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Virtual Planetarium
Pete Lawrence and Paul Abel guide us through this month's night-sky highlights
Interview: Imaging exoplanets
Astronomer Beth Biller discusses the new instrument that will allow her to directly photograph planets orbiting distant stars
To see the image Beth discusses in the interview, click here.
Audio preview: Helgoland
Download and listen to an extract from physicist Carlo Rovelli’s new book about Heisenberg’s quantum revolution.
Please note: this clip will become available on 25 March 2021.
Extracted from the audiobook edition of Helgoland by Carlo Rovelli, read by David Rintoul, published by Allan Lane (£13.00).
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.
The Orion and Running Man Nebulae David Wills, Castillejar, Spain, 14–20 January 2021 Equipment: Starlight Xpress Trius SX 694 Pro mono camera, Takahashi FSQ-85ED f5.3 quad apo refractor, iOptron CEM60 mount.
Geminid meteor shower by Parisa Bajelan, Alamut Valley, Alborz, Iran, 14 December 2020. Equipment: Canon 6D DSLR (modified), Canon 16–35mm lens, Manfrotto MT190CXPRO4 tripod
NGC 613 Warren Keller and Mike Selby, remotely via Obstech, El Sauce, Chile, 19–22 September 2020. Equipment: FLI Proline PL16803 mono CCD camera, Officina Stellare RiDK 500 and 700 astrographs, Officina Stellare Polar Fork and Planewave L-600 mounts
Bok globules in the Rosette Nebula Emil Andronic, Bushey, Hertfordshore, UK, 21–24 January 2021. Equipment: ZWO ASI 294MM Pro mono camera, Astro-Tech 106LE triplet refractor, Sky-Watcher EQ6 Pro mount
Daytime Moon by Ollie Bacon, Sapcote, Leicestershire, 21 January 2021. Equipment: Canon 1100D DSLR, Sky-Watcher Skymax 127 Maksutov-Cassegrain, Sky-Watcher Supa-Trak mount
Gazing at the Milky Way Mauro Cirigliano, Teide National Park, Tenerife, 13 May 2018. Equipment: Nikon D750 DSLR, Nikon 50mm 1.8G lens, iOptron SkyGuider Pro mount
The Grus Quartet Fernando Oliveira de Menezes, Munhoz, Brazil, 27 July 2019. Equipment: QHY16200A mono CCD camera, Sky-Watcher Esprit 150ED apo triplet, iOptron CEM60-EC mount
Mineral Moon Robin Durrant, Brighton, 24 January 2021. Equipment: ZWO ASI 178MC colour camera, William Optics ZenithStar 71 apo refractor, iOptron AZ Pro mount.
Copernicus and Eratosthenes Michael K Jamieson, Snitterby, Lincolnshire, 31 May 2020.Equipment: ZWO ASI 224MC colour camera, Meade LX90 SCT.
The Horsehead and Flame Nebulae Antoine and Dalia Grelin, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, January 2021. Equipment: QHY QHY600M mono camera, Radian Raptor 61 imaging apo, Atlas EQ-G mount
Sword of Siavash (Sirius star trail) Reyhaneh Valipour, Tehran, Iran, 13 January 2021. Equipment: Nikon D7100, Nikkor 50 mm f/1.8 lens
Northern Lights over Iceland Mauro Cirigliano, Kirkjufell mountain in Iceland, 13/03/2018. Equipment: Nikon D750 DSLR, Tamron 15-30mm lens
Core of the Heart Nebula Emanuele Bergamaschi, Lierskogen, Norway, 14–16 January 2021. Equipment: ZWO ASI 294mm Pro camera, Sky-Watcher Evostar 100ED Pro apo refractor, Sky-Watcher EQ6R Pro mount
Radio image of Northern Sky Apostolos Spanakis-Misirli, Athens, Greece, November 2020. Equipment: PICTOR Radio Telescope
Radio image of Northern Sky Apostolos Spanakis-Misirli, Athens, Greece, November 2020. Equipment: PICTOR Radio Telescope
The Rosette Nebula Richard Parsons, Worcestershire, January 2021. Equipment: ASI 183MM Pro camera, William Optics ZenithStar 73 apo refractor, Sky-Watcher HEQ5 Pro mount
The Heart and Fish Head Nebulae Ian Phillips, Weston-super-Mare, 24 December 2020. Equipment: ZWO ASI 2600MC Pro camera, Sky-Watcher Evostar 72ED refractor, Sky-Watcher EQM-35 Pro mount
NGC 5897 globular cluster Dan Crowson, Dark Sky Mexico, New Mexico, 11–16 January 2021. Equipment: SBIG ST-8300M, Astro-Tech AT90EDT apo refractor
The Rosette Nebula Nigel Arnold, York, 23 January 2021. Equipment: ZWO ASI 071MC Pro camera, Sky-Watcher Esprit 100 apo triplet refractor, Celestron CGX mount
The Horsehead Nebula Jun Luo, Florida, USA, 5–14 January 2021. Equipment: ZWO ASI 6200MM Pro camera, Astro-Physics StarFire 130 EDF GT apo refractor, Paramount MyT mount
Moon over the High Tatras mountains Tomáš Slovinský, Vlková, Slovakia, 28 January 2021. Equipment: Canon 6D DSLR, TS-Optics 1000mm lens
Eye On The Sky
UAE Hope Probe’s first image of Mars HOPE PROBE, 10 FEBRUARY 2021. IMAGE CREDIT: UAESA/MBRSC/LASP/EMM-EXI
NASA’s Perseverance lands on Mars MARS PERSEVERANCE, 18 FEBRUARY 2021.
NASA’s Perseverance lands on Mars MARS PERSEVERANCE, 18 FEBRUARY 2021.
NASA’s Perseverance lands on Mars MARS PERSEVERANCE, 18 FEBRUARY 2021.
The Martian landscape, Sol 2 MARS PERSEVERANCE, 21 FEBRUARY 2021. IMAGE CREDIT: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Will Gater
NGC 1316 HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE, 26 JANUARY 2021. IMAGE CREDIT: NASA, ESA, Hubble; processing & copyright: Daniel Nobre
Herbig–Haro objects HH46 and HH47 HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE, 15 FEBRUARY 2021. IMAGE CREDIT: ESA/Hubble & NASA, B. Nisini
Solar Orbiter’s perspective on the planets SOLAR ORBITER, 18 NOVEMBER 2020. IMAGE CREDIT: ESA/NASA/NRL/Solar Orbiter/SolOHI
Supernova oddity Sagittarius A East CHANDRA X-RAY OBSERVATORY, 8 FEBRUARY 2021. IMAGE CREDIT: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Nanjing Univ./P. Zhou et al. Radio: NSF/NRAO/VLA
The Black Eye Galaxy, NGC 4826 HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE, 22 FEBRUARY 2021. IMAGE CREDIT: ESA/Hubble & NASA, J. Lee and the PHANGS-HST Team. Acknowledgement: Judy Schmidt
Emission nebula Sh2-54 in Serpens CERRO TOLOLO INTER-AMERICAN OBSERVATORY, 27 JANUARY 2021. IMAGE CREDIT: CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA. Acknowledgment: Image processing: Travis Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage), Mahdi Zamani & Davide de Martin
Bipolar planetary nebula M1-63 HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE, 8 FEBRUARY 2021 IMAGE CREDIT: ESA/Hubble & NASA, L. Stanghellini.
Starburst galaxy NGC 1792 HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE, 5 FEBRUARY 2021 IMAGE CREDIT: ESA/Hubble & NASA, J. Lee; Acknowledgement: Leo Shatz.
The Southern Pinwheel Galaxy, M83 VÍCTOR M. BLANCO 4-METRE TELESCOPE, CERRO TOLOLO INTER-AMERICAN OBSERVATORY, 8 FEBRUARY 2021. IMAGE CREDIT: CTIO/NOIRLab/DOE/NSF/AURA Acknowledgment: M. Soraisam (University of Illinois).
Perseverance’s heat shield drops to the Mars surface MARS PERSEVERANCE, 18 FEBRUARY 2021. IMAGE CREDIT: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Spiral galaxy NGC 6902 VERY LARGE TELESCOPE, 8 FEBRUARY 2021. IMAGE CREDIT: ESO/TIMER survey
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.
