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 • Could black holes be stripped of their event horizons?

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

This month’s contributors

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New to astronomy?

JUPITER IN A NEW LIGHT • The gas giant dazzles in these newly released infrared, visible light and ultraviolet images

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 • 20 July 1977

The Sky at Night JULY

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

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

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

The Sky at Night

WHAT’S ON • We pick the best live and virtual astronomy events and resources this month

PICK OF THE MONTH

FIELD OF VIEW • The amateur astronomer’s forum

NAKED BLACK HOLES • Physicists have long held that black holes must be clothed in an event horizon, but Colin Stuart considers whether the concept is a convenient cover-up

A brief history of black holes • The difficulties of seeing something which steals all light has kept black holes hidden for centuries

Hawking radiation • Particles appearing on the edge of a black hole could wear it down over time

A twilight NIGHT’S TOUR • For some, short summer nights mean less observing, but there is a wealth of celestial beauty to be found at the Blue Hour, writes Scott Levine

Twilight’s changing face • As afternoon ends and another July night settles in, check these celestial sights off your twilight observing list

The stages of twilight • We generally group the gradual changes of twilight into three stages

A mega Milky Way mosaic • Astrophotographer J-P Metsavainio spent 12 years photographing the Milky Way and stitching together a mesmerising panorama of our home Galaxy

The Sky Guide JULY 2021

JULY 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 July

The planets in July • 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: JULY • Using a small scope you can spot Jupiter’s biggest moons. Their positions change dramatically during the month, as shown on the diagram. The line by each date represents 01:00 BST (00:00 UT).

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

MOONWATCH • July’s top lunar feature to observe

COMETS AND ASTEROIDS • Observe Asteroid 12 Victoria as it reaches opposition in Aquila, the Eagle

STAR OF THE MONTH • Nunki, a bright gem in the Teapot asterism

BINOCULAR TOUR • Our wide-field targets range from the easy Wild Duck Cluster to the tricky NGC 6572

THE SKY GUIDE CHALLENGE • Can you track down and capture the remote dwarf planet Pluto?

DEEP-SKY TOUR • Our exploration...