Adrian Dening's Stars Over Somerset

Wednesday, 25 February 2026 16:01

Monday 2nd to Sunday 8th March 2026

We will have a Full Moon on Tuesday 3rd. It will appear above the eastern horizon just after dark and spend the whole night tracking through the sky to the south, before disappearing below the western horizon just before daybreak.

This is the worst possible time to go hunting for faint deep sky objects, as a Full Moon is the ultimate source of light pollution. Of course, if you want to observe details on the lunar surface, then this is the best time to do it! A Full Moon is very bright though, around a magnitude of -12.0 and if using a telescope, you will need a special filter, known as a neutral density filter, on the eyepiece to reduce its glare to a comfortable level. Think of the filter as being like a pair of sunglasses for your eyepiece, typically allowing only 13% of the sunlight reflected from the Moon's surface to pass through to your eye.

If you look towards the west around 6.30pm on Saturday 7th, it should be possible to spot Venus and Saturn very close together, setting below the horizon. Venus will be quite bright, shining at a magnitude of -3.0 while Saturn will be dimmer at a magnitude of around +2.0

In theory at least, it should also be possible to see Neptune just below Venus, but this would very tricky in the twilight sky and would most definitely require a telescope.

If you are using a telescope to try and catch the trio of planets, please make sure that the Sun is completely below the horizon before you aim in that direction. Catching even a momentary glimpse of the Sun in your eyepiece will cause instant and permanent blindness.....and a neutral density Moon filter won't cut the mustard as it would need to filter more like 99% of the light!

www.starsoversomerset.com

Screenshots courtesy of Stellarium