Stargazing in our forests
The winter solstice happens when the North Pole reaches its maximum tilt away from the sun. For many, it's a time to celebrate as the days now begin to lengthen. But we're not wishing away the long nights just yet. They provide an excellent opportunity to look up at the sky and learn about the wonders of our solar system and beyond.
Scotland’s forests and land are great places to go stargazing – we even have the UK’s first Dark Sky Park in Galloway.
How to get started
Not sure where to begin? Listen to our podcast with Glasgow Science Centre. The podcast starts with the basics of stargazing and covers what to look for and how to get out and about to explore Scotland’s dark skies this winter.
An introduction to the night sky
Tips for stargazing
Stargazing can be easy with a little preparation. Follow these tips to make the most of those clear nights.
- Give your eyes 30 minutes to adjust to the dark.
- Use a red light or red filter on your torch to protect your night vision.
- Bring a chair to make viewing more comfortable.
- Monitor the lunar cycle - this can be found on apps and through search engines - as new moon nights are best for seeing the maximum number of stars.
- Check weather apps to see how cloudy it might be before heading out.
Things to look out for this winter
Meteors
Dust and rock from space are continually entering Earth’s atmosphere. The dust and rock pieces when in space are known as meteoroids. As they enter the atmosphere, most burn up producing a short-lived trail of light known as a meteor. Although they aren't actually stars, they're often popularly called shooting stars. If the meteoroid survives through the atmosphere and lands on the ground, it's called a meteorite.
Meteor showers often seem to originate from the same point in the sky, this is known as the radiant. The constellation that appears to contain the radiant gives the meteor shower its name.
Two meteor showers to look out for over winter are:
- Ursid – active 17 to 26 December (peaking between 22 and 23 December)
- Quadrantids – active 28 December to 12 January (peaking between 3 and 4 January)
The Moon
Weather permitting, a braw, bricht moonlicht nicht (beautiful, bright moonlight night) is on the way in January with the ‘Wolf Moon’. When the moon orbits the earth it is not quite a perfect circle. If a full moon like the one in January coincides with the moon being at its closest point to Earth in its orbit (perigree), it can be described as a supermoon and can appear larger and brighter in the sky.
The term ‘Wolf Moon’ has been used in many cultures. The name is thought to originate from wolves howling more over winter due to the mating season, food being scarce and more socialising taking place.
The Northern Lights
The Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) are dramatic displays of colour ranging from as little as 50 miles above our heads to several thousand miles away. We can see them when charged particles from the sun, known as the solar wind, reach Earth. These particles react with atoms and molecules in the Earth’s atmosphere. Similar to different gases showing different colours when heated, the auroras can show an array of colours. For example, nitrogen can give hints of blue, pink and purple while oxygen is seen as green at lower altitudes but can be a vibrant red at high altitudes.