Pembrokeshire Astronomer

" armchair" study of the stars was no substitute for standing out in the night air and feeling the "beauty of the heavens."  Joseph H  Elgie   One of my all time favourite astronomy books has to be The Stars Night by Night, by Joseph H. Elgie. Joseph Henry Elgie (1864–1927) was a British astronomical writer during the early 20th century.  He was best known for his ability to translate complex celestial movements into poetic, accessible language for the "backyard astronomer."   ​He was a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society (FRAS), and a member of the British Astronomical Association. ​Elgie’s writing was a wonderful blend of poetical  phrase, blended with  a "star-gazer’s" eye for detail. His most fabulous book; as far as I'm concerned is: ​ The Stars Night by Night:  Being the Journal of a Star Gazer (1914):  This was his most influential work, structured as a journal that guides the reader through the constellations and celestial e...

It's that "May the 4th be with you" day. Here's a photo capture of today's Sun, burning bright and beautiful with a stunning May time radiance. The little Vixen telescope is back in the motorhome, where it belongs. Recently I bought myself one of those camera adapters that fit over the eyepiece. It cost the princely sum of £2 ! The adapter did a great job of holding our smartphone in place. Seeing that the phone was now held tight I could spend some time adjusting the manual focus settings, which made all the difference.

Here are the Month of May night sky highlights: The Moon dominates this month with two full moons. ​May 1: The first full Moon.  ​ May 16: New Moon.  This is the best May night for peeps at the Milky Way.  Because the Moon is at its closest point to Earth (perigee) during its new phase, the skies will be at their darkest.  ​ May 31: The Blue Moon.  This is the second full moon in a single calendar month, so it takes the "Blue Moon" title.  It will also be an apogee (its farthest point from the Earth) Full Moon, so it will appear slightly smaller in the sky.  Planetary & Meteor Highlights: May 6: η-Aquariid Meteor Shower Peak.  These fast-moving meteors are debris from Halley’s Comet.  While they are usually better seen from the southern hemisphere, Pembrokeshire's low southern horizon over the Atlantic gives us a decent chance to spot them in the early morning hours. May 14: Venus at Peak.  Venus reaches its highest altitude in the e...

Whilst recently cataloguing a bunch of my old black and white 35mm prints I happened upon this 1996 memory. The photo was taken sometime in that  inbetween gap of the Summer and Autumn of 1996, at my parents' farm in Llanycefn.  It was a glorious night, the stars were waking up and the Moon shone brightly, and all around was touched with that warmth that only comes from several weeks of summer heat. The horses in the foreground where quietly going about their business.  I was quietly going about mine with my Olympus OM10 35mm camera. The above picture was developed and printed in my attic darkroom, and over the years has been lost and found again on several occasions.   It's last incarnation has one of my haiku poems attached to it. Recently having been "found" again I wanted to rejuvenate the picture, remove the haiku and possibly add a "1996" mood filter! It seemed a great challenge for the modern darkroom, otherwise known as Gemini AI to undertake. Here i...

Out with 60mm/800fl red Tasco.  Eyepieces binoculars? 12.5mm x64. Quick observe tonight as the mist was rising fast and obscuring much. Jupiter near/below Gemini. Splendid as always, showing two distinct bands and satellites.  Castor  showing primary smaller and slightly grey/purplish colouring. x64. Algieba was the top dog tonight. The secondary was a beautiful 'green' colour.  Primary was whitish but that secondary was "Opal Fruits" green, a similar green to that of the Gamma Delphinus comes. No moon up yet, just a quick observe to keep my eyes trained.  The Tasco is doing a fine job at x64.  Algieba especially put on a great show, considering how tight that double is at x64. Alas the mist took soon took hold and I retired to the warmth of Martha.

Here are some of the celestial highlights for our Pembrokeshire Skies of April 2026. ​Naked-Eye Highlights: ​The Spring Triangle:  This is the dominant seasonal pattern.  Look south around 10:00 PM to find a giant triangle made of: ​ Arcturus : A bright orange giant in Boötes (the brightest star in the northern sky) ​ Spica : A blue-white star in Virgo.   ​ Denebola : The "tail" of Leo the Lion.   ​ The Planetary Duo (Evening): Throughout April, Venus and Jupiter are the stars of the show.   ​Venus will be incredibly bright and low in the west shortly after sunset.   ​Jupiter sits higher in the sky within the constellation Gemini.  It remains visible for most of the night.   ​Lyrid Meteor Shower:  Peaking on the night of April 21–22.  Because the Moon is in its crescent phase and sets early, the skies will be dark enough to spot about 15–18 meteors per hour.   ​Moon Conjunctions: ​ April 19 : A thin cr...