Steve Brown - astronomy and astrophotography

Yes, same. It's not looking good this year (again).

A Geminid meteor above a house roof and caught between the constellations of Taurus and Orion. Shot taken on 14 December 2022 at 22:45 UT.

Rates of #Geminids meteors are now increasing in the lead up to the peak. You could see around 5 to 10 per hour from a dark location this evening. The Moon only becomes an issue after midnight. #Astronomy #GeminidsMeteorShower

The moment the earliest known man-made fire was uncovered - BBC News Archaeologists in the UK have discovered the world's oldest evidence of humans lighting fires

A stunning discovery at an archaeological dig in the UK is rewriting the timeline of when humans first made fire.
Researchers have discovered the earliest known instance of human-created fire, which took place in the east of England 400,000 years ago. www.bbc.co.uk/news/resourc...

Top: the combined false colour image of X-ray (XMM) and infrared (WISE). The sources are X-ray detected, the centre blue diffuse feature comes from 3.4 µm image, and the yellow feature refer to the ring or arm structure traced by 22 and 12 µm⁠. Bottom: WISE W4 band image. ‘Center’ (red): centre 3–8 arcmin; ‘Inner Arm’ (green): the inner arm region after excluding the centre 8 arcmin; ‘Ring Structure’ (orange): covering the ring feature. ‘Inter Arm’ (blue): the combined inter-arm and outer-disc region.

Published in #MNRAS: "An XMM–Newton view of the ANdromeda Galaxy as explored in a Legacy Survey (New-ANGELS) – II: luminosity function of X-ray sources", Huang et al. This is Fig. 6: read the paper at academic.oup.com/mnras/articl... @royalastrosoc.bsky.social @academic.oup.com

Stellarium graphic showing the Moon very close to star Regulus in Leo on the morning of 10 December 2025.

The 66% lit #Moon occults the star Regulus tomorrow morning, 10 December. The star disappears behind the Moon around 07:20 UT and reappears around 08:20 UT. The dawn sky will be brightening during the event, but Regulus is bright enough to be seen through a telescope or camera lens. #Astronomy

Occultation path

Moon v Regulus

Tonight: the 66% illuminated, waning gibbous Moon occults the bright +1st mag. star Regulus (Alpha Leonis) the lucida of the constellation Leo the Lion. The event is visible across most of northern Canada tonight centered on 7:13 UT; the rest of North America will see a close pairing of the two.

Probably a satellite but could have been a meteor. Which direction was the camera pointing?

Bronze plaque saying "A Letter to the Future. Ok is the first Icelandic glacier to lose its status as a glacier. In the next 200 years all our glaciers are expected to follow the same path. This monument is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it. August 2019. 415ppm CO2"

TIL about a memorial ceremony in Iceland in 2019 to mark the end of a glacier, changing the place name from Okjökull to Ok (jökull = glacier). Uncompromising wording on the bronze plaque:
"This is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it".

Titan crosses Saturn's disc from around 17:40 to 23:50 UT this evening. This is best seen early in the evening as #Saturn is close to setting by the end. #Astronomy

I've woken too early. There's a bright Moon up there! 85% waning gibbous.
#astronomy #astrophotography @stormhour.com @photohour.bsky.social

Watch: Moment Hawaii volcano eruption engulfs camera Kilauea, one of the world's most active volcanoes, has been erupting intermittently since December last year.

A volcano in Hawaii sent lava spewing towards a remote camera recording the eruption, engulfing it in ash and knocking it offline. www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/...

Stellarium graphic showing the Moon near Jupiter and below the stars Castor and Pollux in Gemini on 7 December 2025.

The 87% lit #Moon is near #Jupiter this evening. The pair sit below the stars Castor and Pollux in Gemini. #Astronomy

How solar storms that cause the Northern Lights have the power to wreak havoc on Earth The aurora borealis can bring stunning night skies, but hidden dangers can accompany the Northern Lights to disrupt life on Earth as Chris Fawkes explains.

How the solar storms that cause the Northern Lights can wreak havoc on Earth www.bbc.co.uk/weather/arti...

Stellarium graphic showing planet Mercury in the pre-dawn sky on 7 December 2025.

Mercury reaches greatest western elongation today. Find it low in the southeast before sunrise. Best viewed between 06:00 and 07:00 UT. #Astronomy

Frank Gehry's most iconic work - in pictures As one of architecture's most provocative and creative forces, Frank Gehry was behind intriguing buildings the world over.

From leaning glass tower to golden fish sculpture - Frank Gehry's most iconic work www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Trains cancelled over fake bridge collapse image Rail services were cancelled after a 'hoax' picture of a damaged bridge appeared on social media

Example of AI having a negative impact on the real world: Trains were halted after a suspected AI-generated picture that seemed to show major damage to a bridge appeared on social media following an earthquake. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Moon halo timelapse from 3 December. The cloud gradually thickens, resulting in the halo effect disappearing. #Moon #Astronomy #Weather

A Geminid meteor in the constellation of Cetus. Shot taken on 15 December 2022 at ‏‎00:59 UT.

Activity for the #Geminids meteor shower begins today. The next few days sees activity in the range of 1-5 meteors per hour from a dark location. The bright Moon interferes initially, rising later each evening. #Astronomy #GeminidsMeteorShower #Space

Volcanic eruption may have triggered Europe's Black Death plague A volcanic eruption may have set off a chain reaction that led to Europe's deadliest pandemic.

A volcanic eruption around the year 1345 may have set off a chain reaction that unleashed Europe's deadliest pandemic, the Black Death, scientists say. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Graphic promoting December's Public Talk at the Royal Astronomical Society.

What astronomical object could the Christmas Star have been?🎅⭐

That's the topic of our Public Talk this month, as Dr Becca Whitehead considers whether a comet, supernova, planetary conjunction or another phenomenon may have been responsible for the key event in the Christmas narrative. 🤔☄️💥🪐

The nearly full Moon seen through cloud. A subtly coloured halo of light surrounds the Moon, caused by ice crystals in the clouds refracting light from the Moon.

Nice #Moon halo last night 😀 #Astronomy #Weather

Nice one 😀

Aurora borealis over a tree-lined driveway with a particularly sharp pillar stretching past the Plough

Aurora borealis over a tree-lined driveway as activity started to ramp up

Aurora borealis over a tree-lined driveway, the reds visible easily to the naked eye

Aurora borealis over a tree-lined driveway as activity reached a peak and a second band of green appeared above the red

An hour ago, on Sunk Island in East Yorkshire, the sky lit up with #aurora. Dancing pillars and vivid reds to the naked eye, despite the almost full Moon! Welcome to winter! 💃

Great shot. You dedication paid off 😀

This composition had eluded me for nearly a decade, but yesterday I was finally able to capture it. A train rolled through just as the Duquesne Incline was crossing over the tracks in #Pittsburgh, creating a picture perfect winter scene. It was worth the hours and hours I've waited over the years.

Moon rising over Dounreay rocks, Brims and a cloud band. Scotland's north coast

Stellarium graphic showing the Moon near the stars of the Pleiades open cluster in Taurus on the morning of 4 December 2025.

The 98% lit #Moon occults the Pleiades open cluster in Taurus in the early hours of tomorrow morning, 4 December. The Moon occults the first stars around 03:00 UT and moves away from the cluster from 04:50 UT. Should be a good #Astrophotography opportunity. #Astronomy

Lovely sky and Moon colours in that first shot 😀

97% Moon on the rise through the 'Belt of Venus'! It's a full 'Cold' Supermoon tomorrow.
#astronomy #astrophotography @stormhour.com @photohour.bsky.social