October 2024 Issue | Astronomy.com

December 2024: What’s in the Southern Hemisphere sky this month?

Alison Klesman — Tue, 03 Dec 2024 20:05:56 +0000

You don’t want to miss Jupiter this month. The giant planet reaches opposition and peak visibility December 7 against the stunning backdrop of Taurus the Bull. Shining at magnitude –2.8, Jupiter dominates the northeastern sky once darkness falls. Although the gas giant lies well north of the celestial equator — less than optimal for usContinue reading "December 2024: What’s in the Southern Hemisphere sky this month?"

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Finding your first astroimaging rig

shill — Fri, 18 Oct 2024 13:00:00 +0000

Getting started in astrophotography can be daunting. With so many different telescopes, cameras, and mounts and all their variations, where do you start? The first piece of equipment you should choose is a mount, the mechanical base that the telescope attaches to. For astrophotography, the mount must be motorized, and ideally computer-controllable. This might soundContinue reading "Finding your first astroimaging rig"

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Astronomy’s 14th annual star products

Phil Harrington — Tue, 15 Oct 2024 13:00:00 +0000

Once again, we’ve scoured the astro-marketplace to find the finest, most practical, and most innovative products for Astronomy magazine’s Star Products, 2024 edition. This collection of 35 items, in no particular order, offers a diverse selection. From tools tailored for visual observing to those crafted for astrophotography, there’s something here for everyone, whether you’re aContinue reading "Astronomy’s 14th annual star products"

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Will my telescope show color when viewing deep-sky objects?

Astronomy Staff — Mon, 14 Oct 2024 14:00:00 +0000

How much color should I be able to see in sky objects through a 10-inch telescope? Dennis HoltConcordia, Kansas Unfortunately, when you look at distant galaxies and nebulae, you won’t see much color through your telescope. That’s because you’re viewing objects that are too faint to trigger your eyes’ color receptors. This is the sameContinue reading "Will my telescope show color when viewing deep-sky objects?"

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How we found Morehouse’s Black Ring: A dark nebula hiding in plain sight

Stephen James O'Meara — Fri, 11 Oct 2024 13:00:00 +0000

In the pioneering days of long-exposure astrophotography in the late 19th century, the use of dry plates over wet collodion plates simplified the photographic process. The increased light sensitivity of the emulsion coatings on dry plates allowed for shorter exposure times and produced sharper images of the night sky. In 1881, the French inventors brothersContinue reading "How we found Morehouse’s Black Ring: A dark nebula hiding in plain sight"

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Why Starizona’s Nexus coma corrector wows

Chris Schur — Tue, 08 Oct 2024 13:00:00 +0000

Affordable fast Newtonian astrographs are game changers for astrophotographers. Most of these instruments have a focal ratio in the vicinity of f/4, allowing them to capture light from deep-sky objects more than six times faster than the f/10 Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes that dominate the market. But with that faster speed comes a huge problem: a curvedContinue reading "Why Starizona’s Nexus coma corrector wows"

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How long will Saturn’s rings last before they disappear?

Astronomy Staff — Mon, 07 Oct 2024 14:00:00 +0000

Do astronomers have any estimates of when Saturn’s rings will disappear? Doug KaupaCouncil Bluffs, Iowa All four of the solar system’s giant planets have ring systems. The rings of Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune are dark, sparse belts or ringlets. Only Saturn’s massive main rings are dense and bright, made of almost pure water-ice particles rangingContinue reading "How long will Saturn’s rings last before they disappear? "

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Observe the galaxies of Sculptor

Michael E. Bakich — Fri, 04 Oct 2024 13:00:00 +0000

The constellation Sculptor is not an easy star pattern to find, but it’s worth the effort because it contains some gorgeous deep-sky objects. Its name comes from French astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille, who surveyed the southern sky from 1750 to 1753 at the Cape of Good Hope. He called the pattern “The Sculptor’s Workshop,”Continue reading "Observe the galaxies of Sculptor"

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Deep-sky objects to target as a novice observer

David J. Eicher — Tue, 01 Oct 2024 13:00:00 +0000

Do you remember the first time you truly discovered the universe? When I was a teenager, many moons ago, I bought my first telescope, a Celestron 8. I remember excitedly unboxing it the day it arrived. Fortunately, I had a clear sky that evening and stayed up all night observing. In the early morning, IContinue reading "Deep-sky objects to target as a novice observer"

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October 2024: What’s in the sky this month?

Martin Ratcliffe — Tue, 01 Oct 2024 05:00:00 +0000

October finds Mercury and Venus in the evening sky. Mercury is shy and takes some effort to see, but brilliant Venus is not hard to find. Saturn, Neptune, Uranus, and Jupiter rise in that order before midnight. Mars becomes a fine bright object in the predawn sky, standing high in the east. And C/2023 A3Continue reading "October 2024: What’s in the sky this month?"

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