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CONTENTS

= on the cover C

Features

@ T H E S H E D _

,

L AW R E N C E

P E T E

,

I M A G E S

I S T O C K /G E T T Y

O V E R S N A P/

:

PA G E

I S

T H

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G A R L I C K

M A R K

:

I M A G E

C O V E R

I M A G E S/J A X A /

I S T O C K /G E T T Y

C O B A LT 8 8/

,

L I B R A R Y/A L A M Y

T O

P H O

I E N C E

G A R L I C K /S C

M A R K

,

I O

T O S T U D

P H O

I M A G E S

I S T O C K /G E T T Y

WA C K E R H A U S E N /

J A C O B

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I Z O N A

O F A R

I T Y

I V E R S

N A S A /J P LC A LT E C H/U N

28 The planets return

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They’re back! All the planetary events you won’t want to miss

34 Season of the supermoon

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Everything you ever wanted to know about our Moon

40 Particle physics 101

Supersymmetry – what is it and does it solve everything?

60 10 strangest things

in our Solar System

Weird and wonderful phenomena on our cosmic doorstep

66 Bringing back pieces

of a Mars moon

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Read how Japan aims to land on and sample the moon Phobos

Regulars 6 Eye on the sky 10 Bulletin 16 Cutting edge 18 Inside The Sky at Night 20 Interactive 25 Field of view 26 Subscribe to BBC Sky

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C

at Night Magazine 72 Explainer 74 Skills for stargazers: How to

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‘discover’ a comet or asteroid 98 Q&A: a black hole detective

Astrophotography 76 Capture 78 Processing 80 Gallery

Reviews 86 Ursa Major multicoated

flatfield eyepieces 90 Vaonis Hestia smartphone-

based telescope 95 Gear 96 Books

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16 -PAGE CENTRE PULLOUT

The Sky Guide 44 Highlights 46 The big three 48 The planets 50 September’s all-sky chart 52 Moonwatch 53 Comets and asteroids 53 Star of the month 54 Binocular tour 55 The Sky Guide challenge 56 Deep-sky tour 58 September at a glance

4 BBC Sk y at Night Magazine September 2024