It is a cold, clammy morning. A mist is blowing over the moors, constantly changing the horizon. The wind is cool but not cold, not like the icy blasts one expects in January especially as the winds blowing across the country at the moment are coming from the North Atlantic. It’s interesting to hear that New York is experiencing a mild spell and I caught on the news yesterday that Russians were worried by the lack of snow.
It was quiet out, the only other creature being a solitary crow feasting on a dead sheep, it uttered a guttural cry as I walked past and lazily flapped away.
Coming down the hill I could see rain drifting eastward across the Lancashire plain. I thought it would take about half an hour to reach me as it was several miles away but no, I was wrong because ten minutes later I was trudging through a sweeping downpour, it quickly blew over and has left a blue-patched sky in its wake.
Unless it clears tonight I won’t be able to do a recount of the stars in Orion. The British Astronomical Society are conducting a survey to judge the effects of light pollution on the night sky, they are using the constellation of Orion as an indicator. Apparently on a clear night you can see up to 50 stars with the naked eye. On Sunday, the only clear night so far, I saw 6.
At one time the garden was an excellent viewing point for the night skies, the milky-way often being visible. Over the last five years there has been a deterioration in viewing quality. This is not due to street lights but the overuse of security lights. There are so many, some piercing with a white glare into the bedrooms, that I’m often reminded of the border towers along the iron curtain during the cold war. I’ve even had to scuttle low down when going out to star-watch to avoid setting off the neighbour’s searchlights.
If you want to join in the star count, it’s on for this week only, go to the star count page and follow the instructions. Orion is easy to find as it dominates the southern sky mid-evening this time of year.
