There are two ways of looking at the Winter Solstice on Sunday 21 December. It's either the shortest day of the year, which is a bit depressing. Or it's the longest night which, if you've discovered the joys of stargazing, is a good excuse for a party.
This Sunday, sky watchers will have even more reason to rejoice
because next year is the International Year of Astronomy. In Britain, we're celebrating with events up and down the country – and Scotland will really be getting into the spirit of things by rolling out its first Dark Sky Discovery Sites – rural areas where big starry skies are guaranteed on clear nights.
Furthermore, as part of their Campaign for Dark Skies, the British Astronomical Association has produced a map of Britain showing the best locales for stargazing based on an absence of light pollution and the likelihood of getting a cloudless night.
With Venus shining brightly and the comet Lulin fizzing around the heavens, there can scarcely have been a better time to look up.
Here are five star events for the diary, and below, five locations that are consistently good for a gaze
Five star events
1. Royal Observatory, Edinburgh
Every Friday you can check out the night skies through one of Scotland's largest telescopes. If the weather intervenes, the Royal Observatory has some meteorites to pass around so you can get your hands on something that has really come from a galaxy far, far away.
Where: Blackford Hill, Fridays 7pm (booking essential); adult £4, child £3, family £10.50; +44 (0)131 6688404; roe.ac.uk.
Stay at: The Glasshouse – with what is claimed to be the only rooftop garden in the city, it's the ultimate urban astronomer's hotel; doubles from £110 a night; +44 (0)131 5258200
2. The Botanic Gardens, Glasgow
No less an expert than the Astronomer Royal for Scotland will be on hand to answer your questions at Glasgow's Botanic Gardens. Professor John Brown and members of the Astronomical Society of Glasgow will be setting up their telescopes and promising punters a view of both faraway stars and a close-up of Moon craters (so look out for footprints). If the clouds stop play, there's a full back-up programme introducing beginners to the delights of watching the skies.
Where: 730 Great Western Road. Main gate at 7.15pm on 6 January, 3 February & 3 March; adult £4, child £2 (booking essential); + 44(0)141 276 1614; astronomy2009.co.uk
Stay at: Victorian House – part of a fine high terrace not far from the Botanic Gardens; doubles from £40 a night; +44 (0)141 332 0129
3. Royal Observatory, Greenwich, London
Teenage sky watchers should head for the Royal Observatory's one-off special "Out of this World". They can try their hands at being an astronomer, guiding a space mission and discovering what life beyond our planet is really like. And if that wasn't enough, there's a journey through time and space in what is now London's only planetarium.
Where: Blackheath Avenue, Greenwich. Saturday
10 January 5.30pm-7.30pm; £3.50; +44 (0)20 8312 6608, nmm.ac.uk Stay at: Number 16 – a taste of old Greenwich a short amble down the hill from the observatory; doubles from £75 a night; +44 (0)20 8853 4337
4. Solar Viewing, Cwmbran, Gwent
Not a night owl? Perhaps the sun would suit you better. While it's normally very dangerous to peer at our nearest star, the good folk from the Cardiff Astronomical Society will be taking their specialist telescopes to the Cwmbran Stadium so that you can. The BBC Wales Roadshow will be there too if you can handle that much fun.
Where: Henllys Way, Cwmbran, Sunday 8 March 10am to 4.30pm; free; +44 (0) 1633 627101; cardiff-astronomical-society.co.uk.
Stay at: Clearvewe, Llangwm, a B&B on top of a Monmouthshire hill with, as the name suggests, a cracking vista; doubles from £70 a night; +44 (0)1291 671515
5. Night of the Thousand Telescopes, Malvern Hills
Got a telescope but not sure quite where to point it? Take it (or some binoculars) along to the Three Counties Showground in Malvern and get a free tutorial while helping to break a Guinness World Record (for the
largest astronomy lesson ever).
Where: Saturday 17 January 1.30pm to 11.30pm (in
the event of bad weather, the event will roll over to 24 January (or 31 January if 24 Jan is cloudy too); £5 car entry fee; pre-registration obligatory, starlearner.com.
Stay at: Kingfisher Barn, Hanley Swan, set in four acres of your own private dark sky park beneath the Malvern Hills; doubles from £75 a night; +44 (0)1684 311922
Five superstar places to visit anytime
6. In Scotland
The sparsely inhabited Highlands of Scotland win full marks for their lack of light pollution but can disappoint due to their penchant for cloud cover. The answer is to strike even further north – the Orkney Isles are astronomers' heaven.
Stay at: Spinning Cottage on Hoy, an island very meagrely populated, even by Orcadian standards; one week from £350 (sleeps 4); +44(0)1856 791352.
Ferries: Scrabster to Orkney Mainland North Link Ferries, 0845 6000449; Orkney Mailand to Hoy Orkney Ferries, +44 (0)1856 872044
7. In Wales
Much of mid and north Wales is prime dark sky territory but the undoubted stars of the show are the south-western tip of Anglesey and Strumble Head near Fishguard.
Stay at: Auckland Arms Hotel – on the Menai Strait and a stone's throw from the darkness; doubles from £46.50 a night; +44 (0)1248 712545. Or Ffynnonston near Fishguard – a stone-built 18th-century hayloft (sleeps two); from £200 a week; +44 (0)1348 873004
8. In the east of England
Those living in the Midlands or the south-east of England, whose 10 trillion street lights turn the sky a palsied orange, should head to Norfolk (away from the bright lights of Norwich) or Lincolnshire for their nearest fix of celestial action.
Stay at: Grange Farm in Maltby le Marsh; a somnolent village on the edge of the Wolds; doubles from £44 a night; +44 (0)1507 450267
9. In the south-west of England
One of the best regions of the country for viewing the cosmos – Somerset, Devon and Cornwall (particularly the Lizard peninsula) all deliver excellent night time shows, as do Dorset's Purbeck Hills.
Stay at: Trethvas Farmhouse – a 300-acre coastal farm just outside the village of Lizard; doubles from £46 a night; +44 1326 290720. Or The Bankes Arms Hotel, Studland, Dorset – a 16th-century inn and microbrewery with large gardens and views over the sea; doubles from £60 a night; +44 (0)1929 480206
10. In the north of England
Slim pickings here but for a strip up the Pennines and a section at the Scottish border. The top star-gazing spot, however, can be found at the south-east corner of the North Yorkshire Moors.
Stay at: Warrington House, a former coaching inn in the eye-easing moors village of Thornton-le-Dale; doubles from £55 a night; +44 (0)1751 475028. Or The Deer Hut at the lonely head of Northumberland's Coquet Valley; £60 a night (sleeps four-six); +44 (0)1669 621176
