Pete Lawrence

Sky at Night presenter, Stargazing Live consultant/contributor. Writes/illustrates the monthly Sky Guide for Sky at Night mag.

[Pete Lawrence @Avertedvision]

@ForterraUK Desford brickworks seem to have increased the brightness of the lights at the site. This can't be good for the neighbouring National Forest and it's ruining the local night sky.

[Pete Lawrence @Avertedvision]

That bright Geminid I posted yesterday left, like most bright meteors, a meteor train which was captured in the subsequent images and (hopefully) animated here...

[Pete Lawrence @Avertedvision]

Bright Geminid meteor trail caught this morning (13 Dec).

[Pete Lawrence @Avertedvision]

Receding partial phase of last night's total lunar eclipse. Always going to be a tricky one from the UK, especially with lots of cloud around. But there were gaps. This is from Thornton Reservoir in Leicestershire.

[Pete Lawrence @Avertedvision]

The cool thing about lunar occultations is the fact that the Moon's edge is effectively a razor sharp occulting edge as there's no lunar atmosphere. The star is effectively a point source of light. Despite our atmosphere fuzzing the star, disappearance is instant.

[Pete Lawrence @Avertedvision]

Electra (17 Tauri) disappears (fast!)

[Pete Lawrence @Avertedvision]

A lot of occultations this evening!

[Pete Lawrence @Avertedvision]

https://t.co/r32Y7N4p5C partial solar eclipse time-lapse courtesy of a Seestar S30.

[Pete Lawrence @Avertedvision]

Sleep deprived eclipse!

[Pete Lawrence @Avertedvision]

Burst of auroral activity seen on last night's Northern Lights flight operaing out of Birmingham International Airport.

[Pete Lawrence @Avertedvision]

A quick guide to March's total lunar eclipse... https://t.co/JpTOYO3HAz

[Pete Lawrence @Avertedvision]

There are two eclipses visible from the UK in March 2025, the first is a total lunar eclipse which occurs on the morning of 14 March. However, the UK gets a challenging view of this event, totality reached just before moonset.

[Pete Lawrence @Avertedvision]

An unusual view of Theophilus, Cyrillus and Catherina. LRO data used for elevation mapping combined with my image of the region from 3 Feb.

[Pete Lawrence @Avertedvision]

Rupes Recta, the Straight Wall. Despite its dramatic appearance, the slope is estimated to be a gentle 10-25 degrees.

[Pete Lawrence @Avertedvision]

Jupiter on 5 Feb 2025. 15 mins de-rotated. NTB outbreak visible as the bright patch just left of centre on the northern edge oh the NEB.

[Pete Lawrence @Avertedvision]

The Ray of Hesiodus is an effect caused by the dawn lunar light streaming through a gap in the co-joining rim wall the Pitatus. Imagine the view from the far side of Hesiodus as sunlight first appears. Why am I thinking of sneaky UFOs? 😂

[Pete Lawrence @Avertedvision]

Another clair-obscur effect from last night, the 'Eyes of Clavius'. This happens then the lunar dawn hits the rim edges of 21km Clavius C and 28km Clavius D, both craters located inside the walled plain of 225km Clavius.

[Pete Lawrence @Avertedvision]

100km Plato showing impressive rim shadows cast on its floor. The largest is from what's known as the gamma peak. Observations in the past have suggested the shadowis curved. This became known as Plato's Hook. Controversy still surrounds the curvature.

[Pete Lawrence @Avertedvision]

Lunar dawn arrives at the Apennine mountains (Montes Apenninus), 5 Feb 2025. Fortunately I caught the autocorrect which suggested they were the Pennines! 😂

[Pete Lawrence @Avertedvision]

Libration sea Mare Humboldtianum right on the lunar limb.