Advice

Join BBC Sky at Night Magazine for an online lecture looking at Mars opposition 2020

Mars Opposition 2020 Join our online lecture, 7 October 2020

How to the see planets in October 2020. Mars lies in Pisces throughout the opposition period. Credit: Pete Lawrence

Observing guide How to see the planets in the night sky, October 2020

A full Moon that looks blue. Credit: PhotoAlto/Frederic Cirou/GettyImages

What’s in a blue Moon?

Thanks to lunar libration we can observe slightly more than half of the Moon’s surface. Credit: Pete Lawrence

Lunar libration: what it is and how to photograph it

Clair obscur effects on the Moon. Upper row, left to right: Lunar X, Lunar V, Plato’s Hook. Lower row, left to right: Face in Albategnius, the Jewelled Handle, Cassini’s Moon Maiden (south-up view). Credit: Pete Lawrence

Observing guide 7 clair-obscur effects to observe on the Moon

Kemble's Cascade asterism in Camelopardalis. Credit: Alan Dyer/Stocktrek Images

Autumn astronomy An astronomer's tour of autumn and winter targets

Clavius is a wonderfully rugged moon crater, ripe for observing with a telescope. Credit: Pete Lawrence

How to see crater Clavius on the Moon

Have you come to astronomy new during lockdown? You'll need help choosing your first telescope. Credit: Mark Garlick / Science Photo Library

Astronomy in a pandemic: choosing your first telescope

How to collimate a Newtonian telescope

How to collimate a Newtonian telescope

Mercury and Spica, as they appear through a telescope eyepiece at x25 on 22 September at 14:30 BST (13:30 UT). Credit: Pete Lawrence

Observing guide See planet Mercury near Spica

A selection of some of the deep-sky objects from the Caldwell Catalogue. Clockwise from top left: NGC 891, The Fireworks Galaxy, NGC 7662, The Owl Cluster, The Flaming Star Nebula, NGC 2403. Credit: Manfred Wasshuber, Michael Breite, Stefan Heutz, Wolfgang Ries, Michael Caller / CCDGuide.com

Observing guide Caldwell Catalogue: an astronomy tour of the night sky.

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

Your first night with a telescope

Can you spot green stars in the night sky? Credit: iStock

Green stars Take our emerald observing tour of the night sky

Equinoxes occur when the Sun crosses the celestial equator. For Earth, this is the point that the planet’s axis points neither towards nor away from the Sun. Credit: BBC Sky at Night Magazine

Autumn equinox: when it is and what it means

Venus and a 14%-lit waning crescent Moon near M44 on the morning of 14 September. Credit: Pete Lawrence

Observing guide See Venus, Moon and Beehive Cluster, 11-15 September