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 • What can impossible stars tell us about cosmic distance?

HOW TO CONTACT US

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

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This month’s contributors

Extra content ONLINE

NEW ARRIVALS ON MARS • The UAE’s image marks the start of a new era, as three missions begin to explore the Red Planet

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 • The Sky at Night TV show, past, present and future

Looking back: The Sky at Night • 5 April 1978

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

Lockdown project

PHILIP’S • This month’s top prize: four Philip’s titles

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

BBC Sky at Night MAGAZINE

WHAT’S ONLINE • We pick the best astronomy events and resources available online this month

Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell • Bite-sized animations that try to answer some of the big questions

The Northern Lights and the Titanic • New evidence suggests that a solar storm may have affected the ship’s equipment

Impossible STARS • For decades astronomers have relied on the uniform size of Type-Ia supernovae to help them measure the Universe. Colin Stuart looks at the impossible stars that cast doubt on the cosmic ruler

Type la supernovae • Greedy stars steal from their neighbours until they’re ready to burst

Measuring the Universe • Space is so vast that distances can’t be measured with one method. So astronomers use several, the cosmic distance ladder

Your next step in astrophotography: A STAR TRACKER • If you’ve started taking photos of the night sky and have reached a bit of a plateau, there’s no need to buy a new camera or telescope… a tracker mount will work wonders, explains Stuart Atkinson

The dark art of stacking • A guide to one of astrophotography’s powerful and mysterious techniques

Choosing a star tracker • In the market for a star tracker? For starters, here’s three we’ve reviewed

Setting up a star tracker • A quick step-by-step guide to getting your star tracker up and running

A MONTH WITH THE MOON • View a waxing crescent Moon, an occultation of M35 and a clair-obscur effect like the Loch Ness Monster

APRIL 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 April

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

MOONWATCH • April’s top lunar feature to observe

COMETS AND ASTEROIDS • Catch asteroid 9 Metis as it reaches opposition in the constellation of Virgo

STAR OF THE MONTH • Thuban, the former Pole Star in Draco

BINOCULAR TOUR • Our wide-field gems include Markarian’s Chain and spectacular globular cluster M3

THE SKY GUIDE CHALLENGE • Plot the variation between the mean Sun and apparent Sun over the course of a year

DEEP-SKY TOUR • This month’s survey stops off at the Whirpool and Sunflower Galaxies

AT A GLANCE • How the Sky Guide events will appear in...