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CONTENTS

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FeaturesFeatures

Features

, @ T H ES H E D_

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H U B L /CCD G U

R E N CE, B ER N H A R D

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I M AG E

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N ASA /J O H N S

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P H OTO S T U D

28 25 sights of Christmas

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A fabulous, festive countdown of stunning astronomical sights to see before the big day

35 Magnificent Mars at its best

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Your essential guide to the Red Planet riches on offer this month

60 How to deflect an asteroid

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How DART’s great success was hitting rock bottom

62 Apollo 17

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50 years on, we look back on the final triumphant Apollo mission

66 The legacy of Apollo

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What NASA’s lunar odyssey meant for space science

Regulars 6 Eye on the sky 11 Bulletin 16 Cutting edge 18 Inside The Sky at Night 20 Interactive 23 What’s on 25 Field of view 26 Subscribe to BBC Sky

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at Night Magazine 72 Explainer 74 DIY astronomy 98 Q&A: an extreme space

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weather scientist Astrophotography 76 Capture 78 Processing 80 Gallery

4 BBC Sky at Night Magazine December 2022

Reviews 86 Sky-Watcher Explorer 130P

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AZ GO-2 90 Opticron Oregon Observation

11x70 binoculars 94 Books 96 Gear

16-PAGE CENTRE PULLOUT

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The Sky Guide 44 Highlights 46 The big three 48 The planets 50 December’s all-sky chart 52 Moonwatch 53 Comets and asteroids 53 Star of the month 54 Binocular tour 55 The Sky Guide challenge 56 Deep-sky tour 58 December at a glance