BBC Sky at Night

Sky at Night magazine is your practical guide to astronomy. Each issue features the world’s biggest and best night sky guide complete with star charts, observing tutorials and in-depth equipment reviews to ensure that amateur astronomers never miss those must-see events.

Welcome • 20 years in the making: it’s time for the Rubin revolution!

Sky at Night - lots of ways to enjoy the night sky…

This month's contributors

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THE STUFF OF LEGENDS • Two duelling dragons square up for a cosmic clash

Ancient interstellar object detected • 3I/ATLAS could be the oldest comet ever seen

JWST captures possible Saturn-sized exoplanet • The new world may be the first the telescope has discovered by direct imaging

Astronomers find Universe's missing matter • Cosmic radio signals reveal the shadow of material lost in intergalactic space

Citizen scientists catch star exploding in real time • Members of the public spotted the outburst within hours of its detection by telescopes

First light for Vera Rubin Observatory • New science facility captures cosmic phenomena on unprecedented scales

Earth may be at the centre of a huge void • New theory could explain why the Universe expands faster in our region of space

Ice in space isn't so alien after all • Findings challenge the idea that life on Earth was seeded from elsewhere

Starburst galaxy outshines Milky Way • JWST image of galaxy Messier 82 reveals a flurry of star formation

Saturn's ring has space rainbows • Water-ice spouting from moon Enceladus is creating peculiar striped bands of light in Saturn’s E ring

Lone black holes may finally break cover • These hidden drifters could reveal themselves through a telltale flicker

INSIDE THE SKY AT NIGHT • August’s episode of The Sky at Night celebrates the work of Jocelyn Bell Burnell. George Dransfield explains why this pulsar pioneer is such a hero to her

The Expanding Universe

Smartphone meets Uranus

BBC Sky at Night

One sky – then, now and forever • The starry sky is the one unchanged view we share with our ancestors, says Mark Westmoquette. It’s our link to every soul who ever paused to wonder

Inside the Vera C Rubin Observatory • The brand-new observatory is about to begin its 10-year survey of the night sky. KR Callaway visited the facility to find out how it will shed light on the Universe’s darkest mysteries

Taming a data mountain • The sheer volume of information Rubin will gather demands a completely new approach

Q&A with Alan Strauss • Rubin Observatory’s outreach lead on why the science belongs to everyone

JUNO The mission that rewrote the story of Jupiter • As NASA’s Juno mission nears its end, Nicky Jenner explores the secrets it has uncovered about the Solar System’s largest and most enigmatic world

Destination: Jupiter • Taking up Juno’s mantle, two new robotic probes are en route to Jupiter and its mysterious moons

Killer magnetism • Spacecraft have to be tough to survive Jupiter’s incredibly strong magnetic field

How to make a planet • From stardust to rocky realms and gas giants, here's what it takes to build a world

When other worlds fall to Earth • You could find the evidence for planet building right in your own backyard

The Sky Guide • SEPTEMBER 2025

SEPTEMBER HIGHLIGHTS • Your guide to the night sky this month

NEED TO KNOW • The terms and symbols used in The Sky Guide

THE BIG THREE • The top sights to observe or image this month

THE PLANETS • Our celestial neighbourhood in September

The planets in September • The phase and relative sizes of the...