Stars, planets, and mirrie dancers

Shetland’s northerly location means the islands have the UK’s longest winter nights – in contrast to the ever-lasting glow of the simmer dim – and offer some of the best opportunities to marvel at dark skies.

After sunset, the skies come alive and on a clear night, you can spot major constellations, admire the moon, watch planets, and, when the conditions are right, enjoy the northern lights, known in Shetland as the ‘mirrie dancers’.

Local stargazer Richard Ashbee offers his insight on what you might see in the winter of 2025/26, the equipment that will help you get the most out of the experience, and tips on how to photograph the aurora borealis.

Ursa Major is a star pattern which may date back 30,000 years. Also known as the Plough it has seven brightest stars and is easily picked out in the northern sky. Unlike most constellations, the majority of stars in the Plough lie at the same distance and were born together.

Orion is visible from Shetland from January to April. Orion’s seven brightest stars form a distinctive shape in the night sky. Four stars, Rigel, Betelgeuse, Bellatrix and Saiph, form roughly a rectangular shape, at the centre of which lie three stars of Orion’s belt –Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka.

Descending from the belt is a smaller line of three stars, Orion’s sword, also known as the Hunter’s sword. The middle of which is not a star but the Orion Nebula.

Betelgeuse is a massive M-type Red giant and is the second brightest star in Orion. It is also considered to be the eleventh brightest star in the night sky. At the end of its life in approx. 100,000 years it is expected to result in a supernova explosion and be brighter than the Moon, and even be visible during the day.

You don’t need binoculars to see Orion, but a small pair of 8x40 will allow you to see the bright Nebula in more detail. It is a spectacular sight not to be missed. The Molecular cloud complex is one of the most active star-forming regions visible in the night sky. After the Moon, I would suggest this to be your second target.

One of the best objects to look out for is Jupiter, which is the biggest planet in our Solar System and could contain 1300 Earths. It looks great through a small telescope, and even with a small pair of binoculars, you will be able to see Jupiter’s bigger moons. Jupiter has 95 moons in total, but most are very small.

Jupiter makes a close pass to Earth on 9 January at 633 million km away. It is still shining in the evening sky throughout this whole period, so plenty of time to see its splendour. Venus is another bright planet, and by March, it is low in the west, try and look for this on 18 February & 20 March when the crescent Moon forms a stunning sight with Venus.

While most people will say the stars are white, the more carefully you look at these winter stars, the more colour you will see.

You can see Betelgeuse has a red colour, while Capella is yellow and Rigel is more blue- white. The coolest stars are red, yellow, and orange are getting hotter and blue- white is right at the top of the temperature scale.

Jupiter adds to the colourful highlights with its orange & white bands, not forgetting Jupiter’s great red spot, which rotates every six days.

There is plenty more colour in the night sky at this time of year. The variety of colours and the spectacular shapes of an aurora create a visual spectacle that captivates and inspires.

Shetland Aurora Hunter on Facebook provides all the updates and information you need to be able to tick off your bucket list. Although most auroras we see are a green colour, often low on the horizon, we are currently in a period where we can see lots more colourful auroras. This is called Solar Maximum, and although we are just after the peak, there is plenty to look forward to.

February and March are good months to see and photograph the aurora due to the spring equinox, which is where Earth’s pole aligns with the Sun, providing the ideal conditions to receive more solar particles, which create the aurora.

There is still plenty of activity, and with every aurora being different, you just never know what you are going to see. When you know that the aurora is due and with clear or partly clear skies head out to a dark site away from light pollution, we have plenty in Shetland.

Your eyes need to adjust to the darkness; this takes about 10 minutes. Don’t destroy your night vision by putting on a torch. Look north and hopefully with an active aurora you will start to see rays reaching high into the sky or a colourful curtain ripple across the sky.

These are the times when the sky is full of colour, the greens meet purple or even red when very active. If we get a major alert, you may see the aurora reach so high in the sky that it is directly above you. This is called a corona, and it can move very fast, with shapes and colours changing rapidly.

Most people may be disappointed at observing an aurora because they cannot see all the colours that a camera can. Using a camera can be good at detecting where the aurora is showing. Make sure you use a tripod, as you will be taking photos at a very slow speed. Ramp up your ISO to 6400 on a dark night, open the lens as wide as possible, F2.8 or lower and a speed of 15 seconds. This will start to reveal the true colours of the aurora.

Originally from Sheffield, Yorkshire, Richard Ashbee lives in Shetland's South Mainland and enjoys photographing wildlife, landscapes, and Shetland's ever-changing skies. He has written several books including one, 'Mirrie Dancers', about spotting the aurora borealis in Shetland.