1769 transit of Venus observed from Tahiti so following in the footsteps of Sir Joseph Banks Roger, you could have said to the Inspector. 

Mods please relocate to a weather thread if you wish.

SUPER EL NIÑO, IS THE TERMINATOR TO BLAME? A super El Niño is forming in the Pacific Ocean, threatening to scramble weather worldwide. A solar physicist may have seen it coming 3 years ago using a predictive model based on "the Terminator." 

https://spaceweather.com/ 

https://spaceweather.com/ 

AuroraWatch UK status:

Minor geomagnetic activity

https://aurorawatch.lancs.ac.uk/ 

One less thing to get in the way of the stars....

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/cvgz0pdg32mo

Personally I would call that a bit more than "an anomaly", but I guess that's all it is for the worlds richest men playing with their toys.

BLUE MOON THIS WEEKEND: On Sunday, May 31st, step outside after sunset and face East. There's a "Blue Moon" rising into the night sky. It's the second full Moon in the month of May. Can a Blue Moon actually turn blue? On rare occasions, yes!

https://spaceweather.com/images2026/30may26/bluemoon_med.jpg 

Full story:

https://spaceweather.com/ 

"GEOMAGNETIC STORM WARNING: NOAA forecasters are predicting strong geomagnetic storms this week as a rare 'anti-Hale' sunspot peppers Earth with strong solar flares. The X-class and near-X-class explosions are currently happening every 6 to 8 hours with CMEs expected to reach our planet beginning June 5th. Mid-latitude auroras are possible after the CMEs arrive."

Clear Skies!

https://spaceweather.com/ 

"A Cannibal CME struck Earth on June 5th (0511 UTC). Normally, such a CME would spark a strong geomagnetic storm, but this one did not. Its internal magnetic fields were relatively weak, so its effect was muted. Indeed, we have received only a few aurora photos from this event - a disappointing outcome for sky watchers. Now for the good news: The sun is about to get a second chance.

...ANOTHER CME IS COMING: On June 6th, the sun launched another CME toward Earth, which could spark a strong G3-class geomagnetic storm when it arrives on June 8th."

https://spaceweather.com/ 

https://aurorawatch.lancs.ac.uk/ 

https://stonehengeskyscape.co.uk/ 

When is the summer solstice in 2026?

In 2026 the summer solstice will occur in the UK on Sunday 21 June at 9.24am BST.

https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/time/summer-solstice 

And the earliest sunrise is on the 17th, not long to go now until the mornings start drawing in again! 😊(The nights start drawing in on the 25th, FWIW!)

https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/@2644544  (Other locations are available).

How time flies when you are enjoying yourself, Darren. 😁 

Sure does! 😁(It's funny, though, the light nights and light mornings around the summer solstice seem to go on for weeks, but that cozy "pitch black by 4:30" feeling in winter only seems to last a week or two...)

The light nights don't bother me directly, just the noise others make outside (I'm usually well asleep by the time it gets dark), and it's twilight when I get up - unlike most, I do get to see a June sunrise.

It's also the time of year where at 1 AM there's still a faint glow on the northern horizon on a clear night down here. I've read in Shetland it's still light enough to read a book outside at 1AM at this time of year... I've never been there so can't vouch for how accurate that is!

I find late nights hard going now and so don't do much space-watching now. Light pollution is such an issues these days. The consolation is I sleep for 8 hours without difficulty, something many folks would pay good money for! I plan to observe the partial eclipse.

https://spaceweather.com/ 

Full Strawberry Moon set to light up night sky

https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/articles/c9q2e0gp03xo 

https://spaceweather.com/ 

Some good photos here.

Full Strawberry Moon captured over the UK in stunning photos

https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/articles/c9q2e0gp03xo 

AURORAS BLANKET THE USA: Midsummer auroras are rare, but last night (July 3/4) they blanketed the USA during a strong geomagnetic storm. Another storm is possible tonight if, as predicted, a second CME strikes Earth. Full story

https://spaceweather.com/ 

Aurorawatch UK - just in case....

https://aurorawatch.lancs.ac.uk/ 

Very hopeful there I'd reckon! We're in the middle of "grey nights" here, as the continental Europeans call them, and we won't have proper night for another couple of weeks (down here, longer up north). 

Worth a look if there's an alert and you're up at 1 AM, but I wouldn't expect much TBH.

Sadly all too true - hope rather than expectation - but there will be lots of UK folks up at this time tonight! Not looking is a guaranteed fail.

https://spaceweather.com/ 

Its a repeat but enjoyed watching Storyville on BBC2 last night as well - the Voyager 1 and 2 probes.  

 Hard to believe that they will both outlive the human race once our Star becomes a red giant.  At least there is a record of our existence that  civilisations may find billions of years in the future

‘Historic step’ as SpaceX launches first ever nuclear-powered commercial satellite

More like a misstep, I'd suggest, as the idea of launching nuclear material into space, knowing it's going to drop back down again at some point (or worse yet, exploded on launch), is just plain nuts. But hey, it's the same guy who thought littering space with a Tesla was a cracking idea!

https://www.independent.co.uk/space/spacex-launch-nuclear-power-satellite-b3011178.html