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Early spring sees the return of the galaxies, monumental rotating structures of many millions of gravitationally bound stars amid interstellar dust and gas that span tens of thousands or more light years in diameter.

Early spring heralds the rise of the galaxies, when over the next three months or so the prime-time night sky is overflowing with a veritable treasure trove of bright and beautiful targets.

NGC 4565 also has the advantage of being easy to find and it sits high in the sky from UK shores, tracing a wide arc that enables it to be observed right through the night during March.

Comet 19P/Borrelly is presently the brightest and best looking comet on show at mid-northern latitudes. It passes through perihelion passage on Tuesday, 1 February, when it lies around 195.4 million kilometres (1.306 AU) from the Sun.