Our podcasts allow you to easily find objects in the night sky. We provide an information page which you can read as you are downloading the podcast. Listen to the podcast with the page in front of you. When you have downloaded the podcast on to your player, go outside and listen to it again as you look at the stars – no more using torches and spoiling your night vision looking at the information in a book or magazine!
We will start from somewhere you can certainly find – DIRECTLY ABOVE YOUR HEAD! (In Astronomy terms, this is called the ZENITH). Each podcast will be quite short and will concentrate on one small area of the night sky. Start by listening to the earliest podcasts on the screen – these will be nearer the bottom of the list. Note the time that is stated by the podcast, as the night sky objects will be best placed around this time.
Try our podcasts and let us know how successful you’ve been by sending us an email about how you have got on.
Date added: Monday, January 25, 2010
The outer planets track across the sky along a similar path to the Moon. Use our podcasts to view Jupiter, Mars and Saturn.
Date added: Monday, January 25, 2010
Jupiter and its 4 Galilean moons can be seen as it goes dark – towards the south west (on the same line as the Moon tracks across the night sky). The planet appears before all the background stars.
Date added: Monday, January 25, 2010
Mars is at its best – very bright and high in the sky. Saturn is beginning to make its appearance this year. Unfortunately, Saturn’s rings are edge on and so can only be seen as lines sticking out on either side of the planet when observed through a telescope.
Date added: Monday, January 25, 2010
At 9pm, the constellation of AURIGA is nearly directly overhead. Auriga is a large constellation and is slightly west of the ZENITH (the point directly overhead).
Date added: Monday, January 25, 2010
At 9.00pm, use the constellation of AURIGA (directly overhead) as your guide to find Orion. The podcast ‘Finding the constellation of Auriga’ shows the direction to travel across the night sky.