BBC Sky at Night

Sky at Night magazine is your practical guide to astronomy. Each issue features the world’s biggest and best night sky guide complete with star charts, observing tutorials and in-depth equipment reviews to ensure that amateur astronomers never miss those must-see events.

Welcome • This month: comets, crackpot theories and cosmic curveballs

Sky at Night - lots of ways to enjoy the night sky…

This month's contributors

FREE BONUS CONTENT

WAITING IN THE WINGS • This butterfly star cloaked in dust is preparing to hatch some planets

NASA finds new evidence for life on Mars • Biosignatures of potential ancient microbial life found in dry riverbed

Humans to orbit Moon again after 53 years • NASA eyes February launch date for first crewed lunar fly-by since Apollo

Day-long space explosion baffles astronomers • The massive gamma-ray burst lasted 1,000 times longer than any seen before

Rogue planets host their own mini planetary systems • Starless, free-floating giant worlds may build rocky planets of their own

‘Universe breakers’ could be black hole stars • Unexplained little red dots may be an entirely new precursor to black holes

JWST discovers new Moon orbiting Uranus • At just 10 kilometres wide, this is the smallest satellite yet found around the ice giant

New rocket could slash Mars travel time • Nuclear propulsion and asteroid refuelling may unlock rapid deep-space travel

Forget Betelgeuse: there's a new supernova in town • V Sagittae may soon erupt in a nova that lights up the sky – even in daylight

Mysterious lumps found inside Mars • InSight Lander reveals the Red Planet's interior in amazing detail

Air clings to small planets after all • Small, rocky worlds once thought bare may have habitable atmospheres

Ancient poem reveals historic supernova • A medieval Arabic verse offers new clues to explosion's date and position

INSIDE THE SKY AT NIGHT • October's Sky at Night episode examined what it takes to become an astronaut. But why, wonders George Dransfield, is the opportunity still not available to everyone?

Saturn's moons - right on cue

INTERACTIVE

BBC Sky at Night

Finding peace in deeptime • Daily worries getting you down? Think about the scale of the Universe, says Mark Westmoquette – the Big Picture will make those anxieties so much smaller

The hunt for alien tech • Can scientists tune in to Radio Alien? Govert Schilling investigates the cosmic clues that might reveal intelligent life through its technology

The Wow! signal • Almost 50 years after it was picked up, the jury's still out on the most famous alien call of them all

Listening for ET • MeerK AT, Parkes, Green Bank and more – today's SETI radio searches span the globe

Smart stargazing A beginner's guide • Curious about smart telescopes? Jamie Carter has the low-down on the app-powered tech that's making deep-space imaging easier than ever

Smart stargazing targets • Eight celestial treats to uncover with your smart telescope this autumn and winter

25 years of life in orbit • Humans have now continuously occupied the International Space Station for a quarter century. Ben Evans celebrates the milestone and asks what's next

The Sky Guide • NOVEMBER 2025

NOVEMBER HIGHLIGHTS • Your guide to the night sky this month

NEED TO KNOW • The terms and symbols used in The Sky Guide

(Almost) a Saturn ring plane crossing • THE BIG THREE The top sights to observe or image this month

Comet 24P/Schaumasse near the Beehive • BEST TIME TO SEE: 7–10 November and at the end of the month

Comet C/2024 E1 Wierzchoś • BEST TIME TO SEE: 8–30...