Pete Lawrence and Paul Abel guide us through January's night-sky highlights.
Interview: NASA astronaut Terry Virts
Former astronaut Terry Virtsdiscusses life in zero gravity, what the stars look like on a spacewalk and the prospect of humans on Mars.
Binocular and deep-sky tours
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 Cygnus Wall Jean Dean, Guernsey, 28 May 2020. Equipment: Starlight Xpress Trius 814 mono CCD, Takahashi FSQ-106EDX4 quadruplet apo refractor
Mars before, during and after opposition Keith Johnson, Ferryhill, County Durham, 31 August– 30 October 2020. Equipment: ZWO ASI 290MM mono camera, Celestron 9.25-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain, Sky-Watcher EQ6 Pro mount
Star trails over the Piazza del Duomo Dario Giannobile, Syracuse, Sicily, 7 and 8 December 2018. Equipment: Canon 6d, Canon 8–15mm lens, Manfrotto tripod
Track and Blend
Ogni immagine astronomica ha in se una immensa ricchezza. Essa ha il potere di unire l'arte con la scienza come accade in questa fotografia. E' una immagine artistica perche riprende l'intera volta celeste all'interno della cornice di Piazza Duomo a Siracusa. La forma della piazza e le stelle disegnano un occhio nel cielo. Il duomo in primo piano è il centro religioso del culto di Santa Lucia protettrice della vista. Ecco pertanto che l'immagine diviene una metafora perfetta della religiosità propria della città. Inoltre l'immagine è presentata in modo da ricordare un piccolo globo o pianeta. Nel titolo i due aspetti si fondono giocando con la parola "orb".
Ma questa immagine è ricca di spunti scientifici. Intanto la fotografia sferica è stata inclinata esattamente in modo tale da ricordare l'inclinazione dell'asse terrestre. L'altezza della stella Polare rispetto all'orizzonte indica la latitudine del luogo in cui è stata scattata l'immagine. La Polare non coincide perfettamente con il polo nord celeste il quale è leggermente decentrato rispetto alla stella stessa. Le stelle che ruotano attorno alla polare ma che non tramontano sull'orizzonte, vengono dette stelle circumpolari. La lunghezza degli archi delle stelle circupolari possono dare una indicazzione diretta del tempo di esposizione sapendo che un cerchio completo corrisponde a 24hh (una rotazione terrestre). Tutte le altre stelle descrivono dei cerchi sempre più grandi fino a quanto si incontra la zona dell'equatore celeste che divide i due emisferi. Lì le stelle descrivono una retta (qui distorta dalla geometria sferica) in quanto equidistanti tra il polo nord e il polo sud. Al di la dell'equatore celeste, in direzione sud, le tracce stellari hanno una curvatura opposta rispetto a quelle dell'emisfero nord. Per finire, ogni traccia stellare ha un suo colore distintivo che è proprio della temperatura della stella che lo ha
ISS zips across the Moon Andrei Dumitriu, Bucharest, Romania, 1 November 2020. Equipment: ZWO ASI 178MC colour camera, Orion ED80 apo refractor, Sky-Watcher Star Discovery mount
IC 1396 and the Elephant’s Trunk Nebula Chris Callaway, Leicester, 20 and 21 September, 3 November 2020. Equipment: Atik 16200 mono camera, Takahashi FSQ-106ED refractor, Paramount MyT mount
The Andromeda Galaxy Vicki Pink, Southampton, 21 September 2020. Equipment: Altair Hypercam 183C camera, Sky-Watcher 72ED Evostar refractor, Sky-Watcher HEQ5 Pro mount
NGC 6188, the fighting dragons of Ara Shawn Nielsen, remotely via Siding Springs Observatory, Australia, March 2016 and October 2020. Equipment: SBIG STL-11000M camera, Takahashi FSQ ED 106mm refractor, Paramount ME EQ mount
Daytime lunar occultation of Venus Aristeidis Bottas, Brussels, Belgium, 19 June 2020. Equipment: Canon 6D MK II DSLR, Celestron 9.25-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain, Sky-Watcher HEQ5 mount
Milky Way over Galloway Rod Armstrong, Coo Palace near Borgue, 13 September 2020. Equipment: Sony Alpha 7 II mirrorless camera, Zeiss Batis 18mm lens, Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer mount
Mineral Moon Treasa Giblin Frazer, Lifford, County Donegal, Ireland, 7 October 2020. Equipment: Canon 6D DSLR, Sigma 150–600mm lens, Manfrotto 055 tripod
Pelican Nebula Dave Frost, Holloway, Derbyshire, July 2020. Equipment: ZWO ASI 183MM Pro camera, William Optics GT-81 apo triplet refractor, Sky-Watcher HEQ5 mount
NGC 7293, The Helix Nebula Davide Mancini, Perth, Australia, 8 November 2020. Equipment: ZWO ASI 2600MC colour camera, SharpStar 150 f/2.8 astrograph, Sky-Watcher HEQ5 mount
NGC 891 Mark Shelton, Birmingham, 26 October 2020. Equipment: ZWO ASI 6200 camera, Celestron C14 Schmidt-Cassegrain OTA, Paramount MX mount
M16, The Eagle Nebula Juanma Giménez, Barcelona, Spain, 16 June 2020. Equipment: ZWO ASI 1600MM camera, Sky-Watcher 150/750 Newtonian, Sky-Watcher EQ6R Pro mount
Moon and Mars inside a Halo Andrew Morl, Grassholme Observatory, County Durham, 30 October 2020. Equipment: Nikon D7200 DSLR, Sigma 8–16mm lens
IC 59 and IC 63, the Ghost of Cassiopeia Tom Wildoner, The Dark Side Observatory, Pennsylvania, USA, 19 September 2020. Equipment: ZWO ASI 071MC Pro colour camera, William Optics RedCat51 apo refractor, Sky-Watcher EQ6R-Pro mount
Philolaus crater, the Moon Fernando Oliveira de Menezes, São Paulo, Brazil, 28 October 2020. Equipment: ZWO ASI 462MC colour camera, Meade LX200 10-inch, iOptron CEM60-EC mount
North America and Pelican Nebulae Srinivasan Ananthachari, Abudhabi and Razeen desert, Abu Dhabi, August–October 2020. Equipment: ZWO ASI 1600MM Pro camera, Sky-Watcher Esprit 100ED apo refractor, Sky-Watcher EQ6R Pro mount
Galaxy cluster ACO 2197 in Hercules Vasilis Misirlis, Mount Parnon, Greece, May 2020. Equipment: QHY183 mono camera, Celestron ED80 refractor, Sky-Watcher HEQ5 Pro mount
Eye On The Sky
Beams of bright light and dark shadows pour from IC 5063 HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE, 23 November 2020 Credit: NASA, ESA, and W.P. Maksym (CfA)
Close-up of the central bulge of our Milky Way VICTOR M BLANCO TELESCOPE, 27 OCTOBER 2020. Credit: CTIO/NOIRLab/DOE/NSF/AURA/STScI, W. Clarkson (UM-Dearborn), C. Johnson (STScI), and M. Rich (UCLA)/E.Slawik
Discombobulated spiral galaxy NGC 34 HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE, 26 October 2020. Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, A. Adamo et al.; CC BY 4.0
The Skull Nebula NGC 246 VERY LARGE TELESCOPE, 30 OCTOBER 2020. Credit: ESO
The Blue Ring Nebula GALEX, 18 November 2020. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/M. Seibert (Carnegie Institution for Science)/K. Hoadley (Caltech)/GALEX Team
Centre of the Southern Pinwheel Galaxy M83 VERY LARGE TELESCOPE, 23 NOVEMBER 2020. Credit: ESO/TIMER survey
Curiosity snaps a selfie CURIOSITY MARS ROVER, 25 OCTOBER 2020. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Mars Curiosity’s close-up of the Mary Anning drilling location CURIOSITY MARS ROVER, 25 OCTOBER 2020. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Galaxy UGCA 193 in Sextans HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE, 2 NOVEMBER 2020. Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, R. Tully; CC BY 4.0 - Acknowledgement: Gagandeep Anand
Galaxy LRG-3-817, distorted by gravitational lensing HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE, 9 NOVEMBER 2020. Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, S. Allam et al.
Indistinct spiral galaxy UGC 12588 HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE, 16 November 2020. Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, R. Tully; CC BY 4.0 - Acknowledgement: Gagandeep Anand
A bubble of ultra-hot gas in the middle of planetary nebula IC 4593 CHANDRA X-RAY OBSERVATORY/HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE, 12 NOVEMBER 2020. Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/UNAM/J. Toalá et al.; Optical: NASA/STScI
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.