One of the most prominent constellations in the northern sky, the main stars forms a distinctive letter W or M in the sky, this depends on which way we view the constellation. It is circumpolar from Britain which means we can see it all year round. In mythology it represents a queen from a land a long time ago who upset Neptune god of the sea.

One of the most intriguing of the ancient legends tells how a band of heroes headed by Jason sailed off in search of the Golden Fleece. This fleece had come from a magical ram which was able to fly and which has rescued two royal children from a cruel stepmother, carrying them to the land of king Aetes. After the ram died the fleece was placed in a tree in a scared grove guarded by a particularly nasty dragon. Much to the annoyance of King Aetes Jason managed to kill the dragon and took the fleece back to his own country.

Join me, Martin Lunn MBE every Monday evening from 7.00 pm-9.00 pm on the award-winning Astronomy Show on Drystone Radio, probably the only regular astronomy show on any radio station in the country.   I will take my weekly look at the night sky and look at all the latest news in astronomy. There will be the astronomical anniversaries this week plus the latest news from the astronomical societies in the north of England.   The Astronomy Show every Monday evening only on Drystone Radio live online at www.drystoneradio.com DAB radio in Bradford and East Lancashire, or 102 and 103.5 FM

A cnace to listen to some of  my blogs from April 2025

Low down on early autumn evenings is one of the constellations of the zodiac, Capricornus is depicted as a goat with the tail of a fish. Although a very faint group it has one of the oldest mythological associations.  Capricornus is also sometimes identified as Pan, the god with a goat's head, who saved himself from the monster Typhon by giving himself a fish's tail and diving into a river.

Join me, Martin Lunn MBE every Monday evening from 7.00 pm-9.00 pm on the award-winning Astronomy Show on Drystone Radio, probably the only regular astronomy show on any radio station in the country.   I will take my weekly look at the night sky and look at all the latest news in astronomy. There will be the astronomical anniversaries this week plus the latest news from the astronomical societies in the north of England.   The Astronomy Show every Monday evening only on Drystone Radio live online at www.drystoneradio.com DAB radio in Bradford and East Lancashire, or 102 and 103.5 FM

In mythology it is the smaller of the dogs that follows Orion the Hunter.  It has only one bright star alpha or Procyon which means ‘Before the Dog’, this is because it rises before Sirius.

Join me, Martin Lunn MBE every Monday evening from 7.00 pm-9.00 pm on the award-winning Astronomy Show on Drystone Radio, probably the only regular astronomy show on any radio station in the country.   I will take my weekly look at the night sky and look at all the latest news in astronomy. There will be the astronomical anniversaries this week plus the latest news from the astronomical societies in the north of England.   The Astronomy Show every Monday evening only on Drystone Radio live online at www.drystoneradio.com DAB radio in Bradford and East Lancashire, or 102 and 103.5 FM

Canis Major is a stunning constellation which I am afraid to say we never see at its best from Britain because it is quite low down in the sky. In the Mediterranean area it would be much higher in the sky and would look even more impressive. The constellation which can be seen in the winter months in Britain represents one of the hunting dogs that follow Orion the Hunter across the sky and contains Sirius or the Dog Star the brightest star in the sky.

Join me, Martin Lunn MBE every Monday evening from 7.00 pm-9.00 pm on the award-winning Astronomy Show on Drystone Radio, probably the only regular astronomy show on any radio station in the country.   I will take my weekly look at the night sky and look at all the latest news in astronomy. There will be the astronomical anniversaries this week plus the latest news from the astronomical societies in the north of England.   The Astronomy Show every Monday evening only on Drystone Radio live online at www.drystoneradio.com DAB radio in Bradford and East Lancashire, or 102 and 103.5 FM

Join me, Martin Lunn MBE tonight and every Monday evening from 7.00 pm-9.00 pm on the award-winning Astronomy Show on Drystone Radio, probably the only regular astronomy show on any radio station in the country.   I will take my weekly look at the night sky and look at all the latest news in astronomy. There will be the astronomical anniversaries this week plus the latest news from the astronomical societies in the north of England.   The Astronomy Show every Monday evening only on Drystone Radio live online at www.drystoneradio.com DAB radio in Bradford and East Lancashire, or 102 and 103.5 FM

Canes Venatici or the Hunting Dogs is a modern constellation, created by the Polish astronomer Johannes Hevelius 1611-1687 who introduced this constellation to the star maps in the 1680s. He introduced 9 new constellations of which 8 are surprisingly still used today.  Although most are faint groups that fit in-between the ancient classical constellations. Canes Venatici is probably one of the brighter examples.

Join me, Martin Lunn MBE tonight and every Monday evening from 7.00 pm-9.00 pm on the award-winning Astronomy Show on Drystone Radio, probably the only regular astronomy show on any radio station in the country.   I will take my weekly look at the night sky and look at all the latest news in astronomy. There will be the astronomical anniversaries this week plus the latest news from the astronomical societies in the north of England.   The Astronomy Show every Monday evening only on Drystone Radio live online at www.drystoneradio.com DAB radio in Bradford and East Lancashire, or 102 and 103.5 FM

Cancer is a zodiacal constellation in fact it is the faintest of the constellations that can be found in the zodiac. It can be found in the sky between Gemini the Twins and Leo the Lion both more spectacular examples of constellations in the zodiac.

Join me, Martin Lunn MBE tonight and every Monday evening from 7.00 pm-9.00 pm on the award-winning Astronomy Show on Drystone Radio, probably the only regular astronomy show on any radio station in the country.   I will take my weekly look at the night sky and look at all the latest news in astronomy. There will be the astronomical anniversaries this week plus the latest news from the astronomical societies in the north of England.   The Astronomy Show every Monday evening only on Drystone Radio live online at www.drystoneradio.com DAB radio in Bradford and East Lancashire, or 102 and 103.5 FM

Camelopardalis the Giraffe is without doubt one of the dullest of the northern constellations. It was first created by the Dutch astronomer Petrus Plancius around 1613.

This is one of the 14 obscure constellations created by Nicolas Louis de La Caille. It was first seen in his catalogue of 1763. There are no stars brighter than magnitude 4.0 and the four faint stars that do form Caelum could easily have been incorporated into the constellation of Eridanus the River.

Join me, Martin Lunn MBE tonight and every Monday evening from 7.00 pm-9.00 pm on the award-winning Astronomy Show on Drystone Radio, probably the only regular astronomy show on any radio station in the country.   I will take my weekly look at the night sky and look at all the latest news in astronomy. There will be the astronomical anniversaries this week plus the latest news from the astronomical societies in the north of England.   The Astronomy Show every Monday evening only on Drystone Radio live online at www.drystoneradio.com DAB radio in Bradford and East Lancashire, or 102 and 103.5 FM

The constellation of Bootes is usually described as the Herdsman who was placed in the sky for inventing the plough drawn by two oxen. The way to pronounce Bootes is to think of the word co-ordinate.  Bootes is very prominent in the spring and early summer skies.  It is always a little bit difficult to work out the best shape to describe Bootes because it is a large constellation and it is in a fairly barren part of the sky.

Join me, Martin Lunn MBE tonight and every Monday evening from 7.00 pm-9.00 pm on the award-winning Astronomy Show on Drystone Radio, probably the only regular astronomy show on any radio station in the country.   I will take my weekly look at the night sky and look at all the latest news in astronomy. There will be the astronomical anniversaries this week plus the latest news from the astronomical societies in the north of England.   The Astronomy Show every Monday evening only on Drystone Radio live online at www.drystoneradio.com DAB radio in Bradford and East Lancashire, or 102 and 103.5 FM