Access this month's Bonus Content. If you are having trouble with any of the download links, right-click on the link, select 'Copy Link Address' and paste the link in a new window in your web browser.
Virtual Planetarium
Pete Lawrence and Paul Abel guide us through September's night-sky highlights.
Interview: The world's largest radio telescope
Astrophysicist Carole Mundell on how the Square Kilometre Array will reveal the secrets of the cosmos
DIY Astronomy
Download our table of measurements to help with this month's DIY Astronomy project
Download this month's binocular and deep-sky tour charts. The charts are printed in black on white so they can be viewed under red light at your telescope.
Record your observations of Jupiter, Mars, Saturn, Venus and the Sun with our handy printable forms.
If you observe the Sun, remember NEVER to look at it with your naked eye; either project it through your telescope or use a solar filter on your telescope's front lens.
The Sun’s sunflower, Alex Dean, Nottingham, 10 June 2021. Equipment: ZWO ASI174MM camera, William Optics GT81 refractor, Daystar Quark Chromosphere eyepiece, Celestron CGEM mount
The Whirlpool Galaxy, Kasra Karimi, Aylesbury, 18–19 April 2021. Equipment: ZWO ASI 6200MC camera, TS-Optics 130mm apo triplet, Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro mount. Exposure: 75x 300”
The Pelican Nebula, Ian Phillips, Weston-super-Mare, 12 June 2021. Equipment: ZWO ASI2600MC Pro camera, Sky-Watcher Esprit 120ED refractor, Sky-Watcher EQ6 Pro mount
Jupiter and Galilean moons, Paul Sparham, Leatherhead, Surrey, 6 May 2018. Equipment: iPhone 5s, Orion XT6 Dobsonian
The Veil Nebulae, Matthew Clough, Selby, North Yorkshire, 23 June 2021. Equipment: ZWO ASI 294MC Pro camera, William Optics RedCat 51 refractor, Sky-Watcher HEQ5 Pro mount
The Leo Triplet, Jared Bowens, Clarksdale, Missouri, USA, 27 March–23 April 2021. Equipment: Canon 60D DSLR, Orion 8” Newtonian astrograph, Celestron AVX mount
NLCs over the river Tees, Chris Maher, Stockton, County Durham, 21 June 2021. Equipment: Canon 70D DSLR, Sigma 10–20mm f3.5 lens, tripod
Sharpless 115 and 116, Emil Andronic, Bushey, Hertfordshire, 22 April–1 June 2021. Equipment: ZWO ASI294MM Pro camera, AstroTech 106LE refractor, Sky-Watcher EQ6-R mount
The Moon rising by Mike Read, Longleat
The Pinwheel Galaxy, Rouzbeh Bidishahri, Vancouver, Canada, 10 June 2021. Equipment: QHY268M camera, Planewave CDK12.5 astrograph, Astro-Physics 1100 GTO mount
The Moon, Sonia Turkington, North Reddish, Stockport, 18 May 2021. Equipment: Google Pixel 4 smartphone, Sky-Watcher 10-inch Skyliner 250PX Dobsonian
The North America Nebula, Callum Wingrove, Hallsands, Devon, 25 May 2021. Equipment: ZWO ASI294MC Pro camera, Samyang 135mm f/4 lens, iOptron SkyGuider Pro mount
The Wizard Nebula, Bill Batchelor, Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada, June–July 2020. Equipment: ZWO ASI1600MM camera, William Optics FLT98 f/6.3 refractor
Omega Centauri (NGC 5139), Fernando Oliveira de Menezes, Campos do Jordão- SP – Brazil, 6 May 2021. Equipment: ZWO ASI6200MC camera, Sky-Watcher Esprit 150ED apo refractor, iOptron CEM60 mount
The Moon, David Ettie, Washington, Tyne and Wear, 20 June 2021. Equipment: ZWO ASI 178MM camera, Celestron 9.25-inch SCT, Sky-Watcher HEQ5 Pro mount
The Cat’s Paw Nebula, Prabhu, Mleiha, United Arab Emirates, 5 June 2021. Equipment: ZWO ASI1600MM Pro camera, GSO 8-inch Ritchey-Chretien astrograph, Sky-Watcher EQ6 mount
Strawberry Moon, Arman Mohammadi, Markazi province, Iran, 24 June 2021. Equipment: Canon RA mirrorless camera, Canon 100–400mm lens
Moon rising, Mike Read, Longleat forest, Wiltshire, 25 June 2021. Equipment: Canon 90D DSLR, Sigma 150–600mm lens
The Rosette Nebula, Tony McAvoy, Camborne, Cornwall, December 2020–January 2021. Equipment: QSI 583WSG camera, William Optics GT81 refractor, Sky-Watcher HEQ5 Pro mount
Eye On The Sky
The Cat’s Paw Nebula as seen by the CONCERTO instrument as it scans for radiation emitted by ionised carbon atoms, signatures from the earliest days of the cosmos. APEX/VISTA, 6 JULY 2021
IMAGE CREDIT: ESO/J. Emerson/VISTA Acknowledgment: Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit
X-class flares spotted as solar cycle 25 gets underway, SOLAR DYNAMICS OBSERVATORY, 3 JULY 2021. IMAGE CREDIT: Courtesy of NASA/SDO and the AIA, EVE, and HMI science teams
Glowing red hydrogen reveals where new stars are being created in spiral galaxy NGC 4254, VERY LARGE TELESCOPE, 16 JULY 2021. IMAGE CREDIT: ESO/PHANGS
A clash of galaxy clusters creates a spiralling L-shaped plume in Abell 1775, CHANDRA X-RAY OBSERVATORY/ Pan-STARRS/LOFAR, 15 JULY 2021. Image credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Leiden Univ./A. Botteon et al.; Radio: LOFAR/ASTRON; Optical/IR:PanSTARRS
A clash of galaxy clusters creates a spiralling L-shaped plume in Abell 1775, CHANDRA X-RAY OBSERVATORY/ Pan-STARRS/LOFAR, 15 JULY 2021. Image credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Leiden Univ./A. Botteon et al.; Radio: LOFAR/ASTRON; Optical/IR:PanSTARRS
Richard Branson’s VSS Unity burns its way to 86.1km above Earth, VSS UNITY, 11 JULY 2021. Image credit: Virgin Galactic / Handout/Anadolu Agency
Rocks cracks on Mars, possibly formed from a drying mud layer 3 billion years ago, MARS CURIOSITY, 8 JULY 2021. IMAGE CREDIT NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
The Northern Clump cluster, XMM-NEWTON, CHANDRA X-RAY OBSERVATORY, AUSTRALIAN SQUARE KILOMETER ARRAY PATHFINDER TELESCOPE, 2 JULY 2021. IMAGE CREDIT: X-ray: (Chandra: NASA/CXC/Univ. Bonn/A. Veronica et al; XMM-Newton: ESA/XMM-Newton); Optical: DES/DOE/FNAL/DECam/CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA; Radio: CSIRO/ASKAP/EMU
The Andromeda Galaxy in ultraviolet, GALEX, 18 JULY 2021. IMAGE CREDIT: NASA, JPL-Caltech, GALEX
Australia’s Garig Gunak Barlu National Park from space, TERRA SATELLITE, 16 JULY 2021. IMAGE CREDIT: NASA/METI/AIST/Japan Space Systems, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team
This month's deep-sky tour plan file can be imported into the Argo Navis Digital Telescope Computer using Argonaut software, a free utility available from Wildcard Innovations.Using Argo Navis with this month's deep-sky tour plan file, you can:
• display essential information from the Argo Navis database for each object
• slew your telescope to each object in the plan - requires a compatible mount.
• push your telescope to each object in the plan using the coordinates provided on the Argo Navis display.
To import this month's deep-sky tour plan file into Argo Navis using Argonaut software:
Download and save the file to your hard drive.
Run the Argonaut utility program and transfer the plan into your Argo Navis DTC.
This month's Deep-Sky Tour plan file is produced by Deep-Sky Planner 8 (see knightware.biz/dsp).
Deep-Sky Planner 8 astronomy software for Windows provides the tools you need to make your time at the telescope more efficient and enjoyable.
• sort the objects in the plan according to the best time and order to view each object.
• slew your ASCOM-compatible Go-To mount to each object in the plan - requires ASCOM software (free).
• show a sky chart centred on each object in the plan using one of the top planetarium software titles – requires TheSky, Starry Night, Redshift, Cartes du Ciel (free) or Stellarium (free).
• record your observation in the open, non-proprietary observing log.
Details about Deep-Sky Planner and how to purchase can be found here.
Download the Deep-Sky Planner compatible file of this month's deep-sky tour observing plan file so that you can visit each object directly with Deep-Sky Planner. Save the file to your hard drive and double click it to open it in Deep-Sky Planner.
If you are one of the many astronomers who use the ASCOM driver EQMOD to control your ASCOM-compatible Go-To mount, you can use an add-on application called EQTOUR to call up various sets of sky tours like Messier, Caldwell, Globular Clusters and simply click on an object name to slew to it.
Details about the application and how to download it free of charge can be found here.
Download the EQTOUR compatible file of our monthly Deep-sky tour, so that you can visit each object directly from your EQMod control panel. We've also included a PDF document that explains the system and how to get it installed with your telescope setup.
Copy the .lst file from the folder that appears into the same directory as the EQTOUR application file, EQTOUR.exe, and follow the instructions in the link above.
