Advice

Mars reaches its highest position for August at the month’s close. Credit: Pete Lawrence

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

What to see in the night sky, August 2020. Credit: Carlos Fernandez

What to see in the night sky: August 2020

The Moon, imaged from Dorset, UK, by Peter Lewis. Credit: LatitudeStock - Peter Lewis / Getty Images

Lunar maria A complete guide to the seas of the Moon

A composite image showing multiple Perseid meteors over Big Bend National park, 14 August 2016. Credit: Jason Weingart / Barcroft Media via Getty Images / Barcroft Media via Getty Images

What causes a meteor shower?

Create a spectrograph for your smartphone. Credit: Mark Parrish

How to create a spectrograph for your smartphone

Read our guide to find out how to use and make the most of Stellarium.

How to install and use Stellarium astronomy software

Michael Rosinski captured a Perseid display near his home in Michigan, USA, last year. This image was taken with a Canon EOS 70D DSLR camera and 11-16mm lens. Credit: M. Rosinski

Do you need a tracking mount to photograph meteors?

Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) captured from Deir el Qamar Lebanon, overseeing Majdel El Meouch top, during nautical twilight, 5 July 2020. Taken by Maroun Habib. Equipment: Canon EOS 6D DSLR camera, TMB92SS telescope. Credit: Maroun Habib.

Comet NEOWISE Catch it before it fades from view

Gas giants Jupiter and Saturn (not to scale!), sketched by Dr Paul G Abel. Credit: Paul Abel

How to observe Jupiter and Saturn

A detail from Alan Friedman's image 'A Little Fireworks. Credit: Alan Friedman

Astrophoto guides

Image processing How to photograph activity on the solar limb

Vega and the surrounding stars through a telescope. Taken with a guided setup, the vista appears sharp, with stars like pins. Credit: Ade Ashford.

What is an autoguider?

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

A Royal Mail stamp marking Halley's Comet in 1986. Credit: Katrin Raynor-Evans

Cosmic philately: the joy of collecting space and astronomy stamps

Venus travels through Taurus this month and is close to the Hyades, Aldebaran and the Moon. Star positions correct for 03:00 BST (02:00 UT) mid-month, from the centre of the UK. Credit: Pete Lawrence

Observing guide See Venus in the Hyades star cluster this month

A view of Jupiter and its moons Io and Europa, captured by NASA's Juno spacecraft. Can you spot its fainter moons? Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Roman Tkachenko

Observing guide How to see Jupiter's moons