Monday 21st to Sunday 27th July 2025
We'll start with a bit of a visual challenge for early risers, around
A constellation is a group of visible stars that form a perceived shape - often animals or mythological creatures and they can date back thousands of years. In 1922, the International Astronomical Union formally adopted the current list of 88 different constellations. There are other patterns of stars that form easily-recognisable shapes that astronomers use to find their way around the night sky - these are called "asterisms" and they may be part of a larger constellation.
One such example is known as the "Teapot" and it is part of the constellation Sagittarius. Towards the end of the week, if you look towards the south around
A little to the right of the teapot's lid are a couple of Messier objects to aim your telescope towards - M8 "The Lagoon Nebula" and M20 "The Trifid Nebula". M8 is classed as an emission nebula, where stars are created and with a magnitude of about +4.6 you might just be able to make out a faint fuzzy blob with the naked eye from a very dark location. M20 is another emission nebula, but with a magnitude of +6.3 you will definitely need your telescope or binoculars for that one!
www.starsoversomerset.com
Screenshots courtesy of Stellarium
Copyright Adrian Dening and Radio Ninesprings 2025
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