Mars and Saturn are now visible from sunset, and both look like stars to the naked eye. If you look to the south after 11pm you'll see them shining quite close together - around a spread out hand's width apart - with yellow-white Saturn on the left and Mars slightly lower to the right, shining with a distinctly orange hue. But the pair are so low after midnight that your view of them will be blocked by trees, buildings or hills in that direction.

Further over to their right, but even lower than Mars, is Jupiter, still clinging on to visibility. After dominating the sky during the winter, it now looks just like a blue star above the western horizon at midnight. A pair of binoculars will show up to four of its largest moons on any clear night.

Meanwhile, we're still waiting for the first big noctilucent cloud display of the summer. We were expecting a lot more activity than we've seen so far, but July usually sees more displays than June so we're crossing our fingers for a spectacular show soon. Keep an eye on the northern sky after midnight on any and every clear night until the end of July, looking out for the tell-tale shining blue-and-white tendrils, whirls and swirls of noctilucent clouds - something must happen soon!

Stuart Atkinson

Eddington Astronomical Society of Kendal