The Rambling Astronomer

Join me, Martin Lunn MBE tonight and every Monday evening from 7.00 pm-9.00 pm on the Astronomy Show, probably the only regular astronomy show on any radio station in the country. I will take my weekly look at the night sky and look at all the latest news in astronomy. There will be the astronomical anniversaries this week plus the A-Z of Constellations. The Astronomy Show every Monday evening onl...

Join me, Martin Lunn MBE tonight and every Monday evening from 7.00 pm-9.00 pm on the Astronomy Show, probably the only regular astronomy show on any radio station in the country. I will take my weekly look at the night sky and look at all the latest news in astronomy. There will be the astronomical anniversaries this week plus the A-Z of Constellations. The Astronomy Show every Monday evening onl...

Join me, Martin Lunn MBE tonight and every Monday evening from 7.00 pm-9.00 pm on the Astronomy Show, probably the only regular astronomy show on any radio station in the country. I will take my weekly look at the night sky and look at all the latest news in astronomy. There will be the astronomical anniversaries this week plus the A-Z of Constellations. The Astronomy Show every Monday evening onl...

The celestial swan is sometimes called the northern cross since its + shape is very striking. Its brightest star Deneb at magnitude 1.3 and is one of the members of the summer triangle. Although the faintest of the triangle it is actually is the brightest only appearing fainter because it is the most distant. In mythology Cygnus represents a swan flying down the milky way, swans feature in many le...

The smallest constellation in the sky, but one of the most celebrated and distinctive. It was formed from some of the stars of the constellation Centaurus by various seamen and astronomers in the 16th century. Crux means cross in Latin. Johan Bayer incorporated these stars into his Uranometria star atlas in 1603 thus making it an officially recognised constellation.

The second of the small constellations adjoining Hydra the other being Corvus. Crater although very faint it is one of the original 48 groups even though it contains no stars brighter than magnitude 3.5. Crater represents the cup of Apollo and is associated with the neighbouring constellation of Corvus.

A small but quite prominent constellation which is at its highest in the late spring evenings, the crow is low in the sky depicted sitting on the back of the water snake. According to legend Apollo sent the crow to bring the water of life, but was unable to resist the unripe fruit of the fig tree, he let the cup of water (the constellation of Crater) fall to the ground. Realising that he was takin...

Join me, Martin Lunn tonight and every Monday evening from 7.00 pm-9.00 pm on the Astronomy Show, probably the only regular astronomy show on any radio station in the country. I will take my weekly look at the night sky and look at all the latest news in astronomy. There will be the astronomical anniversaries this week plus the A-Z of Constellations and Astronomy in Yorkshire - God’s Own Country....

Corona Borealis the Northern Crown which was given as a wedding present by Bacchus to Ariadne and was then cast by him into the sky when she died. It consists of an arc of seven fairly faint stars with the exception of alpha.

Corona Australis the Southern Crown is a counterpart in the southern hemisphere for the Northern Crown or Corona Borealis in the northern hemisphere. It is formed of a curve of faint stars which is easily recognisable, however it cannot be seen from Britain. It has been known since the time of the astronomers of ancient Greece and in mythology was said to have been worn by the centaur Sagittarius...

Join me, Martin Lunn tonight and every Monday evening from 7.00 pm-9.00 pm on the Astronomy Show, probably the only regular astronomy show on any radio station in the country. I will take my weekly look at the night sky and look at all the latest news in astronomy. There will be the astronomical anniversaries this week plus the A-Z of Constellations and Astronomy in Yorkshire - God’s Own Country....

Yet another faint constellation with no really bright stars, although it has an ancient legend it was only formed by Tycho Brahe in 1601. According to legend Queen Berenice of Egypt vowed to cut off her beautiful hair and place it in the temple of Venus, provided that her husband returned safely from a war against the Assyrians. When the king returned Bernices kept her promise and so impressed the...

Columba the Dove which represents the dove that followed Noah’s Ark, or some legends say it was the dove that the Argonauts sent ahead to help them pass safely through the clashing rocks at the entrance to the Black Sea. If it was higher in the sky it would be quite easy to see.

Another small and obscure constellations added to the southern sky by the French astronomer Nicolas de Lacaille in 1756 after staying at the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa. Where he produced a catalogue of 10,000 stars.. There does appear to be a lack of imagination with the constellation, there are no stars to represent the compasses. It is the 4th smallest constellation in the sky.

A very dull and bland constellation, Chamaeleon is a small constellation which can be found close to the South Pole and therefore invisible from Britain. It was created by Dutch astroonmer Petrus Plancius in 1598 from the observations of the Dutch explores Pieter Keyser and Frederick de Houtman. Unlike many other animals named for the southern skies such as the Thrush, Cat and Reindeer, the Chamel...

In mythology Cetus was the kraken, the monster sent by Neptune to eat the princess Andromeda, the monster today has turned into a more harmless Whale.

Join me, Martin Lunn tonight and every Monday evening from 7.00 pm-9.00 pm on the Astronomy Show, probably the only regular astronomy show on any radio station in the country. I will take my weekly look at the night sky and look at all the latest news in astronomy. There will be the astronomical anniversaries this week plus the A-Z of Constellations and Astronomy in Yorkshire - God’s Own Country....

It has often been said that “The female of the species is more deadly than the male”. In the case of this constellations and with the story of the Cassiopeia legend, the female of the species is certainly the more conspicuous than the male, since King Cepheus cannot be compared with his wife Cassiopeia.

A large rich and splendid constellation representing a Centaur who in Greek mythology represented the scholarly centaur Chiron who was then tutor to many of the Greek heroes. He was placed in the sky after accidentality being struck by a poisoned arrow shot by Hercules.

One of the most prominent constellations in the northern sky, the main stars forms a distinctive letter W or M in the sky, this depends on which way we view the constellation. It is circumpolar from Britain which means we can see it all year round. In mythology it represents a queen from a land a long time ago who upset Neptune god of the sea.

Join me, Martin Lunn tonight and every Monday evening from 7.00 pm-9.00 pm on the Astronomy Show, probably the only regular astronomy show on any radio station in the country. I will take my weekly look at the night sky and look at all the latest news in astronomy. There will be the astronomical anniversaries this week plus the A-Z of Constellations and Astronomy in Yorkshire - God’s Own Country....

One of the most intriguing of the ancient legends tells how a band of heroes headed by Jason sailed off in search of the Golden Fleece. Among the heroes concerned in this expedition were Hercules and the heavenly twins Castor and Pollux. The ship they travelled in was called the Argo and fittingly enough Argo Navis used to be the largest in the sky. I say used to, because it was such an unwieldy c...

Low down on early autumn evenings is one of the constellations of the zodiac, Capricornus is depicted as a goat with the tail of a fish. Although a very faint group it has one of the oldest mythological associations. Capricornus is also sometimes identified as Pan, the god with a goat's head, who saved himself from the monster Typhon by giving himself a fish's tail and diving into a river.

Join me, Martin Lunn tonight and every Monday evening from 7.00 pm-9.00 pm on the Astronomy Show, probably the only regular astronomy show on any radio station in the country. I will take my weekly look at the night sky and look at all the latest news in astronomy. There will be the astronomical anniversaries this week plus the A-Z of Constellations and Astronomy in Yorkshire - God’s Own Country....

In mythology it is the smaller of the dogs that follows Orion the Hunter. Procyon forms a very prominent and large triangle with Sirius in Canis Major and Betelgeuse in Orion.