National Astronomy Week
The beginning of February sees the biggest Astronomy event in the UK.
National Astronomy Week runs from February 1st to 9th.
There will be stargazing events, planetarium shows and talks all over the country.
The website gives details of what you can see in the night sky.
It will even carry live streaming of planets to your screen.
In this blog we’ll look at some aspects of the week.
To see everything, please click on the National Astronomy Week website at NAW.
Why Now?
National Astronomy Week 2025 sees four major planets line up in the night sky.
From February 1st to 9th, the Moon moves along the planet parade.
So it’s a great time to go outside and enjoy the night sky.
And with a little preparation, you can be an astronomer!
The Planets
Night sky, looking South. Credit: National Astronomy Week.
The planet parade begins as the sky darkens after sunset.
Keep the sunset to your right, look in front of you and that’s South.
Over to the right, in the West, Venus is a superb ‘evening star’.
It’s unmistakeable, brighter than any real star.
Crescent Moon & Venus: Dennis Ashton
Below Venus, much dimmer, is Saturn.
Saturn, small telescope
On February 1st, the crescent Moon lies between the two planets, close to Venus.
High in the South, Jupiter is still bright but moving steadily away from us.
With binoculars you may see the four big moons, first seen by Galileo over 400 years ago.

Jupiter and moons, small telescope.
To the left of Jupiter, Mars is brighter and distinctly orange-red in colour.

Mars, Stellarium
As the Moon increases in phase, it moves to the east.
On February 6th and 7th, the Moon is near Jupiter.
Moon close to Jupiter: Stellarium
By the 9th, it has moved on, very close to Mars.
Mars encounter with the Moon: Stellarium
The National Astronomy Week website has a great resources page for the week.
You can see it here.
One of the projects is to plot the position and phase of the Moon.
Here’s a chart from the website.
Chasing the Moon: National Astronomy Week
You can also follow the Moon’s journey with Stellarium.
Download this excellent planetarium software here. It’s free!
Of course, the Moon is really much closer to us than any planet.
For example, the Moon is 400,000 kms away.
Mars is around 96,000,000 kms from Earth.
Stargazing Events
National Astronomy Week includes lots of brilliant public observing events.
There is a list on the NAW website. You can see it here.
There are exciting events all over the country, as the map reveals.
Location of NAW events.
One of the events close to me is ‘Stargazing in the Cemetery’.
I’m looking forward to spooky stars!
Stargazing is so cool! Photo: NAW
The events run through the week.
On 7th and 8th February, I will be at the Royal Navy Museum in Hartlepool with Wonderdome.
Please come and meet me if you’re in the area.
But wherever you are, there will be an event nearby.
Do check the NAW website to find out what’s going on near you.
Planetarium Shows
Planetaria all over the country are giving shows for National Astronomy Week.
The show dedicated to NAW is ‘Chasing the Moon’.
To see some of the planetaria involved, click here.
And, of course, if you’re in a school or belong to an educational organisation, you could book a Wonderdome visit!
National Astronomy Week 2025
Astronomy Week has become more exciting and accessible in the last nine years.
If you are reading this blog, then you’re interested in astronomy.
National Astronomy Week definitely has something for you.
The author: Dennis Ashton is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and a Wonderdome presenter.
In 2024, Dennis received the Special Contribution award from the British Association of Planetaria.
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