Dear Stargazers,
And a special welcome to listeners of BBC Radio Kent.
When it's dark, a good way off to the left of where the sun set and a fair way above the horizon sits the planet Jupiter. It appears to be an ordinary, but very bright looking, star. In fact, it is the brightest "star" in the entire night sky at the moment. Planets are so far away that you never see them more than a point of light unless you start using binoculars for some or a telescope for others.
If you do have a handy pair of binoculars then peering at Jupiter will reveal up to four tiny points of light close by. These are the four main moons of Jupiter: Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto.
Don't worry if it's cloudy as Jupiter will be around for a good couple of months in this part of the sky.
Next, this is a great time of year to look for the Milky Way. This faint band of meandering light stretches up from the north-east horizon over and down into the south-west, but the best part for most of us will be overhead due to the light-pollution. The Milky Way is made of millions upon millions of stars that are just too far away to be seen individually, but their light together merges to form this misty river of light. It's best seen from countryside locations.
Finally, the night of 21/22 October sees the peak of the Orionid meteor shower. The name comes from the constellation from which the Shooting Stars, or meteors, appear; in this case, Orion the Hunter. The later at night you look the better - from 10:30pm you should begin to see the odd streak of light across the sky. With clear, dark skies and good horizons you may be able to catch about 20 shooting stars per hour.
Good Luck and Starry Skies!
