It is the Christmas Astronomy Show, but although it is the closest show to the big day the world of astronomy does not stop, things keep happening. Therefore I will be looking at news that astronomers have discovered the most distant solar system object to have been observed. The object named 2018 VG18 is more than 100 times further than the Earth is from the Sun.
I will look at the Night Sky over the Festive period with Mars being seen in the south west just after Sunset and Venus easily seen before sunrise and as an extra bonus right at the end of the month Jupiter and Mercury can also been seen before sunrise. The autumn constellations are now dropping away in the west with the winter constellations much more apparent in the east. There will be much more on the winter constellations next month.
The other regular feature include the A-Z of constellations which today has reached Tucana the Toucan, while the Messier marathon is at M85 in Coma Berenices. The latest astronomy news includes how the Insight lander will monitor the weather on Mars, NASA has selected the place where the Mars 2020 will land and Voyager 2 left the solar system the same day that a solar probe touched the Sun. The astronomical scrapbook which looks at anniversaries this week includes Apollo 8 at the Moon in 1968, Halleys comet was recovered in 1758 and astronomer Scriven Bolton died in 1929. All this plus the round up of news from the astronomical societies in the North of England.
At this time of year one very famous star is often mentioned the Star of Bethlehem, I will have a quick look at just what that might have been.
I hope everyone has a very peaceful and blessed Christmas and a wonderful start to the New Year.
I will be back with the Astronomy Show on Wednesday 2nd January 2019.
The Astronomy Show every Wednesday afternoon between 3.00 pm and 5.00 pm only on Drystone Radio 103.5 FM, you can hear the show live on line at www.drystoneradio.com or hear the Astronomy Show later on the Drystone Radio Podcast.
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