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 • Don’t let the Moon mar your meteor spotting

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

This month’s contributors

Extra content ONLINE

DAZZLING DEATH THROES

Mystery object bridges black hole gap • Is it the heaviest neutron star or the lightest black hole?

Comment

Solar System’s edge charted over solar cycle • Astronomers have watched the region respond to the Sun’s activity

Most diverse list of potential alien habitats

BRIEF

Earth-sized planet found hiding around Sun-like star • The pair are the closest match to the Sun and Earth yet detected

Distance to first Einstein ring measured • Locked-down science allows time to revisit a decades-old question

Warm beginnings for Pluto

BRIEF

Seeking signs of alien life • Next generation telescopes could help astronomers find distant biosignatures

Tracking wide binaries in star clusters • The crowded regions tend to pull stellar pairs apart

INSIDE THE SKY AT NIGHT • In July’s episode of The Sky at Night, astronomer Emily Cannon talks to the team about her work on Betelgeuse, a red supergiant star that’s had something of a fainting spell recently

Looking back: The Sky at Night • 29 August 1981

INTERACTIVE

Rising to the challenge

This month’s top prize: four Philip’s titles

ON FACEBOOK • WE ASKED: What is your most spectacular meteor memory?

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

Steve’s top tip • How do I work out the magnification of my eyepiece?

SOCIETY IN FOCUS

Sky at Night

WHAT’S ONLINE

PICK OF THE MONTH

All under the same sky • In light of the Black Lives Matter movement, the barriers that hold back diversity in astronomy and geophysics need to be addressed

Perseid NIGHTS • August’s peak of the Perseid meteor shower is likely to be affected by the Moon this year, so Stuart Atkinson selects some other targets to look out for

Location, location, location • The darker the sky from your viewing location, the better

The ISS and other satellites • Your meteor watch will also reveal many human-made stars

Earth’s armada TO MARS • As three spacecraft make their way towards the Red Planet, Govert Schilling examines what they hope to achieve

Rosalind Franklin • Not all missions hoping to reach Mars managed to meet the summer deadline

Mars sample return • Perseverance is just the first stage in an ambitious plan

AUGUST HIGHLIGHTS • Your guide to the night sky this month

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

GETTING STARTED IN ASTRONOMY

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

THE PLANETS • Our celestial neighbourhood in August

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

MOONWATCH • August’s top lunar feature to observe

Archimedes

COMETS AND ASTEROIDS • As 1 Ceres reaches opposition on 28 August, we look back at its discovery

STAR OF THE MONTH • Sheliak, a multiple star system in Lyra

BINOCULAR TOUR • Discover summer’s most spectacular wide-field sights, including open cluster M11

THE SKY GUIDE CHALLENGE • Can you observe and estimate the variability of Delta...