The Astronomical Society of Edinburgh

13/08/2026

🌒 A memorable eclipse on Calton Hill!
Calton Hill was busy with visitors and locals gathering to watch the partial solar eclipse. Our free eclipse glasses were snapped up within just 10 minutes, while TV crews were also on hand, including an interview with our President.
Initially, it looked as though the clouds might spoil the show. But they repeatedly parted in the run-up to maximum, giving us a series of fantastic glimpses as the Moon steadily moved across the Sun.
As we approached 91% coverage, the excitement grew. Clouds continued to roll across the sky, but once again they opened up at just the right moments. As maximum eclipse approached, the clouds parted, and a cheers went up from the crowd, to give the everyone a great view of the Sun at its most obscured.

A huge thank you to everyone who came along, to our Astronomical Society of Edinburgh volunteers, and to everyone who helped make the event possible. Thanks especially to Collective Gallery At the City Observatory for allowing us access and supporting us. Thanks also to Go Stargazing who provided the bulk order of glasses for us and many more organisations and events, in collaboration with Astronomers Without Borders and First Light Optics Thanks also to DWARF LAB who provided us with a DWARF Mini for the event.

📸 Here are some of the fantastic images captured by Astronomical Society of Edinburgh members.

10/08/2026

With all the excitement about the partial solar eclipse on Wednesday 12 Aug, don't forget that the Perseid meteor shower is also peaking overnight on that day. They are already producing a very nice crop and our members' meteor cameras are capturing many each night (plus moths!).
https://www.astronomyedinburgh.org/imaging-group/ase-meteor-cameras/

09/08/2026

🌞 Partial Solar Eclipse – Wednesday 12th August

*** UPDATE: We cannot help anyone to buy or get glasses in advance. We have many to give away, possibly 1 per group to make them go around. No booking necessary. Event is from 6 - 8pm BST so you won't want to be looking up all the time. ***

Join the Astronomical Society of Edinburgh on Calton Hill to experience a partial solar eclipse!

🔭 We’ll have our solar telescopes set up so you can safely view the eclipse, and free eclipse glasses will be available.

Come along, bring your friends and family, and see the Moon pass in front of the Sun!

📍 Calton Hill, Edinburgh
📅 Wednesday 12 August

Clear skies! 🌤️

26/07/2026

Dynamic Earth is running an event on 5 Aug to help people get ready for the partial eclipse of the Sun on 12 Aug. We will be there along with the Astronomer Royal for Scotland, Prof. Catherine Heymans, to do some solar observing and help you observe the eclipse itself safely.

Dynamic Earth is running an event on 5 Aug to help people get ready for the partial eclipse of the Sun on 12 Aug. We will be there along with the Astronomer Royal for Scotland, Prof. Catherine Heymans, to do some solar observing and help you observe the eclipse itself safely. Here's the

20/07/2026

You might think that astronomy takes a break in the summer, but not at our remote observatory in Trevinca, Spain.
Even at this time of year we're still getting around 5 hours of true astronomical darkness each night. Although some nights have been cloudy, the clear skies have rewarded us with some spectacular views of the deep universe.

Some of our latest images (processed by John Briggs ) include:

The Crescent Nebula – The Crescent Nebula, 5,000 light years away, is a giant bubble of glowing gas created when the fierce stellar wind from the massive star WR 136 crashed into material the star had thrown off earlier in its life. The collision compressed and heated the gas, making it shine in spectacular colours.5,000 light-years away.

The Fireworks Galaxy – a beautiful spiral galaxy around 25 million light-years from Earth. Large regions of Ha emission nebula scattered throughout the blueish spiral arms make it a very colourful and interesting galaxy when imaged.

05/07/2026

ASE member John Briggs captured a beautiful time-lapse of noctilucent clouds glowing over Loanhead, just south of Edinburgh, in the early hours of 1st July.

Noctilucent clouds form at the edge of space, around 80km up in the mesosphere, and are only visible during summer twilight at northern latitudes like ours — making Scotland one of the best places to spot them!

Watch the video , link in first comment.

21/06/2026

☀️ Happy Summer Solstice! ☀️

The longest day of the year is here. From Edinburgh, we’ll enjoy over 17 hours of daylight as the Sun reaches its highest point in our sky.

Take a moment to enjoy the extra daylight—and remember that from tomorrow, the nights slowly begin to grow longer again.

Clear skies!

17/06/2026

Close approach of the Moon and Venus
Wed, 17 Jun 2026 at 21:30 BST

The Moon and Venus will make a close approach, passing within a mere 16.2 arcminutes of each other. From some parts of the world, the Moon will pass in front of Venus, creating a lunar occultation (not from Edinburgh). The Moon will be 2 days old.

From Edinburgh , the pair will become visible at around 22:37 (BST), 12° above your western horizon, as dusk fades to darkness. They will then sink towards the horizon, setting 2 hours and 22 minutes after the Sun at 00:23. The Moon will be at mag -10.3; and Venus will be at mag -4.0. Both objects will lie in the constellation Cancer.
(Using data from Dominic Ford’s in-the-sky.org )

15/06/2026

Observe the eclipse safely this August

On 12 August 2026 you will be able to see a partial solar eclipse from the UK. If the weather cooperates it’s going to be an amazing spectacle with about 90% of the Sun covered as seen from Edinburgh. But please make sure you watch it safely.

The easiest way to see it for most people is by using eclipse glasses. But be careful – not all are safe! You can buy them directly and confidently from suppliers such as Go Stargazing and First Light Optics.

See the link in the first comment about our observing plans at Calton Hill and more information on where to source eclipse glasses.

09/06/2026

Conjunction of Venus and Jupiter Tue, 09 Jun 2026 at 20:48 BST

Venus and Jupiter will share the same right ascension, with Venus passing 1°38′ to the north of Jupiter. From Edinburgh , the pair will become visible at around 22:30 (BST), 12° above your western horizon, as dusk fades to darkness. They will then sink towards the horizon, setting 2 hours and 23 minutes after the Sun at 00:18.

Venus will be at mag -4.0, and Jupiter at mag -1.9, both in the constellation Gemini.
(Using data from Dominic Ford’s in-the-sky.org)