in the shops

Must-have books, software, apps, telescopes and accessories

Book The Cambridge Photographic Atlas of Galaxies

Cost: £44.99 (approx $60.00) From: Cambridge University Press

Galaxies are everywhere across the universe, appearing in an impressive range of sizes and shapes, that illustrate the uniform to the quirkiest of galactic structures. It is the individuality from one structure to the next that drives us to fill in the gaps of our knowledge of galaxy formation and evolution and despite the ongoing puzzle, The Cambridge Photographic Atlas of Galaxies provides a wealth of information.

This atlas explains all of the features of a galaxy in the finest detail, including their classification and a catalogue of viewable targets you can observe at night.

Authors, Michael König, who holds a doctorate in astrophysics, and experienced astrophotographer Stefan Binnewies have combined their knowledge to showcase what is within an amateur astronomer’s grasp, while explaining current astrophysical research of any one target - a refreshing approach, that gives the reader a bigger picture when turning their eyes, binoculars or telescopes to the night sky.

App Pocket Universe

Cost: £2.99 ($3.93) For: iOS

There are many astronomy apps on the market; planetariums, Space Station trackers, lunar calendars and interactive orrerys. Pocket Universe does more than one thing, making it a highly varied and educational program to have at your fingertips. The in-built planetarium aspect does a fantastic job of helping users to navigate their way around the night sky thanks to a vast database.

This app calls up the latest weather forecast and planetary positions throughout the night for observation planning. There are several quizzes and games to get stuck into (we recommend trying out ‘Falcon Lander’), along with orrerys that allow you to scour the Solar System with ease.

Unfortunately, it's only available on iOS, but if you are the owner of an Apple product, there will be an update coming out soon that includes an exciting new augmented reality (AR) feature. Excitingly, this will bring the orrery into your room and will also be infused into the planetarium software, providing further visual assistance with guides between 'real' celestial viewings.

Movie The Farthest

Cost: DVD: £11.99 / Blu-ray: £17.99 From: Screenbound Pictures

The Farthest is a fine testament to one of the greatest space exploration missions NASA has ever launched. In 1977, the two Voyager spacecraft blasted off into space in an attempt to explore beyond our very own solar neighbourhood. Since then, the twin spacecraft have whizzed past the orbit of Pluto, with Voyager 1 officially entering interstellar space.

This film, which is available on DVD and Blu-Ray, has achieved a marvellous job of recapping the NASA missions, with highlights explained by the mission’s key scientists, eye-catching graphics and animations as well as nostalgic videos and images of Voyager’s greatest successes. Some of the spacecraft's most influential scientists, including Frank Drake, Carolyn Porco and John Casani, discuss Voyager’s highs, lows and what we've learned from the mission so far. Another important question that is addressed during the 120-minute runtime is: what if we aren’t alone in the universe? A superb film, that's directed by Emer Reynolds, The Farthest is definitely worth a watch.

Binoculars Celestron SkyMaster 25x100

Cost: £379.00 ($498.76) From: David Hinds Ltd

The Celestron SkyMaster 25x100 binoculars have the largest aperture in the SkyMaster series. This grants extremely powerful light-gathering power that's ideal for astronomical viewing. The SkyMaster 25x100 are also useful for terrestrial viewings, but we feel that you shouldn't miss out on observing the wonders of the night sky, especially given the clarity and contrast these binoculars achieve. BAK-4 Porro prisms are built into the optical system, while the lenses are multi-coated, resulting in a crisp magnification of 25-times the human eye’s capabilities.

The binoculars showed the Moon in impressive detail, and brought some of the brighter deep-sky objects into elegant focus. Based on our experiences, the optical system is able to handle planetary observations, but when it comes to the dimmer, more diffuse targets, it cannot collect as many photons as a smaller pair of binoculars - a consequence of its large magnification. The binoculars are quite hefty, so your arms will ache during long periods of time, but come with an integrated rigid tripod adapter.