The Rambling Astronomer

A normally very poor meteor shower which in the past has caused major meteor showers. the Draconids from the constellation of Draco the Dragon are always worth having a look out for.

Probably the best known of all the annual meteor showers, the Perseids can be seen each August.

When we see eta Aquarid meteors we are seeing remnants of one of the most famous comets. This is Halley's Comet. Sadly for observers in Britain people living in the southern hemisphere get a better display than we do.

The first meteor shower of spring time. The Lyrids can be seen in April and although not the most spectacular shower, it can sometimes surprise astronomers with he number of meteors that can be seen.

The first meteor shower of the calendar year. The Quadrantids is the only meteor shower named after a now defunct constellation. The Mural quadrant

The moons of the farthest known planet contains one, called Triton which appears to be a captured object orbiting Neptune .

Uranus was discovered in 1781 by William Herschel, its the only planet not to have its moons named after characters from Greek mythology, instead they are named from characters in English literature.

The famous ringed planet planet with, its largest moon Titan, the second largest moon in the solar system. Titan is the only place other than the Earth where liquid can be found. On Titan it is methane rather than water.

The 4 Galilean or largest moons of Jupiter were discovered by Galileo when he first used his telescope to look at the night sky in the in the winter of 1609/1610. One of them Ganymede is the largest moon in the solar system and is even bigger than the planet Mercury.

The two small moons of Mars, which were discovered in 1877, they are probably captured asteroids, this is their interesting story.