Jump into the deep end how to progress from planetary to deep-sky photography

The quality of your astro images isn’t just down to your processing skills. Key is the relationship between your telescope’s optics, your camera’s imaging chip and your local atmospheric ‘seeing’ cond

Imagine this: you set up a small telescope in your back garden. On your phone’s screen, you tap on the Orion Nebula. Seconds later, the scope slews to it, focuses and begins revealing the colourful sw

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

You may have bought this December issue of BBC Sky at Night Magazine because you’ve been given – or you’ve treated yourself to – a new telescope for Christmas. And you may be wondering what to do with

Anton Matthews, Bristol, UK, 3 July 2025 Anton says: “Towards the end of an early morning session, I took one more look and spotted this prominence. I’d never seen, let alone imaged, one this far from

First up is the mag. +11.9 planetary nebula IC 351, located 2.3° west and 0.8° south of Menkib (Xi (ξ) Persei). Despite its small apparent size – just 8 x 6 arcminutes – it’s visible through a small s