Australian Sky & Telescope

EDITOR Jonathan Nally ART DIRECTOR Lee McLachlan CONTRIBUTING EDITORS John Drummond, David Ellyard, Alan Plummer, David Seargent, EMAIL info@skyandtelescope.com.au ADVERTISING MANAGER Jonathan Nally EMAIL jonathan@skyandtelescope.com.au Ian Brooks E

I CAN CLEARLY REMEMBER when and where I got my first glimpse of Halley’s Comet. It was late 1985, I was in a paddock in the middle of nowhere armed with a pair of binoculars, and it was my birthday. I put the binos to my eyes, looked up, found the fi

THE EVENT HORIZON TELESCOPE (EHT) collaboration has unveiled new images of the black hole shadow at the core of the elliptical galaxy M87, which sits at the centre of the Virgo Cluster some 55 million light-years away. These images, unlike the iconic

TWO INDEPENDENT GROUPS have measured the Hubble constant, the universe’s current rate of expansion, and their results have deepened the tension in an ongoing controversy. Observations of the far-away (early) universe, particularly the cosmic microwav

IN A PROMISING proof of concept, a professional astronomer has teamed up with five amateurs to capture the echoes of long-ago mergers in nearby galaxies. The team is now looking to expand their number of galaxies — and observers. Duilia de Mello (Cat

EVIDENCE FOR the impact that created the Moon might lie far beneath our feet. The leading theory for the Moon’s formation is that a roughly Mars-size object, dubbed Theia, struck Earth around 4.5 billion years ago. At the virtual 52nd Lunar and Plane

DOZENS OF DWARF GALAXIES orbit our own, and unlike around many other Milky Way-like galaxies, many of these satellites are aligned along a thin plane, like slices of pepperoni stuck on a thrown disc of pizza dough. While this alignment is unexpected,

WHILE ASTRONOMERS generally agree that the Milky Way has four major spiral arms, what they look like is still an open question. This includes the Local Arm that we call home (which may or may not be an arm at all). Now, two recent studies of the late

A RECENTLY DISCOVERED asteroid appears to be an Earth Trojan, orbiting a gravitationally stable area with only one other known occupant. Amateur astronomer Tony Dunn reported the potential find on January 26 via the Minor Planet Mailing List. Given t

Early June 10 pm Late June 9 pm Early July 8 pm Late July 7 pm These are standard times. HOW Go outside within an hour or so of a time listed above. Hold the map out in front of you and turn it around so the label for the direction you’re facing (

3 Venus 0.4° north of Beehive Cluster 4 Mercury greatest elong. west (21.6°) 6 Earth at aphelion (1.0167 a.u.) 7 Moon 6° north of Aldebaran 8 Mercury 5° south-east of the Moon 12 Mars 5° south of the Moon 12 Venus 4° south of the Moon 13 Mars

When we think of the people who started modern astronomy, 400 or 500 years ago — liberating it from the erroneous concepts that had held it back for a thousand years or more — some names come quickly to mind. The great Galileo of course, plus Coperni

Last Quarter …… 1st, 21:11 UT New Moon …… 10th, 01:17 UT First Quarter …… 17th, 10:11 UT Full Moon …… 24th, 02:37 UT Last Quarter …… 31st, 13:16 UT Apogee …… 5th, 15h UT, 405,341 km Perigee …… 21st, 10h UT, 364,520 km New Moon …… 8th, 13:50 UT First

The Avalon Instruments M-due mount (shown here with two telescopes, not included) has high-resolution encoders on both axes and is controlled by the new Raspberry Pi4-based StarGo2 Pro controller, producing what Avalon says is an all-in-one astrophot

IT WAS ONE YEAR AGo that skywatchers in some parts of the world enjoyed the view of Comet NEOWISE, a relatively bright visitor that attracted widespread attention. And 40 years from now, in July 2061, the most famous comet of all will be tracing a si

Most amateur astronomers observe primarily for recreation and enjoyment, while others like to get scientific and monitor variable stars, asteroid occultations, comets and so on. The latter have the chance to interact with our professional counterpart

Exoplanets are one of the hottest topics in professional astronomy today. Less than three decades after scientists discovered the first worlds around other stars, we know of more than 4,300 planets outside the Solar System. Another couple thousand ca

I LISTLESSLY ROLL the rubbish bin down the driveway, my eyes fixed low, aimlessly staring at the footpath ahead. I’m worn down from a long day at work, rattled from the drive home, and, despite the joy my wife and two kids bring me, uninspired for wh

The Jupiter observing season is entering its prime with the planet reaching opposition on August 20. Any telescope will reveal the four Galilean moons, and binoculars usually show at least two. Features on Jupiter appear closer to the central meridia

Mercury (mag. –0.7, dia. 6.3”, Jul. 15) returned to our morning skies in June, and is now rising at about 5:30am at the beginning of July, sitting about 8° below the star Aldebaran. Reaching greatest western elongation (22°) on July 5, it then begins