Keep up to date with all things astronomy related with Astronomy Now magazine, which includes the UK's biggest and best night sky guide, an extensive news section, readers' astronomical images, book and equipment reviews, feature articles, a beginners' section and much more. For a sneak preview of this month's issue go to our magazine page.
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Shuttle Movies
The most complete source of video from the countdown, launch and mission of space shuttle Discovery is available here! Spaceflight Now's STS-121 archive includes more than 200 movies you can watch online or download to your computer. Video Collection
Cassini tastes organic material at Enceladus During its closest and most daring encounter with Saturn’s moon Enceladus, NASA’s Cassini spacecraft sampled an organic brew erupting from the surface in geyser-like fashion that resembles the composition of a comet. FULL STORY
Evidence for biggest UK impact crater unearthed Evidence for the biggest asteroid ever to hit the United Kingdom has been unveiled by a team of British scientists. FULL STORY
Surge of solar activity With little warning, three large sunspots have materialised in the last 24 hours, one of which unleashed the biggest solar flare so far this year. FULL STORY
New clues to guide the search for life on Mars NASA’s Mars Odyssey orbiter has revealed evidence of salt deposits, the tell-tale signs that water was once abundant in these locations, which may preserve evidence of past life on Mars. FULL STORY
Titan's Ocean? NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has discovered evidence that points to the existence of an underground ocean of water and ammonia on Saturn’s moon Titan, giving us a window into the satellite’s interior for the first time. FULL STORY
Super-bright gamma ray burst visible to naked eye An intense stellar explosion - a gamma ray burst - detected by NASA’s Swift space telescope, is the most distant object visible to the naked eye and the brightest object ever observed by humans. FULL STORY
Methane found on extrasolar planet The Hubble Space Telescope has made the first ever detection of an organic molecule on a planet orbiting another star, an important breakthrough in identifying signs of life on a planet outside our Solar System. FULL STORY
Carancas meteor fall uncovered Two abstracts presented at the Lunar Planetary Science Conference (LPSC) in Houston, Texas last week have revealed new findings about the Carancas meteor fall which challenge conventional theories about impact events. FULL STORY
Sir Arthur C Clarke: 1917-2008 British science fiction writer Sir Arthur C Clarke has died at the age of 90 in his home in Sri Lanka after suffering breathing problems. FULL STORY
Nova outburst in Cygnus A nova has recently erupted in the constellation of Cygnus, the Swan and is easily visible in small telescopes. FULL STORY
Life-building ingredients found around infant stars and in meteorites
In two separate reports released this week, scientists have unveiled new discoveries of water vapour and organic gases in the proto-planetary discs of young stars, and unprecedented levels of amino acid concentrations have been detected in meteorites. FULL STORY
Cassini fly-by success
NASA’s Cassini spacecraft performed a daring flyby of Saturn’s moon Enceladus on Wednesday, speeding at 15 kilometres per second through icy Old-Faithful-like geysers erupting from giant fractures in the moon’s cracked shell, and capturing the highest resolution views yet of the north polar region. FULL STORY
Rhea's dusty halo
NASA's Cassini spacecraft has found evidence of a “dusty-halo” orbiting Rhea, Saturn's second largest satellite, the first time rings may have been found around a moon. FULL STORY
Earth-like planets around Alpha Centauri?
Alpha Centauri, the closest star system to our Solar System, should harbour detectable Earth-like planets, according to a new study by a team of astronomers at the University of Santa Cruz. FULL STORY
Cassini to dive into water plume of Saturn moon
NASA's Cassini spacecraft will make an unprecedented "in your face" flyby of Saturn's moon Enceladus on Wednesday, skirting along the edges of huge Old-Faithful-like geysers erupting from giant fractures on the south pole to sample scientifically valuable water-ice, dust and gas in the plume. FULL STORY
More gloom for UK astronomy
Just weeks after the UK's involvement in the Gemini telescopes was reinstated, and UK astronomy suffers another blow at the hands of STFC in the latest announcement that the e-MERLIN project, an array of radio telescopes including the dish at Jodrell Bank, may face closure within the next year. FULL STORY
Looking down the barrel of a gamma-ray burst
A team of astronomers from the University of Sydney have been keeping an eye on a binary star system called Wolf-Rayet 104, which is considered by astronomers to be a highly unstable ticking bomb that will eventually explode in a cataclysmic supernova explosion, called a gamma-ray burst (GRB), which might be directed straight at the Earth. FULL STORY
Martian avalanches caught on film by orbiting probe
Cameras orbiting Mars as part of NASA's High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have captured four avalanches in action. FULL STORY
Sunspot marks the start of new solar cycle
The new year welcomed the beginning of a new solar cycle, with the first sunspot of Cycle 24 observed on 4th January. Cycle 24 has been slow getting started compared to the average over the last few cycles. FULL STORY
Michio Kaku is professor of theoretical physics at City College New York. He is a best-selling author and TV presenter. Two of his most recent programs were shown on BBC Four and his latest book Physics of the Impossible (Allan Lane) is on sale now. Astronomy Now's Kulvinder Singh Chadha talks to the man who dreams about the impossible.READ MORE
2008 Yearbook This 132-page special edition features the ultimate observing guide for 2008, a review of all the biggest news stories, in depth articles covering all aspects of astronomy including astrophotography, the future of the Sun and space missions for 2008, and much, much more. U.K. STORE E.U. STORE U.S. & WORLDWIDE STORE Take the tour! A 100-page special edition from the creators of Astronomy Now magazine, The Grand Tour of the Universe takes readers from one end of the Universe to the other and, in doing so, asks the question "just how big is the Universe?" U.K. STORE E.U. STORE U.S. & WORLDWIDE STORE Infinity Rising This special publication features the photography of British astro-imager Nik Szymanek and covers a range of photographic methods from basic to advanced. Beautiful pictures of the night sky can be obtained with a simple camera and tripod before tackling more difficult projects, such as guided astrophotography through the telescope and CCD imaging. U.K. STORE E.U. STORE U.S. & WORLDWIDE STORE Guide to the Constellations
Astronomy Now presents
this 100-page, full-colour guide to the 68 constellations visible from the British
Isles by Neil Bone, the respected amateur astronomer and writer. U.K. STORE E.U. STORE U.S. & WORLDWIDE STORE Exploring Mars Astronomy Now is pleased to announce the publication of Exploring Mars. The very best images of Mars taken by orbiting spacecraft and NASA's Spirit and Opportunity rovers fill up the 98 glossy pages of this special edition! U.K. STORE E.U. STORE U.S. & WORLDWIDE STORE
Michio Kaku is professor of theoretical physics at City College New York. He is a best-selling author and TV presenter. Two of his most recent programs were shown on BBC Four and his latest book Physics of the Impossible (Allan Lane) is on sale now. Astronomy Now's Kulvinder Singh Chadha talks to the man who dreams about the impossible.
This 132-page special edition features the ultimate observing guide for 2008, a review of all the biggest news stories, in depth articles covering all aspects of astronomy including astrophotography, the future of the Sun and space missions for 2008, and much, much more.
A 100-page special edition from the creators of Astronomy Now magazine, The Grand Tour of the Universe takes readers from one end of the Universe to the other and, in doing so, asks the question "just how big is the Universe?"
This special publication features the photography of British astro-imager Nik Szymanek and covers a range of photographic methods from basic to advanced. Beautiful pictures of the night sky can be obtained with a simple camera and tripod before tackling more difficult projects, such as guided astrophotography through the telescope and CCD imaging.
Astronomy Now presents
this 100-page, full-colour guide to the 68 constellations visible from the British
Isles by Neil Bone, the respected amateur astronomer and writer.
Astronomy Now is pleased to announce the publication of Exploring Mars. The very best images of Mars taken by orbiting spacecraft and NASA's Spirit and Opportunity rovers fill up the 98 glossy pages of this special edition!