HAPPY New Year to you all! Here’s hoping 2014 will be a great stargazing year and to get us started there’s a mixed bag of news and upcoming events.

Firstly and sadly, the much hyped Comet ISON petered out not long after it’s encounter with the Sun and so didn’t become the spectacle we’d hoped for.

In contrast, the Geminid meteor shower in December turned out to be very good if you happened to be up and about in the very early morning, easily hitting the 100 meteors per hour mark. The Quadrantid shower, which peaks on the night of the 3rd January could also be a decent show and is predicted to be at its best in the early evening. Look towards The Plough and hopefully you’ll see some shooting stars.

Planet Jupiter is high in the sky now and comes to opposition on the 5th January. This means it is nearer to us than at any other time of the year and very bright, so now is the best time to view or photograph the giant planet. A small telescope will reveal its major moons, belts and the famous 'Great Red Spot’, an ancient storm twice the size of our Earth!

Still on planets, Venus continues to shine like a beacon in the south just after sunset. It’s so bright that many people think it’s an aircraft (or a UFO!) as it hangs just above the horizon. A small telescope will show that it has phases, like our Moon, but its surface is obscured by thick cloud.

Talking of the Moon, China has become only the third nation to land a probe there and the first to visit our satellite in nearly 40 years. The 'Jade Rabbit’ rover rolled onto the lunar surface on 14th December, its mission is to look for mineral resources which might one day be mined. The rather unusual name for the rover was selected in a poll and refers to a rabbit which, in Chinese mythology, lived on the Moon as the pet of the lunar goddess Chang’e.

The mighty constellation of Orion the Hunter is beginning to dominate the night sky now. It’s easily found, just look for the line of three stars which make up Orion’s belt. The belt is surrounded by a square of four stars representing the shoulders and feet of the Hunter. One of these is the red supergiant star, Betelgeuse, which is going through the final stages of its life before going supernova. The sword of Orion, hanging from his belt, contains the famous Orion Nebula, which is visible in binoculars as a hazy greenish patch surrounding a small group of stars. This is a stellar nursery, where new stars are being born out of the dust and gas in the region.

Finally, a reminder that this year’s series of 'Stargazing Live’ with Prof. Brian Cox takes place on BBC2 on the 7th, 8th and 9th of January. The programme has introduced many people to the hobby of Astronomy and is definitely worth a watch. The Peebles Astronomy Group is organising its own Stargazing Live event at Kailzie at the beginning of March, but more about that next time.

The next meeting of the Astronomy Group will be on Tuesday 28th January from 7.30pm until about 9.00pm at The Osprey Centre, Kailzie Gardens. Do come along if you have an interest in the night sky, all experience levels are most welcome. More information can be found at the Group’s Facebook page: www.facebook.com/Peeblesastro.

Until next month, look up and 'Clear Skies!’ Dr. Tom Johnston Peebles Astronomy Group