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UK observers were unable to witness for themselves the close-pass of near-Earth asteroid 2005 YU55 on the night of 2011 November 8/9 owing to the country being entirely covered by impenetrable cloud as can be seen in the weather satellite images taken at the time.

Next week, there will be a chance to observe the close approach of the potentially hazardous asteroid (PHA) 2005 YU55.

Exmoor National Park has been designated an International Dark Sky Reserve by the International Dark-Sky Association.

There is the possibility of an unusual outburst of Draconid meteors on the evening of Saturday, 8 October 2011.

Soaring temperatures did not deter over 80 people from attending the BAA Back to Basics Beginners’ Meeting hosted by the Cotswold Astronomical Society at Cheltenham last Saturday (1st October).

BAA members around the country managed to combine to produce a fine set of images over four nights to capture the passing of Comet 2009 P1 Garradd over the Coathanger.

As Comet Garradd makes its lazy sweep across the night sky, after last weeks close encounter with M71, this week the comet will cross just under the popular asterism known as the Coathanger.

The Palomar Transient Factory (PTF) discovered a supernova in M101 on August 24th.

Over the next few nights the comet C/2009 P1 Garradd makes a close pass by of Messier object 71 in the constellation of Sagitta (the arrow). Close encounters between different classes of astronomical object are always of interest, both for the visual observer and the astronomical imager.