Stargazing

There aren't many things about the coming of winter to look forward to, but the reappearance of the stars is one. Kilchoan is far enough north to have daylight throughout the night in June, but, as the stars begin to reappear in late summer, they aren't the spectacular winter stars.

By October the winter constellations are beginning to show themselves. Last night, at 11pm, the red-eyed Taurus the Bull was lifting above Ben Hiant, and the Pleiades, the Seven Sisters, were visible a few weeks ago. But the dominant winter constellation is Orion the Hunter (picture), and he was still below the horizon. Betelgeuse is a giant red star, and Beta is the ice-blue star Riga. With his distinctive belt, his sword at his hip and his bow drawn, Orion stands poised to shoot an arrow into the charging Bull. At the hunter's heels runs Canis his dog, with Sirius, the bright Dog Star, forming the dog's shoulder.

Kilchoan isn't the greatest place for stargazing - the occasional cloud gets in the way - but it has the huge advantage that there is little of the light pollution that ruins the night sky in towns and cities; and some nights, like last night, are wonderfully clear. Walking out of a winter's evening and staring up at a vault of diamond stars must be one of life's greatest pleasures.