Astronomy Now

We are extremely sad to learn that deep sky expert and Astronomy Now columnist Owen Brazell has been killed in a traffic accident on his way to Kelling Heath Star Party. This is a tragic loss to the UK astronomy community. Our thoughts are with his family and all who knew him.

Your April issue of Astronomy Now is here! Must-read features include: ☄ Will sungrazer comet 2026 A1 (MAPS) flare or fizzle? 🌚 Science driving our return to the Moon 🦠 Could the first alien life be simple slime?  Find us in UK shops or order here👉 sbee.link/wxm3agbynv

Astronomy, NOW! 👀 Observe a young Moon with Venus, just after sunset on 20 March. ⚠️ Be sure that the Sun has set before observing the sky to avoid permanent damage to your eyesight. 📷 Astronomy Now/Greg Smye-Rumsby

Astronomy, NOW! 👀 Point your telescope at #Jupiter tomorrow to see a rare transit of Callisto AND Io with a shadow crossing! You can also find Jupiter with your naked eye in the constellation #Gemini. 📷 View from S. England at 21:30 GMT, 17 March. Credit: AN/Greg Smye-Rumsby

Astronomers may have discovered a completely new kind of planet, one where a vast ocean of molten rock lies beneath a sulphur-rich atmosphere. Full story 👉 sbee.link/cdhgkn4q9e 📷 Artist impression by Mark A Garlick #astronomy #exoplanets #JWST

📢 Poll time! Which comet exploration generation are you? Forty years ago, @esa's Giotto mission made a historic flyby of Comet Halley – a year before our very first issue of Astronomy Now! Are you a 1st, 2nd or next-gen #comet fan, or rather observe comets yourself?!

🚨 Our latest subscription offer is ending next week! For just £58 (saving more than £40) you can get: 📚 12 issues of Astronomy Now 🪐 FREE Space Shots special publication 🌌 FREE Messier Catalogue poster Don't miss out 👉 sbee.link/98k6pt4wey

Three confirmed interstellar objects have passed through our Solar System in the last 8 years, but are these truly the first? And what have we learned about the most recent, 3I/ATLAS?  Find out in the March issue of Astronomy Now sbee.link/gfjtym6dca

New to astronomy, not sure what to buy? Here’s a quick gear guide by budget: 🪙 <£200 Binoculars, perfect first steps 💶 £300–£600 4inch & smartscopes 💰 £700–£1000 Bigger scopes, tracking mounts 💸 £2000+ Serious astrophotography More in our March issue: sbee.link/7ftxueybpq

Our editor @DrStuClark and copy editor Nicola Beynon are set up at the Practical Astronomy Show and ready to meet you tomorrow! See you here! ⬇️

🔵 Blue straggler stars shouldn’t exist – yet they do. In ancient globular clusters, these mysterious blue stars appear young where only old stars should remain. Their story may rewrite what we know about half the stars in our Galaxy Read more 👉 sbee.link/qthp698nwb

We're heading to the Practical Astronomy Show in Stoneleigh Park (UK) this Saturday! Who else? Do drop by and say hi – editor Stuart Clark and publishing manager Steve Kelly will be ready and waiting to talk all things astronomy with you! Show details: sbee.link/vuga97jnqy

Astronomy, NOW! 👀 A total lunar eclipse will sweep the Pacific tomorrow (3 March), with a partial eclipse extending through parts of the Americas, Alaska, Russia, Asia & Oceania. Everything you need to know about this #eclipse 👉sbee.link/ug37bde9p6 📷AN/Greg Smye-Rumsby

How Warren created the image: 🔭 24-inch PlaneWave CDK telescope + SBIG STX-16803 camera 🕧 Astrodon Gen2 E-Series hydrogen-alpha & sulphur-II filters each yielded 30 mins; oxygen-III filter aquired an hours data 🎨 Hubble palette 📍 Stan Watson Observatory South, Chile

🆕 Congratulations Warren Keller for capturing the beautiful complexity of the Swan, or Omega Nebula (Messier 17), in Sagittarius – one of the largest star-forming regions in our Galaxy! It's our Picture of the Month and new cover image for March👏

🍕 If a 16" pizza had the same width-to-thickness ratio as the Milky Way’s thin disc, it would be only ~4mm thick – a true thin crust pizza! Our galaxy’s disc is ~100,000 light years across but just ~1,000 ly thick. 📷UGC10043 by ESA/Hubble & NASA, R. Windhorst, W. Keel.

Heads up for a lunar eclipse centred on the mid-Pacific 3 March! 🌚 The total eclipse phase will last from 11:03 UT until 12:03 UT. Full details and timings 👉sbee.link/8k973cprqe 📷Total lunar eclipse of 14 March 2025, by Fabrizio Melandri #AstronomyNow

Astronomy, NOW! 👀 UK observers can enjoy these #Moon-related events this week 🌓 24 Feb: Moon close to Pleiades  🌚 27 Feb: occultation of kappa Gem (see graphic) 🐝 28 Feb: Moon brushes Beehive Cluster  Timing info: sbee.link/nh97cajutw 📷 Graphic by AN/Greg Smye-Rumsby

Your March issue of Astronomy Now just arrived!  Featuring: 🌟 Stars that shouldn't exist 🔍What is dark matter? 🌀Why are spiral galaxies flat? 🤑Observing equipment for every budget 🔭Full guide to the March night sky, latest kit & book reviews  👉 sbee.link/xrqjef93ud

Astronomy, NOW! 👀 Mercury briefly steps out of the Sun’s glare this month to offer its best showing of the year in the evening sky. Enjoy this picturesque scene with the Moon, Saturn and Venus between 18/19 Feb! 📷 Graphic by Astronomy Now/Greg Smye-Rumsby