Pete Lawrence and Paul Abel guide us through January’s night-sky highlights.
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Interview: NASA astronaut Terry Virts
Former astronaut Terry Virts discusses 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
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
