As summer takes hold why not put those light evenings to use by building an observatory?! In this month's focus Martin Mobberly and David Arditti show you how to build both a run-off roof observatory and a run-off shed, not forgetting the addition of a warm room, crucial for when those long winter nights roll round again! How about a meteor camera and cloud detection system for your observatory, too? Nick Howes and Ian Pass show you how to build a low cost system using items easily sourced from eBay, in Telescope Talk.

If you're thinking of heading off to warmer climes for the summer, take a look at our Around the world in Astronomy guide, which highlights some astronomical hotspots around the globe, from observatories to impact craters, and museums to space centres. Meanwhile, Keith Cooper travels further afield to asteroid Vesta, ahead of spacecraft Dawn's rendezvous with the tiny world mid-July, and Nick Howes checks in with TV stars Geoff Notkin and Steve Arnold, AKA The Meteorite Men who have kindly donated pieces of the Moon, Mars and an asteroid to five lucky Astronomy Now readers – you'll have to get hold of a copy of the magazine to find out how to win!

Elsewhere, we pay tribute to Mars Exploration Rover Spirit with a Picture This special; Neil English learns about the legacy of the Cooke refractors, and how they are holding up in the modern era of astronomy, and Bob Mizon points out some summer objects to view from urban locations, alongside our sky tour in the Summer Triangle and usual "What's Up" tour of the sky this month. We also have a review of the Altair Astro 115mm refractor, along with books reviews, Steve Ringwood's latest batch of astroloot, and much more!