Welcome to BBC Sky at Night Magazine - skyatnightmagazine

What is gravity? MARK GARLICK/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

What is gravity? 12 facts about the force that keeps us grounded

Eye On The Sky Hubble spies galaxy 2.5 times the diameter of the Milky Way

Sir Patrick Moore’s estate: the legacy of Britain’s favourite astronomer

The top images from the Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2020 competition will be on display at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich. Credit: National Maritime Museum, London

IIAPY The world's biggest astro imaging competition opens for entries

Kuiper Belt Object Arrokoth. Credit: ASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute

New Horizons flyby reveals critical clues about planetary formation

Latest articles

Stargazing for beginners

New to astronomy? Get started with our newcomers' guides.

Get to a good, dark location away from light pollution and you will see so many more stars. Credit: Carlos Fernandez

12 top tips for stargazing

BBC Sky at Night Magazine Back Garden Astronomy Week

Discover the Moon with Back Garden Astronomy Week

Dunkery Beacon in Exmoor National Park is one of many places in the UK where beautiful vistas of the night sky can be seen. Credit: Keith Trueman

12 of the best places to stargaze in the UK

Read more beginners' guides

Space science

Radio Astronomy Podcast The story of the BBC’s Horizon programme

Massive galaxy cluster MACS J0717.5+3745, as seen by the Hubble Space Telescope. Credit: NASA, ESA, Harald Ebeling (University of Hawaii at Manoa) & Jean-Paul Kneib (LAM)

What are the biggest objects in the Universe?

The Council Room at the Royal Astronomical Society. Photograph by Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net).

The history of the Royal Astronomical Society

Black holes were first suggested as a phenomenon in 1783 by English natural philosopher John Michell, and their behaviour was mathematically described in 1916 by the German physicist Karl Schwarzschild.

Royal Mail releases cosmic stamps to mark 200 years of Royal Astronomical Society

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Astronomy equipment reviews

The latest telescopes, cameras, binoculars, mounts and accessories tried and tested.

Altair Astro Self-Centering Smartphone Telescope Adaptor. Credit: Altair Astro

Altair Astro Self-Centering Smartphone Telescope Adaptor

Stellina smart telescope. Credit: BBC Sky at Night Magazine

Stellina Observation Station review

Vixen Mobile Porta Altazimuth Mount. Credit: Opticron

Vixen Mobile Porta Altazimuth Mount

STC Astro Duo Narrowband 2-inch filter

STC Astro Duo Narrowband 2-inch filter review

QHYCCD QHY 168C CMOS colour camera. Credit: BBC Sky at Night Magazine

QHYCCD QHY 168C CMOS colour camera review

Celestron SkyMaster Pro 20x80 binocular

Celestron SkyMaster Pro 20×80 binoculars and 10Micron BM100 Leonardo mount review

Read more equipment reviews

Astronomy guides

Aurora Over Teepees, Yellowknife. Credit: iStock/ Getty Images

A traveller’s guide to aurora hunting

A sense of wonder: from a dark-sky site a wealth of deep-sky objects can be seen even with the naked eye, including the Milky Way, Orion Nebula and star clusters such as the Pleiades and Hyades. Credit: Mixetto/iStock/Getty Images

Deep-sky astronomy: a beginner’s guide

Slooh's Chile setup. Credit: Slooh Observatory

Armchair astrophotography: how to use a remote telescope

Good preparation will help you get the most out the darker autumn and winter nights. Credit: Astrobobo/iStock/GettyImages

The astronomy season returns: how to prepare for darker nights

Podcasts

Image of Pluto taken by New Horizons

Radio Astronomy Podcast Pluto at 90: how Clyde Tombaugh discovered a new world

Friends stargazing. Credit: EvgeniyShkolenko / Getty

Radio Astronomy Podcast Biggest stories of 2019 and top tips for stargazing beginners

An artist's impression of ESA's Solar Orbiter. Credit: ESA

Radio Astronomy Podcast 2020 space missions and the latest from the Giant Magellan Telescope

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Astrophotography

Guides and galleries to help you get imaging the night sky

Credit: abriendomundo / iStock / Getty Images Plus

Astrophotography

Astrophotography All you need to know to image the night sky

How to photograph the Orion Nebula. Credit: David Tolliday

Astrophoto guides

Image processing How to photograph the Orion Nebula

A full-colour Mars and the filtered images from which it was built. Each filter reveals a different aspect of the planet. Credit: Pete Lawrence

Astrophoto guides

Imaging for science How to photograph Mars

The final processed image of the Monkey Head Nebula in Orion reveals its rich colours. Credit: Sara Wager

Astrophoto guides

Image processing Create Hubble Palette astro images with Astro Pixel Processor

Stellina smart telescope. Credit: BBC Sky at Night Magazine

Stellina smart telescope: a good option for beginners?

How to use PixInsight to enhance the brightness of a galaxy image without affecting the stars. Credit: Steve Richards

Astrophoto guides

Image processing Use PixInsight to enhance a galaxy's brightness without affecting stars

Astrophotography galleries

Veil Nebula 24 September 2015. A small section of the outer shell of the Veil Nebula, the remnant of a star’s violent death 8,000 years ago. Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble Heritage Team

Gallery 21 incredible Hubble Space Telescope images of the past decade

The Homunculus Nebula Hubble Space Telescope, 1 July 2019

Astrophotography

Gallery The top space images released in 2019

A dragon and the witch’s hat Craig McDearmid, Kirkjufell Mountain, Iceland, 7 December 2018. Equipment: Sony a7S digital camera, Samyang 14mm lens, tripod

Astrophotography

Gallery Best readers' astrophotos of 2019

Neil Allen, Norwich. Equipment: iPhone 8, Sky-Watcher Equinox 80 refractor, TS Optics Herschel wedge.

Gallery Transit of Mercury, 11 November 2019

Lunar Wall Mosaic
Created by the Air Force Aeronautical Chart and Information Center, in the heart of the Space Race, The Lunar Wall Mosaic is a map compiled from thousands of lunar photographs. Detailed maps like this were crucial to the success of projects like Apollo 11.

The Mapping of the Moon

Sarah and Simon Fisher, Worcestershire, 30 October 2016

Sarah says: “My husband Simon and I were delighted to have consecutive clear nights in October to image our nearest natural neighbour. The seeing was outstanding, and with UK skies being so changeable (and cloudy) we were ecstatic to be able to have our telescope out four nights on the trot.”

Equipment: Canon EOS 600D DSLR camera, 5-inch Maksutov-Cassegrain.

Astrophotography

Hotshots: top readers’ astrophotos, 2017

Spaceflight

Celebrating the latest missions and the history of humanity's journey into space

The NEID instrument, mounted on the 3.5-meter WIYN telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. Credit: NSF's National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory/KPNO/NSF/AURA

Interview How NASA-funded NEID instrument will weigh exoplanets

Tim Peake is currently the only Briton to have flown into space as an ESA astronaut. Here he is pictured during a 4 hour 43 minute spacewalk to replace a failed power regulator and install cabling on the International Space Station. Credit: ESA/NASA

How will Brexit affect Britain’s role in the European Space Agency?

Buzz Aldrin speaking at the Humans to Mars Summit, 22 April 2014 at George Washington University in Washington DC. Credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images

Moving to Mars: Buzz Aldrin’s vision of Martian exploration

The first journey to Mars could be the first step towards Martian tourism. But could the human body survive the trip? Credit: Михаил Руденко / Getty Images

How will humans survive the journey to Mars?

Buzz Aldrin pictured on the surface of the Moon during the Apollo 11 mission. Credit: NASA

Apollo 11 the journey to land on the Moon

Carey Lisse, an instrument scientist on the New Horizons science team reacts after the team received confirmation from the spacecraft that it has completed the flyby of Pluto, Tuesday, July 14, 2015 at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

Interview New Horizons' Kuiper Belt encounter

Abigail_Fraeman_NASA

Roving robots on Mars: interview with a NASA Opportunity scientist

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Wendy Stenzel

How the Kepler space telescope came to be

DIY astronomy

Read our practical guides to get the most out of your observing sessions

How to hold your binoculars steady during long observing sessions. Credit: Steve Tonkin

How to hold your binoculars steady

The sensor of a DSLR camera is tucked behind the reflex mirror – as such, the camera has to be switched on while you clean it. Credit: Ian Evenden

How to clean your DSLR camera sensor

The finished smartphone finderscope. Follow our guide to make your own. Credit: Mark Parrish

Build a smartphone finderscope for your telescope

More DIY astronomy projects