Two superb pieces of historical research, and some state-of-the-art amateur observations which are helping the professionals tease out the mysteries of some of the sky’s most enigmatic objects

The total eclipse of 2016 March 9, a detailed obituary of variable star observer Albert Jones, and details of how a Ridley Grant from the BAA could help you get started in spectroscopy.

Solar eclipse expeditions in 1936, a spectroscopy workshop in 2015, and how amateur and professional astronomers work together to study Jupiter and Saturn

The total lunar eclipse of September 28, an asteroidal occultation observed from the UK, and comet prospects for 2016..

The controversial correspondence of Edwin Holmes, daytime collimation of a Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope, and details of the Mercury transit of 2016 May 9

See the Perseid meteors in a dark moonless sky, explore an erupting black hole, and follow Patrick Moore’s mentor at the Brockhurst Observatory in Sussex.

The total solar eclipse of 2015 March 20, John Brashear and the BAA, and four astronomical book reviews

A brilliant fireball analysed, NASA’s Dawn spacecraft closes in on Ceres, and a new Governing Document for the BAA

Full details of the March 20 solar eclipse as seen from the British Isles, a lunar graze observed by a local astronomical society, and some historical guesswork on the hidden side of the Moon

The inside story of the Philae landing from Nick James, new storms develop on Uranus, and the comets to look for in 2015.