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.
This month’s pick of the best images sent in by BBC Sky at Night Magazine readers.
Solar eclipseEthan Dugar, Newport, Arizona, USA, 8 April 2024Equipment: Canon EOS Rebel T4i camera, StellarVue ST80ST2 refractor, ZWO AM3 mount and TC40 tripod
Baily’s BeadsAndy Lee, Woburn, Quebec, Canada, 8 April 2024Equipment: Canon EOS 600D camera, William Optics GT-71 refractor, ZWO AM5 Mount
Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks and AndromedaJosé Chambo, Sierra de Enguera, Valencia, Spain, 12 March 2024Equipment: Canon EOS 6D camera, Samyang 135mm lens, Meade LXD-75 mount
Solar transitGottfried Steigmann, Dunswell, East Yorkshire, 4 March 2024Equipment: ZWO ASI178MM camera, Lunt 60mm H-alpha telescope, Sky Watcher HEQ5 Pro mount
The Dolphin Nebula, Sh2-308Egidio Vergani, processed from data captured via ChileScope, Atacama Desert, Chile, 1 March 2024Equipment: Equipment: FLI ProLine PL16803 camera, ASA 500N reflector, ASA DDM500 mount
Aurora borealisJohn Chumack, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA, 12 March 2024Equipment: Canon EOS 6D camera, 16mm lens, Bogen tripodCanon 6D, 16mm lens, ISO 3200, 10 second exp.
The Draco Triplet: NGC 5981, NGC 5982 and NGC 5985Massimo Di Fusco, Ferrara, Italy, January 2023 and January 2024Equipment: Player One Poseidon-C camera, QHY168C camera, Konus Konusky 200 reflector, Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro mount
The MoonSonia Turkington, North Reddish, Cheshire, 17 March 2024Equipment: Google Pixel 7 Pro smartphone, Sky-Watcher Classic 250P Dobsonian with integrated mount
The Milky Way over Drang-DrungVikas Chander, Drang-Drung glacier, Ladakh, India, 11 May 2023Equipment: Nikon D850 camera, Zeiss Milvus 35mm lens, Rainbow Astro RST-135E mount
The Soul Nebula, Sh2-199Graham Prescott, St Albans, Hertfordshire, February-March 2024Equipment: ZWO ASl294MC camera, Sky-Watcher Explorer 150P-DS reflector, Sky-Watcher EQ5 mount
The Jellyfish Nebula, IC 443Simon Todd, Haywards Heath, West Sussex, November 2023- March 2024Equipment: ZWO ASI6200MM Pro camera, Sharpstar Optics 20032PNT reflector, Sky-Watcher EQ8 Pro mount
Solar eclipse mosaicGreg Meyer, West Plain, Missouri, USA, 8 April 2024Equipment: Canon EOS 6D Mk II camera, Sigma 150-600mm lens, Sky-Watcher EQ6-R mount
Star trails over Browne’s FollyChris Lee, Bathford, Somerset, 15 May 2023Equipment: Canon EOS 6D Mk II camera, Hama Star 42 tripod
The Hamburger Galaxy, NGC 3628Andrea Arbizzi, Modena, Italy, 21 January, 10-11 March 2024Equipment: ZWO ASI533MC Pro camera, Celestron C8 EdgeHD Schmidt-Cassegrain, iOptron GEM45 mount
The Helix Nebula, NGC 7293Roger Allpress, Whittlesey, Cambridgeshire, 8 August 2023Equipment: Altair Hypercam 269C camera, Altair Starwave 115 F7 ED refractor, iOptron GEM28 mount
The Whirlpool Galaxy, M51Tom McCrorie, Prestwick, South Ayrshire, 15, 16, 18 and 24 March 2024Equipment: ZWO ASI533MC Pro camera, Sky-Watcher Explorer 200P reflector, Sky-Watcher HEQ5 Pro mount
The Great Lacerta Nebula, Sh2-126Roger Nichol, Chippenham, Wiltshire, December 2022–January 2023Equipment: ZWO ASI2600MC camera, Sky-Watcher Esprit 100ED refractor, Sky-Watcher EQ6-R mount
Comet 12P/Pons-BrooksDario Giannobile, Entella, Sicily, Italy, 6 March 2024Equipment: Canon EOS 6D camera, Sigma 150-600mm lens, Fornax LighTrak II mount Immersa nella campagna della valle del Belice si erge la rocca di Entella. Un luogo reso ancora più suggestivo grazie agli agglomerati di cristalli di gesso che ne costituiscono le formazioni rocciose e che brillano nel sole cocente della nostra terra. A Nord dell’altura, si trova il lago Garcia ma la vista dalla sua sommità spazia su tutto l’orizzonte circostante.Sopra la rocca è stata edificata la città di Entella attualmente oggetto di studio. La città è stata protagonista della storia della Sicilia ed è spesso citata da storici quali Tucidide e Deodoro Siculo. Coinvolta nella prima guerra punica, la città venne liberata dal condottiero greco Timoleonte. “…menzionata ancora a proposito della I Guerra Punica, a seguito della quale la Sicilia entra nell’orbita di Roma, Entella viene ricordata successivamente da Cicerone per le ruberie subite da parte di Verre. Da Plinio sappiamo che nel I sec. d.C. la città era tributaria di Roma, annoverata tra le città stipendiarie.” Tra i numerosi reperti archeologici trovati ad Entella, si annoverano i decreti: “…testi ufficiali della comunità degli Entellini (uno solo è di un’altra città, Nakone), sono scritti nel dialetto greco dorico della Sicilia e sono incisi su tabelle di bronzo destinate ad essere esposte in edifici pubblici.” In questa immagine la rocca si inserisce nel contesto naturalistico della valle venendone abbellita dalla presenza di alcune nuvole sospese in cielo e dalla cometa Pons-Brooks.Nestled in the countryside of the Belice Valley stands the fortress of Entella. A place made even more evocative thanks to the agglomerates of gypsum crystals that make up its rock formations and shine in the scorching sun of our land. To the north of the high ground is Lake Garcia, but the view from its summit sweeps over the entire surrounding horizon.Above the stronghold was built the city of Entella currently being studied. The city has
The Andromeda Galaxy, M31Ivor Trueman, Leeds, West Yorkshire, September 2023-January 2024Equipment: ZWO ASI2600MC Pro camera, Sky-Watcher Explorer 200PDS reflector, Sky-Watcher AZ-EQ6GT Pro mount
Eye On The Sky
This month’s pick of the best images captured by professional observatories and spacecraft
Dragon’s Egg NebulaVLT Survey Telescope (VST), 11 April 2024Credit: ESO/VPHAS team. Acknowledgement: CASU
Io’s south poleNASA Juno spacecraft, 9 April 2024Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS. Image processing: Gerald Eichstädt/Thomas Thomopoulos (CC BY)
Supernova remnant SNR 1181Chandra X-ray Observatory, 27 March 2024Credit: X-ray: (Chandra) NASA/CXC/U. Manitoba/C. Treyturik, (XMM-Newton) ESA/C. Treyturik; Optical: (Pan-STARRS) NOIRLab/MDM/Dartmouth/R. Fesen; Infrared: (WISE) NASA/JPL/Caltech/; Image Processing: Univ. of Manitoba/Gilles Ferrand and Jayanne English
Cyclones on JupiterNASA Juno spacecraft, 18 April 2024Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/ASI/INAF/JIRAM
Region around black hole Gaia BH3 Digitized Sky Survey 2, 16 April 2024Credit: ESO/Digitized Sky Survey 2. Acknowledgement: D. De Martin.
FS Tau star systemHubble Space Telescope, 25 March 2024NASA, ESA, K. Stapelfeldt (NASA JPL), G. Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)
Asteroid transit of galaxy UGC 12158 Hubble Space Telescope, 18 April 2024Credit: NASA, ESA, P. G. Martín (Autonomous University of Madrid), J. DePasquale (STScI). Acknowledgment: A. Filippenko (University of California, Berkeley)
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.
This month’s deep-sky tour plan file can be imported into SkySafari software, available from Simulation Curriculum.
Using this month’s deep-sky tour plan file on SkySafari, you can:
• view each object in SkySafari’s night sky simulation view
• display essential information from the SkySafari database for each object
• slew your telescope to each object in the plan – requires a compatible mount.
To import this month’s deep-sky tour plan file into SkySafari, please see the SkySafari user manual for your device platform and version of SkySafari.
This month’s Deep-Sky Tour plan file is produced by Deep-Sky Planner 8.
Watch the Sky at Night
You can watch the latest episode of The Sky Night, plus previous episodes and historic programmes from the archive, via the BBC Four Sky at Night webpage.
