Having recently moved from quite a light-polluted area, my first impression of star gazing in Embsay was……wow! For instance, when you look up on a dark, moonless night, the Milky Way is emblazoned across the sky and this sight is becoming rarer as light pollution marches relentlessly on through our night landscapes.
What I hope to do, month by month, is to bring you advanced warning of what there is to see, where to look and when. This should help you become more familiar with the night sky, for those of you who are interested.
No matter what the time of year, there will always be some familiar patterns of stars in the skies above. The W shape of Cassiopeia and Ursa Major (The Plough) are just two that are generally well known. These star patterns seem to spin around a point throughout the entire year. It is as though they have been drawn on paper and a drawing pin pushed through, attaching it to the sky, slowly turning it around that one fixed point. This ‘drawing pin’ point is special because it is so close to where Polaris (the North Star) can be located. The whole of the night sky seems to rotate around this point.
Surprisingly, given that Polaris is such a famous navigational star, it is not that easy to spot. It faces north and may be useful one day if you lose your way on Barden Moor at night!
How to find it.
During winter, Ursa Major, which looks like a frying pan, is pointing with its ‘handle’ downwards. Line up the end stars of the pan and follow an imaginary line across the sky until you reach it.
How to check you’ve got the right star!
If you look carefully at Polaris it is part of a similar, smaller and dimmer version of Ursa Major. This constellation is called Ursa Minor. If you’ve picked the correct star, it will be on the end of the ‘handle’.
The best night to see the sky this month is 17th January (or a few days either side of this date). The moon is new and will not be dazzling you as you scan the night sky.
