Welcome to BBC Sky at Night Magazine - skyatnightmagazine

A view of Venus captured by JAXA's Akatsuki orbiter. © PLANET-C Project Team

Venus Astronomers discover evidence of microbial life in planet's clouds

Track the life and death of stars in the night sky

Stellar magnitudes: how to measure stars’ brightness

How to spend your first night with a telescope. Credit: m-gucci / Getty Images

Your first night with a telescope

Scientists have found similarities in the shapes of channels created on Mars (right) and those formed by glacier meltwater in Earth’s Arctic region (left). Credit: Cal-Tech CTX mosaic and MAXAR/Esri

Mars valleys may have been formed by melting glaciers

Latest articles

Autumn astronomy

Get ready for the return of longer, darker nights

Durdle Door in Dorset, UK A nightscape capture of the Milky Way is a great opportunity to try your processing skills. Credit: Schroptschop / iStock / Getty Images Plus

Observing guide How to see the Milky Way

Binoculars are a great way for newcomers to get into astronomy. Credit: lucentius / Getty Images

Observing guide 10 autumn binocular astronomy targets

Photo of the night sky over Glenridding, UK. Credit: Alan Graham / EyeEm / Getty Images

Observing guide Best autumn constellations

In the latest podcast, the BBC Sky at Night Magazine podcast discuss the date of the late Patrick Moore's estate.

Patrick Moore’s top 5 autumn galaxies

If you're a planetary imager, make sure your laptop and software are ready for a new season of astronomy. Credit: Steve Marsh

Autumn astronomy The best targets for longer nights

The first question an amateur astronomer often asks after buying a telescope is, 'How far into the night sky can I see with my equipment?' Credit: Panther Media GMBH/Alamy Stock Photo

How far can you see into space? A deep-sky tour

Exploring the cosmos

How big is our Solar System? credit: MARK GARLICK/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

How big is the Solar System?

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?

A computer model of the Kuiper Belt. Credit: NASA

What is the Kuiper Belt?

A closeup of the Tarantula Nebula, as seen by the Hubble Space Telescope. Credit: NASA, ESA

9 of the most mind-blowing facts about the Universe

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Astronomy equipment reviews

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

Lacerta MGEN-3 stand-alone autoguider review. Credit: BBC Sky at Night Magazine

Lacerta MGEN-3 stand-alone autoguider review

Helios Stellar-II 7x50 binoculars. Credit: BBC Sky at Night Magazine

Helios Stellar-II 7×50 binoculars review

Opticron Marine-3 7x50 binoculars. Credit: BBC Sky at Night Magazine

Opticron Marine-3 7×50 binoculars review

Nikon Action EX 7x50 CF binoculars. Credit: BBC Sky at Night Magazine

Nikon Action EX 7×50 CF binoculars review

Explore Scientific Deep Sky Astro Camera 7.1MP review

Explore Scientific Deep Sky Astro Camera 7.1MP review

RVO Horizon 72ED refractor review

RVO Horizon 72ED refractor review

Read more equipment reviews

Astronomy guides

Celestron Omni XLT AZ 102 Refractor/basic mount

Astronomy FAQs I'm buying my first telescope. Should I get a reflector or a refractor?

Asterisms (shown in red) can cross constellations, which are in fact regions of sky, not just the main patterns. Credit: Pete Lawrence

Constellations and asterisms: what’s the difference?

Sundogs. Credit: Science Photo Library

Daytime astronomy 6 phenomena to spot before nightfall

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

Podcasts

Hubble image of variable star RS Puppis. Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)-Hubble/Europe Collaboration Acknowledgment: H. Bond (STScI and Penn State University)

Radio Astronomy Podcast The life and death of stars

Listen to the latest episode of the Radio Astronomy Podcast: The Edge of the Solar System. Credit: MARK GARLICK/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Radio Astronomy Podcast The edge of the Solar System

ESA's Cluster mission

Radio Astronomy Podcast 20 years of ESA's Cluster mission

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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

Competition. Win the Astronomy Photographer of the Year book collection.

Astrophotography

Competition Win the complete Astronomy Photographer of the Year book collection

The Four Planets and the Moon Alice Fock Hang (Reunion), aged 11. Winner, Young Astronomy Photographer of the Year. Equipment: Nikon D610 camera, 35mm lens.

Astrophotography

Eye On The Sky Four Planets and the Moon wins Young Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2020

Light Bridge in the Sky Xiuquan Zhang (China), aged 12. Highly commended, Young Astronomy Photographer of the Year. Equipment: Canon 5D Mark IV camera, 14mm lens.

Astrophotography

Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2020 See this year's winning images

Kynance Cove under the Milky Way Louise Jones (UK). Category: The Sir Patrick Moore Prize for Best Newcomer. Equipment Nikon D7100 camera, Sigma 10-20 mm lens at 10 mm f/3.5, ISO 3200, 5 x 25-second exposures.

Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2020: watch the awards night online

A clear night can provide a perfect opportunity for a conjunction photo, like this pairing of Jupiter and the Moon. Credit: Pete Lawrence

Astrophoto guides

How to photograph a conjunction

Astrophotography galleries

Northern Dragon's Eye Elena Pakhalyuk (Ukraine). Category: Aurora. Equipment Canon EOS 6D camera, 14 mm f/2.8 lens, ISO 1600, 30-second exposure.

Gallery Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2020 shortlist images revealed

Jason Durrant, near Beccles, Suffolk, UK, 11 July 2020. Equipment: Sony A7III, Tamron 28-70mm lens, ISO 3200, 5

Gallery Comet NEOWISE blazes across the night sky

Hubble has helped to define the shape of the Ring Nebula, revealing it to be doughnut shaped, with lower density material at its core. Credit: Credits: NASA, ESA and the Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration

Gallery Hubble highlights: 16 of the space telescope's most iconic images

Graeme Whippy, Essex, UK. Equipment: Nikon D5300 DSLR camera, 55-300mm lens.

Astrophotography

Gallery The 7-8 April Supermoon, in pictures

Soviet Space Graphics

Gallery 10 iconic Soviet space posters of the Cold War era

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

Hubble at 30 21 incredible images of the past decade

Spaceflight

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

Venus’s northern hemisphere, as seen by NASA’s Magellan probe. Credit: NASA/JPL

Venus The search for life on the hellish planet

An artist's impression of the Hayabusa 2 spacecraft passing near Earth. Credit: JAXA

Hayabusa 2: Japan’s asteroid return mission

Louise Prockter is leading the Trident mission to Neptune's moon Triton. Credit: NASA

Interview Trident: a new mission to Neptune's moon Triton

An artist's illustration of the Voyager spacecraft. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

What did we learn from the Voyager mission?

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

Dr Abigail Fraeman, deputy project scientist of the Opportunity rover mission, pictured with a model of NASA's Curiosity rover. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Roving robots on Mars: interview with a NASA Opportunity scientist

Artist's impression of the Kepler space telescope 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

Create a spectrograph for your smartphone. Credit: Mark Parrish

How to create a spectrograph for your smartphone

Attaching two scopes to a side-by-side bar is more stable than simply piggybacking them.

How to set up a dual astrophotography imaging system

Make your own LED torch-pointer. Credit: Steve Tonkin

Make your own LED torch-pointer

More DIY astronomy projects