Welcome to BBC Sky at Night Magazine - skyatnightmagazine

Sky-at-night

Welcome to the new BBC Sky at Night Magazine website

How the Solar System formed

How to safely observe the Sun

Blue illuminated tent with travelers in the mountain. Background of a pine tree silhouette and the starry summer night sky.

A beginner’s guide to meteor showers

Latest articles

Stargazing for beginners

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

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Things new stargazers should know

How to collimate your telescope

Image Credit:
Thinkstock

How to set up an equatorial mount

Astronomy equipment reviews

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Bresser full HD deep-sky camera

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Celestron 114LCM computerised telescope

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iOptron SkyGuider Pro tracking mount

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Space science

Weather in the Solar System

This image from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory shows the location of different elements in the Cassiopeia A supernova remnant including silicon (red), sulfur (yellow), calcium (green) and iron (purple). Each of these elements produces X-rays within narrow energy ranges, allowing maps of their location to be created. The blast wave from the explosion is seen as the blue outer ring. Astronomers study supernova remnants to better understand how stars produce and then disseminate many of the elements on Earth and in the cosmos at large.

When stars collapse: what is a supernova?

A Hubble Space Telescope image of Comet (C/2012 S1) ISON photographed on 10 April 2013 when the comet was 635 million km from Earth.
Credit: NASA/ESA/STScI/AURA

A guide to comets

The picture shows Abell 2218, a rich galaxy cluster composed of thousands of individual galaxies. It sits about 2.1 billion light-years from the Earth (redshift 0.17) in the northern constellation of Draco. When used by astronomers as a powerful gravitational lens to magnify distant galaxies, the cluster allows them to peer far into the Universe. However, it not only magnifies the images of hidden galaxies, but also distorts them into long, thin arcs. Several arcs in the image can be studied in detail thanks to Hubble's sharp vision. Multiple distorted images of the same galaxies can be identified by comparing the shape of the galaxies and their colour. In addition to the giant arcs, many smaller arclets have been identified.

A guide to gravitational lensing

Astronomy guides

The Large Hadron Collider: the world's largest, most powerful particle accelerator Credit: CERN

What is particle physics?

Shining in the southern sky, the four bright stars portrayed in the left part of this image represent a useful orientation mark which helps identifying the South Celestial Pole. Because of the rather distinctive asterism they form, these stars have been officially classified as the Crux constellation, or the Southern Cross. The vast dark cloud, visible in the lower part of the image, is usually referred to as the Coalsack Nebula; it also has a preeminent role in the Australian Aboriginal culture, representing the head of an emu in the traditional constellation of the "Emu in the Sky". The ruddy object glowing in the upper part of the image owes its colour to the blaze of hydrogen gas. Catalogued as IC 2948, this emission nebula hosts a sparkling cluster of young stars.

Aboriginal star maps

VLT-telescope-Chile

A guide to Chile’s best stargazing sites

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How to photograph meteor showers

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Astrophotography

Guides and galleries to help you get imaging the night sky

Beautiful track star image during a night in Tuscany. Trajectories of aircraft and shooting stars in the sky. Long exposure for trails of stars.

Astrophotography

A beginner’s guide to astrophotography

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Astrophotography guides

How do you take photographs of the aurora?

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Astrophotography guides

A guide to astrophotography stacking

Image Credit:
Steve Richards
Once installed, the process of recording flats is much quicker

How to make an automated flat panel and dust cap

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How to build a tabletop tracking mount

Final Result 1hr star trails 9th Oct 15

How to create time-lapse star trails

Astrophotography galleries

$Andromeda Galaxy, Charles Thody, Pembrokeshire, 8 September 2015. Equipment: Modified Canon EOS 40D DSLR camera, Sky-Watcher Equinox-80 ED apo refractor, Sky-Watcher NEQ6 PRO SynScan mount.$

Readers’ images: top galaxy astrophotos

Zdenek Bardon,
Sumava mountain, Czech Republic. Equipment: Nikon D810A, Takahashi FSQ106/530, tripod.

Astrophotography

In pictures: total lunar eclipse, 27 July 2018

Saturn and two of its moons photographed in 1980 by Voyager 1. The moons, Tethys (closest to the planet) and Dione, are visible as bright spots in space next to the gas giant. Tethys's shadow can also be seen on Saturn itself. (Credit: NASA/JPL)

Voyager’s best images of the Solar System

Transport the Soul, Brad Goldpaint, Moab, Utah, USA, 20 May 2017. Equipment: Nikon D810 DLSR camera, 14mm f/4.0 lens. Category: People & Space (Overall winner)

Astrophotography

Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018: winners announced

Mariusz Szymaszek, Garðskagi lighthouse, Iceland, 2 February 2016. Equipment: Sony A7S camera, Samyang 14mm lens.

Astrophotography

Beautiful images of the aurora

Podcasts

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New Horizons and event horizons

The New Horizons probe has given us incredible and unprecedented views of Pluto
Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI

Podcast: New Horizons and event horizons

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Lunar eclipses, 2019 space missions and green stars

'How to' guides

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Build a smartphone holder for your telescope

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How to build a wheeled telescope tripod

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How to make a small refractor telescope

In the magazine

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March 2019

February 2019

Inside this month’s new-look issue:

November 2018

November 2018

October 2018

October 2018