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National Geographic
04-08-2025
- Science
- National Geographic
8 night sky events to see in August, from a ‘sturgeon moon' to a stunning 6-planet lineup
A near full 'sturgeon moon' rises behind The Shard in central London on August 20, 2024. The August full moon, named after seasonal sturgeon fishing traditions, is one of several major skywatching events this month. Photograph by Peter Macdiarmid, eyevine/Redux August is one of the best months of the year for stargazing in the Northern Hemisphere, thanks to warm nights and the famous Perseid meteor shower. Though the Perseids will be dampened by bright moonlight this year, you should still be able to see meteors if the skies are clear. But meteors aren't the only thing lighting up the heavens. This August, you can catch a rare six-planet lineup, a brilliant full moon, and one of the largest asteroids in our solar system glowing at peak brightness. Here's everything to look for in the skies above. The 'sturgeon moon'—August 9 The month's full 'sturgeon moon' occurs on the night of August 9. The nickname, popularized by the Farmer's Almanac, comes from the giant fish traditionally caught in late summer by Indigenous peoples of the Great Lakes region. Though the specific timing varies by location, the moon generally rises around sunset, glowing brightly throughout the night and setting after sunrise. That gives skywatchers plenty of time to observe the textured surface of the moon in detail through binoculars or telescopes. The Sturgeon Moon rises over Madrid's Cuatro Torres business district on August 1, 2023. The August full moon gets its name from Indigenous fishing traditions in the Great Lakes region of North America, when sturgeon were most abundant. Photograph by Javier Soriano, AFP/Getty Images One of the solar system's biggest asteroids, 2 Pallas, reaches peak brightness on the night of August 10. That's when the space rock reaches opposition—positioned directly opposite the sun in Earth's sky—making it visible all night long as it rises at sunset and sets at sunrise. Discovered in 1802, Pallas is our solar system's third-largest known asteroid by mass, with an average diameter of about 318 miles. It belongs to a group known as the 'big four,' which includes the dwarf planet Ceres. Although Pallas won't be visible to the naked eye, experienced stargazers with a telescope or high-powered binoculars might be able to spot it in the constellation Delphinus. Six planets march across the sky—around August 10 In the early morning hours around August 10, skywatchers can catch a stunning planetary parade: Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune will all appear in the sky at once. Mars, the lone outlier, will only be visible earlier in the evening. (Here's the best way to see a planetary alignment.) According to NASA, such 'planetary parades' are not very rare. In fact, we had one earlier this year. But they're commonly limited to four or five planets, making this six-planet show one to catch. Just note: Mercury may be hard to spot due to its proximity to the sun, and Uranus and Neptune will require a telescope. Perseid meteor shower peak—August 12–13 The Perseid meteor shower—one of the most reliable and beloved annual displays of shooting stars—is expected to peak overnight on August 12 into the morning of August 13. Under ideal dark-sky conditions, the Perseids can produce up to 100 meteors per hour. But this year, the waning gibbous moon will put a damper on the show. At 84 percent brightness, it could wash out more than three-quarters of the meteors, according to the American Meteor Society. Sheep graze under the northern lights near Hagermarsch, Germany, on August 13, 2024, as a Perseid meteor streaks across the sky. Photograph by Matthias Balk,On the morning of August 19, Mercury reaches its greatest western elongation—its farthest apparent distance from the sun in the sky, making it one of the best times this year to spot the elusive planet. Around the same time, Venus and Jupiter will also be visible, making it worth the effort to rise early this morning. In the early hours of August 21, a close approach of the crescent moon, Mercury, Venus, and Jupiter will create a beautiful tableau in the predawn sky. The bright stars Castor, Pollux, and Procyon will join the display. This eye-catching grouping will be most visible during the hour before sunrise, low in the eastern sky. The Milky Way stretches across the sky from Cassiopeia to Cygnus and the Andromeda Galaxy appears above a 3000-year old bristlecone pine, California, August 9, 2016. Photograph by Babak Tafreshi, Nat Geo Image Collection A bright Perseid meteor streaks through a star-filled sky above Wizard Island in Oregon's famed Crater Lake. Photograph by John R. Foster, Science Photo Library The new moon on August 23 brings prime stargazing conditions, as the absence of moonlight allows for optimal viewing of distant galaxies, wispy nebulae, and even the last meteors from the Perseids. It's an excellent time to scan the Milky Way with binoculars or a telescope if you have dark enough skies. (A practical guide to stargazing.) Late August also marks the start of peak season for spotting the Andromeda galaxy, our closest neighbor, in the Northern Hemisphere. Without any light pollution from the moon, the galaxy can be seen with the naked eye. Just after sunset on August 26, look low in the western sky to spot the crescent moon cozying up to Mars, only about 2.5 degrees apart. Depending on your location, the pair may only be visible briefly around sunset, very low in the sky. Though Mars is currently dimmer than usual due to its orbital location, its red hue is still clearly visible to the naked eye. Stars shine over the sandstone cliffs of Meteora, Greece, on August 5, 2013. Photograph by Babak Tafreshi, Nat Geo Image Collection
Scottish Sun
31-07-2025
- Scottish Sun
UK air traffic chief rejects calls to step down after radar system failure causes travel chaos
More than 150 flights were cancelled with others delayed or diverted NOT DEPARTING UK air traffic chief rejects calls to step down after radar system failure causes travel chaos THE head of air traffic control in Britain has ignored calls to quit as the latest flights meltdown continued to cause travel misery yesterday. Thousands of passengers were still battling to get home or dealing with journeys disrupted by Wednesday's radar system failure. 6 Martin Rolfe, the head of air traffic control in Britain, has ignored calls to quit Credit: Alamy 6 Wednesday's radar system failure caused more than 150 flights to be cancelled with others delayed or diverted Credit: Peter Macdiarmid - Commissioned by The Sun 6 Thousands of passengers are still battling to get home or dealing with journeys disrupted Credit: Doug Seeburg More than 150 flights were cancelled and others delayed or diverted by the glitch, with the knock-on effects still causing problems yesterday. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander summoned Martin Rolfe, the head of National Air Traffic Services, for talks — but he did not step down. Airline bosses, led by Ryanair, had called for him to go after they had to rip-up timetables. A similar 2023 failure cost carriers £100million — and they said lessons had not been learned. Ms Alexander said of the latest drama: 'This was an isolated event and there is no evidence of malign activity. 'I know that any disruption is frustrating for passengers. "Flights are now resumed and I am grateful to airlines who are working hard to get people to where they need to be.' She advised passengers to continue to check with airlines before travelling. Monica Clare, 68, from Brentford, West London, will miss a friend's wedding because her Aer Lingus flight from Heathrow to Shannon in Ireland was cancelled yesterday. The retired maintenance manager said: 'I'm absolutely numb. 'I'm so upset. I'm heartbroken. It's disgraceful. "It's absolutely unbelievable in this day and age that something that went down for 20 minutes has caused havoc like that all over the country. 'I'm so upset, I'm so angry. Brits face DAYS of travel chaos after all flights grounded at UK airports - as tech glitch 'mystery' grows "I've spoken to my friend who's getting married. They're devastated.' The Sun revealed cockpit crews were sent an urgent warning of the pending travel misery by controllers, who told them of an 'ATC radar failure'. The disruption was the second to have happened as a result of a technical fault at Nats' hub in Swanwick, Hants, in two years. Most of the disruption came at Heathrow, where 84 departures and 71 arrivals were cancelled, while some inbound flights had to be diverted to European cities. BA flights were still being cancelled yesterday owing to aircraft and crew being out of position, contributing to 16 more cancellations at Heathrow. Asked if Mr Rolfe should quit, Business Minister Gareth Thomas said: 'Clearly, an incident happened two years ago and measures were taken then. "It looks like those measures weren't enough but we need to get to the bottom of what exactly happened.' HEATHROW could handle 276,000 more flights a year and welcome budget airline easyJet for the first time under a £49billion 6 Monica Clare will miss a friend's wedding because of the disruption Credit: PA 6 Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander summoned Martin Rolfe for talks Credit: Alamy
The Irish Sun
30-07-2025
- The Irish Sun
Urgent message sent to pilots after all outbound UK flights grounded by radar failure revealed
TENS of thousands of holidaymakers were hit by more air chaos yesterday — just four months after the Heathrow blaze shambles. A radar system failure 6 Some 3,080 flights were affected by a radar system failure Credit: �2025 Under licence to Peter Macdiarmid petermacphotouk@ 6 Around 577,000 holidaymakers were hit by the chaos Credit: Doug Seeburg 6 Major airports including Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester, Edinburgh and Birmingham were forced to suddenly suspend services Credit: Reuters Things were slowly returning to normal last night but a total of 45 departures were cancelled, 35 arriving flights diverted and hundreds of others delayed — with Heathrow the worst affected airport. Furious airline bosses have called for the head of the air traffic control chief after they had to rip-up timetables. A similar 2023 failure cost carriers £100million. And in March Yesterday's READ MORE ON AIRPORT CHAOS Air traffic controllers tasked with safely handling around 2.2million flights and 250million passengers in UK airspace each year had no option but to shut down because they were no longer certain of the gaps between planes. Unfolding chaos The Sun can reveal cockpit crews were urgently messaged: 'Please be aware that there is an ATC radar failure at Swanwick which has zero rated UK airspace as of 14.30 GMT. 'We would appreciate your patience whilst we work through this unforeseen disruption.' An easyJet captain whose plane bound for Budapest was stuck on the tarmac at Gatwick for an hour joked: 'They've turned it off and turned it back on again.' Most read in The Sun But it was no laughing matter as major airports including Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester, Edinburgh and Birmingham were forced to suddenly suspend services. Delayed holidaymakers vented their frustration at the unfolding chaos. All flights grounded at multiple major UK airports over 'radar failure' as holidaymakers are left 'stranded' Jane Ainsworth told how her flight from Kos to Birmingham was forced to land in Brussels. Robin Ilott, 62, from Waterlooville Hants, was stuck on a plane at Heathrow for two-and-a-half hours. He said: 'The pilots are as frustrated as everyone else. It's better safe than sorry, you don't want to get up there and find that there's planes everywhere.' Airlines were furious at the latest embarrassing failure in operations — and one of Ryanair's bosses called for the resignation of Nats chief Martin Rolfe over the error. Neal McMahon insisted: 'It is outrageous passengers are once again being hit with delays and disruption due to Martin Rolfe's continued mismanagement of Nats.' 6 Air traffic controllers had no option but to shut down because they were no longer certain of the gaps between planes 6 Air traffic controllers are tasked with safely handling around 2.2million flights and 250million passengers in UK airspace each year Credit: Alamy 6 One of Ryanair's bosses called for the resignation of the Nats chief Credit: Getty He went on: 'Yet another ATC system failure has resulted in the closure of UK airspace, meaning thousands of passengers' travel plans have been disrupted.' Referring to a previous flight failure under Mr Rolfe's leadership, Mr McMahon said it was clear 'no lessons have been learnt'. And he called on Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander to intervene. At 5.30pm Ms Alexander said: 'I have been informed systems have now been restored but continued disruption is expected, and passengers should check with individual airports for advice.' Lib Dem leader Sir "The public deserve to have full confidence in such a vital piece of national infrastructure.' I would have liked to see my personal role play out differently. Heathrow boss Thomas Woldbye Nats said yesterday: 'Our engineers have now restored the system that was affected this afternoon. 'We are in the process of resuming normal operations in the London area. We continue to work closely with airline and airport customers to minimise disruption.' The outage meant several flights scheduled to arrive in the UK were forced to circle airports or divert elsewhere. British Airways said the problem 'was entirely outside of our control' and is 'affecting the vast majority of our flights'. A spokesman said: 'We want to apologise to our customers for any inconvenience and assure them that our teams are working hard to get their journeys back on track as quickly as possible.' A spokesman at Heathrow, the UK's busiest airport, said: 'Flights at Heathrow have resumed following a technical issue at the Nats Swanwick air traffic control centre. 'We are advising passengers to check with their airline before travelling. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.' BLUNDERS PLAUGING UK FLIGHTS By Thomas Godfrey THE glitch that led to dozens of flights being diverted yesterday is the latest in a string of failures which have beset travellers at Britain's airports. The most recent was the chaos caused by a substation fire which shut Heathrow for a day in March. Before that, another National Air Traffic Services glitch led to disruption for 700,000 paswhen flights were grounded on August 28, 2023. The system went down and the engineer who could fix it was working from home. That cost about £100million. In July 2019, some 50 flights were cancelled and dozens delayed for hours at London airports following an 'issue with radar displays'. A year earlier, an overhaul of the Nats system at Swanwick, Hants, led to repeated delays for flights bound for Heathrow and Gatwick over three weeks. The centre was also hit with high staff sickness rates in 2017, which caused delays throughout the summer. In 2014, Swanwick was knocked offline by a power failure, causing 84 flights from Heathrow and 19 from Gatwick to be cancelled. The centre's telephones cut out in 2013, and in 2008 another computer fault wrecked 88 planned flights. Gatwick confirmed technical issues caused a complete halt to departures while the situation was being resolved. After March's Heathrow fire chaos airport boss Thomas Woldbye — who slept through the decision to close the hub — admitted he had 'learnings' to take away. But he stopped short of apologising. The chief executive said: 'I would have liked to see my personal role play out differently.' He added: 'An organisation like ours has to be able to manage, whether the captain's on the bridge or not.' Energy regulator Ofgem has launched an official enforcement investigation after a report found the fire which caused the shutdown was due to a preventable technical fault at a substation. A probe by the National Grid found it was identified seven years ago. It discovered faulty fire safety equipment and moisture in electrical parts flagged in 2018 were not addressed, and maintenance at the North Hyde site was delayed again in 2022. The fire was caused by 'catastrophic failure' in a transformer, triggered by moisture entering electrical components. Heathrow said: 'A combination of outdated regulation, inadequate safety mechanisms and National Grid's failure to maintain infrastructure led to this catastrophic power outage.' Nats operates from Swanwick and Prestwick, near Glasgow. The £623million Swanwick centre — the size of nine football pitches — is responsible for controlling most of the airspace in Around 730 controllers, out of 1,100 total staff, control 200,000 square miles of airspace and other special military zones.
Scottish Sun
30-07-2025
- Scottish Sun
Urgent message sent to pilots after all outbound UK flights grounded by radar failure revealed
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) TENS of thousands of holidaymakers were hit by more air chaos yesterday — just four months after the Heathrow blaze shambles. A radar system failure shut down the country's air traffic control network on one of the busiest days of the year — affecting some 577,000 passengers on 3,080 flights. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 6 Some 3,080 flights were affected by a radar system failure Credit: �2025 Under licence to Peter Macdiarmid petermacphotouk@ 6 Around 577,000 holidaymakers were hit by the chaos Credit: Doug Seeburg 6 Major airports including Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester, Edinburgh and Birmingham were forced to suddenly suspend services Credit: Reuters Things were slowly returning to normal last night but a total of 45 departures were cancelled, 35 arriving flights diverted and hundreds of others delayed — with Heathrow the worst affected airport. Furious airline bosses have called for the head of the air traffic control chief after they had to rip-up timetables. A similar 2023 failure cost carriers £100million. And in March a fire at an electricity substation shut Heathrow, costing tens of millions of pounds as 270,000 air passenger journeys were cancelled or delayed. Yesterday's meltdown hit the National Air Traffic Services (Nats) hub at Swanwick, Hants. Air traffic controllers tasked with safely handling around 2.2million flights and 250million passengers in UK airspace each year had no option but to shut down because they were no longer certain of the gaps between planes. Unfolding chaos The Sun can reveal cockpit crews were urgently messaged: 'Please be aware that there is an ATC radar failure at Swanwick which has zero rated UK airspace as of 14.30 GMT. 'We would appreciate your patience whilst we work through this unforeseen disruption.' An easyJet captain whose plane bound for Budapest was stuck on the tarmac at Gatwick for an hour joked: 'They've turned it off and turned it back on again.' But it was no laughing matter as major airports including Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester, Edinburgh and Birmingham were forced to suddenly suspend services. Delayed holidaymakers vented their frustration at the unfolding chaos. All flights grounded at multiple major UK airports over 'radar failure' as holidaymakers are left 'stranded' Jane Ainsworth told how her flight from Kos to Birmingham was forced to land in Brussels. Robin Ilott, 62, from Waterlooville Hants, was stuck on a plane at Heathrow for two-and-a-half hours. He said: 'The pilots are as frustrated as everyone else. It's better safe than sorry, you don't want to get up there and find that there's planes everywhere.' Airlines were furious at the latest embarrassing failure in operations — and one of Ryanair's bosses called for the resignation of Nats chief Martin Rolfe over the error. Neal McMahon insisted: 'It is outrageous passengers are once again being hit with delays and disruption due to Martin Rolfe's continued mismanagement of Nats.' 6 Air traffic controllers had no option but to shut down because they were no longer certain of the gaps between planes 6 Air traffic controllers are tasked with safely handling around 2.2million flights and 250million passengers in UK airspace each year Credit: Alamy 6 One of Ryanair's bosses called for the resignation of the Nats chief Credit: Getty He went on: 'Yet another ATC system failure has resulted in the closure of UK airspace, meaning thousands of passengers' travel plans have been disrupted.' Referring to a previous flight failure under Mr Rolfe's leadership, Mr McMahon said it was clear 'no lessons have been learnt'. And he called on Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander to intervene. At 5.30pm Ms Alexander said: 'I have been informed systems have now been restored but continued disruption is expected, and passengers should check with individual airports for advice.' Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey said: 'It is utterly unacceptable that after a major disruption just two years ago, air traffic control has once again been hit by a technical fault. "The public deserve to have full confidence in such a vital piece of national infrastructure.' I would have liked to see my personal role play out differently. Heathrow boss Thomas Woldbye Nats said yesterday: 'Our engineers have now restored the system that was affected this afternoon. 'We are in the process of resuming normal operations in the London area. We continue to work closely with airline and airport customers to minimise disruption.' The outage meant several flights scheduled to arrive in the UK were forced to circle airports or divert elsewhere. British Airways said the problem 'was entirely outside of our control' and is 'affecting the vast majority of our flights'. A spokesman said: 'We want to apologise to our customers for any inconvenience and assure them that our teams are working hard to get their journeys back on track as quickly as possible.' A spokesman at Heathrow, the UK's busiest airport, said: 'Flights at Heathrow have resumed following a technical issue at the Nats Swanwick air traffic control centre. 'We are advising passengers to check with their airline before travelling. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.' BLUNDERS PLAUGING UK FLIGHTS By Thomas Godfrey THE glitch that led to dozens of flights being diverted yesterday is the latest in a string of failures which have beset travellers at Britain's airports. The most recent was the chaos caused by a substation fire which shut Heathrow for a day in March. Before that, another National Air Traffic Services glitch led to disruption for 700,000 paswhen flights were grounded on August 28, 2023. The system went down and the engineer who could fix it was working from home. That cost about £100million. In July 2019, some 50 flights were cancelled and dozens delayed for hours at London airports following an 'issue with radar displays'. A year earlier, an overhaul of the Nats system at Swanwick, Hants, led to repeated delays for flights bound for Heathrow and Gatwick over three weeks. The centre was also hit with high staff sickness rates in 2017, which caused delays throughout the summer. In 2014, Swanwick was knocked offline by a power failure, causing 84 flights from Heathrow and 19 from Gatwick to be cancelled. The centre's telephones cut out in 2013, and in 2008 another computer fault wrecked 88 planned flights. Gatwick confirmed technical issues caused a complete halt to departures while the situation was being resolved. After March's Heathrow fire chaos airport boss Thomas Woldbye — who slept through the decision to close the hub — admitted he had 'learnings' to take away. But he stopped short of apologising. The chief executive said: 'I would have liked to see my personal role play out differently.' He added: 'An organisation like ours has to be able to manage, whether the captain's on the bridge or not.' Energy regulator Ofgem has launched an official enforcement investigation after a report found the fire which caused the shutdown was due to a preventable technical fault at a substation. A probe by the National Grid found it was identified seven years ago. It discovered faulty fire safety equipment and moisture in electrical parts flagged in 2018 were not addressed, and maintenance at the North Hyde site was delayed again in 2022. The fire was caused by 'catastrophic failure' in a transformer, triggered by moisture entering electrical components. Heathrow said: 'A combination of outdated regulation, inadequate safety mechanisms and National Grid's failure to maintain infrastructure led to this catastrophic power outage.' Nats operates from Swanwick and Prestwick, near Glasgow. The £623million Swanwick centre — the size of nine football pitches — is responsible for controlling most of the airspace in England. Around 730 controllers, out of 1,100 total staff, control 200,000 square miles of airspace and other special military zones.
Scotsman
26-06-2025
- Lifestyle
- Scotsman
How Scotland invented 'dessert sandwiches' long before M&S
Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... One day, in 1762, John Montagu, the fourth Earl of Sandwich, was enjoying a game of cards. He was apparently so intent on playing that he didn't want to leave the table to eat, so he asked for some roast beef to be placed between two slices of bread and brought to him. And lo, the 'sandwich' was born. It's probably fair to say that people had eaten in much the same way for thousands of years. However, until then, none of these prototypes had actually been called a 'sandwich'. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Jam sandwiches, aka jammy pieces, have been around for many, many years (Picture: Peter Macdiarmid) | Getty Images Ever since, the sandwich has been a largely savoury affair but we now appear to be on the cusp of a culinary revolution with 'dessert sandwiches' potentially going mainstream. Marks & Spencer has launched a strawberry and cream cheese version made with sweetened bread, inspired by Japanese sweet sandos. Traditionalists may be outraged and appalled by such a notion. However, before they work themselves into a state of high dudgeon, they may wish to remember the well-known Scottish delicacy known as the 'jammy piece'.
