X-Highlight – Page 23 – Astronomy Now

28 June 2026

“Space Butterfly” in Vela offers remarkable view of twin-lobed planetary nebula

7 August 2020 Astronomy Now

ESO’s Very Large Telescope captures a colourful view of an unusual bipolar planetary nebula resembling a vast butterfly stretching up to four light years across in the southern constellation Vela.

Set your sights on Saturn

20 July 2020 Mark Armstrong

The magnificent ringed planet Saturn, the jewel in the Solar System’s crown, comes to opposition on the night of 20/21 July. At around this time, the ringed wonder offers its best observing circumstances for 2020.

Your best chance to see Jupiter this year

13 July 2020 Mark Armstrong

Mighty Jupiter, the king of the planets, comes to opposition at 08:00 UT on 14 July, the moment when it lies opposite the Sun in sky at a distance of 619.4 million kilometres (384 million miles), or 4.139 astronomical units.

Dramatic view of Venus about to be swallowed up by the Moon

19 June 2020 Mark Armstrong

This fantastic shot of Venus about to be occulted by the Moon was captured by Peter Goodhew using a remote telescope located in Spain.

SharpStar D 150mm f/2.8 HNT: An imaging telescope with sharp vision

27 May 2020 Ade Ashford

Until comparatively recently, your best tool for capturing wide-angle vistas of extended deep-sky objects with a full-frame DSLR or CCD/CMOS camera was a fast prime lens from one of the big-name players in photography. Now you can attain these swift imaging speeds with hyperbolic Newtonians, such as the SharpStar 15028HNT.

Detailed Moon map provides high-resolution ‘blueprint’ for lunar geology

28 April 2020 Astronomy Now

A new Moon map provides an updated, remarkably detailed view of lunar surface geology, merging Apollo-era data with more recent observations and resolving inconsistencies in earlier maps.

Hubble marks 30th anniversary with spectacular peek into the Large Magellanic Cloud

24 April 2020 Astronomy Now

NASA and the European Space Agency marked the Hubble Space Telescope’s 30th anniversary with a colourful look at a vast star-forming region inside the Large Magellanic Cloud

Patrick Moore reports on the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope

24 April 2020 Astronomy Now

In the June 1990 issue of Astronomy Now, Patrick Moore reported on the launch of the space shuttle Discovery which carried into orbit the long-awaited Hubble Space Telescope.

Hubble spies the archetypal barred spiral galaxy

2 May 2016 Astronomy Now

Discovered in 1784 by William Herschel, NGC 4394 is the archetypal barred spiral galaxy, with bright spiral arms emerging from the ends of a bar that cuts through the galaxy’s central bulge. Some 55 million light-years from Earth, the galaxy lies in the constellation of Coma Berenices. NGC 4394 is considered to be a member of the Virgo Cluster.

Rare transit of Mercury to take place on 9 May

1 May 2016 Astronomy Now

On Monday, 9 May there will be a rare transit of Mercury, when the innermost planet in our solar system will pass directly between the Earth and the Sun. The last time this happened was in 2006. With a properly filtered telescope and fine weather, the entire 7½-hour event can be seen from the British Isles.