Welcome to December's New Members, and to a New Year!

[daz]

Just a short note to say Welcome to the new members who joined in December

Some of you have already made your presence felt, and some are happy to watch from the side-lines. Either way is great - there really is no pressure to post.

There are other posts around the forum detailing the events of this past year, suffice to say it has been a busy one for us astronomers. There is so much going on at the moment it's difficult to keep track of it sometimes!! Some highlights include the Titan mission back in January, the Mars rovers, the Deep Impact comet interception, re-launch of the shuttle, and of course the very historic birth of Stargazers Lounge!!!

We are working to re-instate the Constellation of the Month thread (apologies we have been very busy!) where we will select a constellation for everyone to discuss / image / measure / sketch / whatever takes your fancy. Keep your eyes peeled on this.

The competitions we ran were pretty successful with some fantastic images being posted. You'll notice we have extended these into equipment reviews as well and you can expect some further refinement as we go. As always, the prize is simply the adulation of your fellow members with winning entries placed in the Hall of Fame!

So, a quick round-up of the night sky for January (Northern Hemisphere) as follows:

Well, Orion is always an impressive sight, and even with a small instrument the structure of the nebula (M42) is easily made out. But there are plenty of other targets to hunt as well - Auriga plays host to the clusters M36, M37 and M38, while Cancer has M44 and M67 within it's claws; more fine clusters. There are also some fine double-stars for you to feast your eyes on:- Gamma Andromedae and Gamme Arietis are two such example, with Beta Monocerotis being a triple for you to split.

Planet wise sees Mars still high in the early evening and still worth a look, but many will be watching for the magnificent Saturn. Look Eastward from 8pm onwards. The morning twilight sees Jupiter, while the evening plays host to Venus, a beautiful crescent shape brighter than anything else in the sky.

Remember to keep yourseld wrapped up warm during the cold months and to let everyone know what you observe - it makes good reading!

Clear Skies to you all for 2006

(P.S. Apologies to November's New members! Got tied up with work - Welcome to you too!!! )

[MartinB]

Thank-you for the welcome Daz. The site has already been very useful to me although I now have more to think about than ever. The more you know about something the more you realise how little you know! Keep up the good work on this great forum.

Martin

[daz]

The more you know about something the more you realise how little you know! Keep up the good work on this great forum.

How very true Martin!!! And this is the beauty of our forum - there is always someone who knows the answer to a question, or knows where to go to get it

Glad you are enjoying both your astronomy and the forum