Here’s what you’ll find in the Aug/Sep 2018 issue of Australian Sky & Telescope magazine — on sale now!

FEATURES:

• Litter in orbit — Millions of pieces of debris orbit the Earth, and it’s going to take a coordinated international effort and innovative solutions to solve the problem.
• Mars’ lost atmosphere — NASA’s MAVEN mission has confirmed how our planetary neighbour lost its protective gas
  envelope.
• First into orbit — Australia’s states have begun a bidding and publicity war in the quest to play host to the nation’s new Space Agency.
• Celestial scenery — The depths of deep space are revealed in the winning photos from the Astronomical Society of NSW’s Astroimaging Competition.
• Precision optics — A New Zealand company that specialises in making high-tech optics, including huge lenses, is taking on the astronomy world.
• Your first telescope — Consider our expert advice before making your first big purchase as an amateur astronomer.

OBSERVING & EXPLORING:

• Binocular highlight — Two nebulae that will surprise you.
• Under the stars — Memories of Mars.
• Planets — Venus and Jupiter are this month’s ‘western stars’.
• Meteors — This month, meteors with a chance of fireballs.
• Double stars —Sagittarius rises again.
• Variable stars — Good things happen when amateur astronomers gather.
• Comets — The ‘meteor storm’ comet returns.
• Deep sky — The nebula with too many names.
• Solar System — Hunting Mars’ moons, Phobos and Diemos.
• History — Learn about Messier 27, the first planetary nebula.

REGULAR FEATURES:

• Test report — The Observatory software for Apple Mac computers helps you to organise your image data, and more.
• Astronomer’s workbench — How to wring the last gram of performance out of a scope.

…and much more.

Click here to subscribe to the print edition, or here to subscribe the digital edition.