WITH sunsets getting earlier and darkness falling sooner each night it's now getting a lot easier to spot Venus after sunset. If you look to the west at around 5pm you should be able to spot Venus shining in the purple twilight sky like a silvery 'star.' It's still very low in the sky, but it's definitely higher than it was even a couple of weeks ago. At Christmas it will dominate our evening sky, setting several hours after sunset and blazing like a lantern before then. I'll tell you lots more about Venus then.

The International Space Station isn't visible at the moment, but there are other things to look out for. For example, have you ever seen a star appear out nowhere, brighten for a second or so until it is ridiculously bright, then fade away to nothing again? You probably thought you were just seeing a very slow shooting star, but you were actually seeing an Iridium satellite. These satellites have pairs of huge solar panels, and if you're directly beneath one as these panels catch the sunlight you can see it flare briefly but brilliantly in the sky above you. You can use phone apps or websites to check in advance when one of these Iridium flares is going to be visible.

Finally for this week, keep checking the northern horizon after dark, just in case an aurora is underway. The Sun is quite active at the moment, so it's always worth taking a peek, just in case something is happening.

Stuart Atkinson

Eddington Astronomical Society of Kendal