Scour the Peak District skies for Orion

The Peak District Dark Skies Group is asking people to join in an annual star survey by assessing the brightness of the constellation Orion over the area.

Orion – the hunter – is one of the wonders of the night sky in this early part of the year and can be recognized by his belt of three bright stars in a line with a smaller dagger of three stars below.

On clear nights up to February 2, people are asked to identify Orion and, using the star charts available at www.peakdistrict.gov.uk/darkskies, record details of where they were and which chart best matches what they could see.

Peak District Dark Skies co-ordinator Sue Smith said: “We’d be really grateful for people’s help with our ‘Orion in the Peak’. Previous surveys have been very encouraging and have shown that 80 per cent of people in the national park were able to stargaze under excellent skies.

“The monitoring will guide us in protecting our landscapes and dark skies for all to enjoy now and in the future.”