Britain's light pollution often robs us of the cosmos above, but some celestial sights are worth travelling for. Rank these astronomical spectacles by how much you'd love to experience them yourself.
Put the items in your preferred order.
Total Solar Eclipse
For a few surreal minutes, the moon perfectly covers the sun, revealing its ghostly corona. The next one visible from the UK isn't until 2090, so most of us would need to travel.
Aurora Borealis
Rippling curtains of green and purple light dancing across the Arctic sky. Occasionally visible from Scotland, but truly breathtaking from TromsΓΈ or Iceland.
The Milky Way Core
From a truly dark-sky site like Galloway Forest or the Atacama Desert, the galactic centre blazes overhead in a river of stars. Utterly humbling to behold.
A Great Comet
Something like Hale-Bopp or NEOWISE, with a tail stretching across half the sky for weeks. These arrive unpredictably and vanish for millennia.
Perseid Meteor Shower Peak
Every August, Earth ploughs through debris from comet Swift-Tuttle, producing dozens of meteors per hour. Best viewed from a rural spot with no moon.
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Which everyday phenomenon did Lord Rayleigh explain in the 1870s, earning him a Nobel Prize years later?
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