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 January's night-sky highlights.
200 issues of observing
Listen to Pete Lawrence and Paul Abel chat about their favourite astronomical events since the first issue of BBC Sky at Night Magazine was launched.
Book preview: The Space Business
Download and read an extract from a new book that takes a behind-the-scenes look at the private spaceflight industry.
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 Seahorse Nebula, Barnard 150
Emil Andronic, Bushey, Hertfordshire, 7 September–2 October 2021
Equipment: ZWO ASI294MM Pro camera, Astro-Tech 106LE triplet apo refractor, Sky-Watcher AZ-EQ6 mount
Supernova remnant CTB-1
Bill Batchelor, Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada, July–August 2021
Equipment: ZWO ASI1600MM Pro camera, William Optics FLT98 refractor, Celestron Advanced AVX mount
Comet C/2020 T2 (Palomar) passing Antares
José Chambó, remotely via Siding Spring Observatory, NSW Australia, 5 October 2021
Equipment: FLI ProLine 16803 camera, TeleVue NP127 refractor, 10Micron 2000 HPS mount
The Heart Nebula
Danny Lee, Folkestone, Kent, 29 September 2021
Equipment: Canon 650D DSLR, William Optics RedCat 51 refractor, Sky-Watcher EQ5 Pro mount
Satellite sky
Adam Gray, New Forest, Hampshire, 13 August 2021
Equipment: Canon 2000D DSLR, Samyang 14mm lens, Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer 2i
The Heart and Soul Nebulae
Martin Bracken, Chelmsford, 25 September–3 November 2021
Equipment: ZWO ASI294MC Pro camera, Sky-Watcher Esprit 100ED refractor, Sky-Watcher HEQ5 Pro mount
Sunspots, by
Arturo Buenrostro, Dallas, Texas, USA
The Little Rosette Nebula, Sh2-170
Chad Leader, North Brentwood, Maryland, USA, 6, 7 and 9 September 2021
Equipment: ZWO ASI294MM Pro camera, Celestron 8-inch EdgeHD OTA, Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro mount
The Pleiades
Matthew Shutter, Tring, Buckinghamshire, 2 November 2021
Equipment: ZWO ASI1600MM Pro camera, William Optics Zenithstar 73 apo refractor, iOptron GEM28 mount
The Andromeda Galaxy
Paul Gordon, Rochford, Essex, 1 and 3 October 2021
Equipment: ZWO ASI533MC camera, William Optics Zenithstar 73 apo refractor, Sky-Watcher HEQ5 Pro mount
The Helix Nebula
Mainak Chakraborty, Kolkata, India, 2 October 2021
Equipment: QHYCCD QHY294C Pro camera, William Optics Redcat 51 apo refractor, iOptron Sky Guider Pro mount
Cosmic question mark (NGC 7822)
Carl Gough, Littlehampton, West Sussex, 21–26 October 2021
Equipment: ZWO ASI1600MM camera, Samyang 135mm lens, Sky-Watcher EQ6-R mount
The Pleiades
Callum Wingrove, Stanmore, London, 2 and 3 November 2021
Equipment: ZWO ASI1600MM Pro camera, SharpStar 94EDPH triplet apo refractor, Sky-Watcher HEQ5 Pro mount
The Orion Nebula
Ben Brotherton, Herefordshire, 2 November 2021
Equipment: ZWO ASI533MC camera, Sky-Watcher 8-inch Newtonian, Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro mount
Widefield view including NGC 7822, Little Rosette Nebula and CTB-1
Prabhu, Buraq dam, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, 11 October 2021
Equipment: ZWO ASI294MM Pro camera, Samyang 135mm lens, Sky-Watcher AZ-EQ6 mount
The Heart Nebula
Nick Lake, Chicago, USA, September–October 2021
Equipment: ZWO ASI1600MM Pro camera, Celestron 8-inch Rowe-Ackermann Schmidt astrograph, iOptron CEM40 mount
Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko passes the Crab Nebula
José Chambó, remotely via New Mexico Skies, Mayhill, New Mexico, USA, 9 October 2021
Equipment: SBIG STL-11000M camera, Takahashi FSQ-106ED f/5.0, Paramount GT-1100S mount
The Pleiades
Ash Bull, Ockbrook, Derby, 24 October 2020 and 3 November 2021
Equipment: ZWO ASI071MC Pro camera, Celestron 8-inch Rowe-Ackermann Schmidt astrograph, iOptron CEM70 mount
The Wizard Nebula
Nigel Arnold, York, 29 September and 8 October 2021
Equipment: ZWO ASI2600MC Pro camera, Sky-Watcher Esprit 100ED refractor, Celestron CGX Mount
IC 1871 (within the Soul Nebula IC 1848)
Chad Leader, North Brentwood, Maryland, USA, September–October 2021
Equipment: ZWO ASI294MM Pro camera, Celestron 8-inch EdgeHD OTA, Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro mount
The Heart and Soul Nebulae
Jeffrey Horne, Nashville, Tennessee, USA, 11 October 2021
Equipment: ZWO ASI2600MC Pro camera, TPO UltraWide 180 triplet apo refractor, Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro mount
Eye On The Sky
Superbubble in the emission nebula N44
HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE, 2 NOVEMBER 2021
IMAGE CREDIT: NASA, ESA, V. Ksoll and D. Gouliermis (Universität Heidelberg), et al.; Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)
Virgo Cluster
ALMA, 2 NOVEMBER 2021
IMAGE CREDIT: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/S. Dagnello (NRAO)/Böhringer et al. (ROSAT All-Sky Survey)
Increased solar eruptions as Solar Cycle 25 cranks up
SOHO, 28 October 2021
Image credit: SOHO/LASCO (ESA, NASA, NRL, Brendan Gallagher)
Filament eruption from active region 12887
SOLAR DYNAMICS OBSERVATORY, 28 October 2021
Image credit: NASA/SDO and the AIA, EVE and HMI science teams
Hubble portrait of the outer planets
HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE, 18 NOVEMBER 2021
Credit: NASA, ESA, A. Simon (Goddard Space Flight Center), and M.H. Wong (University of California, Berkeley) and the OPAL team
Small black hole detected in NGC1850
VERY LARGE TELESCOPE/HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE, 11 NOVEMBER 2021
Credit: ESO, NASA/ESA/R. Gilmozzi/S. Casertano, J. Schmidt
Icy cliff on Mars
EXOMARS, 19 NOVEMBER 2021
Credit: ESA/Roscosmos/CaSSIS, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO
Overlapping spiral galaxies NGC 3314a and b
VERY LARGE TELESCOPE, 8 NOVEMBER 2021
Credit: ESO/Iodice et al.
Spiral galaxy NGC 4254 in the Virgo Cluster
ALMA/HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE, 2 NOVEMBER 2021
Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/S. Dagnello (NRAO)
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.