THERE was a lot of talk about “supermoons” in 2016, a phenomenon which happens when the full moon happens to coincide with the moon being closer to the earth in its non-circular orbit.

Crisp cold nights, a touch of frost on the ground and the lure of a cosy fire might conspire to keep us indoors in December, but it really is worth popping your head outside, even for a few minutes, to soak in the wonders of the night sky.

A glowing green comet is making its closest approach to Earth and providing amateur astronomers with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that will not come again for 8,000 years.

Iran today issued a bank note with a nuclear symbol in a move seen as an assertion of the national will in the face of international sanctions over its insistence on enriching uranium.