About Astronomy Now For over two decades, Astronomy Now magazine has provided a monthly source of information for amateur and professional astronomers alike. It is the U.K.'s best-selling astronomy magazine. Features A wide range of feature articles cover subjects such as observing, cosmology, the history of astronomy and space science. Focus articles A series of articles each month takes an in-depth look at specific areas of astronomy and space science.

Regulars Each month, Astronomy Now includes a 14-page section on the night sky, an extensive news section, readers' astronomical images, book reviews and advice for beginners and seasoned astronomers alike.

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Apollo 11

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• The boldest voyage of all • Fly me to the Moon • The lunar exploration scrapbook •

The flight that put Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the surface of the Moon was not without drama, tension and excitement. In the first part of this month's Focus we tell their story, forty years on. Humans couldn't step foot on the grey lunar surface without a vehicle to get them there and the Saturn V is still the largest rocket ever built. The history of the mission's design reveals how things could have been very different, and we present a small sample of a decade's worth of designs and prototypes.

Features

• Diamonds are forever • By royal appointment • Harriot's Moone Catalogue • Harriot and the early Moon-mappers • The X-factor • Norfolk's nights with the stars

By royal appointment
The Royal Astronomical Society is almost 190 years old and still going strong. Nick Howes visits the hallowed halls of Burlington House to discover what it has to offer modern astronomers.

Harriot's Moone Catalogue
The 26 July is the four-hundredth anniversary of the first astronomical observations with a telescope – not by Galileo, as you may have been led to believe, but by an Englishman, Thomas Harriot. Geoff Burt presents a recreation of Harriot’s historic Moon map.

Harriot and the early Moon-mappers

Ian McClurg–Welland tells the tale of how Thomas Harriot and his contemporaries revolutionised astronomy.

The X-factor

The high-energy environment of the X-ray Universe is being revealed to us with the help of space-based observatories like NASA’s Chandra, which celebrates its tenth birthday this month. Darren Baskill picks a few of the highlights from the last decade.

Norfolk's nights with the stars

The Kelling Heath Spring Star Party this April was an event not to be missed. Owen
Brazell was there to report on an enjoyable few days and nights.

Regulars

• News update • Your views • Key Moments • Drawn to the Universe •

The night sky • In the shops • Tech talk • Society news • Astrolistings • Ask Alan

• Picture gallery • Classifieds • Gearheads • Starting from scratch • Talking point •

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