BBC Sky at Night August 2021

As well as looking up at what the night sky has in store, this issue we’re also reversing the view and looking back at planet Earth from space. In our feature on page 36, Rob Banino speaks to scientists operating satellite missions monitoring our planet’s vital statistics, to investigate how they will provide the data that will underpin global agreements addressing rising levels of carbon dioxide in Earth’s atmosphere. The view remains reversed for another feature too, where Toby Ord tells us about his project to digitally restore photographs of Earth taken by Apollo astronauts. On their way to and from the Moon, the Apollo crews were the first – and so far only – humans to see our planet from the vantagepoint of deep space, and it was a…

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Television Find out what The Sky at Night team have been exploring in recent and past episodes on page 18 Online Visit our website for competitions, astrophoto galleries, observing guides and more Social media Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for space news, astro images and website updates Podcasts Listen to our Radio Astronomy podcasts where the magazine team and guests discuss astro news Tablet/phone Get each month’s issue on your Apple or Android device, now with bonus image galleries eNewsletter The best targets to observe each week, delivered to your inbox. Visit bit.ly/skynewsletter Find out more at: www.skyatnightmagazine.com…

Rob Banino Science Journalist “We have to cut our CO2 emissions to avoid climate change, but without knowing how much CO2 we’re responsible for, we can’t tell if our efforts work.” Rob discovers the satellites that monitor the gases in Earth’s atmosphere, page 36 Ezzy Pearson News editor “Considering Juno was supposed to be ending this month, looking into all the things it has planned during its extended mission was thrilling.” Ezzy looks forward to what’s next for Juno as its Jupiter mission is extended, page 60 Emily Winterburn Physicist & historian “I enjoyed writing about noctilucent clouds, and noticing how as astronomers’ interests have changed, so too has our understanding of this phenomenon.” Emily looks at the ongoing discovery of NLCs, page 72…

AUGUST HIGHLIGHTS How to make the Universe from scratch Interview: particle physicist Dr Harry Cliff traces the building blocks of the cosmos back to the Big Bang. Watch The Sky at Night: Space Boom Britain Maggie and Chris reveal how the British space industry plays a vital role in humanity’s exploration of the Universe. Astrophoto gallery: Solar eclipse special View our pick of the best images of the 10 June partial solar eclipse sent to us by BBC Sky at Night Magazine readers. The Virtual Planetarium Pete Lawrence and Paul Abel guide us through the best sights to see in the night sky this month.…

SOFIA/SPITZER SPACE TELESCOPE, 4 JUNE 2021 This glowing shell, 4,300 lightyears away in the constellation of Scorpius, the Scorpion may offer us a glimpse into how new stars formed in the early Universe. Emission nebula RCW 120 is sculpted by stellar winds blasting from an immense star at its heart. In this new composite of data from NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) and the now-defunct Spitzer Space Telescope, blue shows the gas expanding towards Earth; red is the gas travelling away. New research has measured the expansion speed of the glowing gas and found it to be moving at 53,000km/h. When it hits the surrounding medium, the gas compresses, triggering the formation of dense clumps along the nebula’s rim, areas jam-packed with new stars. The blistering velocity of…