Astronomy For The Family

One family activity which costs nothing, is to spend an hour or so looking up into the vast night sky.  Make sure you have no lights around you or light pollution from street lights and housing.

You need to spend around 20 minutes in darkness for your eyes to adjust in order to see the full splendour of all the stars above you.  Once your eyes have adjusted, they will see more objects and you may see some of those objects travelling across the sky at a steady rate.  These will be some of the millions of satellites we all rely on for our communications.

The most thrilling sights are the flashes of meteors as they enter our atmosphere and burn up.  During the summer, we have the Perseid Meteor shower which is one of the most exciting with upto 100 meteors in an hour when it is at it’s peak.

Introducing children to the wonders of our universe can inspire a love of science and physics which may benefit them in the future. 

Perseid meteor shower

Deck chairs at the ready – the Perseids have arrived!

The night of 12 August going into the morning of 13 August brings us the peak of the most anticipated meteor shower of the year. The Perseids are the brightest and most active annual meteor shower, with about 150 meteors per hour around the peak. What’s more, it very thoughtfully puts on its show over the summer months when the warmer weather is better for hanging around outside at night.

Doing so is kind of essential, since the key to viewing any meteor shower is looking up at a wide field of sky for at least as long as it takes to drink a cup of tea from a thermos – and enjoy the show.

The meteors will be visible across the whole night sky, but if you trace back the tails they will appear to originate from the shower’s namesake constellation, Perseus.

The Perseids are caused by the debris left behind by Comet Swift-Tuttle. As our planet passes through the debris field, some of these particles, which are about the size of a grain of sand, plummet through our atmosphere at speeds of up to 72 km per second. This causes the small particles to vaporise and leave behind bright streaks of light.

The Perseids are also known for occurrences of fireballs – big and bright meteors that have exploded on their way down to Earth.

If you don’t manage to take a look during the peak, fret not! There are other great times to view the show. The Perseids will be active from 17 July – 24 August, and although the peak rate of meteors may occur overnight on 12 August, some of the dimmer streaks of light may be washed out by the 87% illuminated Moon. If you take a look during the new Moon on 23 August, the sky will be nice and dark to see as many meteors as possible.

CLICK HERE To Read about Venus and Jupiter making a very spectacular appearance in the early hours before dawn

ASTRONOMY FOR KIDS: HOW TO EXPLORE OUTER SPACE WITH BINOCULARS, A TELESCOPE OR JUST YOUR EYES! By Bruce Betts PhD

Ignite their passion for exploring the night sky–the astronomer’s guidebook for kids ages 7 to 13

“No matter how many times you’ve orbited the Sun, Astronomy for Kids is really for kids of all ages. Dr. Betts shows you how to become an astronomer–an observer of the stars. With this book, you can know the cosmos and your place within it. Read on, walk out, and look up!”–Bill Nye, science educator, author, and CEO of The Planetary Society

One of the coolest things about outer space is that anyone can explore it. All you have to do is go outside and look up! Using plain sight, binoculars, or a small telescope, Astronomy for Kids shows stargazers how easy it is to explore space, just by stepping outside.

CLICK HERE TO SEE ALL FORMATS

Order your copy from Amazon PAPERBACK BOOK   £11.62

DR. BRUCE BETTS is a planetary scientist who loves teaching people about planets, space, and the night sky in fun and entertaining ways. He is the chief scientist for the world’s largest space interest group, The Planetary Society, where he heads both the Science and Technology and the Education and Outreach programs. He regularly writes for a variety of online and print publications, including The Planetary Report and his blog, planetary.org. Learn more at RandomSpaceFact.com.

With this book as their guide to the northern hemisphere, kids will learn to find and name amazing objects in the night sky. Fully illustrated with fun facts throughout, kids can point out sights to friends and family, saying things like, “that’s Jupiter,” and, “those stars are the constellation Cygnus the Swan,” and maybe even, “that group of stars doesn’t have a name but I think it looks like my dog getting belly rubs.”

HARDBACK BOOK  £19.16

CLICK HERE TO READ REVIEWS AND ORDER A COPY from Amazon

‘Interstellar visitor’ 3I/ATLAS could be the oldest comet ever seen — and could grow a spectacular tail later this year

Aurora Foreasting Model From the Metoffice

https://weather.metoffice.gov.uk/specialist-forecasts/space-weather

Aurora Forecasting Model 

Space weather notifications – There are currently no active notifications.  11th August 2025

Aurora forecasts Northern Hemisphere

Slight enhancements to the aurora are possible through the next few days, but most likely Tuesday night or early morning Wednesday (UTC) due fast solar winds. Some glimpses of visible aurora is possible from the far north of Scotland, or similar geomagnetic latitudes, however this coinciding with hours of darkness is low confidence.

How to Take Picture of Aurora With Smartphone

Understand Light Pollution. If you have already understood and know how the aurora forecast works, the next thing you need to consider before driving out to photograph the Northern Lights is the light pollution 🚗. Light pollution is the name for the brightening of the night in the sky that is caused by us (humans) such as the street lights and city lights.

hello-aurora.com