Planets on Parade…

Amateur astronomy is a hobby of contrasts. Light and dark. Shadow and sunshine. Some nights leave you so frustrated and angry you hate the hobby, and I mean *hate* it. The nights when you know there’s a meteor shower or a big display of the northern lights happening above where you live, but it’s hidden [...]

Venus and Jupiter dancing in the twilight…

If you’ve been looking west after sunset recently you can’t have failed to see Venus blazing there, as bright as a lantern, outshining everything else in the sky. To Venus’ upper left is another bright” star”, which is actually another planet, Jupiter. ( Look to the east around 9pm and you’ll see another planet shining [...]

Clipping NASA’s wings

Right. I’m going to start this post with a warning. I’m usually a very tolerant kind of person, I much prefer negotiation to conflict and hate arguments. I always try to see both sides of an issue, and my posts here on CUMBRIAN SKY have always, I hoped, been fair and respectful to others’ opinions. [...]