Column by astronomer Stuart Atkinson:

THE sky was cloudy over the whole of Christmas, so we had no chance to see Santa flying over, sadly.

The bad weather seems to set to continue for some time yet but, if the clouds do part, you’ll see a very bright ‘star’ very low in the south-west after sunset.

This is actually the planet Venus, currently a beautiful ‘evening star’ that is brighter than any other planet or star in that part of the sky.

If you have a pair of binoculars, then take a look at Venus through them and you’ll see it looks like a beautiful, tiny crescent.

This is because Venus is closer to the Sun than Earth, so it appears to go through phases, just like our own Moon.

At the moment, we are seeing Venus lit from the side by the Sun, so we see it as a crescent.

But in a few months’ time it will be fully illuminated and look like a small disc in a telescope.

If you don’t have binoculars or a telescope, don’t worry.

Venus is a gorgeous sight just to the naked eye if you don’t have any hills, buildings or trees on your skyline to the south-west.

If you do, they will probably hide Venus from your view, as it’s so low in the sky.

But if you can get to somewhere with a flatter, lower skyline - looking out across a lake, or even out to sea - Venus will look spectacular, like a bright spark of light shining above the horizon, bright enough to cast shadows on a very clear, very still evening.