Guiding lights

I'm just home after a very busy and full teaching day, including an after-school astronomy class and an information evening for parents of new sixth form students.

This is such an important year for Y13 pupils as A level is such a difference from GCSE - a huge jump in depth and complexity. The girls will get plenty of guidance and the wise will act upon it!

I was given this strange navigation device by a friend whose dad got it from a Russian naval vessel. It must provide a way of navigating using stars, although I haven't been able to figure out how it works.

Once I took the photo I realised I had captured the constellation Cygnus! The swan flies across the Milky Way, so if you observe it using binoculars you'll see thousands of stars in its wake. The head of Cygnus, a star called Albireo, is actually two stars, one orange and one blue. If you ever get a chance to look at it through a telescope you really should, it's a beautiful sight.