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.
Annular eclipse
Greg Meyer, Capitol Reef National Park, Utah, USA, 14 October 2023
Equipment: Canon EOS 6D DSLR camera, Sigma 150-600mm lens (Sun); Canon EOS R mirrorless camera (sky); Canon EOS R6 Mk II mirrorless camera (foreground)
M51, the Whirlpool Galaxy
Alex Battù and Luca Barcaro, captured remotely via Pixel Skies, Castillejar, Spain, 3 February-25 March 2023
Equipment: ZWO ASI6200MM Pro mono CMOS camera, Tecnosky Astrografo Fast 300 astrograph, iOptron CEM120 mount
A320 in solar transit
Ethan Roberts, Canterbury, Kent, 8 October 2023
Equipment: ZWO ASI290MM colour CMOS camera, Lunt Solar 60mm doublet refractor, Sky-Watcher NEQ6 Pro mount
STEVE
John Short, Whitburn, Sunderland, 5 November 2023
Equipment: Fujifilm X-T5 mirrorless camera, 13mm f/1.4 lens
Lobster Claw Nebula
Steve Leonard, Markham, Ontario, Canada, 20 June-7 July 2023
Equipment: ZWO ASI1600MM Pro mono CMOS camera, Astro-Tech AT115EDT triplet refractor, Sky-Watcher EQ6-R mount
M31, the Andromeda Galaxy
Nick Poulter, Aylsham, Norfolk, 14 October 2023
Equipment: Canon EOS 1300D DSLR camera, Sky-Watcher Evostar 80ED refractor, Sky-Watcher HEQ5 mount
NGC 7331
Jeffery O Johnson, Las Cruces, New Mexico, USA, 5 September 2023
Equipment: QSI 690WSG CCD camera, TPO 12-inch f/8 Ritchey-Chretien Truss Tube astrograph, Astro-Physics 1100GTO mount
Aurora borealis
Nicole Carr and Simon Scott, Scarborough, N Yorks, 5 November 2023
Equipment: Nikon D750 DSLR camera, Samyang 14mm f/2.8 lens
Orionids meteor shower
Osama Fathi, Black Desert, Egypt, 20-21 October 2023
Equipment: Astro-modified Nikon Z6 mirrorless camera, Sigma 28-70mm and Nikkor 14-24mm lenses, Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer 2i mount
The Milky Way
Tomas Andonie, Frutillar, Chile, 24 July 2023
Equipment: Nikon D3300 DSLR camera, Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer 2i mount
NGC 6888, the Crescent Nebula
Bill Brooks, Leicester, UK, 9 and 13 October 2023
Equipment: ZWO ASI533MC Pro CMOS camera, Orion Optics 200m f/6 Newtonian, Sky-Watcher HEQ5 Pro mount
Annular solar eclipse
Chirag Bachani, San Antonio, Texas, USA, 14 October 2023
Equipment: Canon R6 mirrorless camera, Canon 800mm f/11 lens, solar filter
IC 4628, the Prawn Nebula
Daniel Stern, captured remotely via Telescope Live, Rio Hurtado, Chile, April 2023
Equipment: Moravian C4 CMOS camera, PlaneWave CDK17 OTA astrograph, PlaneWave L-500 mount
IC 63, the Ghost of Cassiopeia
Jared Bowens, Missouri, USA, 10 October 1023
Equipment: Canon EOS 60D DSLR camera, Orion 8" f/3.9 Newtonian Astrograph reflector, Celestron Advanced VX mount
M31, the Andromeda Galaxy
Gary Eason, Colchester, Essex, 22 September and 15 October 2023
Equipment: Nikon D750 DSLR, Sky-Watcher Explorer 150P reflector, Sky-Watcher EQ5 Pro mount
NGC 7293, the Helix Nebula
Drew Evans, Flagstaff, Arizona, USA, 26-27 September and 4-8 October 2023
Equipment: ZWO ASI2600MM Pro mono CMOS camera, SharpStar SCA260 aspherical Cassegrain astrograph, iOptron CEM120 mount
NGC 6914
Patrick Cosgrove, Honeoye Falls, New York, USA, September 2023
Equipment: ZWO ASI6600MM Pro mono CMOS camera, William Optics FLT 132 triplet APO refractor, iOptron CEM60 mount
NGC 2244, the Rosette Nebula
Pulikanti Tarun, Telangana, India, 14 October 2023
Equipment: ZWO ASI533MC Pro colour CMOS camera, William Optics GT-71 II triplet APO refractor, iOptron CEM26 mount
IC 1805, the Heart Nebula and IC 1848, the Soul Nebula
Ronald Brecher, Guelph, Ontario, Canada, 22-23 October 2023
Equipment: QHY 367C Pro colour CMOS camera, Takahashi FS-60CB doublet APO refractor, Paramount MX mount
NGC 7635, the Bubble Nebula
Willem Witteveen, Nissewaard, The Netherlands, 17-19 October 2023
Equipment: ZWO ASI533MC Pro colour CMOS camera, RedCat 51 APO refractor, ZWO AM5 mount
Eye On The Sky
Horsehead nebula
Euclid, 7 November 2023
Credit: ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA, image processing by J.-C. Cuillandre (CEA Paris-Saclay), G. Anselmi, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO
MACS 0416
Hubble Space Telescope and James Webb Space Telescope, 9 November 2023
Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Jose M. Diego (IFCA), Jordan C. J. D'Silva (UWA), Anton M. Koekemoer (STScI), Jake Summers (ASU), Rogier Windhorst (ASU), Haojing Yan (University of Missouri)
Jupiter
Hubble Space Telescope, 7 November 2023
Credit: NASA, ESA, M. Wong (University of California - Berkeley), G. Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)
MSH 15-52
Chandra X-Ray Observatory and Imaging X-Ray Polarimetry Explorer, 30 October 2023
Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Stanford Univ./R. Romani et al. (Chandra); NASA/MSFC (IXPE); Infared: NASA/JPL-Caltech/DECaPS; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/J. Schmidt
M1, the Crab Nebula
James Webb Space Telescope, 30 October 2023
Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Tea Temim (Princeton University)
R Leporis
Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, 15 November 2023
Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/Y. Asaki et al.
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.
