Latest observations, tips, and discoveries from the cosmos
Saturn is most people's favourite thing to see through a telescope, and 2026 is a good year to point one at it. After the rings turned nearly edge-on in 2025…
Uranus is a genuinely interesting challenge. At magnitude +5.6 it's just within naked-eye reach from a dark field, yet it looks exactly like a faint star — n…
Venus is impossible to miss when it's in the sky. In 2026 it's giving us a long, well-placed evening apparition, dominant in the western sky from March right…
Mercury reaches greatest elongation around 20–22 February — the best window of early 2026. Look 30–45 minutes after sunset, low in the western sky. Here's exactly where and when.
Moon phases are caused by your viewing angle on the illuminated half — not Earth's shadow. This guide covers all 8 phases, the 29.5-day cycle, and the best phase for telescope viewing.
Winter gives you the longest nights of the year plus Orion, Sirius and the Pleiades — here's how to make the most of them, from layering up to finding your first deep-sky objects.