Venus orbit phases and dates 2023 - 2025. Credit: BBC Sky at Night Magazine
The completed Venus phase model
The wooden parts
Cutting the tube
Wiring diagram
Gluing the handle
Staining the wood
Skewering a hole in the ball
Painting the ball yellow
Tubes polished
Painting the handle
Inserting the tube into the handle
Assembling the handle
Sun and Venus assembly details scaled
Feeding the wires through
Gluing in the LEDs
Gluing on the balls
Assembling the legs
Binocular and deep-sky tours
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.
IC 1848, the Soul Nebula
Giuseppe De Pace, Turin, Italy, July-August 2023
Equipment: QHY 268MM Pro mono CMOS camera, Askar FRA600 108mm f/5.6 apo quintuplet astrograph, Sky-Watcher AZ-EQ6 GT mount
The Sun at different wavelengths
Alessandro Ravagnin, Romano d'Ezzelino, Italy, 19 June, 24 June and 29 September 2023
Equipment: ZWO ASI183MM Pro mono CMOS camera (solar spectrum, H-alpha), ZWO ASI2600MM Pro colour CMOS camera (solar spectrum, white light), Point Grey Grasshopper3 colour CMOS camera (CaK), Canon 70-200mm zoom lens, TS-Optics ED 80mm refractor (CaK)
M31, the Andromeda Galaxy
Andrei Pleskatsevich, Minsk, Belarus, 20 September 2023
Equipment: ToupTek ATR3C571 colour CMOS camera, SharpStar 76EDPH refractor, iOptron GEM28 mount
IC 1805, the Heart Nebula
Anirudh Shastry, Sammamish, Washington, USA, 13-14 September 2023
Equipment: QHY600M mono CMOS camera, Celestron EdgeHD 1100 SCT, Celestron CGX-L mount
The Pleiades
Anthony Bucci, Northern Vancouver Island, Canada, 20 September 2023
Equipment: ZWO ASI533MC Pro colour CMOS camera, Rokinon 135mm lens, Sky-Watcher EQM-35 Pro mount
First-quarter Moon
Hazen Tobar, Akron, Ohio, USA, 25 July 2023
Equipment: Canon EOS 6D DSLR camera, Celestron NexStar 127SLT Maksutov-Cassegrain, integrated mount
Star clusters in Cassiopeia
Massimo Di Fusco, Ferra, Italy, 7 September 2023
Equipment: Poseidon-C Pro (IMX571) colour APS-C camera, Sky-Watcher Evostar 80ED refractor, Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro mount
Arcturus star trail
Shreya Roy, Kolkata, India, 19 September 2023
Equipment: Nikon D5600 DSLR camera, 70-300mm lens, Digitek tripod
Partial solar eclipse
John Chumack, Dayton, Ohio, USA, 14 October 2023
Equipment: QHY5L-II-M mono CMOS camera, Lunt 60mm Universal Telescope with LS60FHa solar filter, Paramount MyT robotic mount
Comet C/2023 P1, Nishimura
Timothy Straub, Prosser, Washington, USA, 5 September 2023
Equipment: ZWO ASI2600MC Pro colour CMOS camera, Celestron C6 Schmidt-Cassegrain, ZWO AM5 mount
The Orion Nebula
Harshwardhan Pathak, Heaven’s Mirror Observatory, Australia, via Telescope Live, 2-5 October 2023
Equipment: QHY 600M Pro colour CMOS camera, Takahashi FSQ-106ED refractor, Paramount MX mount
The North America and Pelican Nebulae
Lee Turner, Hebden Bridge, W Yorks, 12 September 2023
Equipment: Altair Hypercam 26M mono APS-C camera, Sky-Watcher Evostar 72ED doublet refractor, Celestron Advanced VX mount
Globular cluster M13
Mark Germani, Vancouver, Canada, June 2021 and April/May 2023
Equipment: Astro-modded Canon EOS 600D DSLR camera, William Optics ZenithStar 61 apo refractor, iOptron CEM26 mount
Barnard 150, the Seahorse Nebula
Mike Read, Cwmdu, Powys, Wales, 15-16 September 2023
Equipment: ZWO ASI2600MC colour CMOS camera, William Optics RedCat 51 apo refractor, Sky-Watcher EQ6-R mount
C/2023 P1 Nishimura
Pin Van Arnhem, Den Oever, Netherlands, 15 September 2023
Equipment: Nikon D7200 DSLR, Nikon AF-S Nikkor 300mm f/4 lens, Benro tripod
Milky Way over Cathedral Rock
Prashant Naik, Sedona, Arizona, USA, 14 August 2023
Equipment: Sony Alpha a7 IV mirrorless camera
NGC 6820
Simone Falerno, Taranto, Italy, 10-11 September
Equipment: Omegon Pro veTEC 533 C colour CMOS camera, Sky-Watcher Explorer 150P refractor, Sky-Watcher HEQ5 Pro mount
Supermoons of 2022.jpg
Soumyadeep Makherjee, Kolkata, India, May-August 2022
Equipment: Nikon D5600 DSLR camera, Sigma 150-600mm lens
The Rosette Nebula
Tim Naylor, Warrington, Cheshire, 5 October 2023
Equipment: ZWO ASI533MC-Pro colour CMOS camera, Explore Scientific ED102 triplet apo refractor, Sky-Watcher HEQ5 pro mount
Oasis in the desert
Vikas Chander, Orupembe, Namibia, 6 October 2023
Equipment: Modified Sony Alpha a7R V mirrorless camera, Sony 35mm f/1.4 GM lens
IC 2118
Warren Keller, Heaven’s Mirror Observatory, Australia, via Telescope Live, 1 October 2023
Equipment: QHY 600M Pro colour CMOS camera, Takahashi FSQ-106ED refractor, Paramount MX mount
Eye On The Sky
Eta Carinae
Hubble Space Telescope/Chandra X-Ray Observatory, 26 September 2023
Credit: X-ray: NASA/SAO/GSFC/M. Corcoran et al; HST: NASA/ESA/STScI
IC 1284, NGC 6589, NGC 6590
VLT Survey Telescope, 2 October 2023
Credit: ESO/PHAS team
NGC 4654
Hubble Space Telescope, 2 October 2023
Credit: NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, ESA, J. Lee (Space Telescope Science Institute)
NGC 346
James Webb Space Telescope, 10 October 2023
Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Nolan Habel (NASA-JPL)
IC 4212
Victor M Blanco 4-Metre Telescope, 18 October 2023
Credit: CTIO/NOIRLab/DOE/NSF/AURA
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).
License type Full software Platform Windows Versions 8.1, 10
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.
