Exploring space with Sky at Night Magazine
There’s a vivid memory I have, of sitting around Patrick Moore’s dining room table and discussing the idea for what later became BBC Sky at Night Magazine. One of the people present – who shall remain nameless – wondered if there would be enough material to fill its pages month after month. Looking back at how much the team has crammed into the first 200 issues, it’s fair to say that finding enough content hasn’t been a problem. The anniversary has provided a wonderful excuse to look back, whether it’s to cover missions to Pluto, to revisit a rather special comet, or to return to exoplanet discoveries that have transformed the search for life in the cosmos and much more. Read on for my highlights!
Gaia maps the Milky Way
Astronomy has its roots in mapping the night sky, and the latest and greatest map has been provided by ESA’s Gaia spacecraft. Gaia launched in 2013 and since then it has painstakingly recorded the position and movements of the nearest billion or so stars, allowing researchers to trace the Milky Way’s history like never before.
Exoplanet explosion
When Kepler launched in 2009 it sparked a
