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

Exciting ways to get away from it all

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

There’s a vast array of astronomy image-processing software on the market, often with high initial or monthly costs coupled with a steep learning curve. StarTools offers a full suite of easy-to-use fu