WE ARE still seeing displays of noctilucent (NLC) clouds after midnight, which is very surprising and unusual because the NLC 'season' is usually over by now.

The fact that we are still seeing these lovely 'night shining clouds' is both a good thing and a bad thing - good because it means more opportunities to see them glowing eerily in our skies, bad because many scientists now think increased NLC activity is yet another sign of global warming.

I wonder how long into August we will keep seeing them? Keep an eye on the northern sky after midnight for at least the next week or so.

Comet NEOWISE, which was a striking sight to the naked eye a month ago, with a long tail that stretched up towards the stars of the Plough, has now faded so much that it can only be seen through binoculars or telescopes.

We do not know when the next bright comet will appear, so I hope you managed to catch sight of NEOWISE.

If you did not, you will have another chance to view NEOWISE in a little under 7,000 years time...

Jupiter and Saturn are now very bright in the south-east after dark, shining close together, and if you look to their far left around midnight you will see Mars above the eastern horizon looking like a very bright orange star.

You probably saw on the news that a new NASA mission has just set off for Mars, but it will take seven months to get there. However, in October Mars will be a stunning sight in our sky, so if you think it is impressive now you are going to be stunned by it in the Autumn.

Early risers can also see the planet Venus at the moment, blazing away as a 'morning star' in the east from around 2.30am.