highlands

Ask The Astronomers (Live-streamed Event)

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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.“

2023 Hebridean Dark Skies Festival

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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.

Comets – Ancient Icy Visitors from the Edge of our Solar System

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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.

Tales of Dark Matter

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All the light we see from distant stars and galaxies is made from visible matter, yet evidence from the rotational speeds of other galaxies suggests dark matter outweighs visible matter on a ratio six to one. Image: ‘Our galaxy Over Achnasheen’, Stephen Mackintosh

Join me up at Abriachan Forest (a Dark Sky Discovery site) for an evening of stargazing and astronomy on February 25th with our first guest speaker of the 2022 season – Professor Martin Hendry.

If skies are clear Martin and myself will host an outdoor stargazing session, discussion and Q&A under the stars. Following this Martin will present his indoor guest talk on the very latest discoveries in cosmology, concentrating on the elusive nature of dark matter and dark energy.

Refreshments provided plus binoculars for stargazing. Under 16s with accompanying adults go free. Tickets can be booked via Eventbrite here or you can reserve directly from my Facebook page here.

Martin speaking at the Science on Stage Festival

Martin Hendry is Professor of Gravitational Astrophysics and Cosmology at the University of Glasgow and is 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. Martin is a Fellow of the Institute of Physics and the Royal Society of Edinburgh and is currently a Trustee of the IOP and the James Clerk Maxwell Foundation. In 2015 he was awarded an MBE for services to the public understanding of science.

Dark Sky Burns 2022

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Starry skies over Abriachan Forest

On Saturday the 29th January, join me up at Abriachan Forest (a Dark Sky Discovery site) for an evening of stargazing and astronomy with a Burns night twist

If conditions are clear I’ll be guiding you under the Milky Way class dark skies of Abriachan Forest (with a backup astronomy presentation if clouds roll in).

Meanwhile the Abriachan team will host an outdoor Tam’s Trail to find signs of Meg and a cutty sark! Plus Haggis hand warmers and refreshments for a simple Burn’s supper fare.

Booking in advance via Eventbrite is essential due to site capacity. Ticket links here.

Stargazing Experience at The Torrdion

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My Stargazing Experience at The Torridon will be starting up again from October 2021 with bookings now open.

The Torridon is a location with exceptional darkness in the remote western Highlands of Scotland. You can see a preview of my stargazing experience on the BBC’s Amazing Hotels. Near the end I take Giles and Monica out for an excursion under the stars.

Fingers crossed both my community based stargazing programmes will be up and running again by October (at Abriachan Forest and the Merkinch Nature Reserve).

Milky Way Images

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The Milky Way over the Callanish Stones on the Isle of Lewis.  Jupiter and Saturn can be seen in this shot low above the horizon. By Emma Rennie of Callanish Digital Design.  www.callanishdigitaldesign.com

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Another stunning Milky Way shot by Christopher Cogan taken from Muie in Sutherland in the far north of Scotland.

Two stunning Milky Way images taken last night from the Scottish Highlands (and Islands). Both show the bright region of the Milky Way in the vicinity of the Summer Triangle, looking south.

If you imagine our Milky Way as a vast disk of stars, these views are peering further ‘into’ the disk, where the density of stars and stellar matter is greater, and hence brighter. Contrast this with the fainter regions we see in Winter near Orion, when we peer ‘out’ of the galactic disk.

The dark lanes you can see are part of the Cygnus Rift – a region containing vast clouds of dust that obscure some of the light from the billions of stars in the background.

With the Moon well out of the way and proper darkness returning late at night, now is a great time to go out and see the Milky Way for yourself.