#128 - February 2023

The Discussion:


Our dark sky practical astronomy event, AstroCamp

Farewell Apollo 7’s Walt Cunningham

Comet C2022 E3 ZTF reaches naked eye brightness



 


 


The News:


Rounding up the astronomy news in February, we have:


Incredible finding: stars have not always been made the same
way throughout the history of the Universe

The debacle of the first space launch from UK soil

3 rocky water worlds found by the Kepler Space Telescope



The big news story: a decade-long study finds light pollution is
worse than we thought


 


The Sky Guide:


This month we’re taking a look at the large winter constellation
of Ursa Major with a guide to its history, how to find it, a few
deep sky objects to seek out and a round-up of the solar system
views on offer in February.


 


Q&A:


Does the James Webb Space Telescope have to take calibration
frames like I do from Earth - darks, flats, and bias frames to
then stack? From our good friend Peter Coates in East Yorkshire.