The Rambling Astronomer

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....

Canis Major is a stunning constellation with many bright stars and clusters, unfortunately for observers in Britain it is always low in the sky so we never see it at its best. It represents one of the two dogs the other being Canis Minor that follows at the heels of Orion the Hunter. The brightest star in Canis Major, Sirius is also the brightest star in the sky. This is the dog star and sometimes...

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....

This constellation was added to the sky by the Polish astronomer Johannes Hevelius who was not only an astronomer but the major of Danzig. Hevelius invented 10 new constellation in the northern sky, astronomers today still use seven of them. It was in 1687, that Canes Venatici or the hunting dogs were created. According to myth the hunting dogs were being held by the Herdsman Bootes and it is sugg...

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....

Cancer is one of the oldest constellations dating back over 4,000 years, it represents a crab which Juno queen of Olympus sent to rescue the multi headed monster the Hydra which was doing battle with Hercules. Hercules just trod on the crab and squashed it. However as a reward for its efforts Juno placed it in the sky. In form Cancer resembles a very dim and ghostly looking Orion.

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....

Camelopardalis the Giraffe is without doubt one of the dullest of the northern constellations. It was first created by the Dutch astronomer Petrus Plancius around 1613. Although the 18th largest constellation in the sky it has only one star that you might glimpse with the naked eye.

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....

This is one of the 14 obscure constellations created by Nicolas Louis de La Caille. It was first seen in his catalogue of 1763. There are no stars brighter than magnitude 4.0 and the four faint stars that do form Caelum could easily have been incorporated into the constellation of Eridanus the 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....

The constellation of Bootes is usually described as the Herdsman who was placed in the sky for inventing the plough drawn by two oxen. The way to pronounce Bootes is to think of the word co-ordinate. Bootes is very prominent in the spring and early summer skies. It is always a little bit difficult to work out the best shape to describe Bootes because it is a large constellation and it is in a fair...

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....

A striking constellation in the northern skies, Auriga lies above the horns of Taurus the Bull and forms the shape of a kite. Auriga is named after the son of Vulcan who invented the four horse chariot. Its brightest star Capella is the 6th brightest star in the sky.

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....

A constellation that dates back to ancient times, in legend Aries represented the Ram whose golden fleece was sought by Jason and the Argonauts. Despite not being a very bright constellation it has assumed great importance in astronomy, because around 2,000 years ago it contained the point where the Sun passed from south to north across the celestial equator each year. This point, the vernal equin...

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....

Ara the Altar lies in a dense part of the Milky Way immediately south of the hook of stars that make up the tail of Scorpius the Scorpion. It is invisible from Britain but has been known since ancient times, remember that many of these constellations were created in Greece which is much further south than we are in Britain meaning that constellations like Ara will be seen much higher in the sky. A...

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....

Aquila the Eagle is one of the original 48 Greek constellations. Altair often represents a bird in mythology that was a companion to Jupiter and often carried his thunderbolts. The constellation is one of the most prominent in the sky. Altair is one of the summer triangle of stars that grace our sky during the summer months. The others are Vega and Deneb. Altair is the most southerly of the triang...

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....

Aquarius is one of the most ancient of constellations. The Babylonians saw this area of sky as a man pouring water from a jar and it is still represented this way today. Aquarius is one of the zodiacal constellations and according to the Greeks it is linked to Ganymede, cup bearer to the Olympic gods. It’s in the Zodiac a belt of stars made up of 12 constellations that stretch around the sky,

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 this series of podcasts I have tried to show how different civilisations have depicted different pictures in the sky of the constellations. However I did not realise how difficult some of the names were going to be to pronounce so I apologise straight away if things don't sound quite right. In today's episode I am looking at Apus the Bird of Paradise. Another small faint constellation and a con...

The first of the so called 40 modern constellations. Antlia the Air Pump was introduced by Nicloas de la Caille after spending time in Soith Africa producing a star catalogue of the southern sky. Sadly like many of his new constellations it is very faint and insignificant . There are no myths or legends attached to Antlia.