Seven celestial events to watch for in the spring night sky

Spring is a great time for stargazing with the night sky still dark enough to spot celestial events without the biting chill of the depths of winter.

And there are plenty of spectacular events in store.

Already this year stargazers have been treated to meteor showers, a lunar eclipse, and a planetary parade.

Coming up we have a rare Blue Moon, the start of astronomical spring and not one but two more meteor showers to look forward to.

The Lyrids meteor shower will light up our skies between 16-25 April.

These bright and fast meteors are associated with Comet Thatcher and they appear to radiate from the Lyra star constellation.

According to the Royal Museums Greenwich, it is the oldest recorded meteor shower still visible today.

At the peak of the meteor shower on 22 April there will be around 18 meteors per hour.

The Eta Aquariids meteor shower overlaps for a short while with the Lyrids.

They are active between 19 April and 28 May 2026 and peak between midnight and dawn on 6 May 2026.

With up to around 40 meteors per hour it is a stronger shower with stunning streaks of light which are debris from Halley's comet.

The best view of the Eta Aquariids is usually from the southern hemisphere, but they will be visible in the northern hemisphere as they appear low in the eastern sky just before dawn. To see them, look towards the Aquarius star constellation.

The spring equinox marks the start of astronomical spring.

This year it will take place on 20 March.

The equinox is when the Sun moves across Earth's equator and day and night are almost equal in length.

There is a greater chance of seeing the Northern Lights at this time of year due to something called the Russell-McPherron effect.

Despite being past a peak in the Sun's activity and heading towards its "solar minimum", activity will remain relatively high through 2026, meaning the chances of seeing more of these colourful waves of light are expected to remain strong.

As we move further into spring in the northern hemisphere, the Spring Triangle will also make a dazzling appearance in the night sky.

It consists of three bright stars from three different constellations: Arcturus, in the Boötes constellation, Spica, in Virgo, and Spica, in Leo.

The Spring Triangle appears in the south-eastern sky around the time of the March equinox, and peaks in April.

A sure sign that spring has arrived.

There are three full Moon's in astronomical spring.

They start with the so-called Pink Moon on 2 April.

It is named by some cultures after the pink flowers called wild ground phlox, which bloom in early spring and appear throughout the United States and Canada.

On 1 May we will see the Flower Moon which signifies the blooming of spring flowers and represents a time of abundance.

But in a rare occurrence, there will be two full Moons in May - on 31 May we will see the Blue Moon.

A 'Blue Moon' is the name given to a second full Moon in a calendar month.

We usually get 12 full Moons a year but this doesn't quite match up with the lunar orbit of the Earth.

The Moon makes one revolution every 27.3 days so roughly every two and half years we get an additional full Moon.

As it only happens every few years it is where the expression 'once in a blue Moon' comes from. The Moon will not look any different

If you want to take a photo of the Moon, make sure you turn off the flash and activate night mode on your camera.

It is too early to say what the weather will be like for the rest of the season, but up until mid-March it is likely to be wet and windy for many areas with some brighter but chilly spells between.

If you are planning on stargazing, be sure to check the BBC Weather forecast to find out where the clearest skies will be.