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 to know the Moon in more detail than ever before
This month’s contributors
Gentle GIANT • Enormous galaxy UGC 2885 is 2.5 times the diameter of the Milky Way and home to 10 times as many stars
Brightest stellar explosion caused by colliding stars • The debris left behind indicates an event similar to a Type IA supernova
Comment
Citizen scientists help discover new aurora • Auroral ‘dunes’ are spotted in images by amateur astronomers
Comets brought ingredient of life to Earth
NEWS IN BRIEF
The hottest planet is tearing itself apart • Temperatures are so extreme that the world’s atmosphere is fiercer than some stars
Spitzer sees its final light
NEWS IN BRIEF
‘Vampire’ star preys on stellar companion • The pair briefly flared up 1,000 times brighter than normal
The complex core of ice moon Enceladus
Taking the slow lane to Saturn • A new route could help spacecraft reach the outer Solar System
Solving gravity’s oldest problem • The ‘three-body problem’ has long been the bane of astrophysicists
INSIDE THE SKY AT NIGHT • January’s Sky at Night episode saw Maggie Aderin-Pocock return to her old telescope-making class, run by Terry Pearce. He tells us about it
Looking back: The Sky at Night
The Sky at Night returns in April
INTERACTIVE Email us at inbox@skyatnightmagazine.com
Praises on high • With all the news about Betelgeuse – I penned this:
ON FACEBOOK • WE ASKED: What are your top tips for observing or photographing the Moon?
SCOPE DOCTOR • Our equipment specialist cures your optical ailments and technical maladies
Steve’s top tip • How do I set up my finderscope?
SOCIETY IN FOCUS
BBC Sky at Night
Turning a reservoir into a planetarium • One astronomy society has ambitious plans to build a science discovery centre and planetarium in a derelict reservoir next to their observatory
WHAT’S ON
UK in Space Festival • National Space Centre, Exploration Drive, Leicester, 7 March, from 10am
Set the controls for the heart of THE SUN • ESA’s Solar Orbiter launched earlier this month on a mission that will take it perilously close to the Sun. Michael Lachmann explores the science behind it
Science at the Sun • The Solar Orbiter mission has been designed to answer four key questions about the solar wind. What are they?
The UK aims for the Sun • Solar Orbiter, an ESA mission with a large UK contribution
Take your Moon OBSERVING FURTHER • Pete Lawrence is your guide to taking your lunar observations to the next level with expert advice on finding your way around its fascinating surface features and more
Finding your way • How to get your bearings for your lunar observations
What it will look like • What kind of view to expect through the eyepiece of a telescope
Targets to observe • A telescope will reveal the Moon’s geology and landscapes
Lunar occultations • Time when stars go behind the Moon, and see them graze the uneven edge
The Sky Guide
MARCH 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 • Our celestial neighbourhood in March
THE NIGHT SKY – MARCH • Explore the celestial...