Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2024 | See the shortlisted images
Webb discovers record-breaking exploded stars that existed when the Universe was in its infancy
60 Olympic swimming pools' worth of water frost discovered on top of Mars's equatorial volcanoes
The smart telescope revolution | Transforming astronomy
C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS | The next great comet? Here's how to locate and observe it in the night sky
Cosmic rays explained
A primer on cosmic rays, the high-energy particles that bombard Earth from space.
Astronomers see black hole's plunge region for first time
Webb has found key ingredient for life in a young galaxy in the early Universe
How to choose your first telescope
Interested in buying a telescope but not sure where to start? Read our guide to selecting your first scope.
Mental health benefits of stargazing and astronomy
Connecting with the night sky can improve your wellbeing.
BBC Sky at Night Magazine virtual events
DSLR Astro Imaging Series
Our autumn 2024 series looks at photographing the night sky with a DSLR camera, with three of the best astro imagers in the game.
Save 24% when you buy all three as a series booking
Masterclass: Nightscapes
Award-winning astro imager Miguel Claro is your guide to creating great nightscape photos, Thursday 26 September 2024 at 7pm BST.
Save 24% when you buy all three as a series booking
Masterclass: The Milky Way
Mary McIntyre looks at capturing our Galaxy arcing across the sky and detail in the Milky Way, Thursday 24 October at 7pm BST
Save 24% when you buy all three as a series booking
Masterclass: the deep sky
Dave Eagle gives his top tips on how you can capture views of deep space with your DSLR camera, Thursday 5 December at 7pm GMT.
Save 24% when you buy all three as a series booking.
New to astronomy?
Our simple guides will help you make the most of your time under the stars
14 things new stargazers should know
New to astronomy? Here are some things you'll notice in the night sky as you spend your first year stargazing.
How to become a better astronomer
You've spent many hours observing the night sky. So how can you improve and be more productive at the telescope eyepiece?
How to stargaze from a city
Light pollution from towns and cities makes viewing the night sky a tricky business. But there are things you can do to help.
How to star-hop the night sky
Stuck trying to find stars? Star-hopping is a tried and tested technique that will help you to navigate the sky.
Astronomy advice
Answers to some of the most commonly-asked cosmic questions
Why did it take so long for astronomers to discover Uranus?
Why was Uranus not known to ancient astronomers?
How many stars can a person see in the night sky?
When we look up at the night sky, how many stars can we see, and what magnitude can the human eye see unaided?
What came before the Big Bang? These are the best theories we have about the origin of the cosmos
We explore the theories about one of the most mind-boggling questions about the Universe.
Why the Moon sometimes looks orange
What causes the Moon to appear a red, rusty colour?
Buyers' guides
Our pick of the best astronomy equipment
Best telescope mounts
On the hunt for a new telescope mount, or picking one to go with your first telescope? Read our guide to the best mounts, both budget models and high-end.
Best binoculars for astronomy
Binoculars are a great way of getting into astronomy and stargazing.
Buyer's guide | Best astro imaging cameras
Which cameras are best for astrophotography and what type should you buy? We'll guide you through the different types and the best cameras on the market.
Best beginners' telescopes
Looking to buy your first telescope but don't know where to start? We've picked out some of the best beginner telescopes on the market.
9 of the best wi-fi and smartphone telescopes in 2024
Our pick of the best telescopes operated via a smartphone or tablet.
Best telescopes for kids
Buying a telescope for children can be a tricky task. We've tested some of the best telescopes for kids and young people getting started in astronomy.
Astronomy equipment reviews
The latest telescopes, cameras, binoculars, mounts and accessories tried and tested.
Vaonis Hestia telescope enables you to photograph the night sky with your smartphone. We put it to the test.
Add your phone to this manual device to turn it into a smart scope.
Celestron's new tabletop Dobsonian is a beginner model that enables you to navigate the sky with your smartphone
A fun and budget-friendly option that’s easy to control from your phone.
Unistellar's newest smart telescope is here. But how does the Odyssey Pro fare, and is it worth the price?
From planets to galaxies, this foolproof all-in-one captures them all – for a price.
Celestron's popular SkyMaster Pro binoculars have been given an upgrade. We tested them to see how they perform
This popular big-magnification pair gets even better with a lens upgrade.
Bigger and better? We tested the upgraded Vaonis Vespera II smart telescope to see how it performs
This enjoyable, beginner-friendly option now has a bigger sensor for better images.
Vixen overhauls its classic large refractor in the SD103SII. We tested its observing and astro-imaging potential
Podcasts
Star Diary | 24 to 30 July, 2023
Keep an eye out for the three innermost planets Mercury, Venus and Mars just after sunset in this week’s stargazing guide.
Star Diary | 17 to 23 July, 2023
Venus's changing phases and Pluto at opposition are the highlights of this week's stargazing guide.
Star Diary | 10 to 16 July, 2023
The Pleiades return to the morning sky, while the Moon pairs up with Jupiter in this week’s stargazing guide.
Astrophotography
Astrophotography With A Smartphone: Timelapses
How to take social media-quality night sky images with your mobile phone
Comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan–ATLAS may grace our skies in October. Here's how to photograph it
Gallery | Tadpole Nebula
Images of the Tadpole Nebula, IC 410, and facts about this star-forming region.
Gallery | Omega Centauri globular cluster
Facts about the Omega Centauri globular cluster, one of the oldest objects in the Universe.
Gallery | Transit of Mercury
Facts about Mercury transits, including when they occur and photos of the most recent events.
How to do astrophotography with a DSLR camera
Own a DSLR camera and want to capture the stars? Find out how in our guide to DSLR astrophotography.
Astrophotography galleries
Gallery | Crescent Nebula
Pictures of the Crescent Nebula, NGC 6888, and facts about this beautiful deep-sky emission nebula powered by an ageing Wolf-Rayet star.
Gallery | Harvest Moon
What is a Harvest Moon, and and are they really worth the hype?
Gallery | The Crab Nebula
Images of Messier 1, the Crab Nebula, facts about this glowing cosmic cloud and the history of its observation by Chinese and European astronomers.
Gallery | Leo Triplet
The three galaxies that make up the Leo Triplet, M66, M65 and NGC 3628, are engaged in a gravitational tug of war, making this a fascinating deep-sky spectacle.
Gallery | Heart and Soul Nebulae
Images of the Heart and Soul Nebulae and facts about these two star-forming regions in Cassiopeia.
Eye On The Sky | Chandra X-ray images reveal the beauty of the cosmos
A set of newly-released images show incredible astronomical phenomena in light invisible to the naked eye.
Spaceflight
Rare artefacts from Apollo and the history of space flight on display at the UK's Space Vault exhibition
One of the largest private collections of space artefacts in the UK is currently on display at the River & Rowing Museum, Henley-on-Thames. Curator Dr Michael Warner reveals why he put the exhibition together
Artemis-enabled STellar Imager (AeSI)
Now might be the time to plan for an observatory on the lunar surface.
NASA is developing robots that will swim beneath Antarctic ice and measure how quickly it's melting
NASA's Jupiter moon mission has been given its solar arrays, and it's now bigger than a basketball court
Europa Clipper needs huge solar arrays to power it within the cold darkness of Jupiter's shadow.
Fancy a lunar stroll? This is how long it would take to walk around the Moon
It may not be long before space tourism is here. Assuming lunar walking tours become popular, how long would it take to walk around the Moon?
Japan is sending a spacecraft to Mars's moons and returning a sample for study back on Earth
Japan’s Martian Moons eXploration is a daring mission to moon Phobos that will bring back the first-ever samples from the Mars system.
Juice spacecraft captures images of our home planet during the first ever Earth-Moon flyby
New private satellite telescope to study distant stars and habitable worlds gets scheduled launch date
New satellite equipped with telescope will study distant stars and exoplanets.
DIY Astronomy
Build a Dobsonian equatorial platform
Convert your altaz Dobsonian telescope into a sky-tracking lightbucket.
6 simple astronomy experiments you can do at home
Try our experiments using household items and illustrate the mechanics of the Solar System.
Make an instrument that shows how astronomers measure vast distances in space
How to make an instrument that demonstrates how cosmic distances are measured.