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 • We’re standing on the edge of a new era of Moon missions

Become an Insider

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

This month’s contributors

Extra content ONLINE

EYE ON THE SKY

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 • 18 October 1979

The Sky at Night OCTOBER

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

Catching Saturn in a moonbeam

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

Sky at Night

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

Dark Skies Fringe Festival • North York Moors and Yorkshire Dales, various venues, 21-30 October

Cashing in on the cosmos • Jonathan Powell reflects on the 1910 Hatley’s Comet panic buying spree

Astronomy Photographer of the Year • BBC Sky at Night Magazine is proud to reveal the 2022 winners of the world’s biggest astrophotography contest

THE JUDGES

ARTEMIS BEGINS • As Artemis takes the first step in NASA’s plan to return humans to the Moon, Shaoni Bhattacharya talks to the people behind the wider series of missions

The Sky Guide

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 top sights to observe or image this month

THE PLANETS • Our celestial neighbourhood in October

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 • Brightening comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) loops the loop in the Northern Crown

STAR OF THE MONTH • Kaffaljidhma, a triple in Cetus the Whale

BINOCULAR TOUR • Stars, star, stars: this month it’s all about spotting clusters and pairs

THE SKY GUIDE CHALLENGE • How low can you go? Our challenge: find the most southerly object you can see

DEEP-SKY TOUR • We take a deep dive to hunt low-altitude targets around the west of Cetus the Whale

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

MARS SEASON HAS ARRIVED • With Mars at opposition this December – and a rare lunar occultation expected too – now’s the time to start observing and tracking its changing features, writes Paul G Abel

Light on Mars? • See if you can observe the famed flashes in Edom Promontorium

Sketch what you see • It’s simple and a great way to fine-tune your Martian geography know-how

From city lights to DEEP SPACE • As the nights lengthen, Rod Mollise reveals rewarding objects to seek out in suburban and city skies this autumn

Félicette, the cat that flew to space • Stuart Atkinson tells the story of the only feline to have survived spaceflight

Feline constellations • Félicette may be the only cat to have flown to space, but there are other felines that feature in the night sky

Create a 24-hour polar star trail photo • Merge a series of photos to make a spectacular image showing...