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 • Enjoy the best opportunity to view Mars for years to come
HOW TO CONTACT US
Sky at Night – lots of ways to enjoy the night sky…
This month’s contributors
Extra content ONLINE • Visit www.skyatnightmagazine.com/bonus-content/3XAE3DB to access this month’s selection of exclusive Bonus Content
EYE ON THE SKY WHEN NEOWISE DROPPED BY • A look back at the spectacular comet that graced our skies in July
BULLETIN • The latest astronomy and space news, written by Ezzy Pearson
Comment
NEWS IN BRIEF
CUTTING EDGE • Our experts examine the hottest new research
INSIDE THE SKY AT NIGHT • The Sky at Night TV show, past, present and future
Looking back: The Sky at Night • 1 October 1983
The Sky at Night OCTOBER
INTERACTIVE • Emails – Letters – Tweets – Facebook – Instagram – Kit questions
SCOPE DOCTOR • Our equipment specialist cures your optical ailments and technical maladies With Steve Richards
BBC Sky at Night MAGAZINE
WHAT’S ON • Our pick of the best events from around the UK
FIELD OF VIEW • The astronomer’s forum
Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year • BBC Sky at Night Magazine proudly announces the 2020 victors of the world’s largest astrophotograpy competition
THE JUDGES
OBSERVE MARS AT ITS BEST • October’s opposition of the Red Planet is the best opportunity to view the world for years to come. Pete Lawrence helps you make the most of it with a week-by-week guide to what may be visible on Mars’s disc
The moons of Mars • The Red Planet’s two small satellites are within reach of amateur scopes
Martian flashes • More observations of mysterious transient bright spots on Mars’s surface are needed
MARS REACHES OPPOSITION • Watch the Red Planet appear at its brightest and largest this month
OCTOBER HIGHLIGHTS • Your guide to the night sky this month
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 October
The planets in October • 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
JUPITER’S MOONS: OCTOBER
THE NIGHT SKY – OCTOBER • Explore the celestial sphere with our Northern Hemisphere all-sky chart
MOONWATCH • October’s top lunar feature to observe
COMETS AND ASTEROIDS • Observe minor planet 11 Parthenope reaching opposition in Pisces
STAR OF THE MONTH • Rho Cassiopeiae, a yellow hypergiant
BINOCULAR TOUR • The Pleiades, Uranus and Asteroid Flora are among October’s wide-field highlights
THE SKY GUIDE CHALLENGE • See if you can track a meeting between the two gas giants and the dwarf planet Pluto?
DEEP-SKY TOUR • We explore the celestial highlights found in eastern Cassiopeia
AT A GLANCE • How the Sky Guide events will appear in October
NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH A tour of our local galactic group • Autumn skies in the Northern Hemisphere bring many of the Milky Way’s nearby galaxies into view. Paul Money takes an observing tour of them
Viewing the Local Group • What different instruments will show you of our neighbouring galaxies
Imaging the Local Group • How to capture our nearby ‘island universes’
THE...