Twinkling Sirius and Messier March.

Not much to report for the last couple of weeks.

The night skies haven't been too bad, but the evenings have been really cold.  We have had a couple of frosty nights, perfect for spying the twinkling stars.

My favourite twinkling star on the frosty evenings has always been Sirius; when viewed through a slightly out of focus telescope Sirius puts on a lovely rainbow light-show of swirling colours.

This past fortnight it was nice to simply go outside on those few cold evenings and just look up at the stars without running to find my sketch book or camera.

If the weather allows, I intend this month to dig out the binoculars and search out some of those Messier objects.

Tal1 will be having a rest for the month of March.

Plus, fingers crossed for Comet PANSTARRS, lets hope it puts on a good show for all .


Last night I rolled back the observatory roof and grabbed a quick sketch of Jupiter.

I've enjoyed sketching Jupiter these past few months, and I'm looking forward next month to spending some time with Saturn.

Between the Comet and the Messiers, and a bit of twinkling starlight, I reckon March is going to be an interesting month of observation.