Night Sky this Month
Ian Morison tells you what can be seen in the night sky this month.
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Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the night sky from northern latitudes during July 2008. At the beginning of July, Leo is setting in the west. Next to Leo is a rather blank area of sky named Virgo which actually contains a giant cluster of galaxies named the Virgo Cluster. Low in the sky are the constellations of Scorpius and Sagittarius and the further south you are the better view you'll have. Above those is the constellation of Ophiuchus; one of the constellations of the ecliptic. Above Ophiuchus is the constellation of Hercules and the four stars making up the Keystone. Using the bottom and top right-hand stars of the Keystone you can find the globular cluster M13. To the east of Hercules you come to the Summer Triangle made up of Cygnus, Deneb and Altair. With binoculars you can see Brocchi's Cluster or the Coathanger. In Cygnus, you can see the lovely double star Albireo with binoculars. Mercury gets to greatest elongation on July 1st and you can see it in the east-north-east about 45 minutes before dawn for the first two weeks of July. Venus can be seen just above the western horizon after sunset in the last week of July. Mars and Saturn appear very close to the star Regulus. On July 5th there is a nice skyscape with the Moon, Regulus, Mars and Saturn. On July 10th Mars and Saturn are in conjunction up to the left of Regulus. This is the best month to see Jupiter. Jupiter is at opposition on July 9th; Jupiter the Sun and Earth will be in a straight line. However, Jupiter is at its lowest level in the ecliptic so will be fairly low in the sky.
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Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the night sky from northern latitudes during June 2008. As we get into the northern hemisphere summer, we don't get many hours to look at the night sky. The summer solstice is on June 20th just before midnight Universal Time (UT) or just before 1am BST on the 21st June. Towards the west after sunset is Leo. Around from Leo in the south is Virgo and lower down in the south, after midnight, are Scorpius and Sagittarius. High overhead is the constellation Ursa Major. As the night goes on, the constellations of Cygnus, Lyra and Aquila the Eagle become visible. The brightest stars of these constellations make up the Summer Triangle. The Ring Nebula M57 is visible with a telescope in Lyra. Saturn is close to the star Regulus in Leo. Mars is moving up into Leo and by the end of the month will be only three quarters of a degree from Regulus. Venus passes behind the Sun on June 9th so we will have to wait until the end of July before we can see it again. Mercury passes between the Earth and the Sun on June 7th and will be visible just before dawn by the end of the month. On June 7th, in the west between Leo and the horizon is the Moon. Up to the left of the Moon will be Mars, up to the left of Mars is Regulus and just a few degrees further up to the left will be Saturn.
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Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the night sky from northern latitudes during May 2008. As the Sun sets, the constellations of Taurus and Gemini are setting towards the west. Leo is high in the south west and to the lower left of Leo is Virgo. Telescopes show a wonderful number of galaxies forming the Virgo cluster stretching from Denebola to Spica. Above Leo is Ursa Major - the Great Bear - with lots of interesting things to look at. It is not a bad month for planets. Mercury reaches greatest elongation - greatest angle from the Sun - around the middle of the month. On 6th May we could have a wonderful skyscape; very low to the north west after sunset will be the Pleiades star cluster, a very thin crescent Moon and above that to the left will be Mercury. Remember that looking directly at the Sun can be dangerous so make sure that you wait until after the Sun has set. Saturn is visible fairly high in south west after sunset in the constellation of Leo. It starts the month two degrees to the east of Leo's brightest star Regulus. With a small telescope you should be able to see Saturn's largest moon Titan. By the end of May Jupiter rises just before midnight. Mars is in the constellation of Gemini. On May 5th it moves into the constellation of Cancer and will form a line with the stars Castor and Pollux. Venus is very low above the horizon so is almost impossible to observe due to the glare of the Sun. Ian also answers a listener question about good beginner telescopes that can be used to take astronomical photographs.
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Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the night sky from northern latitudes during April 2008.
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Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the night sky from northern latitudes during March 2008. Soon after sunset we still see the lovely part of the sky centred on the constellation of Orion, The Hunter. The belt points down (south-east) to Sirius in Canis Major, up to the left is Gemini and up to the right is Taurus. On March 5th Mars will be moving from Taurus into Gemini. Carrying on to the right of Aldebaran - the eye of the bull - is the Pleiades star cluster. High overhead is the star Capella in Auriga. This is a very rich part of the Milky Way and in binoculars, on a dark night, you will pick up a number of open clusters. Later in the evening we see Leo rising. To the lower left (east) of Leo is the constellation Virgo. The Virgo Super Cluster of galaxies lies beyond the constellation of Virgo. To the left of the star Denebola, towards Spica is a region we call "The Realm of the Galaxies". High above Leo is the constellation Ursa Major which contains the asterism known as The Plough (UK) or The Big Dipper (US). Venus and Mercury are together in the pre-dawn sky close to the eastern horizon. Jupiter is in the pre-dawn sky rising about two hours before the Sun at the start of the month and about 3 hours earlier that the Sun by the end of the month. It is in the constellation of Sagittarius so appears very low over the horizon at higher northern latitudes. Close to the star Regulus is the planet Saturn. Saturn reached opposition on February 24th. In March it will be high in the south in the mid-evening hours. With a pair of binoculars you can see the open cluster M41 a little below the star Sirius. It is about 200 million years old and some of its more massive stars have become red giants.
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Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the night sky from northern latitudes during February 2008.
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Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the night sky from northern latitudes during January 2008. The Orion Nebula can be found below the belt of Orion. Moving up to the right of the belt takes us to Taurus the Bull. The eye of the Bull - Aldebaran - is a red giant star half way between us and the Hyades open cluster. Further up to the right is the lovely Pleiades cluster. Up to the left of Taurus the Bull is Auriga with Capella at the head. This is part of the Milky Way and there are several very nice open clusters to see in Auriga. Up to the left of Orion is Gemini the Twins. Working your way down to the left of Orion's belt takes us to Sirius - the brightest star in the sky. It is not a bad month for the planets. In the morning, at about 6am, you can see Mars in Taurus and Venus is dominating the eastern sky. In February Mars will start to move back into Gemini. As the month progresses Jupiter will rise earlier and can be seen in the pre-dawn sky. Saturn rises at about 9.30pm and is about eight degrees down to the lower left of Regulus in Leo. On the 22nd January Mercury reaches western elongation and can be seen after sunset. Comet Holmes is now getting close to Algol in Perseus but is becoming less bright. Comet 8P/Tuttle is between Aries and Pisces and on 3rd of January will be close to M74. January 4th is the best time to see the Quadrantid meteor shower. Venus and Jupiter come into conjunction on 1st February. On the 31st January they make a nice little triangle with globular cluster M22.
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Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the night sky from northern latitudes during January 2008.
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Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the night sky from northern latitudes during December 2007. The constellations of Taurus, Orion, Canis Major and Gemini are visible this month. In Taurus you can see Aldebaran as well as the Hyades and Pleiades star clusters. Down to the lower left of Taurus is Orion the Hunter. Below the three stars of Orion's belt is the Orion Nebula. Following the three stars on the belt down to the left takes us to the brightest star in the sky - Sirius. To the top left of Orion is the constellation of Gemini where we find Mars this month. In the pre-dawn sky we can see Saturn which is about eight degrees down to the lower left of the star Regulus in Leo. Venus is dominating the morning sky in the constellation of Virgo. As Comet 17P/Holmes becomes a bit more diffuse - about the same angular size as the Moon - you probably need binoculars to see it. Mars is about at its best in eight and a half years for northern latitude observers as it is almost at the highest point in the ecliptic so will be higher in the sky. It is closest on the nights of 18/19th December and will be around due south at midnight. The Geminids meteor show should be visible around December 14th. Finally, one can still observe Uranus and Neptune in the hours after sunset.
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Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the night sky from northern latitudes during November 2007. To the south in early evening moving over to the west as the night progresses is the beautiful region of the Milky Way containing both Cygnus and Lyra. Below is Aquila. The three bright stars Deneb (in Cygnus), Vega (in Lyra) and Altair (in Aquila) make up the "Summer Triangle". East of Cygnus is the great square of Pegasus - adjacent to Andromeda in which lies M31, the Andromeda Nebula. To the north lies "w" shaped Cassiopeia and Perseus. The constellation Taurus, with its two lovely clusters, the Hyades and Pleiades is rising in the east during the late evening. During the nights around the 8th of November, it is possible to see ALL the 8 planets in the solar system in one night - Venus, Saturn and Mercury before dawn, Jupiter low in the south-west at 5:30 pm, Uranus in the south-east and Neptune in the south just after 6 pm with Mars rising in the east after 10 pm. We have an comet in the sky - visible to the unaided eye! A comet, 17P Holmes, which is around 240 million km from the Earth has undergone a major outburst and at the time of recording was at magnitude 3 appearing as a new star in the constellation Perseus. During November it will move westwards towards the 1.8 magnitude star Mirphak, Alpha Persei. Every year, on November 17th and 18th, the Earth passes close to the trails of cometary debris from Comet Temple-Tuttle which produce the annual Leonid Meteor shower. This year there will be a waning crescent Moon so it will mean that the sky will be dark so allowing faint trails to be seen. It is expected that, in general, only 12 to 15 meteors are likely to be seen per hour, but they do tend to be bright so it is worth getting up to view them.
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Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the night sky from northern latitudes during October 2007. To the south in early evening is the beautiful region of the Milky Way containing both Cygnus and Lyra. Below is Aquila. The three bright stars Deneb (in Cygnus), Vega (in Lyra) and Altair (in Aquila) make up the "Summer Triangle". East of Cygnus is the great square of Pegasus - adjacent to Andromeda in which lies M31, the Andromeda Nebula. To the north lies "w" shaped Cassiopeia with Perseus below. Jupiter may just be seen in the south-west as the Sun sets as the month begins. At the beginning of the month it is just 20 degrees above the horizon an hour after sunset so is seen in the twilight - by month's end this will have dropped to 12 degrees. At the very beginning of October, Mercury might just be visible in evening sky about 20 to 30 minutes after sunset. Mercury passes between the Earth and the Sun on October 23rd at what is called "inferior conjunction" before it becomes visible in the pre-dawn sky. Mars, is in Gemini during October and is now rising around 10 pm. Its disk is just 9.7 arc seconds across and it shines at magnitude -0.1 at the beginning of October. During the month its brightness increases to magnitude -0.6 and it angular size increases to 12 arc seconds. Venus is now shining brightly dominating the eastern pre-dawn sky! It was at its very brightest in late September but still shines at magnitude -4.7 - the brightest object in the sky apart from the Moon! Viewing it with a telescope will reveal a 38% illuminated crescent. As October begins, Saturn, 3.6 degrees down to the lower left of the star Regulus in Leo, is seen in the pre-dawn sky. They gradually move apart and by the end of the month Saturn is around 6 degrees to the lower left of Regulus. Around October 21st is the Orionid Meteor Shower. While the Orionids are not one of the most spectacular showers, with peak rates around 20 per hour, they are interesting as it is believed that the meteors originate from Comet Halley. It is worth looking out for them for a week around the 21st as the shower is long lived. They will best be seen in the hours before dawn when Orion is high in the southern sky. On October 7th before dawn you can see Venus, Saturn and the waning crescent Moon; perhaps the best sky-scape this month. Depending on your location, you may see an occultation of Regulus from ~ 05:19 until ~ 06:00. In the early hours of October 3rd, the Moon, just after third quarter, will lie close to the planet Mars and the cluster M35 - all in the constellation Gemini. October is another good month to observe the planet Uranus with binoculars, a small telescope or even your unaided eye! On October 11th, the night of new moon, Uranus, with a magnitude of 5.8, lies just over 3 degrees up and to the left of the 4th magnitude star Lambda Aquarii. To the left of the tiny constellation Triangulum is the star Algol in Perseus. It is an eclipsing binary and every 2.87 days its brightness drops by more than a magnitude and then rises again. In October you can watch this happen over a period of hours around 22:50 UT on the 21st and 19:38 UT on the 24th.
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Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the night sky from northern latitudes during September 2007. In the south, as the Sun sets, is a very nice region of the sky containing the stars Deneb, Vega and Altair: the Summer Triangle. About a third of the way from Altair to Vega is an "upside down coathanger" - Brocchi's Cluster - a nice asterism of stars. Albireo - the head of Cygnus the Swan - is a lovely double star which can be seen in a small telescope. Between Deneb and Altair is the constellation of Delphinus the Dolphin. In the later evening, in the south, is Pegasus the Winged Horse. The top left star of the square of Pegasus is Alpha Andromeda and is used to star hop to the Andromeda Galaxy, M31. Above the Andromeda Galaxy is the 'w' shaped constellation of Cassiopeia with Perseus to the left. Jupiter is in the south-west as the Sun sets and is above and to the left of Antares in Scorpius. Saturn is visible in the pre-dawn sky near Regulus in Leo. Mercury passed behind the Sun on August 14th and is just about visible in the sky after sunset. Mars is in Taurus and rises at around 10pm and will be nearest to us in December. Venus can be seen in the north-east just before dawn at the start of the month. During the month Venus will rise earlier and reaches maximum brightness on 21st September. First quarter of the Moon will be on September 19th and is a good time to look at the Moon. In the early morning of 4th September there will be a pretty view of the Moon above Mars and to the left of the Pleiades and Hyades. Before dawn on September 9th is a thin crescent Moon up to the left of Venus and above Saturn and Regulus which are about 0.8 degrees apart.
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Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the night sky from northern latitudes during August 2007. In the south, as the sun is setting, we have the constellations of Scorpius and Sagittarius. Jupiter is between the two in the large constellation of Ophiuchus. Moving upwards you reach Hercules with the four brightest stars making up the Key Stone. Moving up to the right, you can see globular cluster M13 with binoculars or a small telescope. To the right is Corona Borealis and Arcturus to the right of that. As last month, we also see the three stars of the summer triangle. Many of the planets are either in front of, or behind the Sun so are not really visible. Jupiter is probably only at around 10-16 degrees elevation for much of the UK. Mars is still only rising at around midnight but is reasonably bright and gets its closest to the Sun on August 19th. Highlights include the Perseid meteor shower and asteroid Vesta. The peak of the Perseids is 11-13th August which coincides with the new Moon on August 12th so viewing should be good. Vesta will be close to Jupiter, so should be easier to find towards the end of the month.
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Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the night sky from northern latitudes during August 2007. In the south, as the sun is setting, we have the constellations of Scorpius and Sagittarius. Jupiter is between the two in the large constellation of Ophiuchus. Moving upwards you reach Hercules with the four brightest stars making up the Key Stone. Moving up to the right, you can see globular cluster M13 with binoculars or a small telescope. To the right is Corona Borealis and Arcturus to the right of that. As last month, we also see the three stars of the summer triangle. Many of the planets are either in front of, or behind the Sun so are not really visible. Jupiter is probably only at around 10-16 degrees elevation for much of the UK. Mars is still only rising at around midnight but is reasonably bright and gets its closest to the Sun on August 19th. Highlights include the Perseid meteor shower and asteroid Vesta. The peak of the Perseids is 11-13th August which coincides with the new Moon on August 12th so viewing should be good. Vesta will be close to Jupiter, so should be easier to find towards the end of the month.
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Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the night sky from northern latitudes during July 2007. During July the nights are getting slightly longer. Looking above at around 10pm we see Ursa Major - the Great Bear. Moving south we first come to the constellation Hercules containing the wonderful globular cluster M13. Further south is Ophiuchus and Sagittarius and Scorpius below. Rising in the east in the late evening is the beautiful region of the Milky Way containing Cygnus, Lyra and Aquila the Eagle which make up the Summer Triangle. As July begins you should be able to see Saturn a few degrees west of Leo's bright star Regulus but as the month progresses it gets closer to the Sun in the sky. Mercury passed between the Earth and the Sun on 28th June. During July Mercury is 5 degrees from the Sun at the start of the month and increasing to about 15 degrees. Mars is getting better and is now rising around midnight. The disc is around 6.3 arcseconds across and you might just see the poles with a telescope. Venus shines brightly in the western sky after sunset although you will start to need a good clear western horizon to see it now. The Moon can be fun to observe and is probably best to observe at first quarter around July 22nd. Jupiter is seen in the south at about 10pm and is up and to the left of Antares in Scorpius. Sadly, Jupiter is not very high in the sky for observers at northern latitudes. On 1st July, Saturn and Venus are only separated by only around one degree. You could also try to spot dwarf planet Ceres with binoculars just below Mars during this month.
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Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the night sky from northern latitudes during June 2007. High in the sky around midnight is the constellation of Virgo. Between Virgo and the tail of Leo is the centre of our local supercluster of galaxies and this region of sky is named the "realm of the galaxies". We are now coming up to the constellations Libra, Ophiuchus, Scorpius and Sagittarius. The red star Antares, in Scorpius, is difficult to see from the UK as it is a bit too far south. The star fields around Scorpius and Sagittarius - towards the centre of our galaxy - are some of the richest in the sky and can be very rewarding to see with binoculars. High above, in the constellation of Hercules, is the globular cluster M13 which contains a million or so stars and looks very nice through a small telescope. Rising in the south-east is Cygnus, Lyra and Aquila. The three bright stars Deneb, Vega, Altair make up the summer triangle. In this region you can also see the Coathanger (Brocchi's Cluster). High overhead is Ursa Major (the Great Bear). Venus is still very high in the sky after sunset and there will be a conjunction with the Moon around 18th June. On 9th June, Venus reaches its greatest elongation. Saturn can be seen just after sunset for the first few weeks of June. On 5th and 6th June, Jupiter is at opposition (on the other side of the Earth to the Sun) but is not rising very high in the sky so is difficult to see from northern latitudes. Mercury is visible in the western sky after sunset between the Sun and Venus. It will be furthest in angle from the Sun on June 2nd. Mars is visible just before sunrise but is very low in the south-east. The Moon will be new on June 15th.
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Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the night sky from northern latitudes during May 2007. From around the middle of May, in northern England, it doesn't get truely dark for about six weeks. As the Sun sets, in the south west we see the constellation of Gemini and high in the south is Leo. Between them is the constellation Cancer and with binoculars you may see a very nice star cluster called the Beehive Cluster. On the boundary between Leo and Cancer is Saturn. Between the bright star Spica - in the constellation Virgo - and the tail of Leo, is the Realm of the Galaxies. These galaxies form part of the Virgo Cluster, part of the Virgo Supercluster of galaxies but sadly you'll need a telescope to see them. Overhead is Ursa Major containing the asterism called the Plough (Big Dipper). If you look at the central star of the tail of the bear, you'll see it has a companion. These stars - Mizar and Alcor - make the Horse and Rider. Mizar is itself a double star and these can be seen with a telescope. Saturn is about 11 degrees to the right of the brightest star of Leo; Regulus. In a small telescope you will easily see Saturn's largest Moon Titan. Around the last week of the month it will be possible to see Mercury around 30 minutes after sunset between where the Sun has set and the planet Venus. Mars is barely visible, just before dawn, close to the south-eastern horizon. The disc is just 5 arcseconds across so there are no details to be seen. Venus is currently dominating the western sky after sunset. On the 19th May, a thin crescent Moon is just three degrees from the planet Venus and will make a very nice pairing with your eyes or a pair of binoculars.
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Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the night sky from northern latitudes during April 2007. The constellation of Orion is now low in the south west after sunset. Above and to the left of Orion is the constellation Gemini and to the left and south of that is Leo the lion. Between Gemini and Leo, on the boundary of Leo and Cancer is the planet Saturn. Looking to the right of Saturn you can see the Beehive cluster with binoculars. Low to the left of Leo is Virgo and its brightest star Spica. Between Leo and Spica we see, with a small telescope, some of the galaxies that form the Virgo supercluster. Saturn is the star of the evening sky in the south and Venus dominates the western sky after sunset. Jupiter is becoming visible by around 11pm (at the end of April) but is at the lowest part of the ecliptic so from the UK will appear quite low. On April 11th Venus will be two degrees from the Pleiades and on the 18th will be near the Hyades cluster. On the 22nd of April is the Lyrid meteor shower. There are two opportunities to see the minima in brightness of the star Algol on 9th and 12th April.
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Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the night sky from northern latitudes during March 2007. In the early evening in the southern sky we can see Orion, Taurus and the Pleiades cluster. To the lower left of Orion is Sirius - the brightest star in the sky. To the upper left of Orion is Gemini. In the late evening we can see the constellation of Leo. Between Leo and Gemini, in a darker area, is the constellation Cancer. With binoculars you can see the Beehive cluster there. High above Leo is the constellation Ursa Major (the Great Bear). Part of Ursa Major is the Plough (Big Dipper) and you can use the two rightmost stars of this asterism to find the pole star. Venus is totally dominating the western sky in the evening at the moment. Saturn currently sits between Cancer and Leo and looks slightly yellow in colour. Saturn's rings are getting tighter. On the evening of March 2nd, from the Eastern side of Britain, you may be able to see Saturn occulted by the Moon. On the 3rd of March there will be a total eclipse of the Moon which should be a wonderful sight to see.
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The night sky for February 2007[Duration 13:24, 4.6 MB]Thu, 01 Feb 2007 23:15:00 +0000
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Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the night sky from northern latitudes during February 2007.
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Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the night sky from northern latitudes during January 2007. In the south, in the late evening, is the constellation of Orion the hunter. Orion is holding a sheild against the onslaught of Taurus. The Hyades cluster makes up the face of Taurus. To the right of the Hyades is the Pleiades or Seven Sisters. Above Taurus is Auriga containing the bright yellow star Capella and the open clusters M36, M37 and M38. Up to the left of Orion are Castor and Pollux - the heads of the twins. Rising in the east, at around 9-10pm, you should be able to see Leo and the planet Saturn. The rings of Saturn are closing, so it doesn't look as bright as it sometimes is. In a small telescope you should be able to see its largest moon, Titan. Jupiter is in the constellation of Libra and will be rising at about 6am low in the south east. Mercury passes behind the Sun on January 7th, so we won't see it until nearer the end of January. Venus passed behind the Sun on October 27th so is now much more visible. With a small telescope you should be able to see the phases of Venus. Highlights include the Quadrantid meteor shower (around January 4th) and the thin cresent Moon with Venus and Neptune nearby on January 20th.
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Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the night sky from northern latitudes during December 2006. Around the middle of December we have the shortest day, so the evenings are better for observing and you can still see Vega and the rest of the summer triangle. In the south after sunset in Pegasus - the winged horse - and Andromeda where you can see the Andromeda Galaxy. Soon after sunset, rising in the north-east, are the Pleiades and then the Hyades. Rising later is the brightest star in the northern hemisphere, Sirius. Looking below Sirius with binoculars you will see an open cluster of stars named M41. To the left of Orion are Gemini which is the radiant of a meteor shower this month. The planet Saturn is a few degrees up and to the right of Regulus in the constellation Leo but will move westwards near the start of December. If you find a clear western horizon, you should be able to spot Venus shortly after sunset. Jupiter, Mercury and Mars are just coming into the morning sky. Highlights for this month: on December 4th the Moon passed infront of the Hyades cluster; around 9th to 12th December Jupiter, Mars and Mercury will be within a degree or so from each other and will look nice in a pair of binoculars before dawn; the Geminid meteor shower occurs around 13/14th December with a Moon near to new. A good month for observing the sky.
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Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the night sky from northern latitudes during November 2006. It isn't a month for planets but with the evenings drawing in you should be able to go out and observe without staying up too late. The summer triangle, composed of the stars Deneb, Vega and Altair, is now in the western sky in the evening. Below Cygnus is the rather lovely constellation of Delphinus (the Dolphin). Towards the south are four stars which make up the winged horse Pegasus which can be used to find the Andromeda Galaxy. In the north-east during the evening you will see Taurus rising with the Pleiades cluster also known as the seven sisters. Later on in the night the Hyades cluster will appear. Nearly all the planets, except Saturn, are passing by the Sun this month so will not be easily visible. Saturn's rings are currently at an angle of about 15 degrees to our line-of-sight and over the next few years they will be closing so have a look at them now. On November 8/9th is the last transit of Mercury that will be seen until around 2016. It can be seen (taking proper precautions not to look directly at the Sun) from New Zealand, Australia, Japan and parts of the United States. In November we pass through the Leonid meteor shower and it is predicted that at 4:45 am UT on the morning of the 19th November we may see as many as 50 meteors per hour.
