Look up and wonder
The cosmos is within us. We are made of star-stuff.
News
Dispatches
Field notes from the edge of the solar system, written in plain language for people who like to look up.
Observing
Tonight's sky, decoded
You do not need a dark-sky park or an expensive telescope. Here is what to look for with whatever you have, from bare eyes to a backyard scope.
Cassiopeia, the W in the north
No gear at all. Just a dark spot and twenty minutes for your eyes to adjust.
A steady pair of 7x50 or 10x50 binoculars shows far more than your eyes alone.
Even a small telescope turns points of light into worlds. Start at low magnification and work up.
Meteor showers this season
Peak
Oct 21–22
Orionids
From Halley's Comet
Swift, bright meteors made of dust shed by the most famous comet of all.
Peak
Nov 17–18
Leonids
From Comet Tempel–Tuttle
Usually modest, but famous for rare storms of thousands of meteors an hour.
Peak
Dec 13–14
Geminids
From Asteroid 3200 Phaethon
Often the best shower of the year, with up to about 120 meteors an hour under dark skies.
Showers peak on the same nights every year. Rates are best after midnight, away from city lights.
Resources & Education
Space 101
Six ideas that make the night sky make sense. Tap a card to flip it.
Field guides
Short, practical guides for your first nights out. Open one up, then take it outside.
01Your first night outEverything you need for a great first session under the stars.
- Check the forecast for clear skies and look up the Moon's phase. A bright Moon washes out faint objects.
- Give your eyes 20 to 30 minutes in the dark, and read charts with a red light so you keep your night vision.
- Start with what you can find: the Moon, a bright planet and one easy constellation.
- Dress warmer than you think. Standing still at night gets cold fast, even in summer.
02Choosing your first telescopeWhat actually matters when you buy, and what to ignore.
- Aperture, the width of the main lens or mirror, matters far more than magnification.
- A good pair of 7x50 or 10x50 binoculars is a brilliant first instrument that goes anywhere.
- A simple Dobsonian gives the most aperture for your money and is easy to set up.
- Skip any box that sells itself on huge magnification numbers.
03Photographing the sky with a phoneSurprisingly good results with the camera already in your pocket.
- Use a tripod or prop the phone against something solid. Even a tiny shake turns stars into streaks.
- Turn on night mode, or use a manual camera app with exposures of 10 to 30 seconds.
- Tap to focus on a bright star or the Moon, then lock focus and exposure.
- For the Moon, lower the exposure until the craters stop glowing white.
Community
Join the crew
One email a month with the meteor showers, eclipses and launches worth staying up for, plus a few easy targets to find from your own backyard.
The month ahead
Meteor showers, Moon phases and planets worth catching, with dates and times.
Easy targets
A few things to find from your own backyard, no expensive kit required.
Launches and missions
The launches, landings and flybys worth following that month.
About us
Still exploring
In 1977 two small spacecraft left Earth to tour the outer planets. Nearly fifty years later they are still sending notes home from interstellar space.
Voyager is a field guide built in the same spirit. We write plain-language stories about what is happening up there, and practical guides that help anyone, anywhere, look up and understand what they are seeing.
- 01
Look up
Most of the sky's best moments are free and visible from your own street.
- 02
Stay curious
Every guide answers the question beginners actually ask: what am I looking at?
- 03
Share the sky
Astronomy is better together, whether that is a club, a classroom or the back garden.
- Voyager 1 launched
- Sept 5, 1977
- Entered interstellar space
- Aug 2012
- One light-day from Earth
- Nov 18, 2026
