Access this month's Bonus Content. If you are having trouble with any of the download links, right-click on the link, select 'Copy Link Address' and paste the link in a new window in your web browser.
Virtual Planetarium
Pete Lawrence and Paul Abel reveal January's night-sky highlights.
Interview: Making Alien Contact
Exoplanet researcher Emma Johanna Puranen on what would happen if we found extra-terrestrial intelligence.
2023 Moon phases poster
Access all the important lunar phase dates and times for the coming year, delivered directly to your smartphone or tablet. Click the link directly below to download.
Download this month's binocular and deep-sky tour charts. The charts are printed in black on white so they can be viewed under red light at your telescope.
Record your observations of Jupiter, Mars, Saturn, Venus and the Sun with our handy printable forms.
If you observe the Sun, remember NEVER to look at it with your naked eye; either project it through your telescope or use a solar filter on your telescope's front lens.
The Lion Nebula
Daniel Hightower, Hardeeville, South Carolina, USA, 15-20 October 2022
Equipment: ZWO ASI6200 Mono camera, Takahashi FSQ-106EDX4 telescope, Planewave L-350 mount.
Flame and Horsehead Nebulae, Claire Bradshaw, Horsham, West Sussex, 5 February 2022.
Equipment: Altair Astro 26c camera, Altair Astro 102 ED-R refractor, Skywatcher HEQ5 pro mount
Solar prominences, Hayley Smith, Buckinghamshire, UK, 17 October 2022
Equipment: ZWO ASI174MM Camera, Sky-Watcher 80ED refractor, Astronomik L1 Luminance Filter, Sky-Watcher Solarquest mount
Solar system family portrait
Ivana Peranic, Brighton, East Sussex, various dates 2021-2022.
Equipment: ZWO ASI224mc camera, Celestron CPC800 telescope and mount
The Clamshell Nebula
Emil Andronic, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, 10 September to 16 October 2022
Equipment: AQHY294M Pro CMOS camera, TS65 quadruplet Apo f6.5 refractor, EQ6 mount
The Moon by smartphone
Daniel Ruy Pereira, Oldham, Greater Manchester, 8 October 2022
Equipment: Samsung Galaxy Note Ultra 20 smartphone camera, Sky-Watcher Heritage 130p telescope, improvised mount
2022 lunar eclipse
Michael Shapiro, Farmington Hills, Michigan, USA, 8 August 2022
Equipment” ZWO ASI 294 MC Pro camera, Celestron Evolution 8 telescope and mount
Skull and Crossbones Nebula (NGC 2467)
Sean Liang, El Sauce Observatory, Chile (archival data via Telescope Live), February 2021 to November 2022.
Equipment: FLI ProLine PL9000 camera, Planewave CDK24 telescope, Mathis MI-1000/1250 mount
WR134, Carlos Uriarte, Ager, Spain, September 11 - October 2 2022
Equipment: ATIK 460EX mono camera, Sky-Watcher Esprit 150 ED telescope, Paramount ME mount
The Triangulum Galaxy (M33), Roger Allpress, Whittlesey, Cambridgeshire, October 28 2022.
Equipment: Altair Hypercam 269C Pro Tec camera, Starwave Ascent APO telescope, Ioptron GEM28 mount
Saturn
Debbie Townsend, Doncaster, South Yorkshire.
Equipment: ZWO ASI224MC camera, Celestron Nexstar 8se telescope and mount
IC1383
Rouz Bidshahri, Vancouver, Canada, July 26 2022.
Equipment: QHYCCD 600M camera, Planewave CDK telescope and mount
The Bubble Nebula (NGC 7635), Roland Gooday, Oxfordshire, UK, September 2022.
Equipment: Altair 533C and 26C cameras, Celestron Edge HD8 telescope, EQ6R-PRO mount
The Pleiades, Simon Cao, Yucca Valley, California, USA, August-October 2022
Equipment: ZWO ASI294MC Pro camera, Rokinon 135mm F2.0 ED UMC lens, Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer GTi mount
The Milky Way
Vikas Chander, Spitzkoppe, Namibia, September 16 2022.
Equipment: Nikon D850 camera with H-alpha mod, Nikon 14-24mm and Zeiss Otus 55mm lenses, tripod
Solar eclipse 2022, Kevin Earp, Willington, Bedfordshire, October 25 2022. Equipment: ZWO ASI 174MM camera, Quark Chromosphere filter, Sky-Watcher Esprit 100 telescope, NEQ6 Pro mount
The International Space Station
Konstantinos Beis, Brinkworth, Wiltshire, November 2 2022.
Equipment: ZWO asi462mc camera, Sky-Watcher 200P, Dobsonian mount
NGC 7822
Paul Edwards, Liverpool, UK, October 2022.
Equipment: ZWO ASI533MC Pro camera, William Optics Zenithstar 73 telescope, Sky-Watcher HEQ5 Pro mount
Star trails featuring Jupiter
Steve Brown, Stokesley, North Yorkshire, October 30 2022.
Equipment: Canon 250D, Samyang 16mm f/2 lens, TP-2800 CAMLINK tripod
Eye On The Sky
A protostar begins to shine, James Webb Space Telescope, 16 November 2022
Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI. Image processing: J. DePasquale, A. Pagan, and A. Koekemoer (STScI)
Jupiter’s north pole
Jupiter Near-Polar Orbiter, 6 November 2022
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/AndreaLuck
Earth and the far side of the Moon, as seen during the Artemis 1 mission, 16 and 21 November 2022. Credit: NASA
04 far side of the moon.jpeg and 04 orion and earth.jpeg
Earth and the far side of the Moon
Orion space capsule, Artemis 1 mission, 16 and 21 November 2022
Credit: NASA
Galaxy cluster Abell 2255
ROSAT/LOFAR/SDSS, 02 November 2022
Credit ROSAT/LOFAR/SDSS/Botteon, et al
Two of the oldest galaxies ever seen
James Webb Space Telescope, 17 November, 2022
Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Tommaso Treu (UCLA), processing by Zolt G. Levay (STScI)
A glowing galaxy cluster
Hubble Space Telescope, 27 October 2022
Credit: NASA, ESA, P. Kelly, M. Postman, J. Richard, S. Allen
An annular solar eclipse seen from orbit by the Hinode X-Ray Satellite, 25 October 2022. Credit: JAXA/NASA/Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
Meteor impact crater on Mars
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, 27 October 2022
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
Vela supernova remnant
VLT Survey Telescope, 31 October 2022
Credit:
ESO/VPHAS team. Acknowledgement: Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit
Cone Nebula star factory
Very Large Telescope, 10 November 2022
Credit: ESO
This month's deep-sky tour plan file can be imported into the Argo Navis Digital Telescope Computer using Argonaut software, a free utility available from Wildcard Innovations.Using Argo Navis with this month's deep-sky tour plan file, you can:
• display essential information from the Argo Navis database for each object
• slew your telescope to each object in the plan - requires a compatible mount.
• push your telescope to each object in the plan using the coordinates provided on the Argo Navis display.
To import this month's deep-sky tour plan file into Argo Navis using Argonaut software:
Download and save the file to your hard drive.
Run the Argonaut utility program and transfer the plan into your Argo Navis DTC.
This month's Deep-Sky Tour plan file is produced by Deep-Sky Planner 8 (see knightware.biz/dsp).
Deep-Sky Planner 8 astronomy software for Windows provides the tools you need to make your time at the telescope more efficient and enjoyable.
• sort the objects in the plan according to the best time and order to view each object.
• slew your ASCOM-compatible Go-To mount to each object in the plan - requires ASCOM software (free).
• show a sky chart centred on each object in the plan using one of the top planetarium software titles – requires TheSky, Starry Night, Redshift, Cartes du Ciel (free) or Stellarium (free).
• record your observation in the open, non-proprietary observing log.
Details about Deep-Sky Planner and how to purchase can be found here.
Download the Deep-Sky Planner compatible file of this month's deep-sky tour observing plan file so that you can visit each object directly with Deep-Sky Planner. Save the file to your hard drive and double click it to open it in Deep-Sky Planner.
If you are one of the many astronomers who use the ASCOM driver EQMOD to control your ASCOM-compatible Go-To mount, you can use an add-on application called EQTOUR to call up various sets of sky tours like Messier, Caldwell, Globular Clusters and simply click on an object name to slew to it.
Details about the application and how to download it free of charge can be found here.
Download the EQTOUR compatible file of our monthly Deep-sky tour, so that you can visit each object directly from your EQMod control panel. We've also included a PDF document that explains the system and how to get it installed with your telescope setup.
Copy the .lst file from the folder that appears into the same directory as the EQTOUR application file, EQTOUR.exe, and follow the instructions in the link above.
