BBC Sky at Night

Sky at Night magazine is your practical guide to astronomy. Each issue features the world’s biggest and best night sky guide complete with star charts, observing tutorials and in-depth equipment reviews to ensure that amateur astronomers never miss those must-see events.

Welcome • Get ready for the Great Conjunction of giant planets

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Sky at Night - lots of ways to enjoy the night sky…

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This month’s contributors

Extra content ONLINE

GO WITH THE FLOW • Stars swirl like water down a plug hole as two galaxies start to merge

BULLETIN • The latest astronomy and space news,

Comment

NEWS IN BRIEF

CUTTING EDGE • Our experts examine the hottest new research

INSIDE THE SKY AT NIGHT • With recent news of a potential biomarker on Venus, The Sky at Night took a wider look for alien life. Astrobiologist Louisa Preston told the programme about other potential habitats in our Solar System

We need you! • Would you like to appear on The Sky at Night?

The Sky at Night DECEMBER

INTERACTIVE • Emails – Letters – Tweets – Facebook – Instagram – Kit questions

Lights out for darker skies!

SCOPE DOCTOR • Our equipment specialist cures your optical ailments and technical maladies

Sky at Night

WHAT’S ON • Our pick of the best events from around the UK

PopAstro videos • Online astro chat with the Society for Popular Astronomy (SPA)

FIELD OF VIEW • The amateur astronomer’s forum

THE GREAT CONJUNCTION: history in the making • This winter solstice, the constellation of Capricornus will play host to the closest approach of Jupiter and Saturn of the telescopic age. Neil Norman looks at what gives the event its historic proportions

What is a Great Conjunction? • Why this winter solstice’s conjunction is so special, and why it will go down in the annals of astronomical history

Johannes Kepler and the Star of Bethlehem • Alongside his laws of planetary movement, Kepler investigated the story of the Christmas Star

Looking for a NEW HORIZON • As the New Horizons spacecraft sails through the Kuiper Belt, Will Gater investigates how the mission is continuing to study objects it can spy from afar

Sailing through the Kuiper Belt • New Horizons is speeding away from the Solar System

Messages from afar • New Horizons was the first spacecraft to give us incredible up-close views of worlds in the Kuiper Belt, but it’s not the only mission to return data from distant realms

EXPLAINER • The fundamentals of astronomy for beginners

A literary legacy • Mary Somerville’s published works became scientific best-sellers during the Victorian era

THE GREAT CONJUNCTION • Don’t miss Jupiter and Saturn’s closest encounter since 1623

DECEMBER HIGHLIGHTS • Your guide to the night sky this month

Family stargazing

NEED TO KNOW • The terms and symbols used in The Sky Guide

THE BIG THREE • The three top sights to observe or image this month

The planets in December • The phase and relative sizes of the planets this month. Each planet is shown with south at the top, to show its orientation through a telescope

The planets in December • The phase and relative sizes of the planets this month. Each planet is shown with south at the top, to show its orientation through a telescope

THE NIGHT SKY - DECEMBER • Explore the celestial sphere with our Northern Hemisphere all-sky chart

MOONWATCH • December’s top lunar feature to observe

COMETS AND ASTEROIDS • View minor planet 13 Egeria as it reaches opposition in the constellation of Auriga

STAR OF THE MONTH • Spot...