Welcome

Make the most of a Moonless Geminid meteor shower

This month the Geminid meteor shower makes a return to our night skies. It’s a particularly good year to observe them as the crescent Moon cooperates by setting before 10pm, so there’ll be a nice, dark sky against which even faint meteor trains should stand out. There are full observing details in the Sky Guide on page 53, and the lowdown on recording your meteor observations for the scientific record on page 82. It’s worth noting that next year’s display will feature a gibbous Moon in Gemini itself, so make the most of this year!

But as you’ll find out in our feature on page 32 about 2019’s observing highlights, there’s much more to look forward to in the night sky over the next 12 months. This issue we also have a fascinating look at creating 360° night-sky panoramas; discover how to capture them on page 38 and how to process those captures on page 84. And with Christmas around the corner our reviews from page 89 focus on equipment that would make an ideal gift for beginners. Let’s hope Comet Wirtanen is on view for their first observations – see page 52 for the prospects!

Enjoy the issue,

PS Our next issue goes on sale 20 December.