ll be touring the outer Hebrides delivering outdoor stargazing as part of the Hebridean Dark Sky Festival 2020. The festival is a fantastic reason to visit the isles during the winter months and appreciate their world class dark skies.  Organisers An Lanntair  have put a fantastic programme together spanning music, art, theatre and stargazing.

Details of my own route and outreach locations for stargazing will be published soon so stay tuned.  For full festival details and some early booking links please visit the festival website.

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The Summer Milky Way

/ Stephen Mackintosh / Leave a comment

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The summer aspect of the Milky Way, the great river of starlight marking our home galaxy.  A giant stellar disk containing 100s of billions of stars.  Photograph by Christopher Cogan, taken near Muie in east Sutherland, Scottish Highlands

Late summer is prime time for observing the Milky Way, and esp. catching the bright core visible near the southern horizon after dark. This bright area marks the central nucleus of our galaxy, some 30,000 light years away..

The Milky Way currently runs between Saturn and Jupiter, both low on the southern horizon, and intersects the three bright stars of the Summer Triangle asterism (Vega, Deneb and Altair). From south It runs overhead and terminates close to the constellation Perseus in the north East.

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For the best views you’ll want to get away from urban light pollution, ideally somewhere fairly rural. Let your eyes dark adapt for at least 15 minutes to give yourself the best possible views.

Clear skies.