Stargazing Report Cannock Chase 4 March 2026

Date: Wednesday 4 March 2026

Stargazing Location: Cannock Chase near the Glacial Boulder Car Park ST17 0TL

Time: 7pm - 12am

Weather: Mostly clear to partially clear. Ground mist / fog developing. 

STARGAZING SUMMARY

Completed three stargazing sessions back to back for three different families at Cannock Chase.

First session mostly clear but mist reduced sky clarity. Had super views of the Orion Nebula, Pleiades star cluster, Perseus double cluster and Owl cluster using a 250mm skywatcher dobsonian telescope. A number of starliink satellites viewed with the naked eye. Highlight of the first session was Jupiter with four moons visible and an excellent steady view of the planet's equatorial and temperate bandings.  

Second session a bit more of a struggle with low cloud amounts limiting views through the first hour. The second hour much better with a clearer sky allowing good views. Even with a mostly full moon and gathering mist making the night sky quite bright we managed a super view of the Eskimo planetary nebula in Gemini NGC 2392. A nice view of the nebula halo and white dwarf.

Third session ran for an hour at Cannock Chase. Wows of exclamation from the family when we viewed the Beehive star cluster (M44) in Cancer. The scatter of stars and different colours of the stars from this cluster created more than 600 million years ago, before the precambrian explosion of life on Earth, was an awesome sight in the wide angle 34mm Explore Scientific eyepiece.