Put down your CCDs and webcams and go back to basics with our 30-page visual astronomy and astronomical sketching guide, including our Night Sky observing section which this month is made entirely with sketches. In our Focus section, Martin Mobberley, Jeremy Perez and Peter Grego share the delights of visual observing and how to sketch what you see, from the craggy terrain of the Moon to deep sky objects.

Keith Cooper spies on our neighbours The Small and Large Magellanic Clouds, some of the closest galaxies to our Milky Way, while Kulvinder Singh Chadha explores some Earthly ideas for probing deep lakes underneath the Antarctic ice that may eventually be put to the test on Jupiter's moon Europa, which is thought to harbour an extensive ocean beneath its icy shell.

In Starting from Scratch Carole Stott takes us back to the beginning of space and time, and in Talking Point, Alan Longstaff explains what the Large Hadron Collider will do for us. All that plus our usual regulars including Society News, Gearheads and equipment reviews, this month featuring the Meade 5000 series 80mm triple APO.