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 reveal February's night-sky highlights.
Interview: Achieving interstellar travel
NASA propulsion scientist Les Johnson looks to a future in which humans venture beyond our Solar System.
DIY Astronomy
Download our guide to help you complete this month's project: building a zero-magnification finder.
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 Spaghetti Nebula, Michael P. Caligiuri, Anza Borrego Desert, California, 25-26 November 2022
Equipment: ZWO ASI 294 camera, Samyang 135mm f/1.8 lens at f/4, Astro-Physics AP1100 equatorial mount.
The Andromeda Galaxy, Davy Viaene, remotely via the E-EyE Observatory, Spain, 3 and 8 November 2022
Equipment: ZWO ASI 6200MC Pro camera, Takahashi FSQ106ED III refractor, Paramount MyT robotic mount
Solar prominence, Anton Matthews, Bristol, UK, 5 December 2022
Equipment: ZWO ASI 224MC camera, Coronado Personal Solar Telescope, Sky-Watcher Solar Quest mount on Horizon photographic tripod
The Pleiades, Jared Bowens, Backyard Country Observatory, Clarksdale, Missouri, US, 21-22 November 2022
Equipment: Canon EOS 60D DSLR camera, Orion 8-inch Newtonian astrograph, Celestron AVX mount
The Moon, with a Boeing 737, John Tipping, Northwich, Cheshire, 11 June 2022
Equipment: Canon 700D DSLR camera, Sky-Watcher SkyMax 180 Pro Maksutov-Cassegrain reflector, iOptron iEQ45 Pro mount
The Bubble Nebula, Carl Gough, Littlehampton, West Sussex, October-November 2022 with some data from 2021
Equipment: ZWO ASI 1600MM camera, Orion 8” f/8 Ritchey-Chretien astrograph, EQ6 mount
The Dumbbell Nebula, Francis Bozon, remotely via Alentejo Remote Observatory, Portugal, 4 August - 28 September 2022
Equipment: Moravian G3-16200 camera, Astrosib RC 400 Ritchey-Chretien telescope, ASA DDM85 direct-drive mount
The Double Cluster in Perseus, Shawn Nielsen, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, DATE Equipment: QHY268M CMOS camera, Starfield Optics 8-inch astrograph, Sky-Watcher EQ6 mount
The Horsehead Nebula, Pat Devine, Edinburgh, UK, 20 and 25 November 2022
Equipment: ZWO 183MC-PRO camera, Celestron 8" Rowe-Ackermann astrograph, Sky-Watcher HEQ5 Pro mount
LDN1251, The Rotten Fish Nebula, Dan Kuchta, Brockport, NY, USA, October 2022
Equipment: ZWO ASI 2600MC Pro camera, Sky-Watcher Esprit 100 refractor, iOptron CEM120 equatorial mount
The Pac-Man Nebula, Darren Butterworth, Grove, Oxfordshire, 13 August 2022
Equipment: ASI294MC PRO camera, Celestron EdgeHD 8-inch Aplanatic Schmidt reflector, Sky-Watcher HEQ5 Pro mount
NGC 891, Jeff Johnson, Las Cruses, New Mexico, USA, 13 and 28 October 2022
Equipment: Quantum Scientific QSI 690 camera, Takahashi TOA-130 refractor, Takahashi EM200 Goto mount
Nebulae in Auriga, Jeff Lovelace, remotely via Sierra Remote Observatories, Auberry, CA, 24 November 2019 to 17 January 2021
Equipment: FLI ML-16070M camera, Takahashi FSQ-106EDX4 refractor, Paramount MyT robotic mount
Comet C/2020 V2, capture by John Short, Whitburn, Tyne and Wear, UK, 20 November 2022. Equipment: Unistellar eVscope 2 Digital Smart Telescope and mount
Jupiter, Josh French, Grampound Road, Cornwall, 8 November 2022
Equipment: ZWO ASI 462MC camera, Orion Skyquest XX12g GoTo Truss Tube Dobsonian and mount
The Moon, Linda Cooper, Firth of Forth, Scotland, 5 November 2022
Equipment: Canon EOS 90D DSLR camera, Sigma 150-600mm lens at f/22, Peak Design Travel Tripod
Mars, Mike Read, Corsley, Wiltshire, 24 November 2022
Equipment: ZWO ASI 585MC camera, Celestron EdgeHD 8-inch Aplanatic Schmidt reflector, Sky-Watcher EQ6R Pro mount
Sunspots, Paul Howat, Faro, Portugal, 2 December 2022
Equipment: ZWO ASI 183MM camera, Sky-Watcher Esprit 80 ED refractor, Daystar Quark Chromosphere and Astronomix 2” UV/IR rejection filters, Sky-Watcher EQ6R Pro mount
Lunar eclipse, Robert B Slobins, Wheeling, Illinois, USA, 8 November 2022
Equipment: Nikon D800e DSLR camera, Nikon 500mm lens at f/5.6, Gitzo G1548 MK2 tripod
Star trails and noctilucent clouds, Steven Brown, Stokesley, North Yorkshire, 21 June 2022
Equipment: Canon EOS 250D DSLR camera, Canon EF-S 24mm lens at f/2.8, Camlink TP-2800 tripod
Lunar occultation of Mars, Chris Kotsiopoulos, Reading, 8 December 2022
Equipment: ZWO ASI 120mm Mini camera, Celestron C90 Maksutov, Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer Pro.
Exposure: 40” video: 1,000 still images (best 25% stacked)
Software: SharpCap 4.0, AutoStakkert!, Photoshop.
Mars occultation trails, Tomáš Slovinský, Kosice, Slovakia, 8 December 2022
Equipment: Canon EOS R6, TS-Optics 1,000mm Newtonian, Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer, Leofoto Summit LM-405C tripod.
Exposure: 1/60”, ISO 100-1200
Software: Photoshop
Eye On The Sky
Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Orsola De Marco (Macquarie University), Joseph DePasquale (STScI)
Southern Ring nebula in Vela
James Webb Space Telescope, 8 December 2022
The core of NGC 1097 in Fornax
Very Large Telescope, 23 November 2022
Credit: NSO/AURA/NSF
The Sun’s chromosphere in hydrogen-beta
Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope, 5 September 2022
Credit: W. M. Keck Observatory/Judy Schmidt
Clouds in the atmosphere of Saturn’s moon Titan
Keck II Telescope, 1 December 2022
Credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Judy Schmidt
NGC 1566, the Spanish Dancer Galaxy
James Webb Space Telescope, 25 November 2022
Credits: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Ames Research Center/L. Bonne et al.; Infrared: ESA/NASA.JPL-Caltech/Herschel Space Observatory/JPL/IPAC
Emission nebula RCW 36 in Vela
Chandra X-Ray Observatory, Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), Atacama Pathfinder Experiment telescope, and Herschel Space Observatory, 29 November 2022
Image credit: NASA, ESA, C. Pallanca and F. Ferraro (Universits Di Bologna), and M. van Kerkwijk (University of Toronto); Processing: G. Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)
Globular cluster NGC 6440 in Sagittarius
Hubble Space Telescope, 30 November 2022
Image Credit: NASA, ESA and R. Cohen (Rutgers the State University of New Jersey); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)
Globular cluster Pismis 26 in Scorpius
Hubble Space Telescope, 28 November 2022
Credit: LOFAR/Chandra/WIYN/Hubble/Frits Sweijen
Perseus galaxy cluster
Chandra X-Ray Observatory, Low-Frequency Array, WIYN Observatory, Hubble Space Telescope, 17 October 2022
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.