VENUS continues to dominate the evening sky and will be there for a good while yet, writes STUART ATKINSON. Look to the south west half an hour after sunset and Venus will jump,out at you, looking like a very bright, silvery-white 'star.' If you have a good pair of binoculars and point them at Venus it will look like a beautiful jewel flickering and flashing in the twilight.

As you look at Venus, look to its upper left, just a short distance away, and you'll notice a much fainter star up at the ten o'clock position. The star's orange colour gives away what it actually is - the planet Mars, which is currently Venus's near neighbour as dusk falls. They'll be much closer at the start of next month.

As you look at Mars something might well be looking back - a robot rover called Opportunity. When Opportunity landed in January 2004 we all hoped it might last for 90 days on Mars, and travel up to a kilometre. Thirteen years and more than forty kilometres later, 'Oppy' is still roving across the Red Planet. So when you're out looking at Mars, give Oppy a wave!

Stuart Atkinson

Eddington Astronomical Society of Kendal.