The year inconstellations

Dark nights don’t have to be spooky, thanks to these sparkling UK sites

Autumn, winter and spring are the best seasons to stargaze, says Neill Sanders, outreach astronomer at gostargazing.co.uk. “Most stargazing events are organised from the time clocks go back in October

Exciting ways to get away from it all

1 Nov 00:00 AEST (31 Oct, 14:00 UT) 15 Nov 23:00 AEDT (12:00 UT) 30 Nov 22:00 AEDT (11:00 UT) The chart accurately matches the sky on the dates and times shown for Sydney, Australia. The sky is differ

2 Sunday Mag. +0.4 Saturn is 5.7° from this morning’s 82%-lit waxing gibbous Moon. Catch them together before they set at around 01:00 UT. Tuesday 4 Callisto’s shadow transits Jupiter’s disc from 07:0

Your new telescope arrives and you plan to take it for a spin through the stars. But a smog of light sits low in the sky, washing away your views to distant galaxies – along with your astronomy dreams