1 November 2025: A new Galaxy, Double stars, Nebula and Picture of the Month. Scroll down to take a look.

31 May 2025: Issue 195 of The Deep-Sky Observer (DSO) is now available for subscribers to download

31 May 2025: Wolfgang Steinicke has a new Object of the Season for you to observe

21 April 2025: New images of Messier 82 and Sextans A by David Davies

Our Annual Meeting

Our Annual Meeting for 2025 was held on Saturday the 28th of June 2025 at the Institute of Astronomy in Cambridge. Thank you to all our helpers, speakers and those who attended and stuck with us in the heat.

So now the work of organising the 2026 Annual Meeting starts. We'll have a date for you as soon as possible, keep watching this space.

Our Publications

The Webb Deep-Sky Society has a wide range of publications on offer.

Mike Swan's excellent Atlas of Open Star Clusters is now available as a single spiral-bound volume. This has a few additions over his earlier volumes 1 and 2.

Owen has added a Volume 2 to his Galaxy of the Month book series. We have a special price for those that choose to buy both volumes.

Issue 195 of The Deep-Sky Observer (DSO) is now available.

Why not join us?

You can now join the Webb Deep-Sky Society online using PayPal. Options include Paper and PDF versions of the Deep-Sky Observer journal, or PDF alone for a reduced price.

Perhaps you'd like to join our groups.io mailing group? Access is limited to members, but you're all welcome.

You can subscribe to our mailing list to receive emailed updates when a new issue is released.

Picture of the Month: Sh2-157 in Cassiopeia

An image of the Lobster Claw (Sh2-157) in Cassiopeia by David Ratledge
Image credit: David Ratledge

I've found an image that's full of deep-sky objects across two of my favourite constellations. Emission nebulae, open clusters and a monster star creating patterns.

Galaxy of the Month: NGC 797 in Andromeda

An image of galaxies NGC 797 and NGC 801 in Andromeda provided by Pan-STARRS1 Surveys
Image credit: Pan-STARRS1 Surveys

A faint and challenging pair of galaxies from Owen this month. There's plenty of confusion about which pair is which because there's another even fainter galaxy for the ambitious with large aperture.

Nebula or Cluster of the Month: NGC 1501 in Camelopardalis

An image of planetary nebula NGC 1501 in Camelopardalis provided by ESA/Hubble & NASA; acknowledgement: Marc Canale
Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA; acknowledgement: Marc Canale

Patrick's chosen a relatively bright and accessible planetary nebula in a frequently overlooked constellation for November. A testbed for stellar evolution, there's detail for those with enough aperture.

Double Stars of the Month: STF 188 and HJ 3475

Tiny finder chart for the double star HJ 3475 in Hydrus
Image credit: created with Cartes du Ciel

Bob has a faint and widely spaced northern double for you this month, whilst to the south he points out a couple of much closer and brighter pairings, albeit the second is rather uneven.

Object of the Season: NGC 6543 in Draco

Planetary Nebula NGC 6543 in Draco - Nordic Optical Telescope and Romano Corradi (Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes, Spain)
Image credit: Nordic Optical Telescope and Romano Corradi (Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes, Spain)

Wolfgang Steinicke would appreciate your observations of planetary nebula NGC 6543 in Draco for his Object of the Season column in the Deep-Sky Observer.

The Deep-Sky Observer

The cover of The Deep-Sky Observer 194

Profusely illustrated, The Deep-Sky Observer is printed on art paper. Its magazine format encourages all amateurs to make a contribution to the Society's work.

Double Star Section Circulars

The contents page of Double Star Section Circular 28

Double Star Section Circulars (DSSC) feature the latest techniques and measurements from double star observers around the World. They are available as PDFs for free download.

Observations

M61 in Virgo by David Davies
M61 in Virgo by David Davies

Some observations and images provided by amateur astronomers around the globe. We're happy to receive your images, sketches and observations of the deep-sky made in pursuit of your projects.