A chalk plateau in southern England
A partial lunar eclipse will dim the Moon in the early hours of Friday, 28 August, turning it reddish as Earth’s shadow darkens the surface. The event follows a dramatic partial solar eclipse weeks earlier. Visibility depends on clear skies and the Moon’s low western horizon across the UK.
The UK has granted Ukraine access to declassified blueprints for British-made components used in the Scalp missile, the European-produced version of the Storm Shadow. Russia has warned of consequences and highlighted potential threats to UK bases in Europe as Kyiv deepens its defense production.
A Norfolk meadow has transformed from an oilseed rape monoculture to a biodiverse wildflower habitat after a simple annual hay cut, without reseeding or deep ploughing. More than 150 species are recorded, including orchids, hoverflies and butterflies, suggesting nature can restore flower-rich meadows with minimal intervention.
Autumn has delivered a run of visible celestial events: a partial lunar eclipse in late August that reddened much of the Moon, close pairings of the young crescent Moon with Venus and Jupiter in September, and a string of upcoming spectacles — the Pleiades, the Orionid and Leonid meteor showers, a planetary parade on 14 November and a Beaver supermoon on 24 November.
Geologists have ruled out several source areas for Stonehenge’s altar stone and are getting closer to identifying its origin. The latest study suggests the stone did not originate from north-east Scotland, with further fieldwork planned to refine the search.