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Virtual Planetarium
Pete Lawrence and Paul Abel guide us through July's night-sky highlights.
Interview: SETI
SETI Institute’s Franck Marchis talks astrobiology, exoplanets and what he really thinks about UFOs.
DIY Astronomy
Download a PDF to help with this month's DIY Astronomy project on how to build a webcamscope, and view our image gallery.
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.
Aurora streamers over the White Mountains, Alaska
John Chumack, White Mountains, Alaska, 31 March 2022
Equipment: Canon 6D DSLR, Tokina 16–28mm lens, Bogen tripod
The Eagle Nebula Diptiman Nandy, remotely via El Sauce Observatory, Rio Hurtado, Chile, 24 August–19 November 2021 Equipment: FLI ProLine PL9000 camera, Planewave CDK24 astrograph, Mathis MI-1000 mount
The Whale and Hockey Stick Galaxies Michael Clem, Waynesboro, Pennsylvania, USA, 30 April and 1 May 2022 Equipment: ZWO ASI533MC camera, Astro-Tech AT115EDT refractor, Sky-Watcher EQM-35 Pro mount
Plato crater Alfonso Merino, Madrid, Spain, 17 April 2022 Equipment: ZWO ASI120MC-S camera, Sky-Watcher Skymax 127 Maksutov-Cassegrain, Sky-Watcher NEQ6 Pro mount
Sunspot montage over 8 days Peter Lewis, Sutton, London, 18–26 April 2022 Equipment: Samsung S20 smartphone, Orion SkyQuest 8-inch Dobsonian, Orion solar filter
Milky Way over Namthing Pokhri Lake Basudeb Chakrabarti, West Bengal, India, 13 March 2022 Equipment: Nikon D5200 DSLR, Tokina 11–16mm lens, tripod
Star trails over a Sicilian tulip field Dario Giannobile, Blufi, Sicily, 26 March 2021 Equipment: Canon 6D DSLR, Canon 8-15mm lens, Manfrotto MT190XPRO4 tripod
NGC 1367
Warren Keller and Mike Selby, El Sauce Observatory, Rio Hurtado, Chile, 5–7 November 2021
Equipment: FLI Proline 16803 camera, PlaneWave PW1000 and CDK700 Nasmyth astrographs
The Cone and Fox Fur Nebulae
Prabhu, Razeen Desert and Buraq dam, UAE, 13 December 2021 and 25 March 2022
Equipment: ZWO 294MM Pro camera, GSO 8-Inch Ritchey–Chrétien astrograph, Sky-Watcher EQ6 Pro mount
Bode’s Galaxy, M81
Jeffrey O Johnson, Las Cruces, New Mexico, USA, 7 April 2022
Equipment: QSI690WSG camera, Takahashi TOA-130F refractor, Takahashi EM200 mount
The Wizard Nebula
Ian J Crichton, Dalgety Bay, Scotland, 26, 27 March and 8, 9 April 2022
Equipment: QHY294M Pro camera, Sky-Watcher Esprit 150ED refractor, Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro mount
Ptolemaeus and Rupes Recta lunar craters
John Brown, Leicester, 9 April 2022
Equipment: ZWO ASI290MC camera, Sky-Watcher Skymax 127 Maksutov-Cassegrain, Sky-Watcher AZ-GTi mount
Equinox sunset
Tom Howard, Isle of Wight, 22 March 2022
Equipment: Nikon D7500 DSLR, TS-Optics 65mm refractor, Sky-Watcher EQ6 mount
Planetary parade
John Chumack, Dayton, Ohio, USA, 27 April 2022
Equipment: Canon 6D DSLR, Canon 24mm–105mm lens, tripod
Canon 6D DSLR Camera, Canon 24-105mm lens, set to 44mm, F9, ISO 400, 1.3 second exposure.
NGC 4559
Ron Brecher, Guelph, Ontario, Canada, 1 May 2022
Equipment: QHYCCD QHY600M camera, Sky-Watcher Esprit 150ED refractor, Paramount MX mount
The Moon, Venus and Jupiter
Peter Louer, Tenerife, 27 April 2022
Equipment: Canon 6D DSLR, Canon 100–400mm lens
NGC 4216
Simon Watts, Farnham, Surrey, 2 April 2022
Equipment: ZWO ASI533MC Pro camera, Celestron 8-inch EdgeHD Schmidt-Cassegrain, Sky-Watcher HEQ5 Pro mount
Partial solar eclipse
Tomás Slovinsky, Atacama, Chile, 30 April 2022
Equipment: Canon 6D DSLR, Tamron 100–400mm lens, Leofoto LM-405C tripod
Eye On The Sky
Condensed gas spotted in post-starburst galaxies 0379 and 0570
ATACAMA LARGE MILLIMETER/SUBMILLIMETER ARRAY, 25 APRIL 2022
IMAGE CREDIT: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO) / S. Dagnello (NRAO/AUI/NSF)
Condensed gas spotted in post-starburst galaxies 0379 and 0570 ATACAMA LARGE MILLIMETER/SUBMILLIMETER ARRAY, 25 APRIL 2022 IMAGE CREDIT: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO) / S. Dagnello (NRAO/AUI/NSF)
Lunar eclipse from the ISS
INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION, 16 MAY 2022
IMAGE CREDIT: NASA
Lunar eclipse from the ISS
INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION, 16 MAY 2022
IMAGE CREDIT: NASA
IMAGE INFO HERE: https://images.nasa.gov/details-iss067e043947
Filament takes flight from Sun’s surface
SOLAR DYNAMICS OBSERVATORY, 3 MAY 2022
IMAGE CREDIT: NASA
Kaleidoscope of galaxies and asteroid trails near Abell 370
HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE, 6 MAY 2022
IMAGE CREDIT: NASA, ESA, and B. Sunnquist and J. Mack (STScI). Acknowledgment: NASA, ESA, and J. Lotz (STScI) and the HFF Team
Sag A* black hole
EVENT HORIZON TELESCOPE, 12 MAY 2022
IMAGE CREDIT: EHT Collaboration
Centre of gigantic elliptical galaxy NGC 474
HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE, 18 MAY 2022
IMAGE CREDIT: NASA, ESA, D. Carter (Liverpool John Moores University), DSS; Image processing: G. Kober (NASA Goddard/Catholic University of America)
NGC 3627
VERY LARGE TELESCOPE, 2 MAY 2022
IMAGE CREDIT: ESO/PHANGS
Spiral galaxy IC 342
HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE, 11 MAY 2022
IMAGE CREDIT: NASA, ESA, P. Sell (University of Florida), and P. Kaaret (University of Iowa); Image processing: G. Kober (NASA Goddard/Catholic University of America)
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.