The annual meteor shower caused by dust from Comet
55P/Tempel-Tuttle is due from the 15th to 20th November with the peak predicted
around 11 pm GMT on the 17th. The Moon is out of the way so this is a good
opportunity to stay up late and look for shooting stars. It's on a Friday night
so you may be able to plan a lie-in if you stay up really late.
Leo is just rising around 11 pm so conditions for seeing
meteors will improve after midnight as it gets higher in the sky. Saturn is
currently in Leo so you can renew your acqaintance with it as you wait for the
Leonids. It's only five degrees away from Regulus (the width of three
fingers held at arm's length) so should be easy to identify. Regulus is at the
bottom of the backwards question mark that makes up Leo's head. If you're not
sure which is Leo try following the Plough's Pointers away from the Pole Star.
And if you have trouble with that we sell a small book called 'A
Walk Through the Heavens'
which will
help you identify all the major constellations and star patterns in sky.
Courses
Our next Beginners Courses are on Saturday 25th November. In the
morning we cover the practical aspects of observing and in the afternoon we give
a general introduction to astronomy aimed at absolute beginners. Book for both
morning and afternoon to save ten pounds.
Our next Deep Sky Imager course runs from 10 am to 4 pm on Saturday 2nd
December and covers all aspects of how to get the most out of this very capable
piece of equipment. Meade's DSI is proving very popular and astrophotographers
are producing remarkable images with it. But it does take a while to learn how
to use it to full effect. Lee's course will get you going much quicker and will
help you overcome any problems you may have encountered already.
Don't forget that we run occasional courses on the ETX and LX90. These are
free to anyone who has purchased one of these telescopes from us, and if you
attend one before buying we will credit the cost of the course against the price
of your telescope.
Full details of these and other courses we run are on our web site. Let us
know if you would like a course on something we don't currently cover and we'll
see if we can help.
