This weekend... keep your eyes on the skies
As it gets dark, why not have a go at some star gazing? You don't have to be an expert, you don't need any special equipment (although you can use binoculars if you have some) and it's free and fun! Kids can take part too because it gets dark early.
What to look forYou can print off a map of the night sky, but if you look to the south you will see a very bright star. It won't be twinkling like other stars because it's actually the planet Jupiter. If you look at it through binoculars, you might see some of its moons close by. You should be able to see Jupiter from early evening onwards.
This weekend is also a good time to look at the moon. On Sunday evening, you should be able to see craters on the moon's battered surface if you look through binoculars.
Fantastic photosIf you want to take photos of the night sky, like these fantastic cranes by Nick Upton the Royal Observatory has tips on how to do it. If you're in London this weekend, why not pop into their free Astronomy Photographer of the Year exhibition? If you can't get to London, you can join their Flickr astrophoto group to see the pictures from the exhibition.
If you enjoy star gazing or would like to find out more about the night sky, look out for three days of live star gazing on BBC two in January. You could also check out the Astronomy Picture of the Day website, which shows a different photo of the cosmos every day, with an explanation from an astronomer.