Astronomy - August 2020 USA PDF

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Online Content Code: ASY2008
Enter this code at: www.astronomy.com/code AUGUST 2020
to gain access to web-exclusive content VOL. 48, NO. 8
ON THE COVER
The European Space Agency’s
CONTENTS
Solar Orbiter should retool our
understanding of how the Sun
44 works. ESA/ATG MEDIALAB; ESA/AOES
COLUMNS
Strange Universe 16
FEATURES BOB BERMAN
18 38 For Your Consideration 62

A fresh look at Star Dome and JEFF HESTER
our home star Paths of the Planets Secret Sky 64
Solar Orbiter will soon explore RICHARD TALCOTT; STEPHEN JAMES O’MEARA
what shapes and powers the ILLUSTRATIONS BY ROEN KELLY
solar wind. BEN EVANS Observing Basics 66
44 56 GLENN CHAPLE
Observe Jupiter and
28 Don’t miss the Perseids
Saturn at their best
Binocular Universe 68
Excavating This annual meteor shower will PHIL HARRINGTON
Catch the two greatest
cosmic fossils put on a great show in 2020.
telescopic planets at opposition
Like dinosaur bones, tiny MICHAEL E. BAKICH
micrometeorites reveal
this month and you’ll see 9
beautiful planetary worlds! QUANTUM GRAVITY
much about the ancient past. 50 STEPHEN JAMES O’MEARA
ILIMA LOOMIS Mine Aquila’s Everything you need to
know about the universe
deep-sky gems 60
36 Star clusters and planetary this month: ATLAS
Meet an easy-to-use breaks up in the sky,
Sky This Month nebulae will keep you looking
Outer planets on display. at the Eagle all night long. imaging scope how COVID-19 affects
This clever device will capture the world’s telescopes, a
MARTIN RATCLIFFE AND MICHAEL E. BAKICH
celestial portraits even Moon map, and more.
ALISTER LING
through light-polluted skies.
52 RAYMOND SHUBINSKI
Life on the wide side IN EVERY ISSUE
How to breathe new life
into old astrophoto targets.
70 From the Editor 6
Ask Astro Astro Letters 8
STEVE CANNISTRA
Interstellar visitors.
Advertiser Index 65
New Products 69
Reader Gallery 72
Breakthrough 74
ONLINE
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W W W.ASTR ONOMY.COM 5
FROM THE EDITOR
Editor David J. Eicher
A close look Design Director LuAnn Williams Belter

EDITORIAL
Production Editor Elisa R. Neckar
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at the Sun
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ART
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Illustrator Roen Kelly
Launched early this year, the Production Specialist Jodi Jeranek
European Space Agency probe CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
Michael E. Bakich, Bob Berman, Adam Block,
called Solar Orbiter is on a seven- Glenn F. Chaple Jr., Martin George, Tony Hallas,
year mission to study our home star in unprec- Phil Harrington, Korey Haynes, Jeff Hester, Alister Ling,
Stephen James O’Meara, Martin Ratcliffe,
edented ways. In a huge, elliptical orbit, Solar Raymond Shubinski, Richard Talcott
Orbiter will swing out via gravity assists from SCIENCE GROUP
Executive Editor Becky Lang
Earth and Venus to a wide berth that carries it
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years will be spent simply getting to its func- Edward Kolb, Stephen P. Maran, Brian May, S. Alan Stern,
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WWW. ASTRONOMY.COM 7
A Hubble Space
ASTRO LET TERS Telescope image
of NGC 1156.
We welcome Smelling the coffee

your comments Thank you, Dave, for pointing out the dilemma that
at Astronomy Letters,
science faces today. Not only has the world gone back-
P.O. Box 1612,
Waukesha, WI 53187; wards in its thinking, but in its reasoning as well. We
or email to letters@ do need more rational, scientific thinkers and I do hope
ESA/HUBBLE, NASA, R. JANSEN

astronomy.com . the world is not doomed to continue moving back-
Please include your wards, but instead moves forward. This is not so much
name, city, state, and for my sake, but for our future generations. Our leaders
country. Letters may need to wake up and smell the coffee. — Pete Neiland,
be edited for space
Calgary, Alberta
and clarity.
Hubble forever
An attack on science I was very disappointed in the Hubble article in your
Thanks to David Eicher for the April editorial about March 2020 issue. It was much too short! I could have
the attack on science, reason, and truth in recent years. easily read an entire issue devoted to this marvelous
The editorial struck a chord with me. Eicher rightly observatory. — Frank Hanou, Golden, CO
and frighteningly compared that trend to a dark period
in the Middle Ages — sometimes called the Dark Ages.
How people today, with the gift of thinking and rea- Searching the cosmos
soning, can promote pseudoscience and take opinion I am a 15-year subscriber to your magazine, and obvi-
for truth astonishes me. I certainly hope we don’t lose ously I find it interesting. I especially enjoyed reading
the guidance from the inspiring wonders of knowledge your interview with Ann Druyan in the April edition.
that humanity has gained since the Renaissance. I will certainly not miss the new Cosmos series.
— Robert Walty, Stephens City, VA — Margareta Thompson, Durham, NC
Deep-Sky Planner 7
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QUANTUM GRAVITY
QG EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE UNIVERSE THIS MONTH
SNAPSHOT
HUBBLE
CAPTURES
COMETARY
BREAKUP
Comet ATLAS
disintegrated
before our eyes.
When astronomers first spotted
Comet C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS) in
December 2019, they predicted
it might become one of the
brightest comets to sweep past
Earth in two decades. The
comet seemed on track for a
brilliant apparition, brightening
through mid-March. But then
it started dimming again. On
April 11, amateur astronomer
Jose de Queiroz discovered that
NASA, ESA, D. JEWITT (UCLA), Q. YE (UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND). BOTTOM FROM LEFT: NASA; ESO/L. CALÇADA; ESO/M. KORNMESSER
ATLAS was falling apart when

photographs revealed the comet
had broken into three pieces.
By the time the Hubble Space
Telescope snapped this image
on April 20, the comet had
further disintegrated into about
30 fragments, some as large as
a house. Astronomers believe
the comet’s nucleus may have
originally been about the size of
two football fields before pieces
began breaking off. Although
this breakup ended our chances
of seeing a spectacular comet
HOT #BEANASTRONAUT PERFECT MATCH SO LONG
A new theory suggests
streak through the sky, it could BYTES During March, NASA
received more than
A German-led team
of astronomers has that the strange,
ultimately give astronomers 12,000 applications verified that a star elongated shape of
some much-needed answers from candidates ready orbiting the Milky interstellar visitor
about why comets break apart to become part of its Way’s supermassive ‘Oumuamua arose
next astronaut class. black hole moves in a through gravitational
and how often such disruptions It’s the second highest precessing, rosettelike interactions with its
occur. — HAILEY ROSE MCLAUGHLIN number of applications orbit — just as Einstein’s home star before the
the space agency has theory of general object’s ejection from
ever received. relativity predicts. its star system.
QUANTUM GRAVITY
EARTH’S LARGEST TELESCOPES

CLOSE AMID COVID-19 OUTBREAK
More than 100 major telescopes shut down due to the
worldwide pandemic. What does that mean for astronomy?
Steven Janowiecki of the McDonald
Observatory in Texas. “This will be a
period that we in the astronomy commu-
nity have no data on what happened.”
Yet these short-term losses aren’t
astronomers’ main concern. Instead,
researchers worry about missing any
rare, one-and-done events that could
occur while observatories are shuttered.
“If we have our first bright supernova
in hundreds of years, that would be ter-
rible,” says astronomer John Mulchaey,
director of the Carnegie Observatories.
“But except for really rare events like
that, most of the science will be done
next year. The universe is 13.7 billion
CLOSED DOORS. Earth’s biggest optical years old. We can wait a few months.”
telescope, the 10.4-meter Gran Telescopio
Canarias, is one of over a hundred observatories CLOSING THE WINDOWS
closed due to COVID-19. INSTITUTO DE ASTROFÍSICA DE CANARIAS
ON THE COSMOS
Many of the shutdowns happened in
The alarm sounded at around Telescope is one of the last large observa- late March, as astronomy-rich states
3 A.M. on April 3. An electrical tories still monitoring the night sky. like Arizona, Hawaii, and California
malfunction had stalled the behemoth An Astronomy magazine tally in issued stay-at-home orders. Nine of the
South Pole Telescope as it mapped April found that more than 120 of 10 largest optical telescopes in North
radiation left over from the Big Bang. Earth’s largest research telescopes America shut down. The Hobby-Eberly
Astronomers Allen Foster and Geoffrey closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Telescope at McDonald Observatory
Chen crawled out of bed and got What started as a trickle of closures in near Fort Davis, Texas, became the
dressed to shield themselves from the February and early March became an largest optical telescope still scan-
–70-degree-Fahrenheit (–57 degrees almost complete shutdown of observa- ning the skies until May 19, when the
Celsius) temperatures outside. They tional astronomy. And the closures are Gemini North telescope on Mauna Kea,
then trekked the few thousand feet unlikely to end soon. Hawaii, opened its dome once more.
across the ice to restart the telescope. At the time of the tally, directors said In Chile, an epicenter of observing,
The Sun set on March 22 in the telescopes could remain offline the government placed the entire coun-
Antarctica. Daylight won’t return until for six months — or longer. In many try under strict lockdown, shuttering
six months later. Yet life at the bottom of cases, resuming operations will mean dozens of telescopes. Spain and Italy,
the planet hasn’t changed much — even inventing new ways of working during nations with extensive astronomical
as the rest of the world has been turned a pandemic. And that might not be pos- communities — as well as a large num-
upside-down. The last flight from the sible for instruments that require teams ber of COVID-19 infections — closed
region left on February 15, so there’s of technicians to maintain and operate. their observatories, too.
no need for social distancing. The 42 As a result, new astronomical discover- Even many small telescopes closed,
“winter-overs” still work together. They ies are expected to slow to a crawl. as all-out shutdowns were ordered on
still eat together. They still share the “If everybody in the world stops mountaintops ranging from Hawaii’s
gym. They even play roller hockey most observing, then we have a gap in our data Mauna Kea to the Chilean Atacama to
nights. And that’s why the South Pole that you can’t recover,” says astronomer the Spanish Canary Islands. Science

EARTH’S LARGEST OPTICAL TELESCOPES
CALDERA DE TABURIENTE
Gran Telescopio Canarias
Isaac Newton Telescope
William Herschel Telescope
Nordic Optical Telescope
CALIFORNIA Telescopio Nazionale Galileo
Nickel Telescope RUSSIA
NEW MEXICO SPAIN
Shane Telescope Bolshoi Azimuthal
ARC Telescope
Hooker Telescope CALAR ALTO Telescope
SDSS Telescope
Hale Telescope 1.23-meter Telescope
2.2-meter Telescope
HAWAII CANARY
HALEAKALA ARIZONA TEXAS 3.5-meter Telescope
ISLANDS
Pan-STARRS WIYN Telescope Hobby-Eberly Telescope Schmidt Telescope
Mayall Telescope Harlan J. Smith Telescope
MMT Telescope
MAUNA KEA LBT
UKIRT
Subaru Telescope
CFH Telescope CERRO PARANAL
Gemini North VISTA CHILE CERRO MANQUI
NASA IRTF Kueyen Telescope du Pont Telescope
Melipal Telescope SOUTH AFRICA
Keck I and II Telescopes Magellan Telescopes
Antu Telescope Southern African
Yepun Telescope Large Telescope
AUSTRALIA
Anglo-Australian
Telescope CERRO TOLOLO
Victor Blanco Telescope
LA SILLA
New Technology ACROSS THE MAP. The world’s premier optical
Telescope telescopes, shown here, had shut down in
OPEN CERRO PACHÓN
ESO 3.6-meter droves by early April. Construction also halted
CLOSED SOAR Telescope
Gemini South Telescope Telescope at the Vera C. Rubin Observatory site in Chile.
Sites that remained open at the end of April
appear in green. The Gemini North Telescope in
Hawaii reopened May 19 as the largest optical
telescope taking data. ASTRONOMY: ROEN KELLY
historians say nothing like this has hap- oversees Las Campanas Observatory in social distancing problems. Their
pened in the modern era of astronomy. Chile and its Magellan Telescopes. “It’s workarounds typically involve finding
Even during the chaos of World War II, not as automated as you might think.” ways to have one person do something
telescopes kept observing. However, astronomers still say they’re that used to take an entire team.
But although modern observatories confident they can find solutions to NRAO operates the Very Large Array
are more automated, few can safely reopen observatories. In April, Tony in New Mexico and the global Very Long
operate during a pandemic. “We do Beasley, the National Radio Astronomy Baseline Array. Beasley is also vice presi-
have some remote options, but the large Observatory (NRAO) director, said his dent for Radio Astronomy Operations
fraction of our astronomers still go to team was working on a long list of what for Associated Universities Inc., which
the telescopes,” says Mulchaey, who also they’re calling “VSDs,” or violation of operates the Green Bank Telescope in
West Virginia. All three are still observ-
ing, thanks to remote operations and a
The search for dangerous asteroids continues reimagined workflow. Although the new
Despite widespread telescope closures those efforts continue. Likewise, NEOWISE, workflow is not as efficient as it was in
due to COVID-19, there’s no need to worry a NASA space telescope repurposed to hunt the past, at the time of this writing, there
about an incoming asteroid — at least, not for near-Earth objects, is also still operating. haven’t been any problems that couldn’t
any more than usual. Earth’s top asteroid- “We are an essential service, funded be solved. And Beasley and others think
hunting instruments remain on the prowl by NASA, to help protect the Earth from
more interesting and valuable lessons
for potentially deadly space rocks. [an] asteroid impact,” says Ken Chambers,
NASA funds most major asteroid-hunting director of the Pan-STARRS Observatories could still come out of the catastrophe.
efforts. The space agency has a congres- in Hawaii. “We will continue that mission “There’s always been kind of a sense
sional mandate to find some 90 percent as long as we can do so without putting that you had to be in the building, and
of near-Earth objects larger than 460 feet people or equipment at risk.” you’ve got to stare the other people down
(140 meters) across. These objects consist Earth will get hit with a major asteroid in the meeting,” he says. “In the space of
of comets and asteroids that get a little too again; it’s just a question of when. And a month, I think everyone is surprised at
close for comfort. that’s why astronomers think it’s important
how effective they can be remotely. As we
The effort’s workhorse instruments are to keep a constant watch, even during a
Hawaii’s twin Panoramic Survey Telescope pandemic. Fortunately, there’s only a slim get better at this over the next six months
and Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS) chance humanity will have to face two or something, I think there will be parts
telescopes, as well as the three Catalina global crises at once. And that’s something where we won’t go back to some of the
Sky Survey telescopes in Arizona. Both of we can all be happy about. — E.B. work processes from before.” — ERIC BETZ
QUANTUM GRAVITY
The Sun
Our Sun is
Brightness variations (percent)

0.4
0.2
strangely docile
0.0 The Sun’s steady stream features, shows our star
of energy sustains life is extremely tame. And
–0.2 on Earth. And, thank- based on radioactive
fully, that energy output evidence trapped in
–0.4 doesn’t usually fluctuate tree rings and ice cores,
2010 2011 2012 2013
Year enough to cause any it’s been like that for at
major problems. Mild least 9,000 years. Data
Brightness variations (percent)
KIC 7849521 0.4 tantrums, in fact, even obtained from 2009

produce the spectacles to 2013 by the Kepler
0.2
we call aurorae. But Space Telescope indi-
how does the Sun’s cate that Sun-like stars,
0.0
behavior match up to such as KIC 7849521
similar stars? A new (at left, bottom), exhibit
MPS/HORMESDESIGN.DE
–0.2
analysis of 369 Sun-like brightness fluctuations
–0.4
stars, each with compa- averaging about five
2010 2011 2012 2013 rable rotation periods times as strong as those
Year
and other fundamental of the Sun. — JAKE PARKS
MERCURY VENUS EARTH MARS

8% < 0.1% 0.9% 0.1% 1.6%
Other Other Argon Other Argon
6% 4% 21% (carbon dioxide, 2.7% 0.7 %
Helium 42% Nitrogen Oxygen water, etc.) Nitrogen Other
Oxygen
ASTRONOMY: ROEN KELLY

22%
Hydrogen
22% 96% 78% 95%
Sodium Carbon dioxide Nitrogen Carbon dioxide
TERRESTRIAL ATMOSPHERES FAST FACT

A column of air from
A BREATH OF FRESH AIR. Although the amount of each varies from one to the next, the sea level to the top of
terrestrial planets in our solar system have atmospheres composed largely of the same few Earth’s atmosphere
with a base of 1 square
elements, with others present in trace amounts. Astronomers believe these atmospheres are inch (6.5 square
not original to the planets, but are secondary atmospheres generated mostly through impacts centimeters)
and outgassing. These graphs show the rough composition of the atmosphere of each planet weighs 14.7 pounds
in our inner solar system, illustrating their similarities and their differences. — ALISON KLESMAN (6.7 kilograms).

QUICK
TAKES
NASA drives a Mars rover from home
SPACE BRAIN
MRI scans of 11 astronauts revealed
that living in a microgravity
environment increases the volume of
the brain and cerebrospinal fluid, as
well as changes the size and shape of
the pituitary gland. These changes
persisted at least a year after
returning to Earth.
ALMOST EARTH
Astronomers found an Earth-sized,
habitable-zone exoplanet hiding in data
from the now-defunct Kepler Space
Telescope. The world, named
NASA/JPL-CALTECH
Kepler-1649 c, is located about 300 light-
years away and is just 6 percent larger
than Earth. Unlike Earth, however, it
orbits a tiny red dwarf star.
On March 22, the Curiosity their rover-driving equipment Curiosity’s surroundings
rover began drilling a rock — headsets, monitors, and and plan arm movements
MIDSIZED BEAST
New observations provide the
sample at a Mars location extra computers — home. and driving paths. Although
strongest evidence yet for a
called Edinburgh. The The exception was the 3D working remotely presents theorized “missing link” between the
command to do so, which goggles normally used to many challenges and each smallest and largest black holes —
had been sent two days view images of the martian day’s planning takes one to an intermediate-mass black hole.
earlier, marked the first time landscape, which did not two more hours than usual, The object sits in the outskirts of a
the rover’s actions had been work without computing the group has managed star cluster about 800 million light-
planned by a team working equipment that couldn’t be to keep the rover actively years away and has a mass of some
completely remotely. Amidst easily removed from the exploring the Red Planet at 50,000 Suns.
the coronavirus pandemic Jet Propulsion Laboratory. a time when many other
back on Earth, NASA’s Instead, the team used red- science operations have
CHILLED COMET
The interstellar comet 2I/Borisov
Curiosity mission team took blue 3D glasses to visualize come to a standstill. — A.K.
contains nine to 26 times more
carbon monoxide than a typical solar
system comet, ALMA observations
show. This suggests it formed in an
California stars in Spitzer’s final mosaic extremely cold environment with
temperatures below –420 degrees
NASA’s 16-year-old Spitzer Space Fahrenheit (–250 degrees Celsius).
NASA/JPL-CALTECH/PALOMAR DIGITIZED SKY SURVEY
Telescope was decommissioned

January 30. Five days prior, the BEPI, SLOW DOWN
Amid coronavirus restrictions, the
telescope took its last images.
European Space Agency monitored
Its target was a region within the
BepiColombo’s successful flyby of
California Nebula (NGC 1499), which Earth on April 10. The Mercury-
appears in visible light as a glowing bound spacecraft came within
cloud of gas lit up by the nearby star about 7,900 miles (12,700 kilometers)
Xi (ξ) Persei. But to Spitzer’s infrared of our planet, harnessing Earth’s
eyes, the nebula is filled with tangles gravity to reduce its speed.
of warm, sootlike dust heated by high-energy light from the star. This final mosaic shows
images taken with Spitzer’s two filters, which captured light at 3.6 micrometers (cyan) and COSMIC CATAPULT
4.5 micrometers (red). The central region, which appears gray, shows where the images Hyper-realistic computer
simulations show supernovae
overlap, creating a multi-wavelength composite. Mission scientists chose the California
clusters near the centers of galaxies
Nebula as the space telescope’s final target because it had never before been studied with
can fling new stars to the galactic
Spitzer and promised high science returns with its wealth of warm dust and gas, which fringes. The researchers propose
produce interesting features for astronomers to study at infrared wavelengths. — A.K. this process could account for as
many as 40 percent of stars in a
galaxy’s outer halo. — J.P.
QUANTUM GRAVITY
A SUSPECTED EXOPLANET
DISAPPEARS BEFORE HUBBLE’S EYES
Fomalhaut Model of Fomalhaut b
and ring expanding dust cloud
2014
2012
2010
2008
2006
2004
NASA/GSFC/USGS
GOING, GOING, GONE. The star Fomalhaut is
More than a decade ago, astrono- surrounded by a vast ring of debris, as seen in
mers believed they’d captured
the first direct image of a planet circling
the composite image of the system (left) made
by combining many Hubble exposures. The
simulation-based image to the right shows the
THIS IS THE
another star. Dubbed Fomalhaut b, the
suspected world seemed to be orbiting a
evolving aftermath of a collision between two
minor bodies. NASA/ESA/A. GÁSPÁR AND G. RIEKE (UNIVERSITY OF
ARIZONA)
DEFINITIVE
star that’s a little hotter than the Sun and
located about 25 light-years away. which analyzed all available archival MOON MAP
In the years that followed, researchers Hubble data on Fomalhaut b, includ-
used the Hubble Space Telescope to regu- ing the most recent images taken by Although humans have
larly check in on the distant planet. But Hubble, revealed several characteristics gazed up at the Moon
then it started to dim, almost completely that together point to a picture that since the dawn of our
disintegrating by 2014. And though there the planet-sized object may never have existence, it wasn’t until
are reasons why an exoplanet can fade, existed in the first place,” he added.
they certainly don’t just disappear. Based on the evolving shape and loca-
1959 that the Soviets’
No, some Death Star-type spacecraft tion of the ejected debris, the researchers Luna 3 spacecraft pro-
didn’t decimate an entire planet. Instead, estimate the original colliding bodies vided the first glimpse
according to new research published were each likely a mix of ice and dust of the lunar farside. And
April 20 in Proceedings of the National measuring about 125 miles (200 kilome-
now, for the first time
Academy of Sciences, the world never ters) in diameter.
really existed. By piecing together shots Unfortunately, Hubble was late to the ever, the U.S. Geological
of Fomalhaut b over time, astronomers main event, as the researchers think the Survey, with the help of
realized that what they thought was an crash happened right before the telescope NASA and the Lunar and
exoplanet was actually just the remains began observing the system in 2004. Planetary Institute, has
of a gigantic collision between icy objects. However, simply detecting the aftermath
“These collisions are exceedingly rare, of such a violent event is still exciting,
released a definitive map
and so this is a big deal that we actually they say. According to the researchers’ of the entire lunar sur-
get to see one,” said lead author András calculations, massive collisions like this face. This orthographic
Gáspár, an astronomer at the University may only happen once every 200,000 projection of the new map
of Arizona, in a press release. “Our study, years for any given system. — H.R.M. highlights the complex
1,425
topography, geology, and
The wind speed, in mph (2,293 km/h), measured on a brown stratigraphy (rock layers)
dwarf 40 times more massive than Jupiter. This is the first time
of the Moon’s nearside
astronomers have measured wind speed on a brown dwarf.
(top) and farside (bottom)
in incredible detail. — J.P.

Astronomers
see our Sun
spin threads
of plasma
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE

The Sun’s magnetic field blasts
charged particles into space.
On Earth, we experience this
steady stream as the solar FINE THREADS. New images
wind, which fuels aurorae. show delicate magnetic field
lines, haloed by scalding
Our planet also deals with plasma, sprouting from seemingly
fallout from occasional strong featureless regions of the Sun.
outbursts. However, for all of
the downstream effects we The close-ups were taken The new images show never- the Sun’s fine magnetic field
experience thanks to the Sun’s by NASA’s High Resolution before-seen bundles of million- lines. They also don’t know
magnetic field, its true nature Coronal Imager, or Hi-C, which degree plasma threading how the field lines affect things
remains an elusive mystery. is not aboard a spacecraft. across the Sun’s atmosphere, like the solar wind and coronal
Now, new images are bring- Instead, it’s briefly carried aloft tracing the star’s magnetic field mass ejections, with the latter
ing scientists one step closer by a suborbital-flight rocket itself. Each of these threads is capable of pumping out billions
to understanding this impor- before returning to Earth. Once only about 310 miles (500 km) of tons of material into space.
tant phenomenon. For the first in the air, the telescope zooms across, roughly the driving The international Hi-C team
time, astronomers have cap- in on solar features as small distance between Chicago is already working to plan the
tured the extremely fine details as 43 miles (70 kilometers) and Cleveland. telescope’s next suborbital
of our star’s magnetic field across, or just 0.01 percent the Now that scientists have flight, where they hope to
— details too intricate to have width of the entire Sun. That actually seen these delicate combine their observations
previously been seen. The new makes these photos of the threads, the next step is to with data taken simultaneously
research was published April 1 Sun’s atmosphere the highest- understand them. Researchers by the Parker Solar Probe and
in The Astrophysical Journal. resolution versions ever taken. aren’t yet sure what generates Solar Orbiter. — A.K.
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STRANGE UNIVERSE
What else besides And it doesn’t diminish with time. It’s inexplicable. It
seems astronomical objects are fundamentally unlike
terrestrial ones — meaning, you might visit a particular
photons? lake 100 times but are unlikely to always find it visually
exciting. Been-there-done-that sets in. But not when
you look at the Moon.
Why looking through a telescope wows us. Let’s try to figure this out. The Moon’s terminator
moves at a rapid 10 mph (16 km/h), making the lighting
and shadows change in just a few hours. You’ll rarely
observe the Moon under lighting that’s truly identical
to a previous time. Newness is thus almost baked into
the Moon experience. Also, there’s so much darn detail
in lunar features. Two nights ago, I saw ultra-high-
definition pebbly terrain just west of the strange crater
Aristarchus. I gawked for 15 minutes through my
5-inch refractor. Later, I looked it up in a reference and
learned the area is a small, isolated plateau of built-up
volcanic material. I’d never known it was there.
But Saturn offers no such fine detail. And its lighting
scarcely changes unless you wait months or years.
There’s no rational reason that Indian astronomer and
Saturn and its rings I should have jumped up and down like 6-year-olds.
look stunning in this When we get a new telescope, we can’t wait to Perhaps the equipment itself plays a role. After I’d
2019 portrait of the
ringed planet. But
see what it will show us. But that first-light bought my 12.5-inch f/6 equatorial reflector in 1983, I
even such an exquisite experience can only happen once — there’s spent as much time looking at the telescope as looking
space telescope obviously more to observing than the pleasure of novelty. through it. I regarded it like a beloved soul mate. So,
image doesn’t elicit
the same feeling as So, why do we observe? The answer introduces a strange maybe our geeky infatuation with optics provides some
looking at the planet and wonderful phenomenon. of the rationale.
through a telescope. I honestly don’t know why I’m so thrilled every time But it doesn’t explain everything. Why doesn’t this
NASA, ESA, A. SIMON (GSFC), M.H.
WONG (UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, I look at the gibbous Moon using a mere 50x. There’s the effect apply to photographed images, but instead solely
BERKELEY) AND THE OPAL TEAM rugged Apennine mountain range. It looks the same as to directly imbibed cosmic scenery? There’s apparently
it did when I was 14. Twixt then and now I’ve probably some sort of vibe that streams into our consciousness
stared at it 500 times, no exaggeration. Why is it still a along with the photons. It makes newbies who look at
thrill? Here’s an illustrative story. Saturn at 150x let out cries of “Oh my God!”
When I was 24 years old, the Indian gov- and “That’s not real!”
ernment invited me as a science journalist to I’ve repeatedly heard those two specific
visit their largest observatory in the
There’s exclamations from our observatory visitors
Himalayan foothills at Nainital. With amaz- obviously through the decades. No photograph, even
ing hospitality, the director offered to let me more to those from Hubble, elicits such shouts, despite
use the 40-inch telescope. We arrived to find observing space telescope images being far better than
the massive two-story instrument set up with than the the eyepiece view they just experienced.
a visual eyepiece and a junior astronomer (Astroimages are indeed wow-producing;
assigned to operate it. Asked what I’d like to pleasure of they just don’t elicit the specific emotional
see, I picked Saturn. Well, friends, let me novelty. effect we’re discussing.)
share that I’d never before experienced such What, then, delivers that visceral impact?
perfect seeing. After I viewed the rock-steady Do lenses and mirrors focus an unknown
image, I gestured to my young host to have a peek, too. entity? Or, rather, is this one of those unanswerable
You know what he did after his glance? He jumped up questions about consciousness?
BY BOB BERMAN and down and clapped his hands like a child. I peeked Science has yet to identify it. But, if you don’t yet own
Join me and Pulse again, then jumped and clapped, too. It didn’t matter a good telescope, borrow one from a friend or club.
of the Planet’s that he had an astrophysics doctorate or that I’d seen You’re in for quite a treat when you check all this out for
Jim Metzner
this planet hundreds of previous times. Saturn made us yourself.
in my podcast,
Astounding Universe, both into kids.
at www.astounding What I’m getting at in this long-winded way is that BROWSE THE “STRANGE UNIVERSE” ARCHIVE
universe.com many celestial objects produce a strange visceral thrill. AT www.Astronomy.com/Berman

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A fresh look at our
Solar Orbiter will soon explore what shapes

and powers the solar wind. BY BEN EVANS
From within the orbit of Mercury, Solar Orbiter

will study our Sun, turning its suite of instruments
on our home star to offer a new perspective that
includes observing the Sun’s poles. This artist’s
illustration shows how the spacecraft might
appear as it faces the Sun while collecting data
from its science orbit. ESA/ATG MEDIALAB

onsumed by the hubris of youth, Icarus
thought himself invincible as he calmly
fastened a pair of homemade wings and
prepared to fly. The wax-and-feathers
ensemble had been made by his father,
Daedalus, master craftsman of Greek myth. But Icarus —
arrogant, supremely confident, and overawed by the giddiness
of flight — forgot his father’s warning not to venture too close
to the Sun. Heated to extremes, the wax melted, the wings
crumbled, and Icarus plunged to his death.
In February 2020, scientists from 10 system. Its unwavering emergence at

The corona — the outermost layer of the Sun’s
nations took the first step on a journey to dawn in the east, its daily transit across atmosphere — is far hotter than the star’s
our star more daring than Icarus’ wildest the sky, and its disappearance in the west surface. Researchers continue to strive to
understand the behavior of this tenuous solar
dreams. The European Space Agency at nightfall have earned it great spiritual feature, which is only visible from Earth during
(ESA) and NASA’s Solar Orbiter carries importance throughout history. The a total solar eclipse, as illustrated in this shot
captured in August 2017. NASA/AUBREY GEMIGNANI
protections far tougher than waxen Sun’s life-giving warmth and timekeep-
wings, yet even its bristling high-tech ing beneficence objectified it for venera-
design owes a debt to our distant, cave- tion from the ancient Near East to the
dwelling ancestors. pre-Columbian Americas. hydrogen into helium and transform
Yet only recently have astronomers millions of tons of matter into energy
What we know and physicists come to theoretical grips every second. Temperatures cool to 5,800
about our Sun with the Sun’s true nature: a broiling kelvins (9,980 degrees Fahrenheit [5,527
More than 4.6 billion years old, the Sun sphere of plasma comprising three- degrees Celsius]) at its visible surface (the
is the heart of our solar system. A stable quarters hydrogen and one-quarter photosphere), then climb precipitously
G-type star on the cusp of middle age, it helium, and the singular reason for from 10,000 to 1 million-plus kelvins in
is fast approaching the halfway point in earthly existence. Instruments on the its glowing corona, which appears like an
an evolution that has seen life sprout on ground and in space have opened an effervescent veil during solar eclipses.
at least one of its planetary retinue. More insightful window into its throbbing Spacecraft have watched the Sun from
than 300,000 times more massive than interior. A core more than 13 times afar for five decades, spotting shock
Earth and 864,400 miles (1.4 million denser than lead and 25 times wider waves, flares, and coronal mass ejections
kilometers) in diameter, the Sun holds than Earth generates temperatures of (CMEs) that unleash huge quantities of
99.86 percent of the mass in the solar 15.6 million kelvins, hot enough to fuse plasma and internal magnetism into the
bubblelike heliosphere that surrounds the
planets. The joint ESA/NASA Solar and
Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) and
NASA’s Transition Region and Coronal
Explorer showed the Sun’s energetic vigor
ebbs and flows in tight lockstep with each
11-year cycle of solar activity. Ultraviolet
data from SOHO and the Japanese
Institute of Space and Astronautical
Science’s Yohkoh probe revealed the role
of thin, magnetized loops in heating and
accelerating coronal plasmas. NASA’s
Solar Orbiter’s elliptical orbit will carry it as Solar Dynamics Observatory sharpened
close as 0.28 AU on its nearest approach
to the Sun. This artist’s concept shows the our awareness of how this magnetism is
marked difference in the apparent size of created, stored, and released.
the Sun we see from Earth’s distance of
1 AU (left) and the Sun that Solar Orbiter But for all we know about our star,
will see at 0.28 AU. YEUS/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS there are still mysteries left to unlock.

Solar Orbiter launches from Cape Canaveral Air
Force Station in Florida aboard a United Launch
Alliance Atlas V rocket at 11:03 P.M. EST on
February 9, 2020. The spacecraft will take about
two years to reach its primary science orbit
around the Sun, performing flybys of Earth and
Venus on the way. ESA – S. CORVAJA
One such enigma is the solar dynamo Orbiter will scrutinize lower latitudes and state-of-the-art science toolkit allow
— an elusive mechanism thought to than Ulysses — climbing no higher than it to better predict the effects the solar
induce the Sun’s global magnetic field. 34°, effectively solar midlatitudes. But it storms will have when they reach us.
Currently, astronomers believe the will approach to 0.28 AU, offering a ring-
dynamo lies in a 12,000-mile-deep side seat for this magnetic action. A Solar Orbiter is born
(19,300 km) shear zone between the radi- The immense corpus of spacecraft In 1998, the success of Ulysses and
ative and convective regions of the Sun’s data has also begun to clarify how coro- SOHO prompted recommendations for
interior, where rotational velocities shift nal plasmas drive the solar wind. This a new European solar mission. It would
markedly. To determine the relationship million-mile-per-hour torrent of charged study the Sun from beyond the eclip-
between the dynamo and the interior, particles streaming from the Sun pro- tic, as Ulysses did, using high-spatial-
researchers need details about the move- foundly affects life on Earth, from dis- resolution imaging sensors, as SOHO
ment of material beneath the Sun’s sur- rupting radio communications and had. But it would also fly closer to our
face at different latitudes on the star. upsetting power grids to disabling satel- star than prior missions, approaching
(Latitude on the Sun is referred to as lites and triggering aurorae. The twin as blisteringly close as 26 million miles
heliographic latitude, with 0° at its equa- NASA Solar Terrestrial Relations (41,843,000 km), just 0.28 AU — inside
tor and 90° at its north pole.) Observatory probes watched storms the orbit of Mercury. There, incident
Two decades ago, ESA and NASA’s brewing on the Sun’s farside, while temperatures on the spacecraft would
Ulysses probe flew outside the ecliptic Ulysses found that the solar wind flows surpass 968 F (520 C).
plane in which the planets orbit and faster at higher latitudes, where it’s dis- ESA selected Solar Orbiter to proceed
found surprising uniformity across the charged along open magnetic field lines in 2000 with a launch date between 2013
Sun’s global magnetic field. But the probe through holes in the corona at the Sun’s and 2015, but grim fiscal reality had other
never got closer than 1.2 astronomical poles. And although SOHO provides ideas. In 2011, Solar Orbiter was named
units. (One astronomical unit, or AU, is some early warning for incoming storms, Europe’s first medium-class Cosmic
the average Earth-Sun distance.) Solar Solar Orbiter’s close-up view of the Sun Vision mission. The same year, a
Coronal mass ejections, or CMEs, can blast
billions of tons of material away from the Sun and travel through
space at millions of miles per hour. This CME erupted on August 31, 2012, traveling
at more than 900 miles per second (1,450 km/s). NASA/GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER
partnership with NASA brought an added inexorably slid back as prime contractor probably a little unrealistic, given the dis-
dowry of an Atlas V rocket and funding Astrium (now part of Airbus) and indus- parate nature of the measurements to be
for additional scientific instrumentation. trial teams across Europe labored to made by the two missions,” Owen says.
Solar Orbiter was built alongside ESA’s ensure the spacecraft could survive its
Mercury-bound BepiColombo spacecraft, perilous journey and accomplish its sci- A new view
which launched in October 2018, to lever- entific goals. Mission scientists met fre- Solar Orbiter will be ideally situated to
age design synergy between them. The quently with ESA and Airbus to clarify explore how solar phenomena shape and
mission’s multilayered insulation, heat Solar Orbiter’s unique requirements dur- power the solar wind and how the Sun
pipes, batteries, data-handling systems, ing construction, according to Chris propels energetic particles into the helio-
and parts of the high-gain antenna draw Owen of University College London sphere. Flying so close to the Sun, the
directly from BepiColombo, while other (UCL), principal investigator for the Solar spacecraft will study the star’s magnetic
elements (including radiators and heat Wind Plasma Analyser. “The original fields and plasmas in a pristine state,
shielding) are unique to Solar Orbiter. philosophy to reuse as much of the before their properties are altered as they
The mission was planned for launch BepiColombo spacecraft and subsystems move away from the Sun and through
sometime after 2017 — a date which as possible to reduce time and costs was the solar system.
The need for such up-close, “young”
measurements was cemented by the twin
Helios probes, which found that solar
SOLAR ORBITER’S PATH AROUND THE SUN wind ions (atomic nuclei that have had
Earth’s orbit electrons knocked away) are still much
Venus’ orbit hotter than their surroundings as close
to the star as just 0.29 AU. Because these
ions have not yet thermalized, or radiated
Sun away excess heat and energy, researchers
want to know the processes responsible
Mercury’s orbit for preventing them from cooling.
“We will not get much further in than
Helios did,” Owen says. “We will just be
Orbits not
shown to scale
able to make much more comprehensive
measurements with our modern instru-
Solar Orbiter’s orbit
mentation.” Solar Orbiter’s more advanced
instruments will make it easier, Owen
Solar Orbiter’s trajectory takes it past Earth shortly after launch, then later past Venus for several
flybys. Each successive planetary interaction pumps up the spacecraft’s inclination, allowing it to peer says, “to understand the physics of the
at the poles of our star. (This illustration shows only a few successive passes, not every orbit since acceleration and heating of the solar
launch.) If its mission is extended, even more flybys will further increase Solar Orbiter’s inclination.
wind, before this plasma has undergone
significant amounts of evolution.”

SOLAR FEATURES
Our Sun’s structure and behavior produce
a number of phenomena observed by
spacecraft and from Earth. Understanding the Coronal mass ejection
mechanisms that trigger features such as Billion-ton clouds of charged
CMEs and the solar wind will help astronomers Flare
particles leave the Sun moving
unlock the mysteries that remain about our Flares are sudden releases
at millions of miles per hour.
life-giving star. ASTRONOMY: ROEN KELLY of energy stored in sunspot
–
magnetic fields.
Tachocline
The Sun spins like a solid body below
Corona the tachocline, and like a fluid above.
This is the Sun’s outer Intense shear here helps create the
atmosphere and source Sun’s magnetic field.
of the solar wind.
Inner magnetic field lines
Chromosphere Magnetic field lines are pulled
This is the middle layer of into an east-west rotation and
the Sun’s atmosphere. become twisted as the lines
rotate faster at the equator
and slower at the poles.
Photosphere
This is the Sun’s
visible surface.
Core
This is the Sun’s energy
Meridional flow
source, where hydrogen
A current of plasma
fuses into helium.
that acts as a
conveyor belt in the
convection zone. Radiative zone
Deep inside the Sun, energy
Prominence generated through nuclear
Magnetic fields suspend an fusion travels outward as
arch of gas far above the radiation, or photons.
Sun’s surface.
Convective zone
Sunspots In the upper layers of the Sun,
Dark spots mark where amplified energy is moved via convection:
magnetic fields anchored far within Hot material rises and radiates heat
the Sun break through the surface. away, then sinks as it cools.
+
Carried by the deep meridional flow,
sunspot fields emerge closer to the
equator as the solar cycle progresses.
Solar wind
Global magnetic field lines
This thin, ionized gas speeds
The Sun’s global magnetic field is about 10 times
away from the Sun.
more powerful than Earth’s. Field lines exit the Sun
at the positive pole and enter at the negative pole.
After its launch, Solar Orbiter will primary mission. If the mission length is 80° but carried no telescopes to image
cruise past Venus in December 2020 extended to 10 years, additional Venus the Sun directly. Additionally, “Ulysses
and again in August 2021, then execute GAMs between September 2022 and never went closer to the Sun than Earth,
a nail-biting skim within 270 miles September 2030 will tweak the space- so we could never see young solar wind
(435 km) of Earth in November 2021. craft’s orbit to reach latitudes up to 34°. like Orbiter will,” Horbury says. “The
These gravity assist maneuvers (GAMs) “Orbital dynamics is a mysterious sub- telescopes will also make a huge differ-
will reduce orbital energy and increase ject, but it seems that one can’t just keep ence. Orbiter is all about the connections
inclination, pulling the spacecraft closer cranking up the latitude; there is some between the Sun and space, and with
to the Sun. In its final orbit, it will circle sort of diminishing return,” says Tim Ulysses, we were flying blind.” Even
our star every five months, approaching Horbury of Imperial College London, SOHO’s ultraviolet “sight” only viewed
within 60 solar radii (0.28 AU) at perihe- principal investigator for Solar Orbiter’s our star from a single perspective; fur-
lion and drifting to 220 solar radii (1 AU) magnetometer. “I think there is little thermore, its inability to take measure-
at aphelion. chance of going a lot higher than we’re ments at different latitudes made it
Solar Orbiter will exceed 25° in helio- planning. I’d be delighted to be wrong.” difficult to determine if changes were
graphic latitude during its seven-year Ulysses reached far higher latitudes of indeed global.
SOLAR MISSIONS As it approaches perihelion, Solar
Orbiter’s angular velocity will closely
parallel the rotation rate of the Sun itself,
Investigate solar offering a unique opportunity to scan
wind from the Ulysses 1990–2009 areas of the surface for days at a time.
Sun’s poles
This orbit will permit the spacecraft to
take measurements of internal magne-
Monitor energetic
1991–2001 Yohkoh light and flares
tism, as well as the triggers and propaga-
from the Sun tion characteristics of emerging solar
phenomena. Observing these across mul-
Study radio waves
and plasma in the Wind 1994–present tiple latitudes allows scientists to study
solar wind complex flows deep inside the Sun and
better constrain existing and evolving
theoretical models for the solar dynamo
1995–present Solar and and coronal magnetic fields.
Study the Sun’s
Heliospheric “We have some generic plans and will
global behavior
Observatory
tailor them to individual orbits as we get
Study how magnetic Transition closer,” Horbury says. “Planning for a
fields extend from Region and 1998–2010 given orbit starts one year ahead and
the Sun’s surface Coronal
into its atmosphere Explorer iterates towards a final detailed plan over
six months or so.”
Look at the effects
of the solar wind on
2000–present Cluster Earth’s magnetic Solar Orbiter’s instruments
environment (four
spacecraft)
Solar Orbiter’s 10 instruments include
four in-situ sensors that will run continu-
Observe how solar
Solar ously, tracking fields and particles around
wind disturbances
Terrestrial 2006–present
move through space
Relations the spacecraft. Its six remote-sensing
from the Sun to Earth
(two spacecraft)
Observatory detectors will peer directly at the Sun for
about 30 days per orbit, using protected
apertures cut through its heat shield.
Study interactions Hinode Solar Orbiter will work closely with
between the Sun’s NASA’s Parker Solar Probe. But whereas
magnetic field and
atmosphere Parker’s extreme closeness to the Sun —
2009–present Project for Study solar plasma as little as 0.046 AU, squarely inside the
Onboard passing through corona — promises a fields-and-particles
Autonomy-2 Earth’s magnetic field
bonanza, its location nixed any chance
that it could carry telescopes, thanks to
Solar 2010–present high temperatures. The moderately more
Observe solar
activity in real time Dynamics benign thermal climes at Solar Orbiter’s
Observatory distance will allow its imagers to provide
additional context for Parker.
Complement Solar
2013–present Interface
Dynamics Observatory
Most of the in-situ instruments
Region Imaging occupy an extendable boom to minimize
by observing lower
Spectrograph
solar atmosphere interference from spacecraft electronics.
The Radio and Plasma Waves instru-
Approach the Sun 2018–present
closely to study how
Parker ment from France’s Observatoire de
Solar
the solar wind is
Probe
Paris has sensors on the boom and on
produced three monopole antennas, angled 90°
apart. UCL’s Solar Wind Plasma
Obtain up-close Analyser also has detectors on the boom
Solar images and data
2020– Orbiter of the Sun and and antennas, plus two more on the
heliosphere main spacecraft body, including a NASA
heavy ion sensor. These will study the
densities, velocities, temperatures, and
Solar Orbiter comes from a long line of missions sent compositions of solar wind ions and
to observe our Sun, beginning with the Ulysses mission electrons. “The relative composition of
launched in 1990 and culminating with the recent launch
of the Parker Solar Probe in 2018. Each probe has offered the heavy ions provides a kind of finger-
a new view of our star, allowing researchers to slowly print, which can be compared with
build a more comprehensive picture of its structure and
behavior. ASTRONOMY: ROEN KELLY, AFTER ESA/ATG MEDIALAB
MEET SOLAR Solar Orbiter
ORBITER’S Energetic Particle

Heliospheric
Imager (SoloHi) Heat shield
INSTRUMENTS Detector (EPD)

SWA
Spectral Imaging of
the Coronal Environment (SPICE)
Magnetometer (MAG)
X-ray Spectrometer/Telescope (STIX)
Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI)
Radio and
Plasma Multi Element Telescope for
Solar Wind Waves (RPW) Imaging and Spectroscopy (METIS)
Plasma Analyser
suite (SWA) Polarimetric and
MAG Helioseismic Imager (PHI)
SWA
RPW
EPD
Solar Orbiter carries 10 instruments, including
several imagers that will allow it to complement
the Parker Solar Probe’s measurements of the
Sun. Its telescopes lie behind its heat shield on
the spacecraft’s body, while several other
instruments are spread out on its three 21-foot
(6.5 m) antennas. ASTRONOMY: ROEN KELLY
similar information from spectroscopic contributed magnetometers to Ulysses that runs on the instrument to talk to the
measurements of the solar surface and and Cassini. “There’s a lot of know-how spacecraft, which is far more complex
thereby confirm the link between the in the design of a sensitive scientific than anything we’ve done before,” he says.
source and the spacecraft,” Owen says. instrument and this flow from one mis- The last in-situ instrument, the
“These measurements should help us sion to the next, through the expertise Energetic Particle Detector from the
reveal how the dynamics of the Sun drive of the engineering team,” Horbury says. University of Alcalá in Spain, resides on
the solar wind and its variability, how “It would have been far harder to start Solar Orbiter’s main bus. Its five sensors
that links into interplanetary space and from scratch.” will monitor suprathermal (fast-moving)
affects Earth’s near-space environment.” For Solar Orbiter, “our fundamental and energetic particles from helium to
Imperial’s magnetometer will investi- design hasn’t changed,” Horbury adds, iron to identify where they come from,
gate magnetic field evolution, how ener- “but we’ve had to change a lot of the what accelerates them, and how they
getic particles traverse the heliosphere, mechanical and thermal design from propagate through space. It includes a
and why coronal plasmas are so much what we’d planned.” The extendable NASA-funded suprathermal ion spectro-
hotter than the Sun’s surface. The last boom faces the frigid cold of deep space, graph built by the Johns Hopkins
question has long stumped researchers: continuously shadowed by Solar Orbiter’s University Applied Physics Laboratory.
“The jury is still out as to whether waves, heat shield. As a consequence, perhaps Elsewhere on the bus, the six remote-
nanoflares, or something else is doing the ironically, the magnetometer needs a sensing instruments represent multiple
extra heating,” Horbury says. “It’s prob- small heater to keep warm. nations. The Royal Observatory
ably a combination of lots of things, but Solar Orbiter also includes many novel of Belgium’s Extreme Ultraviolet Imager
we need to know the contribution of each technologies. “Perhaps the most signifi- uses high-resolution telescopes and full-
and how they vary. Helios has given us cant is the way the sensor is run,” Sun imagers to analyze the photosphere
some strong hints that nanoflares must be Horbury explains. Traditionally, he says, and the corona, providing context for
playing a role and, with Orbiter, we’ll be magnetometers use analog electronics to Italy’s Multi Element Telescope for
able to tie those things down by looking measure influences from an external Imaging and Spectroscopy (METIS)
at the solar plasma and fields in unprec- magnetic field on the instrument’s inter- coronagraph and the NASA-funded
edented detail, while looking remotely at nal field. But for Solar Orbiter, “we’d been Spectral Imaging of the Coronal
the source regions and linking the two.” funded to develop a new digital version” Environment (SPICE) imager. Supplied
Solar Orbiter’s instruments have been of the magnetometer. “We’ve also had to by the Astronomical Observatory of
a decade in the making. Imperial also develop an entirely new set of software Turin, METIS will examine the corona
About a year before its launch, Solar
and inner heliosphere at visible and ultra- 8 feet wide (3 meters by 2.4 meters), this Orbiter prepares to undergo vibration
violet wavelengths. Meanwhile, SPICE bulky edifice will guard against wither- testing to ensure it can withstand the
forces it will encounter aboard the
performs extreme ultraviolet inspections ing highs of 968 F (520 C) at perihelion rocket that will carry it into space, as
of the solar atmosphere and solar wind. and frigid lows of –220 F (–140 C) at aph- well as the stresses of space travel
Switzerland’s X-ray Spectrometer/ elion, all the while keeping the sensors from Earth to the Sun. ESA - S. CORVAJA
Telescope, STIX, was built at the Institute comfortably at room temperature. The
of Astronomy at ETH Zurich and will 15-inch-thick (38 centimeters) shield
explore hot coronal plasmas and high- comprises multiple sheets of high-
energy electrons accelerated by solar temperature insulation and titanium
flares. Germany’s Max Planck Institute and will direct heat laterally into space
has provided the Polarimetric and via gaps between its main layers.
Helioseismic Imager for high-resolution However, to continually protect the
and full-disk measurements of the global spacecraft, the shield needs to maintain
magnetic field. Its detailed mapping will a comfortable temperature range and
offer insights into the solar interior. avoid shedding material, outgassing
Finally, the NASA-funded Solar Orbiter vapors, or building up static charge over
Heliospheric Imager from the Naval years of exposure to harsh solar radia-
Research Laboratory (NRL) will study tion. To solve the problem, the Irish firm
the corona in three dimensions and Enbio, based in north Dublin, adapted
observe CMEs. Interestingly, NRL has its methodology for coating titanium
a long history in this area — although medical implants to create a thermal
CME phenomena were recorded as long material called SolarBlack. This black
ago as during the 1859 Carrington Event, calcium phosphate is bonded directly
it was an NRL physicist who in 1971 first onto the shield’s titanium skin, replacing
provided optical confirmation of these its natural oxide surface. The SolarBlack
violent events. material incorporates charcoal produced
Although several instruments will sit through charring animal bones, once
in direct sunlight, most of Solar Orbiter’s used by our prehistoric ancestors as a
payload will cower behind what could be pigment for cave art.
unflinchingly described as the “mother The remote-sensing instruments will
of all heat shields.” Ten feet long and peep through long, titanium-walled
Solar Orbiter’s heat shield is uniquely

designed to protect the spacecraft
and its delicate instruments from
the harsh environment near the Sun.
Its telescopes will peer through
custom-cut apertures, visible in this
engineering model of the shield as
engineers lower it into ESA’s Large
Space Simulator for testing prior to
the mission’s launch. ESA/ANNEKE LE FLOC’H
cylinders in the shield, which are cov-

ered by optical baffles of protective glass
or beryllium. Trapdoors will snap shut if
heat-induced damage begins to occur.
Solar Orbiter’s high-gain antenna can be
rotated above or behind the shield to
afford it protection from the heat flux.
The spacecraft’s elliptical orbit will
impose unusual thermal demands on the
antenna, rendering its downlink capabil-
ity somewhat sporadic, so data will be
stored onboard and transmitted later.
The solar arrays, too, must be carefully
angled to avoid ruining their optics or
the glue that holds their cells in place.

A group effort is one of collaboration. Not only will share data between instruments on the
Building and testing this complex space- the mission complement existing solar spacecraft, so it can autonomously rec-
craft across eight countries underscores probes and datasets, its design also ognize events and record the best or
the significance of international col- reflects the immense effort numerous most appropriate data. We all agreed in
laboration on Europe’s most ambitious international teams put into building principle early on that if one instrument
solar science endeavor. “Relationships a single spacecraft with every system made a strong science case for operating
within the team have been excellent and working in concert. for some period in a way that did not
some strong bonds have been made that “There is an unusual level of mutual necessarily work for the rest of us, we
will be used for future collaborations,” understanding on this mission,” Owen would seek to accommodate this for the
Owen says. “The international nature says. “All instruments have worked very benefit of the overall combined science
of what we have done, and the mission hard to accommodate the environmen- return.”
as a whole, is critical, since the costs tal requirements of the others. We all
involved would probably not have been recognize that the big advances will cer- Ben Evans is a science and spaceflight
taken on by a single European nation.” tainly come from the full combined pay- writer whose next book, Experimental Flying
Ultimately, the story of Solar Orbiter load. We have mechanisms in place to Machine, is due out in 2021.
EXCAVATING
COSMIC FOSSILS
Like dinosaur bones, tiny
micrometeorites reveal much about
the ancient past. BY ILIMA LOOMIS
S
omething was wrong with of 87-million-year-old rock — Earth’s deep-sea floor. He
Martin Suttle’s micrometeorites. he recognized the characteristic scanned more particles with
The Ph.D. student at Imperial shape of small round spherules, the same results. Suttle left the
College London had collected 76 like metal droplets. But when he microscope disheartened. The
tiny grains of space dust that had cut them open and looked inside, samples looked like space dust,
fallen to Earth near the white he was surprised by what he saw. but the geochemistry was wrong.
chalk hills of the North Downs, Where Suttle expected to find “I was kind of disappointed,”
close to his home in Kent, nickel, a common metal in mete- says Suttle, who is now a plan-
England. When Suttle used a orites, he instead found manga- etary scientist and geologist at
microscope to study the sand- nese, an element more associated the Natural History Museum in
sized particles — found in a layer with the geological processes of London. “I thought, ‘Oh, these

Colliding asteroids,
such as those seen in
this artist’s concept,
create huge amounts
of tiny dust particles,
which can eventually
rain down on Earth
as micrometeorites.
NASA/JPL-CALTECH/R. HURT
aren’t micrometeorites. These are The pair also Perhaps the spherules
something else.’ ” found that, while the were simply fossilized
Then, Suttle and his adviser, grains looked like micrometeorites.
Imperial College planetary geolo- micrometeorites, they
gist Matthew Genge, took another contained tiny flaws. They had Cosmic time capsules
look. This time, they noticed that small growths and protrusions “It was a gradual realization,”
the minerology was more familiar — something often seen in fossils Suttle says. “It was entirely
than it had seemed at first glance. when the minerals replacing plausible that these particles,
The relative ratios were right. But organic material aren’t an exact when they were embedded in
the manganese was where the 1-to-1 match. Suttle and Genge the seafloor mud, had been
nickel was supposed to be. began to form a hypothesis: altered through diagenesis,” the
fossils, also demonstrating exactly This methodology gives
how the fossilization process researchers a tool to identify
played out. ancient micrometeorites that
In their paper, published in might have been previously over-
2017 in Earth and Planetary looked because they didn’t have
Science Letters, Suttle and Genge the right chemical composition.
outlined five new criteria for posi- “Without this method, studies
tively identifying cosmic spher- can be skewed toward specimens
ules that have been fossilized. that survive better than others,”
These include their spherical Nittler says.
shape, treelike “dendritic” tex-
tures typical of molten metals Ancient grains
that have been rapidly cooled, and Micrometeorites are particles of
large central cavities, where the dust and rock that fall to Earth
beads of metal typically found at from space. A few enter the
the center of iron-rich microme- planet’s atmosphere at a low angle,
teorites have weathered away. causing them to drift slowly to
TOP: Martin Suttle takes “They’ve done this very careful the ground and remain intact.
a break from collecting
samples of late
chemical process that converts study to show that you can iden- But most arrive at high speed,
Cretaceous rocks found sediment into sedimentary rocks. tify [fossilized micrometeorites] largely melting in the heat of their
in the white chalk hills Researchers have found even without the typical chemical descent. They then quickly harden
of North Downs, Kent,
England. MARTIN SUTTLE ancient micrometeorites pre- signatures,” says Larry Nittler, a into spherules as they cool, shap-
served in sedimentary rock like cosmochemist and planetary sci- ing into microscopic droplets.
ABOVE: A block chert and limestone before, and entist at the Carnegie Institution Their tiny size also makes them
extracted from the white some think they were diageneti- for Science. “[It’s] just like a dino- hard to find — the largest might
chalk hills, a site hiding
many micrometeorites.
cally altered. But Suttle and saur bone is replaced by new min- be as big as a grain of sand, while
MARTIN SUTTLE Genge are the first to show they erals, but you can still identify it the smallest can’t be seen without
have truly found micrometeorite as a bone.” a microscope.

And yet, the clues micromete- A B C D
orites provide about our solar sys-
tem make them worth the hunt.
“They are samples of distant
objects like asteroids or comets
that we don’t typically have direct
samples from,” says David
50 µm
Nesvorny, a planetary scientist at
E F G H
the Southwest Research Institute
in Boulder, Colorado. The rocks
and minerals that make up larger
bodies like Earth and the Moon
have been altered by geological
forces over time. But smaller bod-
ies like asteroids are largely
unchanged, so sampling them I J K L
gives scientists an idea of the raw
materials that existed when our
solar system was in its infancy.
When it comes to space relics,
bigger isn’t necessarily better.
“The question I get asked is,
‘They’re so small — how much
can you get out of them? Why
ABOVE: Different types
don’t you study large meteorites?’ ” of micrometeorites
says Penny Wozniakiewicz, 88 million pounds (40,000 metric Scientists have studied a rare have distinct mineral
structures and grain
a planetary scientist at the tons) of space dust sprinkles down cache of large ancient meteorites patterns. Here we see:
University of Kent, who was not on Earth each year, making it a preserved in a limestone quarry in A) fine-grained
involved in the research but stud- plentiful source of extraterrestrial Sweden, but such finds are few unmelted;
B) coarse-grained
ies micrometeorites herself. One material if you know how to look and far between. “The chance of unmelted;
reason is abundance. “At the for it. “It’s much more fruitful to finding one in a random outcrop- C) scoriaceous;
D) relict-grain-bearing;
moment, far more material is work with [micrometeorites], ping is extremely small,” he says. E) porphyritic;
arriving as micrometeorites than because they’re more easy to find,” “You might have to look 10 or 20 F) barred olivine;
meteorites,” she says. While “mac- agrees cosmochemist Philipp years to find one meteorite — but G) cryptocrystalline;
H) glass;
rometeorites” are rare and hard Heck, curator of meteorites at the only if you look every day.” I) CAT (calcium,
to find, it’s estimated that up to Field Museum in Chicago. Furthermore, while large mete- aluminum, titanium);
J) G-type;
orites tend to come from only cer- K) I-type; and
tain parts of the asteroid belt, L) single mineral.
particles from any body that pro- S. TAYLOR/SHAW STREET/
WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
duces dust are pulled inward
toward the Sun from all direc- LEFT: By taking
tions, giving researchers a much microscopic cross
larger sample size. “They have the sections of
micrometeorites,
potential to come from anything researchers can
in the solar system,” Suttle says. determine what
specific structures
Many micrometeorites are now and minerals they
collected in Antarctica, where sci- contain, revealing
entists melt large volumes of snow more about their
past. This scoriaceous
or ice, filter the water, and then micrometeorite is
pick through the leftover particles characterized by a
relatively low melting
under a microscope one by one. point, being very
Scientists have also collected vesicular, and
micrometeorites and cometary containing olivine
crystals. MARTIN SUTTLE
dust by flying research planes
high in the stratosphere, trapping
the particles on plates coated with
sticky silicon oil. Others have
been found in sediment dredged
frequent and abundant than bigger siliceous, asteroids that are
ones, so they might be hidden in abundant in the inner part of the
the sediment, still preserved.” Sure asteroid belt. But when research-
enough, Schmitz’s team docu- ers examine micrometeorites
mented their discovery of extrater- found in sedimentary rocks that
restrial particles in a 2003 paper. are 466 million years old, they
Since then, researchers from find something different.
different disciplines have been “Ordinary chondrites were not
taking another look at these pre- ordinary at that time,” says Heck.
served particles, studying them Other types of micrometeorites,
for clues about the solar system’s including achondrites (which
distant past. “We’ve known have no chondrules, or rounded
they’re there for a while,” says silicate droplets found in the
Andy Tomkins, an earth and most primitive types of space
planetary scientist at Monash rocks), were more abundant.
University in Melbourne, These mineral types are linked
Australia, who was not involved to other asteroid families. “From
in the study. “Now it’s [a question the geological record, we will
of] what can they tell us.” reconstruct when different aster-
oid families formed, when there
Measuring cosmic were perhaps orbital perturba-
dust flux tions in the solar system — times
Scientists are interested in learn- when the solar system may not
ing the rate at which space dust have been as stable as many
falls to Earth over time. Although researchers believe today,” says
micrometeorites usually arrive in a Schmitz, who works with Heck
steady sprinkle, studies show peri- on micrometeorite research.
ods in the planet’s geological past “We say that we do astronomy
when this “flux” has briefly spiked by looking down, instead of by
for a few million years or so. looking out in space.”
Researchers believe these sudden Scientists have also used
showers coincided with a major micrometeorites to study the
collision in the asteroid belt or environment of early Earth.
some other large dust-generating Tomkins and his team discovered
event farther out in our solar sys- micrometeorites in 2.7-billion-
tem. “This is the only empirical year-old sedimentary rock in
TOP: The branching evidence we can have of geologi- Australia, the oldest fossilized
(dendritic) crystals of
this 17-micrometer (µm)
up from the seafloor, where they cal activity in the asteroid belt,” space dust ever recorded. When
mote of fossilized dust are separated from the sludge Suttle says. Although researchers they analyzed their find, they saw
exhibit a treelike with magnets — although this have hypothesized many of these that the iron and nickel in the
structure. MARTIN SUTTLE
process only picks up particles historical cosmic events by model- particles had been oxidized — a
containing ferrous metals. ing the movements of asteroids chemical process also seen in
ABOVE: Zooming in
on a 75-µm wide But while these methods have and planets, “it can’t be verified modern micrometeorites,
micrometeorite resulted in a harvest of modern through any other way than by which occurs when the
reveals a roughly 4.5-
by-7 µm fossilized
micrometeorites, there’s growing looking at the cosmic dust flux
coccolithophore — a interest in studying ancient space over time,” he says.
unicellular plankton dust. Scientists have found cosmic The chemical composition of
with microscopic
limestone plating. dust in sedimentary rock since the ancient micromete-
MARTIN SUTTLE 1980s. Heck says his colleague, orites can also
geologist Birger Schmitz of Lund offer clues about
RIGHT: A smattering of University in Sweden, studied the evolution of
melted micrometeorites these larger meteorites, which were the solar system.
highlight that these
cosmic spherules recovered from a limestone quarry Today, most meteor-
drastically vary in size in Sweden. “They’re pretty rare, so ites and micrometeorites
and appearance. The
largest particle in this they only found about two or three hitting Earth are ordi-
image is about 300 µm [large meteorites] a year,” Heck nary chondrites, con-
wide. SHAW STREET/WIKIMEDIA says. “But the thinking was that taining minerals that
COMMONS
micrometeorites are far more come from S-type, or

heated metal is exposed to oxy- A B C
gen. “That was what led us on to
the discovery,” Tomkins says.
“We thought, ‘Oh, wow, this hap-
pened as they went through the
upper atmosphere.’ ”
The finding was significant
because it coincided with the
period before when scientists
believe oxygen first appeared in 40 µm 40 µm 5 µm
Earth’s atmosphere, during the
Great Oxidation Event some
D E F
2.4 billion years ago. The oxidized
metals in the micrometeorites
provided the first empirical evi-
dence that the upper atmosphere
may have been more oxygen-rich
than the lower atmosphere at that
time. A next step could be to find
and study micrometeorites from
40 µm 40 µm 5 µm
both before and after the event,
to see how the upper atmosphere
responded to the biggest atmo-
A B C
spheric change in Earth’s history.
Fossil record
While Heck is delighted by the
discovery of fossil micrometeor-
ites, he’s not surprised. He and
his colleagues recognized a simi-
lar fossilization process at work 10 µm 20 µm 10 µm
in large meteorites years ago.
“There, it is really obvious,” he
says. “It still looks like a meteor- D E F
ite, but it is not anymore, because
as the fluids went through, they
replaced the minerals without
changing the shape of the object.”
But even though researchers
have been studying ancient
micrometeorites for some three
decades, they may not have rec- 50 µm 10 µm 10 µm
ognized them as true fossils.
Heck says his team ignored the G H I
more common melted spherules
and worked with the rarer
unmelted ones. This was because
they contain chromite — a min-
eral that retains trace elemental
characteristics indicative of
extraterrestrial material. Since
chromite is not one of the miner- 20 µm 10 µm 30 µm
als affected by fossilization, “it’s
something we didn’t look at or
TOP: The external and internal textures of fossilized iron-silicide spherules, as seen through a
didn’t even see,” says Heck. microscope, exhibit voids (F), protrusions (D), and cavities (B), with the latter being the result
Schmitz also says he was aware of venting volatile gases while entering Earth’s atmosphere. MARTIN SUTTLE
that most micrometeorites, espe- ABOVE: Fossilized iron-oxide spherules, seen here, include dendrites on their surfaces (A-C),
cially the melted spherules, had as well as circular cavities (D and F) — the result of corrosion while on the seafloor. MARTIN SUTTLE
A B
50 µm 50 µm
ABOVE LEFT: The

dips and divots in this
micrometeorite show
almost certainly been altered possible to analyze the chemical that would flag them as extrater-
where internal water through diagenesis. “That’s what traces of their parent asteroids. restrial. Looking inside was
has pushed its way we expected,” he says, “and that’s But there’s still much that scien- harder. To cut these microscopic
to the surface and
vaporized. This piece why we have never worked with tists can learn from them, he says. grains in half, Suttle first cast
of cosmic dust is about that type of micrometeorite, In addition to measuring the total them in tiny cylinders of resin.
75 µm wide by 130 µm
long. IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON
because you cannot really get a lot cosmic dust flux over time and He then polished them down
of information. It’s the same with investigating the oxygen content until the interiors were exposed.
the fossil meteorites that we find. of the early atmosphere, they can “When I looked at the external
ABOVE RIGHT: Cross
sections of detrital You cannot get any information also be used to study diagenesis in textures, they looked exactly as
pyrite grains from from them, because they’re so sedimentary rocks. “Just as with I expected,” Suttle says. “It was
the chalk hills reveal
pentagonal structures altered — just like a fossil.” But fossils of biological remains, only when I cut them open and
commonly found in Schmitz questions whether all the many important investigations started analyzing their minerol-
cubic crystals like
pyrite. MARTIN SUTTLE
spherules identified in Suttle’s can still be conducted, even when ogy that I realized they weren’t
paper were truly extraterrestrial, the animal’s tissues are no longer what they should be.”
saying it is difficult to prove with- preserved,” Suttle says. The discovery was even more
BELOW: The white
chalk hills of North out specific chemical signatures. Investigating and proving the surprising because searching for
Downs in Kent, England, After all, lots of spherical things true nature of the tiny grains cer- cosmic dust in ancient sediments
may be reminiscent of
Tolkien lore, but the that resemble micrometeorites tainly wasn’t easy. Suttle first started off as a side project that
area also contains relics appear in sediments, he says. scanned the outside of his micro- was outside the scope of Suttle’s
from space — namely,
fossilized grains of
Suttle agrees that fossilized meteorites with an electron original Ph.D. plan. Suttle’s main
microscopic dust. micrometeorites may have limited microscope to capture images project was supposed to focus on
MARTIN SUTTLE
value in traditional meteoric of their external shapes and tex- investigating the sources of con-
research because it’s no longer tures, especially characteristics temporary micrometeorites, but

he took an interest in what he
might find in the local white
chalk hills of the North Downs.
“I lived there my whole life,
and it was nice to do a project
which explored the geology where
I live,” he says. “I was doing it in
my spare time, just because I was
interested.” But the new work has
since been added to his thesis. “I
changed my title to ‘Investigating
the Sources of Micrometeorites,
Past and Present,’ ” Suttle says
with a chuckle. “Often in science
we must follow where the discov-
eries take us. You start out with a
proposal stating ‘We’re going to
do X.’ But occasionally, instead,
something you overlooked or
never knew of in the first place
turns out to be just as
interesting.”
A long road ahead

Experts such as Heck say that
Suttle and Genge’s work — and
their five new criteria for iden-
tifying fossils — could inspire
researchers to go back and take
another look at ancient microme- Cosmic dust particles
may be small, but they
teorites, especially concentrating Suttle’s collection contributes roughly 62 miles (100 kilometers) move so quickly (tens of
on spherules. This might help one piece to that puzzle, notes wide that were the precursors thousands of miles per
them identify specimens that Nesvorny. Previous sets of to the planets. This is because hour) that they can do
some real damage to
had been overlooked before. “As ancient micrometeorites included the interaction between liquid anything they strike
scientists look for these in other specimens from around 40 mil- water and silicate rock on these that’s beyond Earth’s
protective atmosphere.
locations, they will get a more lion years ago, as well as those bodies represents a snapshot of For example, this image
accurate idea of the numbers and from 170 million years ago and the planet-forming era. from 2006 shows a tiny
different kinds of micrometeorites older. However, “There’s a huge Now, one of Suttle’s next goals hole created when a
micrometeorite struck a
that have been fossilized,” Nittler gap between 40 million and is about semantics. panel on NASA’s Solar
says. “This will give a much more 170 million,” Nesvorny says. For years, all space dust par- Maximum Mission. NASA
accurate picture of the past flux “This is the first sample from ticles were commonly referred to
of cosmic dust.” that interval.” as fossil micrometeorites, no mat-
“It’s a step forward in enabling After finishing his Ph.D., ter whether they were truly fossil-
others to go ahead and study Suttle completed a postdoctoral ized or remained unaltered. “I’m
ancient micrometeorites,” position at the University of Pisa, forced to call those other collec-
Wozniakiewicz says. And Heck where he studied a new collection tions fossilized, because that’s the
agrees. “I think it will trigger an of “giant” micrometeorites recov- word people use. I’d like to
increased interest in the search ered from cracks in the tops of change it,” Suttle says. Calling
for fossil micrometeorites in the Antarctic mountains. Most of nonfossilized micrometeorites
sedimentary record,” he says. these modern micrometeorites “ancient” would draw a clear dis-
“The geological record is so vast, are millimeter-sized fragments tinction, he adds. “This is some-
and deep time is so enormous, of water-rich asteroids that fell to thing I’ve been on a bit of a
that in order to get a good under- Earth in the past 1 million to personal campaign about.”
standing, it’s important that more 2 million years. By analyzing
people work on this. Right now, their chemistries, textures, and Award-winning writer Ilima Loomis
it’s only a few groups. But in order compositions, researchers can is the author of Eclipse Chaser:
to get the puzzle together, we need learn about the early lives of Science in the Moon’s Shadow
to find more puzzle pieces.” planetesimals, which were objects (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2019).
SKY THIS MONTH
Visible to the naked eye
Visible with binoculars
Visible with a telescope
THE SOLAR SYSTEM’S CHANGING LANDSCAPE AS IT APPEARS IN EARTH’S SKY.

BY MARTIN RATCLIFFE AND ALISTER LING
AUGUST 2020
Outer planets on display
Perseid meteors streak away from Also popping into view
the shower’s radiant in 2018, with the
Milky Way as a backdrop. TONY HALLAS
through any telescope are the
Galilean satellites: Io, Europa,
Ganymede, and Callisto.
telescopic viewer. Its disk spans Eclipses and occultations of
47" and shrinks less than 5 per- these four bright moons occur
cent during the month due to frequently. Transits of moons
increasing distance from Earth. and their trailing shadows are
Barring the blurring effects fascinating to watch, and
of our atmosphere, Jupiter sometimes more than one
offers a wealth of detail. Its occurs at the same time. Here
twin dark equatorial belts jump are a few examples to watch for
out immediately. Once your eye this month; note that more
adjusts to the planet’s brilliance, occur than are listed here.
more subtle cloud belts and Early evening on August 14
zones appear. With patience, finds Jupiter’s largest moon,
you’ll capture fleeting moments Ganymede, transiting the planet.
of good seeing. It exits the disk at 10:51 P.M.
The Great Red Spot makes EDT, visible in darkness in the
occasional appearances as eastern half of the U.S. The
The summertime giant planets are past opposi- it’s carried with the planet’s moon’s large, dark shadow also
planetary bonanza tion and are 20° high an hour 9-hour, 55-minute rotation transits this evening, taking
continues through August as after sunset in the first week of period. (Jupiter’s equatorial another three hours to do so. In
Jupiter and Saturn maintain the month. By the same time at zones rotate five minutes faster.) the meantime, Io is approaching
their dominance of the south- the end of the month, they’re
ern sky soon after sunset and nearing the meridian due south. Mars rises high
remain visible all night. Jupiter’s The Moon revisits the region
moons offer a triple dose of between August 28 and 29. PISCES
combined Io and Ganymede Jupiter shines at magnitude A RIE S Mars
transits. After midnight, it’s –2.7 and dims 0.1 magnitude
time for Mars, which is really during the month. Saturn is
brightening now and is a fine dimmer, at magnitude 0.1 as Mira CETUS
object in telescopes. Together August opens and fading to Diphda
with the Red Planet, Uranus 0.3 during the month. The
TAURUS
and Neptune share a tradition- planets remain about 8° apart
ally dim region of the sky. In throughout August.
ALL ILLUSTRATIONS: ASTRONOMY: ROEN KELLY
the hours before dawn, Venus Jupiter moves westward

provides a treat and Mercury is relative to the stars in
visible during the first week of Sagittarius and arrives less than
the month, low in the northeast. 6° northeast of Nunki (Sigma 10°
Let’s begin our planetary [σ] Sagittarii) by August 31, just
sojourn with Jupiter, Saturn, below the teaspoon asterism.
August 31, 2 A.M.
and the near-Full Moon, which Like a drop of golden syrup
Looking southeast
stand together above the south- suspended in the sky, Jupiter
eastern horizon on August 1 in dazzles with a yellowish hue The Red Planet is gaining altitude and brightness in the morning sky. Look for
eastern Sagittarius. The two and never disappoints the it well above the horizon in the early morning as August progresses.

RISING MOON I No glory for Galileo
WE HAVE DRESSED the Moon’s face in the
Galilaei
honor roll of the great scientists and philosophers
of human history. The bigger the name, the more
impressive a feature, generally, with the best cra-
OBSERVING ters used for the pre-telescopic age thinkers. A
HIGHLIGHT Galileo must have rubbed the lunar cartogra-
Galilaei
phers the wrong way, because his crater is half
VENUS shares the morning sky
with a waning crescent Moon the size and less prominent than the one named Kepler
on August 15. You’ll find the for his friend and student, Reiner. Appropriately,
planet 4° due south of our though, they appear near each other as isolated
satellite in the east. Reiner Gamma
islands in the large western “sea” of Oceanus
Procellarum. Look due west of Copernicus, the
dominating large crater with prominent N
rays near the middle of the Moon's
disk. You’ll first find a smaller rayed E
Jupiter’s eastern limb and crater, Kepler; go farther west still to
begins to transit at 11:24 P.M. find Galilaei. Nine-mile-wide Galilaei lies within
Oceanus Procellarum. To the west are
EDT. Io’s shadow joins in Spanning 9 miles in diameter, Kepler’s bright rays. CONSOLIDATED LUNAR ATLAS/UA/
44 minutes later. Galilaei is a classic sharp-rimmed crater, LPL; INSET: NASA/GSFC/ASU
Io and Ganymede repeat the young in that it formed well after the
event on August 21. Ganymede huge lava upwellings that characterized the ear- is no widespread agreement as to what it is or
begins transiting at 10:59 P.M. lier parts of the Moon’s existence. As evening on how it formed — a lasting lunar mystery!
EDT, and Io follows shortly the 2nd arrives in North America, the Sun has Come back on the 31st to see some gorgeous
after, at 1:11 A.M. EDT. Soon already been shining for 20 hours over Galilaei, hills, rilles, and ridges. Note the super long, sinu-
after 2 A.M., three events occur high enough in the sky that bright albedo fea- ous wrinkle ridge snaking through Galilaei and
in relatively quick succession. tures catch the eye. Use a filter to reduce the its junior, A, to the north. The craters break up
intensity of light coming through the eyepiece. the ridge, solid evidence that the impacts came
Io’s shadow moves onto the
A most curious splotchy white feature, Reiner after the lava of Procellarum solidified. Just to
disk at 2:03 A.M., Ganymede
Gamma, lies between Galilaei and Reiner to the the northeast lies a fantastic field of volcanic
leaves the opposite limb at
east. Apollo missions confirmed this is not topo- domes called the Marius Hills. Can you see the
2:19 A.M., and Ganymede’s
graphic in origin but, like other white splotches thin Rima Galilaei rille wriggling along the hills’
shadow appears on the eastern on the farside, is quite magnetic. To date, there western flank?
limb at 2:31 A.M. (all times
EDT). Ganymede’s shadow is
so large it takes seven minutes
to become fully visible. METEOR WATCH I Dodging the Moon
The pair return August 29
in the early hours. This time Io
has caught up with Ganymede Perseid meteor shower THE FAMOUS PERSEID meteor
and the pair begin transits shower is active between July 17
within 28 minutes of each other, Radiant and August 24, and peaks on
starting with Ganymede at August 12. The predawn hours
2:31 A.M. EDT. The western half are the best for viewing the
of the U.S. will see Io overtake ARIES shower, but this year a Last
CAMEL OPARDA L I S
Ganymede to leave the disk first Quarter Moon in Aries adds a lot
PERSEUS
of light to the sky. Consequently,
at 5:15 A.M. EDT. Ganymede Pleiades Moon
low rates of only the brightest
follows 35 minutes later. Capella meteors will be observable.
Swing your scope 8° east of
Watch for glowing persistent
Jupiter to find Saturn. Through TAURUS trains left by these brighter
a scope its disk is clearly visible, AURIGA shower members. Meteors streak
Aldebaran
spanning 18" while the long into our atmosphere at 36 miles
axis of the rings stretches 41" per second and burn up in a fiery
— almost the same as 10°
burst of light, vaporizing the
Jupiter’s girth, but Saturn PERSEID METEORS original particle.
lies twice as far away. Active dates: July 17–August 24 August 12, 2 A.M. The Perseid meteors are the
Saturn’s north polar axis is Peak: August 12 Looking northeast result of trails of debris left over
tilted nearly 22° toward us, Moon at peak: Last Quarter
from Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle,
Maximum rate at peak: Although the Moon will brighten the sky,
revealing the northern 100 meteors/hour you’re still likely to catch the brightest Perseid which completes one full orbit
— Continued on page 42 meteors when the shower peaks August 12. of the Sun every 133 years.
N
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BEGINNERS: WATCH A VIDEO ABOUT HOW TO READ A STAR CHART AT
www.Astronomy.com/starchart.
e
AUGUST 2020
SUN. MON. TUES. WED. THURS. FRI. SAT.
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ILLUSTRATIONS BY ASTRONOMY: ROEN KELLY

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CALENDAR OF EVENTS
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1 The Moon passes 1.5° south of Jupiter, 8 P.M. EDT

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2 Mercury passes 7° south of Pollux, 2 A.M. EDT

The Moon passes 1.1° south of Pluto, 2 A.M. EDT
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The Moon passes 2° south of Saturn, 9 A.M. EDT

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31 a 25 First Quarter Moon occurs at 1:58 P.M. EDT
c 28 Dwarf planet Ceres is at opposition, 8 A.M. EDT
Asteroid Massalia is at opposition, 5 P.M. EDT
The Moon passes 1.4° south of Jupiter, 10 P.M. EDT
29 The Moon passes 1.2° south of Pluto, 7 A.M. EDT
The Moon passes 2° south of Saturn, 1 P.M. EDT
PATHS OF THE PLANETS
PER AN D L AC
AUR
UM a LYN C YG
GE M
L MI TR I
LYR
AR I
C NC Path of the Sun (eclip tic)
L EO PEG VUL
ry
M ercu Uranus
Asteroid Massalia reaches
PS C Pallas
Sun opposition August 28
TAU Mar
s AQL SE R
Venus appears farthest from Flora Fortuna
the Sun in August’s morning sky Celestial
SEX OR I equator
AQR
MON Neptune
H YA CET Saturn SCT
ERI C AP
Jupiter
CM a
LE P PsA
PYX FOR Pluto
ANT Dwarf planet Ceres reaches S GR
opposition August 28 M IC
C OL CA E
PU P C rA
PHE
V EL
HOR TE L
Dawn Midnight
Moon phases
20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To locate the Moon in the sky, draw a line from the phase shown for the day
straight up to the curved blue line. 31 30 29 28
THE PLANETS Uranus THE PLANETS IN THE SKY

IN THEIR ORBITS These illustrations show the size, phase,
Arrows show the inner and orientation of each planet and the two
planets’ monthly motions brightest dwarf planets at 0h UT for the dates
and dots depict the in the data table at bottom. South is at the top
Jupiter Neptune to match the view through a telescope.
outer planets’ positions
at midmonth from high
Saturn
above their orbits. Venus
Mars
Mercury
Pluto
Mercury
Superior conjunction
is August 17
Venus PLANETS MERCURY VENUS

Greatest western elongation
is August 12 Date August 1 August 15
Magnitude –0.9 –4.4
Ceres
Opposition is Angular size 6.1" 23.1"
Earth
August 28
Illumination 70% 51%
Mars Distance (AU) from Earth 1.096 0.723
Perihelion is
August 3 Distance (AU) from Sun 0.316 0.726
Right ascension (2000.0) 7h36.3m 6h28.3m
Jupiter Declination (2000.0) 21°29' 20°06'

This map unfolds the entire night sky from sunset (at right) until sunrise (at left). Arrows
and colored dots show motions and locations of solar system objects during the month. AUGUST 2020
1 Io
CVn Callisto 2 Europa

HER UM a LY N
LMi
BOÖ
C rB 3
C OM
Europa
4
L EO
Sun Io 5 Jupiter
SE R Comet
PanSTARRS
OPH 6
VIR SE X
Ganymede
LIB n 7 Callisto
e Mo o
th o f th CRV CRT
Pa
Iris HYA
JUPITER’S 8
Comet 88P/Howell
MOONS 9
PYX Dots display
AN T
positions of
LUP 10 Ganymede
SC O Galilean satellites
CEN
VEL at 11 P.M. EDT on
AR A the date shown. 11
Early evening South is at the

top to match the 12
view through a
telescope. 13
14
27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18
15
Jupiter 16
S
17
Saturn W E
18
N
19
10" 20
21
Ceres Uranus Neptune Pluto 22
23
24
MARS CERES JUPITER SATURN URANUS NEPTUNE PLUTO 25
August 15 August 15 August 15 August 15 August 15 August 15 August 15

26
–1.4 7.8 –2.7 0.2 5.8 7.8 14.7
16.4" 0.7" 46.1" 18.3" 3.6" 2.4" 0.1" 27
88% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%

28
0.571 2.018 4.273 9.086 19.556 29.028 33.216
29
1.382 2.982 5.145 10.007 19.790 29.929 34.110
1h32.6m 23h03.7m 19h20.1m 19h54.7m 2h32.6m 23h24.9m 19h39.0m 30
5°16' –22°21' –22°33' –21°06' 14°30' –4°59' –22°33'
31
WHEN TO
SKY THIS MONTH — Continued from page 37 VIEW THE
Io and Ganymede race across Jupiter
PLANETS
Early August is the best
S
time this year to observe Ceres, EVENING SKY
the closest dwarf planet to Jupiter (southeast)
Earth. On August 5, it lies only Saturn (southeast)
Neptune (east)
4.5' southeast of the star 88
W Io Aquarii. Ceres’ motion relative MIDNIGHT
Io’s shadow to the star is noticeable within Jupiter (south)
Ganymede
Ganymede’s shadow an hour. It remains within 11' Saturn (south)
of the star the day before and Mars (east)
August 22, 3 A.M. EDT 30" after this close appulse. Uranus (east)
Neptune (southeast)
Ceres reaches opposition on
In one of several doubleheaders this month, Io and Ganymede trek across
Jupiter within hours of each other. Swing your scope upward at the right time,
August 28. That day, it’s located MORNING SKY
and you can spot both moons and their shadows in a single glance. roughly at the midpoint of a Mercury (northeast)
line between 88 Aquarii and Venus (east)
side of the rings. A is the outer 4th-magnitude Phi (φ) Aquarii Epsilon (ε) Piscis Austrini. Mars (south)
ring, B is the brighter central and slew 3° east-northeast to Ceres is an easy binocular tar- Uranus (south)
ring, and C is the dusky inner find the planet in early August. Neptune (southwest)
get and brightens to magnitude
ring. Rings A and B are sepa- By August 31 it’s only 2.5° 7.7 during the month.
rated by the 2,980-mile-wide from the star. Note that 6th- Mars rises in the south
Cassini Division, which is vis- magnitude 96 Aquarii lies 1.5° shortly before midnight local Square of Pegasus, from Scheat
ible in a small telescope. northeast of Phi. A sketch of time on August 1. It’s a dra- through Algenib. Mars treks
Saturn’s brightest moon, the stars each night will reveal matic object at magnitude –1.1 briskly eastward and a waning
Titan, glows at an easy 8th the planet by its motion. A tele- in Pisces the Fish. You’ll find it gibbous Moon passes 0.8°
magnitude. You’ll find Titan scope will show its 2.4"-wide roughly in line with a diagonal south of the Red Planet on
due north of Saturn August 1 bluish disk. drawn southeast across the August 9. By the last week of
and 17, and due south on
August 9 and 25. A trio of 10th-
magnitude moons orbit closer COMET SEARCH I Dependable returner
to the rings. Tethys, Dione, and
Rhea change their relative posi- LIKE A GOOD CHILDHOOD Comet 88P/Howell
tions over the course of a few FRIEND who pops by for a
hours. Enceladus is faint and visit every few years, Comet
near the edge of the A Ring, Howell changes but largely N
making it harder to see due to stays the same, providing good ` b
j2 g
the ring’s brilliance. You can company between dusk and Spica
spot Iapetus less than 3' south- midnight. You’ll need at least
west of Saturn on August 1, a 4-inch scope out under dark j1 h
LIBR A +
August 1
country skies to spot its soft 5
when it shines about magnitude VI RG O
11th-magnitude glow. Try it i _ 10
11. The moon will brighten and 15
during the Perseids’ peak on E
move west of Saturn, reaching 20
August 12 and again a week later
9' due west on August 17. 25 Path of Comet 88P
Slightly south of a line as it slides through Libra.
+ f 30
88P’s elliptical path brings it
between Saturn and Jupiter we
just inside Mars’ orbit, looping
find Pluto. It’s really faint at
back out to Jupiter’s domain a
magnitude 14.6, but well within m
roughly every 5.5 years. Gravity’s / 4°
reach of modern digital cam- H Y DR A
adjustments brought it to us
eras attached to a telescope. and, millions of years in the Magnitude 11 88P/Howell requires dark skies and at least a small scope to
Take a few images over several future, will likely eject it to spot — for now. The comet is still on its approach to the Sun and will
nights to detect its motion. become another solar system’s continue growing brighter throughout this month and into next.
Neptune is located in interstellar comet.
northwestern Aquarius. The Don’t fret if at first you can’t see it. There’s a decent chance that haze and a longer path through the
ice giant rises after 10 P.M. local atmosphere make 88P a challenge. Bump up the power past 100x, get comfortable, and look for a small,
time in early August and is up elliptically shaped smudge floating southeast of the Virgo Cluster. Imagers will pick up the tint of classic
by sunset on August 31. Grab a green. Next month the comet should be a magnitude brighter and more obvious.
pair of binoculars to pick up While you’re in comet mode, take a peek at the fading Comet PanSTARRS (C/2017 T2) floating almost
the magnitude 7.8 planet. Find 30° away in Boötes.

LOCATING ASTEROIDS I
Steady as she stays
IN THE SUITE of characteristics that make for a good asteroid
Uranus floats in darkness hunt, 7 Iris hits a rare one this month: It is nearly motionless on
the sky. It spends the month in a single low-power field, making
it perfect for one sketch to mark its gradual shift against the back-
ground stars.
The ice giant
When Earth, on its inside orbital track, catches up to and passes
Uranus makes an a more distant object, the asteroid or planet appears to slow down
excellent target and switch direction, called retrograde motion. Usually the loop is
with binoculars so big our chart just shows a curved line, but Iris happens to be
or a telescope
this month. This close enough to the ecliptic this year that the path is a hairpin turn.
false-color image If your scope does not slew you directly to the asteroid, star-
shows the planet hop to or dial in Messier 23, a lovely star cluster in northern
as it appeared in
2010. DAMIAN PEACH Sagittarius, then shift 1° to the southwest. Look for a trapezoid
made by four stars and scan west to pick out the fainter magni-
tude 9.8 pinprick of this main belt object.
The downside to this single-field advantage is that it will be
a true challenge to see it ooze position over the course of one
August, Mars brightens to Uranus rises just after mid- observing session.
magnitude –1.8, rising about night local time on August 1 Iris was discovered by Englishman John Hind in 1847.
10 P.M. local time. Its eastern and is well up in the eastern sky
track slows as it approaches on August 31 at the same time. Iris executes a hairpin turn
next month’s retrograde turn. It can be spotted with binocu-
N
The apparent size of the lars quite easily, shining at
martian disk grows from 15" to magnitude 5.8. No other bright M23
19" this month as the distance stars are nearby. A scope
between Earth and Mars con- reveals a greenish-colored disk
tinues to decline, leading up to spanning 3.6".
its October 13 opposition. The Uranus sits 9° northeast of 30 25 20
Path of Iris
planet reaches perihelion on the Last Quarter Moon soon
August 3. Its gibbous disk after midnight on August 10. E
5 10 15
changes from 86 to 92 percent On August 31, Uranus stands August 1
lit during August. 14° northeast of Mars and lies
We’re entering peak Mars roughly midway between S AGI T TAR IU S
observing season, which will Hamal, the brightest star in
last through mid-December. Aries, and Menkar, the bright-
0.5°
Right now, the best time to est star in Cetus.
observe it is in the predawn Venus is a brilliant object August opens with asteroid Iris traveling west. Between August 16 and
hours when it is high above the in the eastern sky before dawn. 20, the tiny world swings around a magnitude 9.5 star, reversing course.
horizon. By 4 A.M. local time on It’s already up by 3:30 A.M. local
August 31, Mars stands nearly time on August 1 and glows at
60° high due south for midlati- magnitude –4.5 just south of Moon. It’s a beautiful morning when it’s 3° high 45 minutes
tudes in North America. Zeta (ζ) Tauri, the southern view in the east, along with before sunrise. It quickly sinks
Mars rotates in 24 hours horn of Taurus the Bull. Its Taurus, the Pleiades, and Orion. out of view.
and 37 minutes. The Red 43-percent-lit disk spans 27". By August 31, the planet has Mercury reaches superior
Planet’s visible features depend As the month progresses, faded to –4.3 and is less than 9° conjunction on the far side of
on the time of night you Venus treks across northeast- south of Gemini’s brightest star, the Sun on August 17 and reap-
observe, and landmarks appear ern Orion and then across Pollux. Your scope will reveal a pears in the evening sky in late
to shift backward when Gemini the Twins. Between 59-percent-lit disk spanning 20". August. It remains difficult to
observed at the same time of August 12 and 13, the disk is Mercury is briefly visible in see and disappears again in
night. Mars is approaching half lit. Observationally, the the morning sky in the first few mid-September.
southern summer, so its south exact moment it reaches 50 days of August. On August 1, it
polar cap, tilted toward us, is percent is hard to judge. When stands 5° high 45 minutes Martin Ratcliffe provides
small. The bright Hellas basin do you think it occurs? before sunrise, shining at mag- planetarium development for
is often confused with the polar On August 15, Venus is 4° nitude –0.9. Each following Sky-Skan, Inc., from his home
cap due to its prominence. due south of a waning crescent morning it drops lower toward in Wichita, Kansas. Alister
the horizon, although it also Ling, who lives in Edmonton,
GET DAILY UPDATES ON YOUR NIGHT SKY AT brightens. Try catching it Alberta, has watched the skies
www.Astronomy.com/skythisweek. August 4 at magnitude –1.1, since 1975.
Don’t miss the
PERSEIDS
This annual meteor
shower will put on a
great show in 2020.
BY MICHAEL E. BAKICH
THIS MONTH, THE PERSEID METEOR Because the targets are That said, binoculars, which
fast-moving bright streaks have a slightly larger field of
shower once again dominates the astronomical against a dark sky, viewers view, will make any smoke
news. Not only is it always one of the year’s won’t need a telescope or any trails left by bright meteors
richest displays, but it also occurs during the other astronomical equip- easier to see, so they can be
ment. In fact, a telescope nar- followed for a longer time.
summer, so many people who are not usually rows the field of view so In 2020, the Perseids
amateur astronomers will head outside to much that the chances are peak August 11/12 — from
watch at least some of it. slim that an observer would Tuesday night (the 11th) into
see a meteor through one. Wednesday morning (the

LEFT: Meteor
photographers often
combine exposures to
show many Perseids
over a period of time.
This composite, made
August 13, 2015,
combines 45 exposures
of 13 seconds apiece,
taken from Mount
Rainier National Park.
MATTHEW DIETERICH
BELOW: Perseid
meteors originate
from a point called
the radiant, which lies
near the northern tip
of the constellation. To
see the most meteors,
look roughly 30º away
from the radiant.
Polaris ARIE S
Radiant
Algol
PERSEUS
12th). The Moon — the bane What’s going on?
of most observing events — Meteor is often confused with Pleiades
will be at its Last Quarter meteoroid and meteorite. The
phase, so it will rise at local difference is simple: A particle Capella
TAU RU S
midnight (1 a.m. for those is a meteoroid (made of rock,
AU RIGA
observing daylight saving metal, or a combination of Aldebaran
time) and be only half illumi- both) in space. It becomes a
nated, meaning it will pro- meteor when it enters Earth’s 10°
Looking northeast
duce only one-tenth the light atmosphere and creates a 2 A.M., August 12
of the Full Moon. glowing column of gas. If
FAST FACTS ABOUT METEORS
You must be less than 120 miles (200 kilometers) Astronomers estimate that the average total mass
from a meteor to see it. of meteoritic material entering Earth’s atmosphere
is between 100 and 1,000 tons (91,000 and
Meteors become visible at an average height of 910,000 kilograms) per day.
55 miles (90 km). Shower meteors burn up before
they reach an altitude of 50 miles (80 km). The typical rate for meteors bright enough to
see with unaided eyes on a “non-shower” night is
No shower meteor has survived its flight through approximately six per hour. Astronomers call these
the atmosphere and been recovered as a meteorite. random streaks sporadic meteors.
They’re just too small.
A meteoroid from the Perseid shower enters the
The typical bright meteor is produced by a particle atmosphere at an average speed of 133,000 mph
no larger than a pea with a mass less than 1 gram. (214,000 km/h).
The meteors you’ll see during a shower are even
smaller. Their size is roughly that of a grain of sand.
ABOVE: This meteor, which exhibited

a small flare-up, appeared over
Hongcun, a UNESCO World Heritage
Site in Anhui Province, China, on
August 12, 2018. JEFF DAI
to originate. Another way to

think about this is that if you
traced the meteor trails from
a single shower backward,
they would all intersect at one
point, the radiant. The posi-
tion of the radiant is impor-
tant to meteor observers.
This Perseid was bright enough to be seen through moderately thick monsoon clouds. It burned up above the Himalayas The higher the radiant is in
near Shishapangma, Tibet, on August 12, 2015. The Teapot asterism of Sagittarius is visible at center. JEFF DAI the sky, the more meteors
you’ll see.
One meteor shower that
it’s large enough to survive will occur. One notable excep- months later, it had bright- seems to contradict the
the fiery encounter and land tion to the comet rule is the ened to magnitude 2, the named-for-the-constellation
on Earth, it then becomes a Geminids, a meteor shower same brightness as Polaris rule is the Quadrantids,
meteorite. active in December. Its par- (Alpha [α] Ursae Minoris). It which are active in January.
Almost all meteor showers ticles came from the asteroid orbits the Sun every 133 years In actuality, this name does
originate with comets. As a 3200 Phaethon. and 102.3 days. It reappeared follow the rule, although the
comet orbits the Sun, the heat Perseid meteors are par- in 1992, reaching perihelion constellation for which it was
from our star sublimates (turns ticles from Comet 109P/Swift- (closest approach to the Sun) named — Quadrans Muralis
solids directly into gases) the Tuttle. It was discovered in on December 11. — is no longer a recognized
comet’s ice, which also releases July 1862 by American Comets are named for their group. When the constella-
any trapped dust particles. astronomers Lewis Swift of discoverers. Asteroids are tions were formalized in 1928,
This action leaves a debris Marathon, New York, and named by their discoverers. Quadrans Muralis ceased to
trail. If our planet crosses that Horace Tuttle, at Harvard A meteor shower, however, is exist and became part of the
trail, which it would do around College Observatory in named for the constellation current constellation Boötes.
the same date each year, the Cambridge, Massachusetts. that contains its radiant, Currently, the International
particles will enter our atmo- When they found it, it glowed the point on the sky from Astronomical Union’s Meteor
sphere and a meteor shower at magnitude 7.5, but, by two which all the meteors seem Data Center lists 821 meteor

showers, of which 112 have
been established by repeated
observations. With only 88
constellations in the sky, many
of these showers come from
the same constellations.
Rather than designating
them “Perseids,” “Perseids 2,”
and so on, astronomers name
the shower after the visible
star nearest the radiant —
for example, the Alpha
Capricornids. They also This bright Perseid cast a colorful reflection on a lake at Cherry Springs State Park in Coudersport, Pennsylvania,
use other modifiers, so you August 6, 2016. LARRY KUHN
also may encounter the
Northern Daytime Omega
Cetids and the Southern a number called the zenithal number will increase as the guess would place the maxi-
Daytime Omega Cetids. hourly rate (ZHR). The ZHR radiant climbs higher. When mum hourly rate at between
for any shower is the number the Moon rises, its light will 50 and 75. Not too shabby!
2020 forecast of meteors per hour that an mask some of the fainter
Although this year’s Perseids observer could see under a meteors, although the bright The plan
peak August 11/12, the shower dark sky (no scattered light), ones will still be easy to see. As much as or more than any
actually begins when Earth assuming the radiant is at the Observers generally record other astronomical observ-
reaches the edge of the mete- zenith (the overhead point). higher hourly rates after local ing, meteor watching is a
oroid stream July 17 and con- The Perseids’ ZHR is 110. midnight because Earth has social event. You can watch for
tinues until our planet exits it As the saying goes, though, rotated so its night side is 10 minutes or 10 hours. The
August 26. Of course, the fur- your mileage will vary. If you heading into the stream. atmosphere is casual, so you
ther you observe from the peak, start observing on the 11th Before midnight, meteors can carry on conversations,
the fewer Perseids you’ll see. at the end of astronomical must catch up with Earth. So, although your personal taste
The main question each twilight (the moment no after balancing the increased in music may be distracting for
year for any meteor shower sunlight remains in the sky), meteor rate after midnight most observers, so please don’t
is: “How many will we see?” you can expect to see perhaps against the extra light from crank up your stereo. (I once
Meteor observers start with 20 Perseids per hour. That the Moon rising higher, a good almost got into a fight with
Two Perseid meteors appear above the
Himalayan Chandra Telescope at the
Indian Astronomical Observatory near
Leh-Ladakh. The brighter meteor is to
the right of the Andromeda Galaxy,
the fuzzy patch at top. The fainter
meteor is at the top, just left of the
Milky Way. CHIRAG UPRETI
another observer who was con- coming right at you. The best
tinuously playing Celine Dion’s plan is to pick a region of sky
“My Heart Will Go On” from about 30° from the radiant.
the Titanic soundtrack.) An angle of 30° is one-third
As I mentioned earlier, no of the distance from the hori-
telescope is required, but a zon to the zenith.
few items will make the night Other things you might
more comfortable for you. want to bring are insect repel-
The most important is a lent, light snacks, and a warm
reclining chair. But don’t set or cold drink, depending on
it up so you face the radiant. where you’re observing. One
Looking directly at it, you’ll note about drinks: Don’t
These two Perseids appeared in a single 30-second exposure taken August 11,
2016. They blazed above the Deir-e Gachin Caravanserai, located in Kavir
see only the shortest streaks bring booze, because alcohol
National Park, Iran. Its construction dates from the Sasanian era (A .D. 334-651). because the meteors will be impairs visual acuity and
AMIR SHAHCHERAGHIAN

This Perseid fireball appeared as the photographer was capturing exposures
of Mars and the Milky Way on August 13, 2018, from Mount Athos, Greece. The
smoke trail the meteor left was visible for 10 minutes. DANIEL CHAMARATOS
dark adaptation (and judg- simple plastic tarp will keep

ment and many other things). you dry all night.
Some late nights during the
summer in the north can get Fun awaits
quite chilly, so bringing a The Perseid meteor shower
blanket may be a good idea. always ranks as the year’s best
Furthermore, if you observe because of its high hourly rate
at a location with high and its appearance during the
humidity, the addition of a northern summer. In 2020,
the Moon will cut into your
Michael E. Bakich is a count a bit, but if your sky
contributing editor of Astronomy is clear and you are patient, Luck has some part to play in capturing a Perseid. This imager was shooting
the Milky Way behind a driftwood stump east of Grand Marais, in the Upper
and a veteran of dozens of success is assured. So, go Peninsula of Michigan. He caught this Perseid in one of his nine exposures
Perseid meteor showers. watch some shooting stars! August 13, 2019. ANDREW BARTKOWIAK
q
Star clusters and planetary nebulae will
keep you looking at the Eagle all night long.
BY MICHAEL E. BAKICH
IN SUMMER, ONE OF THE

s
easiest star patterns to find is the
Summer Triangle. The constellation AQUI L A
Aquila (pronounced ACK-will-uh) / r

q
the Eagle is one of the three groups k
a
whose Alpha stars — in this case, 10°
Barnard’s E
Altair — make up that popular DELPHINUS
group. This easy-to-recognize _ Altair
j
constellation is visible from late p
spring through late autumn in the o +
Northern Hemisphere. Its center `
lies at right ascension 19h37m and
declination 3°30'. m
Although the Eagle’s wingspan
might not take up as much space
as larger constellations like Hydra
(1,303 square degrees), the 22nd-
largest constellation still covers a CAPRIC ORNUS
0° d
respectable 652.47 square degrees,
or about 1.58 percent of the night
sky. Its size undercuts its visibility, e f
however; it lies in the middle of the
constellation ladder (41st) in terms
of overall brightness.
The best date each year to see MAP SYMBOLS
Aquila is July 14, when it stands Open cluster
opposite the Sun in the sky and Globular cluster
reaches its highest point at local Planetary nebula g
midnight. With respect to visibility,
anyone living between latitudes 78°
north and 71° south can see the
entire figure at some time during –10°
the year. In fact, portions of it are
visible worldwide. S AGIT TA RI US 20h
21h
Aquila contains no Messier
objects or emission nebulae. Still,
as you can see, there are plenty of NGC 6709
targets within its borders for you This rich open cluster sits 5°
southwest of Zeta (ζ) Aquilae.
to explore with your telescope. Glowing at magnitude 6.7 (just out
Good luck! of naked-eye range), it measures
13' across. Binoculars show a
concentrated glow against a
Michael E. Bakich is a contributing crowded stellar background.
editor of Astronomy who enjoys slowly Through a 6-inch telescope,
you’ll count some 50 stars. A
moving his telescope through a single 12-inch scope will more than
constellation. double that number. MARTIN C. GERMANO

NGC 6751 NGC 6749
This magnitude 11.9 planetary This globular cluster — one of
nebula sits 1° south of Lambda the least concentrated known
(λ) Aquilae. Through a scope — is a challenge to spot even
with an aperture of 14 inches or through large scopes. It glows
more, you’ll see two stars, each at magnitude 12.4, measures 6.3'
a magnitude fainter than the 20"- across, and lies 5° west-southwest
wide planetary, flanking it to the of Delta (δ) Aquilae. Through a
east and west. The central star 12-inch instrument, NGC 6749 is
is a tough catch, but high only a soft haze whose central
magnification helps. NASA/ESA/ region is slightly brighter than
THE HUBBLE HERITAGE TEAM (STScI/AURA) the halo. MARTIN C. GERMANO
NGC 6741
This planetary nebula, which
observers call the Phantom
Streak, lies 4.5° north-northwest
¡ of Lambda Aquilae. With a
c magnitude of 11.4 and a diameter
H ERCU LE S
11 of 6", it’s a tough catch through
small scopes. Through an 11-inch
telescope at high powers, the
disk will look larger than the
t other similarly bright stars in
NGC 6738 the field of view. ESA/HUBBLE AND NASA
NGC
6709
NGC 6804 NGC 6755 and NGC 6756
OPHI U CH US These two open clusters lie 3°
east of Theta (θ) Serpentis. NGC
6755 is brighter (magnitude 7.5)
and larger (14') than NGC 6756
NGC 6781 (magnitude 10.6, 4' across).
Through a 6-inch scope at
medium magnification, both
NGC 6756 clusters stand out from the Milky
Way background, although NGC
NGC 6755 6755 does so more easily.
b BERNHARD HUBL
NGC 6749
NGC 6760 NGC 6781
This planetary nebula glows at
i magnitude 11.4 and measures
109" across. It lies 3.8° north-
northwest of Delta Aquilae. Peer
SERPENS CAUDA
NGC 6741 5 through an 8-inch scope, and
NGC 6781 will stand out against a
starry background. An Oxygen-III
filter will help a lot. The disk
NGC 6772 appears soft, irregular, and oval-
shaped with a slightly darker
center. ADAM BLOCK/NOAO/AURA/NSF
h
V 12
NGC 6804
NGC 6751 This 12th-magnitude planetary
nebula lies almost 2° north-
northwest of Mu (μ) Aquilae.
You’ll see its 31"-wide disk
through scopes as small as
SC U T UM 6 inches. At high powers, NGC
6804 looks diffuse. If you use an
Oxygen-III filter, you’ll see a
broken ring of gas that surrounds
19h the 14th-magnitude central star.
LIBBY HARRELL/ADAM BLOCK/NOAO/AURA/NSF
NGC 6772 Barnard’s E

This large planetary nebula (62" To find this great combo object,
across) lies 3° northeast of Lambda point your binoculars at yellow
Aquilae. Because it glows softly at Tarazed (Gamma [γ] Aquilae).
magnitude 12.7, it’ll be difficult to spot With the star centered, Barnard’s
through an 8-inch telescope. A 12-inch E will appear 1.4° to the west-
instrument will reveal its circular northwest. Barnard 143 (B143) is
structure, and perhaps you’ll even see the easier of the pair to spot. It’s a
a hazy edge and a slight north-south narrow U with two bars about 15'
elongation. Use a nebula filter to long, oriented east-west. B142,
guarantee success. GUNNAR HURTIG/ADAM just to the south, is a single line
BLOCK/NOAO/AURA/NSF and not as dark. ROBERTO FERRERO
Life
on the
WIDE
SIDE
How to breathe
new life into old
astrophoto targets.
TEXT AND IMAGES BY
STEVE CANNISTRA
The author’s technique
produced a beautiful wide- AT SOME POINT in an amateur astrophotographer’s journey,
field image of the supernova
remnant Simeis 147 (lower
you reach a plateau. You may find that you’ve imaged most
right, sometimes called the common targets, perfected processing techniques, and mastered
Spaghetti Nebula), and the
region of nebulosity in your equipment. Unless you’re willing to travel to a different
Auriga that includes IC 405
and IC 410 (near top left). hemisphere, everything begins to feel like a familiar old friend
compared with the excitement of a brand new relationship.
Some of us find new energy by pur- of 3.5" per pixel. But, recently, I’ve
chasing a longer focal length scope to pushed things even further to capture
image smaller targets, only to discover very wide-field views of nebulae and
unexpected challenges due to poor see- star fields in the Milky Way. I’ve taken
ing, imperfect collimation, and the need a hybrid approach, employing an even
for off-axis guiding, not to mention lim- wider field of view obtained using an
ited portability. inexpensive, high-quality Pentax lens
Others go in the direction of forgoing as a canvas upon which to repurpose
amateur equipment entirely and instead some of my prior, higher resolution
processing data captured by professional images. I’ve found that this offers a
astronomers using ground-based obser- new perspective on familiar targets by
vatories or space telescopes. Still others showing how they relate to one another
have gone to wider fields of view (FOV), in the night sky.
using large CCD chips like the KAF-
16803, along with a high-quality apo- Choosing equipment
chromatic telescope. In order to obtain a very wide-field
This is the approach I’ve taken in my backdrop, I decided to couple my
evolution as an amateur astrophotogra- Apogee Alta U16M CCD camera (which
pher over the past two decades, in order has a KAF-16803 chip) with a Pentax 67,
to gain a greater appreciation of target 200mm fixed-focal-length lens that I
size — especially when it comes to large, obtained at a great price from eBay a
sprawling nebulae. few years ago. This afforded me a very
In recent years, I’ve enjoyed using wide field of view of almost 11 square
a Takahashi FSQ-106 apochromatic degrees, while still maintaining a rea-
refractor, which has a focal length of sonable image scale (9.27" per pixel).
530mm and yields a respectable field of I also take advantage of a high-
view of 4° at image scales in the range quality CCD camera and filter wheel
The author’s wide-field imaging setup employs a Pentax 67 200mm lens, coupled with an Apogee Alta
U16M CCD camera, with a filter wheel attached.
that I have owned for many years. This Using a RoboFocus is critical to achiev-
avoids the smaller field of view typical of ing good focus with this system, especially
most DSLR camera chips, and also enables since most filters are not exactly parfocal,
me to take advantage of individual R, G, and I wanted my setup to be automated. I
and B filters to minimize the chromatic also found that with the Pentax lens, the
aberration typical of achromatic lenses sweet spot for obtaining sharp images
(including the Pentax 67), such as those with a reasonable aperture was f/5.6.
used with most consumer-grade DSLR
cameras. This is not to say that one cannot Building a composite image
obtain a pleasing wide-field backdrop I won’t review all of the usual steps in
using a one-shot color-cooled CCD cam- image processing here, since these have
era, or even using a DSLR with a fixed been well covered in other articles on the
focal length lens, but I’ve always found subject. Rather, let’s focus on steps that
that monochrome CCD cameras, com-
bined with broadband or narrowband
filters, have yielded the best results in
my hands.
My setup is not exactly “plug and play,”
but the results are worth it. The U16M
CCD camera requires an adapter to con-
nect the filter wheel to the Pentax lens, and
was manufactured to my specifications by
PreciseParts (www.preciseparts.com). The
length of my custom adapter for the
Pentax 67 lens to the Apogee FW50-7S/9R
Series filter wheel was 29.5 millimeters,
but your setup could be different. I use a
RoboFocus attachment that I tailor-made
with sheet metal and a few odds and ends
from the local hardware store, and I A spectacular finished image of the Cepheus field
containing IC 1396 and Sh 2–129 shows the
obtained the rubber belt and timing effectiveness of this inventive technique, and how
sprocket from www.robofocus.com. it brings life and detail into wide-field astroimages.
A typical image from the author’s setup shows the region of IC 1396 in and After aligning previously made, higher resolution images of the two principal
around Sharpless 2–129 Cepheus. This represents eight hours of an HαRGB targets in this field, IC 1396 and Sh 2–129, the author placed the higher resolution
exposure, after calibration, stretching, and gradient removal. images into the wide field at this stage, making sure to carefully align them.

Central Cygnus, including
the North America and
Pelican nebulae (upper left)
and the IC 1318 nebulosities
around Gamma Cygni
(lower right) come alive in
this breathtaking wide-field
shot by the author.
are specific to building a wide-field com- layers to “lighten” mode, adjusting opac- Spaghetti Nebula (Simeis 147) was near
posite. Above you’ll see a typical image ity to enhance the details in the target the Flaming Star Nebula? And how
from the Pentax 200mm/U16M setup, but also to match the background of the many of us painstakingly created mosa-
after calibration, stretching, and gradient wide-field Pentax canvas. Second, I cre- ics of the North America, Pelican, and
removal, representing eight hours of an ate a layer mask for this image and use IC 1318 nebulae to capture a wide field
HαRGB exposure. It’s reassuring that the the brush tool set to black (soft edge) to of view, when we could have used the
star colors are preserved without exces- selectively hide the edges of the higher composite approach described here to
sive blue fringing despite the achromatic resolution image, adjusting the opacity achieve a very similar result?
lens system. Also preserved is the detail of the tool as necessary to achieve the This approach has reenergized my
in the Hα components of the two main best result. interest in wide-field astrophotography
targets, as well as the intervening faint Subsequent adjustments are made to and has enabled me to recycle some of
Hα signal that bathes this entire region the individual components using clip- my older images, painting them onto a
(and which is often not appreciated when ping masks to achieve the proper color sweeping canvas that gives them a new
imaging a more limited field of view). balance with the wide-field background, perspective. Even if you don’t have a
The image above left shows my ear- using RGB, curves, and other such tools Pentax setup like mine, try this
lier, higher resolution images of IC 1396 as needed. approach with whatever wide-field lens
and Sharpless 2–129 placed into the system you have, and you will likely be
Pentax field in Photoshop, after these Take in the view pleased with the results.
were aligned (using the Pentax image as As shown in the accompanying pictures,
reference) in RegiStar. Two steps are then this relatively simple technique can Steve Cannistra is an academic physician
useful in order to achieve seamless breathe new life into old images. How by day, and is often sleep-deprived due to
blending of these higher resolution many of us realized that the Elephant his passion for astrophotography by night.
images against the Pentax backdrop. Trunk was so close (in angular separa- More images may be found at his website,
First, I assign the two higher resolution tion, at least) to Sh 2–129, or that the www.starrywonders.com.
This Hubble Space Telescope image of
Saturn at opposition in October 1999
shows the planet’s rings tilted –20°. Look
carefully for the thread of shadow adjacent
to the planet’s ball. Also look for another
thread of shadow of the ring on the
planet’s southern hemisphere.
NASA AND THE HUBBLE HERITAGE TEAM (STSCI/AURA);
ACKNOWLEDGMENT: R.G. FRENCH
(WELLESLEY COLLEGE), J. CUZZI
(NASA/AMES), L. DONES
(SWRI), AND J. LISSAUER
(NASA/AMES)
OBSERVE
Jupiter and Saturn at
Catch the two greatest telescopic gas giants will be at their clos- who knows how many per-
est and brightest for the year. sonal or scientific discoveries
planets at opposition this month But opposition is more than a you’ll make! It is the very
moment in time; it is a chance nature of these two dynamic
and you’ll see beautiful planetary to seek out those brief win- gas giants to offer up surprises.
dows when the atmosphere Because Jupiter reaches
worlds! BY STEPHEN JAMES O’MEARA allows us to see fine details opposition first, let’s look at
— the most these planets can some of the unusual phenom-
display each year. ena that you can attempt to see
his month promises What’s more, we are pre- on the king of planets with the
planetary observ- sented on December 21 with naked eye and a telescope.
ers their best views of Jupiter a rare opportunity to compare
and Saturn for the year as and contrast Jupiter and Naked-eye sightings
both worlds reach opposition Saturn, our solar system’s two of Jupiter
within a week of one another. largest planets, when they Shortly after opposition,
Earth first moves directly approach within 6' of one Jupiter enters the pre-sunset
between Jupiter and the Sun another in the sky. So, begin sky, making it a perfect target
on July 14, then between familiarizing yourself with the for daytime naked-eye sight-
Saturn and the Sun on the appearance of these worlds ings. At opposition, Jupiter
20th. Come opposition, the through your telescopes, for will shine at magnitude –2.8,

JUPITER CLOUD FEATURES
S
South Polar Region
South Temperate Zone
South Temperate Belt
South Tropical Zone
Great Red Spot
South Equatorial Belt
Equatorial Zone
North Equatorial Belt
North Tropical Zone

North Temperate Belt
North Temperate Zone
North Polar Region N
A combination of wind speed, wind direction, atmospheric jets, and cloud

composition causes Jupiter’s banded appearance. NASA/JPL/SPACE SCIENCE INSTITUTE
their best
just 0.1 magnitude brighter Galilean moons without opti-
than Mars during its July cal aid. On the evenings of On November 1, 1880, French astronomer Étienne Léopold Trouvelot
recorded a stretch of white clouds in Jupiter’s South Equatorial Belt. Could
2018 opposition. (The Red July 13 and 14 between the this have been an SEB disturbance? Also note the fantastic extent of the
Planet was then sighted by hours of 3 and 5 Universal Great Red Spot, which has been shrinking ever since. WIKICOMMONS
several people without optical Time (UT), Callisto will be at
aid.) Observers have spotted its greatest western elongation
a dimmer Jupiter in the day- from Jupiter — the prime 75x per inch of aperture. This slivers of red material have
time as well. In August and time to look for the moon. July, Jupiter’s disk measures been observed peeling off the
September 1917, F. Sargent of 48" across, only 2.1" less than spot, distorting its familiar
Bristol, England, followed the Jupiter and the its maximum apparent size. oval appearance, usually with
planet in the daylight sky for witching hour Fine details then will be near extensions described as flakes,
more than an hour when the To get the most out of observ- their best. blades, and hooks. While it’s
planet glowed at magnitudes ing Jupiter at opposition, Although all of Jupiter is not unusual for the GRS to
–2.1 and –2.3, respectively. concentrate on the midnight worth monitoring, observers pull in material or slough it
Close to opposition, when hour, when the planet appears have of late been keeping off, the magnitude of these
Jupiter is at its highest in the highest in the sky and its watch on several recently recent events has been great
southern sky, keen-eyed detail is most rewarding. And active regions. Jupiter’s trade- enough to make them visible
observers will also have their no planet shows more detail mark Great Red Spot (GRS) in a 3-inch refractor at 200x
best opportunity to search for than Jupiter, especially when especially bears watching. (in June 2019).
at least one of the planet’s four observing with powers up to Most notably, since 2017, The GRS has significantly
diminished in size since the Occasionally they can even a rare chance to see details — sunlight interacting with
1800s and may be on its way fade away entirely, as the SEB deeper in the planet’s atmo- the collective particles in the
to nonexistence, although its last did in 2010. The SEB dis- sphere, normally hidden by planet’s rings — contributes
recent shearing behavior may appears when whitish clouds those high clouds. We are significantly to the phenom-
also be linked to a natural form on top of it. This type of currently in that window of enon, as the many irregular
weather phenomenon: the event is associated with exten- opportunity, as the next bits of rock and dust combine
interaction of winds between sive changes to other bands, clearing has been predicted to to produce more intense light.
the GRS (an anticyclone) and spots, and colors in Jupiter’s occur between 2019 and 2021. This light scatters back to our
a cyclone that has come close atmosphere. Interestingly, eyes and makes the rings
to it. astronomers anticipate a sig- Saturn and the seem to brighten.
In August 2019, Australian nificant color change in the midnight hour
amateur astronomer Phil planet’s Equatorial Zone in Saturn achieves opposition on A return of Saturn’s
Miles detected a white storm the next year or two. July 21 at 22h14m UT, when White Spots?
erupting in the planet’s South Jupiter’s Equatorial Zone the planet will shine at mag- Overall, Saturn presents a less
Equatorial Belt (SEB, just pre- normally appears white due nitude 0.1 with an apparent dynamic range of details on
ceding the GRS). By February to extensive high cloud cover. equatorial diameter of 19", its globe than does Jupiter,
2020, the disturbance had Every six or seven years while the rings will measure mainly displaying vary-
coursed through the normally (though not always), the 42" across. If you monitor ing belts and zones without
dark belt, creating a bright zone’s high ammonia clouds Saturn’s rings through a the finer details. This is
interior zone. clear out, changing the telescope in the weeks before why most observers tend to
Such disturbances are region’s color to ochre. The opposition, you’ll find them focus their attention on the
uncommon but not unusual. disturbance usually lasts shining roughly as bright as rings. Episodically, however,
Jupiter’s dark bands change between 12 and 18 months, the planet’s globe. For a cou- Saturn’s globe erupts with
over irregular timescales. allowing telescopic observers ple of days around opposition, stunning detail. The planet’s
the rings will temporarily 2020 apparition may be one
intensify in apparent bright- of those years that brings us
ness, outshining the globe some visual surprises.
SATURN CLOUD FEATURES before dimming back to their Chief among them may be
South Polar Region normal appearance. It’s one of the return of the Great White
South South Temperate Zone the most visually fascinating Spot — a fantastic high-
South South Temperate Belt occurrences of any planet. altitude storm that surfaces
South Temperate Zone This peculiar change is roughly every 20 to 30 years.
South Temperate Belt
South Tropical Zone called the Seeliger effect, in The greatest storms can be
honor of German astronomer as large as Earth, with tails
South Equatorial Belt
Hugo von Seeliger (1849– that wrap entirely around
Equatorial Zone South
Equatorial Band 1924), who first noticed it in the planet over the course of
Equatorial Zone North 1887. In addition to this months as regions of Saturn’s
North Equatorial Belt
shadow hiding, the Cassini globe transform into a tempest
spacecraft revealed that of dynamic change. Six such
North Tropical Zone
North Temperate Belt
coherent backscattering storms have been observed
North Temperate Zone
North North Temperate Belt
North Polar Region
North North Temperate Zone Janus/
Epimetheus Ring This diagram shows the common
nomenclature for Saturn’s
various belts, zones, and ring
Atlas
Maxwell sections. ASTRONOMY: ROEN KELLY
SATURN RING FEATURES Gap
Encke
Ring
Colombo
Gap Division
Cassini
Division
G Ring Pallene Ring
E Ring
F Ring
A Ring
B Ring
D Ring
C Ring

cloud tops like sprites, zap- adjacent to the planet, appear-
ping the rings and blasting ing very straight or with a
out jets of electrically charged gentle curve toward the globe.
dust that get trapped in the In the weeks before opposi-
planet’s electromagnetic field tion, all manner of fun optical
and appear as spokes. illusions related to the shadow
Some models of spoke for- may have you scratching your
mation, which take into head. Irradiation, simultane-
account plasma density in the ous contrast, and effects
rings, say that spoke activity within Earth’s atmosphere
switches on when the angle can make the shadow appear
between the rings and the Sun to bulge toward the Cassini
is between 0° and 20°. When Division, develop a notch
that happens, we may expect (blackdrop effects), or even
spoke activity for about eight reverse its curvature.
years. The spoke situation Finally, don’t forget to look
should be in full swing by for another whisker of shadow
Saturn’s August 2021 opposi- — that of Saturn’s rings. You’ll
tion, when the rings will be find it adjacent to the A Ring,
On February 25, 2011, astronomers captured the 2010/11 Great White Spot angled 18° to our line of sight. where it appears projected
on Saturn with the Cassini spacecraft, about 12 weeks after the storm As these predictions are only against the globe of the planet.
began. The storm clouds by this time had formed a tail that had wrapped
around the planet. NASA/JPL-CALTECH/SPACE SCIENCE INSTITUTE based on models, be sure to It’s a hyperfine detail that
start looking now. requires the best of atmo-
Given that this is a good spheric seeing. Be patient, take
on Saturn over the past 140 Saturn’s north pole in 2018) season for white spots and your time, and let the planet
years, alternating between the that can last anywhere from thunderstorm activity to reveal its secrets. Now, more
equator and midlatitudes. Up 10 to more than 200 days. occur, will the spokes mani- than ever, observations of
until 1990, all the storms had Will a Great White Spot fest in concert with increased Jupiter and Saturn by amateur
occurred on a roughly 30-year appear on its normal 30-year white spot activity? astronomers are needed to
cycle, but a surprise Great cycle in 2020? The answer round out what we know
White Spot broke the cycle, remains unknown. In fact, Shadow play about these two planets. Why
occurring at an unexpected much remains uncertain Around the time of opposi- not take a look at these mag-
time and latitude. about these storms, such as: tion, the shadow of Saturn’s nificent worlds, record what
The storms usually occur How periodic are they? Can globe plays a game of hide- you see, capture images of
when Saturn’s northern hemi- they occur at any latitude? and-seek with observers. At them, and help astronomers
sphere is most tilted toward How are they triggered? opposition, the shadow lies untangle the mysteries that
the Sun near the moment of directly behind the globe, still linger over the solar
saturnian midsummer. The Will we see which hides it from view. system’s largest worlds?
spots appear to be caused by Saturn’s spokes? But most observers will not
erupting plumes of warm This year, the north face of see Saturn at that exact time. Stephen James O’Meara is a
moist air that rapidly bring Saturn’s rings will be inclined Careful observations in the contributing editor of Astronomy
ammonia ice crystals into the 21° from edge-on. That’s days and hours around oppo- and the author of numerous
planet’s upper atmosphere, just 6° from their maximum sition may reveal the shadow books on backyard observing,
triggering thunderstorms. opening, or within 1° of the as a thin thread of darkness including planetary viewing.
Three types of storms have ring angle (20°) when spokes
been recognized to date: small may occur.
white storms (like those that Spokes are tiny particles
occurred in 1994 and 2006) levitated above the ring plane
that measure about 1,240 miles by electrostatic forces. Some
(2,000 kilometers) across and astronomers believe they are
appear as bright clouds for a connected to massive thun-
few days; Great White Spots derstorms in Saturn’s atmo-
(like those of 2010 and 1990) sphere. According to one
that are up to 10 times larger theory, lightning strikes —
than the small storms and last 10,000 times more energetic
for months every two to three than those on Earth — Saturn as rendered by Étienne Léopold Trouvelot, displaying notched
optical effects in the shadow of the ball of Saturn on its rings. Trouvelot
decades; and midsized storms release beams of electrons observed this phenomenon on November 30, 1874. WIKICOMMONS
(like those detected near that surge up from Saturn’s
Meet an easy-to-use
imaging scope This clever device
will capture celestial
portraits even through
light-polluted skies.
BY RAYMOND SHUBINSKI
I HAVE HAD THE OPPORTUNITY

to use a variety of astronomical equipment,
including telescopes at Kitt Peak National
Observatory, Percival Lowell’s 24-inch
refractor at Lowell Observatory, and just
about every kind of amateur scope you can
imagine. But the STELLINA observation
station, made by the French company
Vaonis, is unique. I first encountered
STELLINA and the CEO of Vaonis,
Cyril Dupuy, at the 2018 CES electronics
trade show in Las Vegas.
Scope? Imager?
At first glance, it’s hard to tell that
STELLINA is a piece of astronomical
equipment. In its shutdown mode, it looks
like a small monolithic lump of plastic and
metal. When activated, however, it quickly
comes to life. With a bit of a whirring
noise, the center section begins to elevate
and the whole unit rotates to start its
observing sequence. I wasn’t sure if I was
looking at something from Star Wars or a
miniature of a scope from Mauna Kea. I
commented at the show that it looked like
R2-D2, and was told that Vaonis preferred
EVE from the movie WALL-E.
STELLINA is an imaging
telescope that captures and The idea behind STELLINA, which is
stacks exposures to create Italian for “little star,” is to approach
ever-more-detailed celestial
images. COURTESY OF VAONIS observing in a different way than the
norm. It has no eyepiece holder or any
other parts associated with a typical ama-
teur telescope. In fact, it is really a sophis-
ticated astroimager or dedicated sky
camera. In an interview at the 2018 CES
show, Dupuy said the observation station
“is a completely new generation of tele-
scope, and with this product, the goal is
to make astronomy more accessible for
everybody.” We live in an age of connec-
tivity, and STELLINA may be the next

The author used STELLINA to capture images of (left to right) the Double Cluster in Perseus (NGC 869 and
NGC 884), the Hercules Cluster (M13), and the Dumbbell Nebula (M27). RAYMOND SHUBINSKI
step for skygazers. Dupuy’s goal is to cre- operates. To use the telescope, it’s neces- make out the distinctive shape of the
ate a community of observers that allows sary to download an app from Vaonis. nebula, but color as well. This was from
for immediate access to images captured The app is available for both iOS and my light-polluted backyard!
by this instrument. Android operating systems, and it’s a sim- After observing M27, I turned the
STELLINA is a 3.15-inch (80 millime- ple matter of linking your device with scope on one of my favorite objects, the
ters) refracting telescope. The focal STELLINA’s wireless network. Like a lot Double Cluster in Perseus (NGC 869 and
length is 400mm, so it has a focal ratio of computer gear, there was no operator’s NGC 884). I simply tapped the icon for
of f/5. It has a field of view of about 1°, manual provided; rather, the user is these clusters and the telescope swung
or twice the diameter of the Full Moon. directed to a video on YouTube that into action. As I watched on my iPad, I
The telescope objective is an apochro- explains the ins and outs of operation. could see the image of the two clusters
matic extra-low-dispersion (ED) doublet, Setup is straightforward. The unit I tested increasing in brightness and detail.
which gives exceptional images. By defi- came with a small, well-made tripod by STELLINA uses a 6.4-megapixel Sony
nition, this is a rich-field telescope. The the Italian company Gitzo. There was also CMOS optical sensor (3,096 by 2,080 pix-
standard magnification is 50x, and it can a small circular bubble level, which is els), which provides a high-definition
zoom to 100x. This is a nice scope for placed between the scope and the tripod, image. The optical system also has an
large deep-sky objects, but not for plan- and an off-the-shelf ASUA power pack. inline city light suppression (CLS) filter to
ets; I tried to photograph Saturn, but This fits into a small compartment on the deal with light pollution. This was imme-
found the image too small. In short, side of the telescope. Fully charged, you diately apparent as the image began to
STELLINA was designed for observing should be able to observe all night. build. STELLINA has an algorithm that
nebulae, star clusters, and galaxies. Next was linking the telescope with my repeatedly scans the object and stacks the
iPad. When the app is first opened, it asks images. This is not a fast process, but it’s
Operation if you want to log in to your home net- worth the wait. The resulting image of the
We’ve all heard, “There’s an app for that,” work or Facebook. You can skip this step Double Cluster was great. In keeping with
and that’s exactly how STELLINA and go straight to observing. The next the social media aspirations of this prod-
window has you connect to STELLINA. uct, I emailed the photos to friends before
Once done, the scope goes into observing I even continued my observing.
mode. The telescope rises from the main
PRODUCT INFORMATION body and begins to point and sample the A hit at parties
sky, using the GPS in your phone or tablet As a dedicated wide-field imaging system,
STELLINA to determine its location. Once this is STELLINA is great fun and produces out-
Type: Refractor/imager complete, you are ready to take your first standing pictures of deep-sky objects.
Aperture: 3.15 inches (80 millimeters) image. For my observing platform, I used Still, the long wait time in creating the
Focal length: 400mm the patio table in my backyard, making images — up to 30 minutes — made me
Sensor: 6.4-megapixel CMOS sure the scope was level. want to set up a visual scope to fill the
Sensor array: 3,096 by 2,080 pixels I opened the catalog of objects avail- time. STELLINA is a great specialized
Size: 19 by 15 by 4.7 inches able in the app. You can choose from instrument, but I don’t think most back-
(49 by 39 by 13 centimeters) nebulae, galaxies, clusters, and solar sys- yard observers will give up their other
Weight: 24.7 pounds (11.2 kilograms) tem objects. My first target was the telescopes. I would love to have this scope
Price: $3,999 Dumbbell Nebula (M27). I loved watch- to capture and record my favorite objects,
Contact: Vaonis ing the scope swing into position. A or as a centerpiece at parties. As Vaonis
Cap Alpha, 3 Avenue de l’Europe, graphic of a rotating galaxy indicated the develops and adds new features, this
34830 Clapiers, France scope was searching. Once it locked onto instrument may become a real power-
+33 4 67 59 30 22 the target, a black hole on the screen house for astroimaging.
[email protected] appeared to pull all the stars into an
https://vaonis.com event horizon. Then, there it was: M27. Raymond Shubinski is a lecturer, observer,
I was amazed. Not only could I clearly and contributing editor of Astronomy.
F O R Y O U R C O N S I D E R AT I O N
Cogito, ergo sum? don’t they? Philosophers call the idea that our senses
give us reliable information about the world naïve real-
ism. Naïve might seem pejorative, but it just means
Interfaces isolate us from the world, and from ourselves. something that is taken for granted by someone who
doesn’t know any better.
You sit down at Surely there is no experience of the world more
your computer to direct, immediate, and reliable than sight. Seeing is
buy a telescope. A believing, right? Yet the interfaces between the world
beautiful page pops up, and our perceptions are legion. An optical interface
promising hours of wonder converts information about the direction in which
that await you. You ponder a electromagnetic radiation is traveling into locations on
menu of nifty gadgets and the retina. (Of course, the properties of that radiation
finally click “buy.” A few are only indirectly related to the properties of the
days later, boxes arrive at objects from which it is emitted and off of which it
your doorstep. Your signifi- reflects.) Next, an electro-optical interface turns infor-
cant other watches as you mation about the intensity and spectrum of light into
spread the contents out on electrochemical impulses. Those are further processed
the living room floor and, in the retina before being sent down the optic nerve.
with a shake of the head, Deep in the brain, those signals reach structures that
wonders about this person are really more chefs than waiters.
with whom they share a life. You call it seafood gumbo, but look at the recipe and
Every time you sit You sit down in a restau- you might discover that not much of what is in the bowl
down and order in rant to buy a meal. A young person steps up, smiles, and ever lived in the ocean. Likewise, deep in our brains,
a restaurant, you’re
experiencing a hands you a menu of delicious-sounding choices. You signals from the optic nerve are combined with signals
user interface. ponder your options, then pass your order to the waiter, coming from many other sources. Only about 5 percent
LIGHTFIELDSTUDIOSPROD/
DREAMSTIME
who, after a while, returns with your food. Your signifi- of the signals that affect what we see comes from the
cant other looks at your bowl of gumbo and, with a eyes. Most of that information comes from the visual
shake of the head, wonders about this person with cortex itself; what you see depends far more on your
whom they share a life. own expectations and prior experiences than it does on
In computer-speak, what you see when you go to the anything coming from your eyes.
toy store’s … er … the telescope shop’s web- Once that witch’s brew has been stirred,
page is a user interface, or UI. It might seem the chef hands it off to another API, which
a bit impersonal to also call the waiter who Descartes carries it to the visual cortex, where the real
served your meal a user interface, but the processing begins. How many waiters and
shoe fits.
famously chefs are involved in finally conveying
User interfaces are the outward-facing said, “I think, something to us?
parts of what the geek set call application therefore Face it. The notion that vision provides
programming interfaces, or APIs. An API I am.” us with direct, true information about the
sits between you and a service provider, car- world is about as naïve as it gets. Going
rying things back and forth, allowing both further, just talking about “us” and the
of you to get what you need without either of you having world is naïve. An inescapable but radically counterin-
to know very much about the other. Back to the restau- tuitive conclusion of recent neuroscience is that our
rant: The waiter/API takes your order and passes it on very perception of a unified self is an illusion. It is a
in terms the chef will understand. The chef does what- useful product of layers upon layers of interfaces, no
ever it is that chefs do, and the waiter reappears with more direct a window on our own fundamental nature
the goods to appease your hunger. You don’t need to than are our visual perceptions a direct experience of
know anything about what is happening in the kitchen the world.
to order and enjoy your food. Mercifully, good UIs and Descartes famously said, “I think, therefore I am.”
APIs hide how the sausage gets made. But, having realized that my sense of self emerges from
UIs and APIs simplify the world and isolate us from a tangle of chefs and waiters cooking up and carrying
BY JEFF HESTER complex realities. That’s their job; it’s how they make it information around in my brain, I’m not sure what
Jeff is a keynote
possible for us to accomplish what we set out to do. Descartes’ truism even means.
speaker, coach,
and astrophysicist. That’s all fine for websites and fancy dinners, but
Follow his thoughts what about our direct experiences of the world? Surely BROWSE THE “FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION”
at jeff-hester.com those offer us the real scoop about what is out there, ARCHIVE AT www.Astronomy.com/Hester

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SECRET SK Y
Pearl in the mist with a luminous mist. The central star, however, was
invisible despite the increase in aperture.
The smallest telescope through which I’ve seen the
A faint treasure lies deep within the Ring. Ring’s central star is the 9-inch f/12 Clark refractor at
Harvard College Observatory in 1976, and the story was
The deep sky is no different. Seeing the star required magnifications
filled with tele- between 600x and 700x with the Ring nearly filling the
scopic t rea- field of view. Much time and patience behind the eyepiece
sures. And like Russian were also required — two other important factors needed
dolls, some hide addi- to achieve success when using smaller apertures.
tional bounty within; the So, a search for the Ring’s central star has at least three
Trapezium star cluster in principal components: 1) the ability to see stars to roughly
the Orion Nebula (M42) magnitude 15; 2) a telescope that can handle magnifica-
is a classic example. This tions of 600x or more; and 3) atmospheric conditions that
month we’ll plunge into allow such magnifications to be employed. In addition, I
the heart of another — find that a limited field of view (of only a few arcminutes)
the Ring Nebula (M57) helps by removing peripheral distractions. Long-focal-
in Lyra the Harp, one of length instruments with orthoscopic or Ramsden-type
the sky’s most famous eyepieces and a Barlow lens to increase the magnification
planetary nebulae — and will do the job nicely.
The Ring Nebula try to visually snatch a A final consideration is the eye’s sensitivity to color.
(M57) in Lyra is one stellar pearl from the surrounding mist. Observers with blue-sensitive eyes have a bet-
of the great sights
through amateur Aside from sky conditions, one’s ability to ter chance of seeing the Ring’s hot central star
telescopes during the snag the central star requires seeing to at Seeing faint than those with red-sensitive eyes. Young
Northern Hemisphere least magnitude 15 through your telescope. stargazers — and people who have had cata-
summer. This Hubble
Space Telescope To find out how faint a star you can see, try is only part racts removed — have a much better chance
image reveals the using the American Association of Variable of the at achieving success than more senior observ-
central star nicely.
NASA/ESA/THE HUBBLE HERITAGE
Star Observers’ star chart for HS Sagittae equation, ers whose eye lenses have begun to yellow.
(STScI/AURA)–ESA/HUBBLE (bottom right) before heading for the Ring. however. As always, send your thoughts and obser-
COLLABORATION
This star lies about 17 ° southeast of M57 in vations to [email protected]. I’m always
the tiny constellation Sagitta the Arrow. open to suggestions for other topics as well.
Comparing the eyepiece view with this chart
will reveal your scope’s limiting magnitude.
Seeing faint is only part of the equation, however.
What’s paramount to success is your ability to over-
come yet another obstacle: the feeble “mist” filling the
Ring’s annulus. When seen at low magnification, the
mist appears bright, thus lowering the contrast between
the central star and its background. In 1988, several
observers at the 18-inch f/14 Clark refractor at Wilder
Observatory in Amherst, Massachusetts, couldn’t
detect the Ring’s central star when viewed at 250x in a
wide field of view because M57’s “hole” was filled with
light. After they changed the magnification to 1,000x,
however, the Ring filled the field of view and everyone
saw the central star.
In August 1995, at Lick Observatory on Mount
Hamilton in California, the Ring’s inner edge rimmed
the small field of view of the 36-inch f/19 Clark refractor
BY STEPHEN at 1,176x. The sight of its dark well revealed the central This 30'-wide telescopic field of view centered on HS Sagittae
JAMES O’MEARA shows stars to magnitude 15.8. The bright stars at top right are
star and another field star shining brightly against a Beta (β , top) and Alpha (α) Sagittae, both of which glow at
Stephen is a globe-
dark, high-contrast background. An immediate walk magnitude 4.4. South is up and east is to the right. AAVSO
trotting observer who
is always looking down the hall to Lick’s 40-inch Nickel reflecting tele-
for the next great scope and a glance at the Ring through it at a much BROWSE THE “SECRET SKY” ARCHIVE AT
celestial event. lower power showed a magnificently bright ring filled www.Astronomy.com/OMeara

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AstronSCIENTIFIC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Oberwerk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 TravelQuest International . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Callisto Globe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 Omegon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 True Astronomy and Sciences. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Celestron. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 Optic Wave Laboratories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 Vito Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Complete Star Atlas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Planewave . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
The Advertiser Index is provided as a service to Astronomy magazine readers. The magazine is not responsible for omissions or for typographical errors in names or page numbers.
star parties, organized social events, and produced the
OBSERVING BASICS club’s newsletter, Star Fields. Her contributions to astron-
omy go well beyond ATMoB, too. Myers is also a member
of the Springfield Telescope Makers in Vermont, helping
them with their annual Stellafane Convention.
Women in Then there’s Marion Hochuli, who holds the distinc-

tion of being ATMoB’s first female president. Her love of
astronomy came at an early age. “I had the good fortune
astronomy clubs of having a mother who knew the bright stars and major
constellations by name,” she recalls. “How many mothers
would say on a chilly October night after putting out the
Focusing on diversity is a win for everyone. garbage: ‘I know winter is coming — Capella is rising over
our garage’?” Thanks in part to her mother instilling an
Members of the early appreciation of the night sky, when Hochuli reflects
Amateur Telescope on her experience as an ATMoB member, she says, “Being
Makers of Boston pose
for a picture during a female in a male hobby never really occurred to me. We
one of their meetings. were all just amateur astronomers with a common love
From left: Glenn of this hobby. We all knew the sky well, read and referred
Chaple, Eileen Myers,
Tom McDonagh, and to the same books, had similar equipment, and spoke the
Mario Motta. AL TAKEDA same language (astronomy). I was just one of them.”
Though Myers and Hochuli have been members of
ATMoB for decades, you don’t have to be a veteran mem-
ber to help an astronomy club reach its full potential.
Case in point: Laura Sailor. Soon after joining the club
in 2013, Sailor got involved in our outreach program,
bringing her telescope to public star parties to share with
as many people as possible. And like Hochuli, Sailor’s
interest in astronomy was inspired by a family member.
In looking over my past Observing Basics “The Moon has had a large draw for generations of my
articles, I was surprised to discover that I’ve family, who are rooted under the northern lights in
never devoted a full column to astronomy northern Maine,” she says. “My grandfather was an
clubs. I’ll remedy that situation this month, but with an amazing storyteller and a self-taught astronomer.” Sailor
added element — a focus on women in astronomy clubs. sums up her reasons for getting involved in ATMoB
I may not know what it’s like to be a female member of activities with a simple but true statement: “The energy
a group that’s historically been male-dominated, but as a you put in is the energy you get out.”
four-decade member of the Amateur Telescope Makers ATMoB’s grande dame is Anna Hillier, a member since
of Boston (ATMoB), I’ve seen firsthand how important it the days of Sputnik 1. In fact, she was part of a Project
is to have a diverse club. And because female Moonwatch team, which was among the first
membership has room to grow, it seems fitting to spot the Soviet satellite after its launch in late
to highlight some of the club’s female members “The energy 1957. A history of ATMoB compiled by Hillier
— concentrating on what got them into astron- you put in is shows that women have been a driving force in
omy, as well as some of their outstanding the club since the very beginning. In 1934,
accomplishments. Then, next month, we’ll
the energy Thelma Johnson played a pivotal role in the
tackle how clubs can encourage more women you get out.” club’s founding and served as its first secretary.
to join. So, without further ado, let me intro- In recent years, former president Virginia
duce you to some of our crew. Renehan headed ATMoB’s Star Party
First is our current treasurer, Eileen Myers. Myers Committee. With the help of Renehan’s tireless efforts,
became interested in astronomy in 1995 after attending thousands of adults and children got their first telescopic
lectures at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for glimpse of the wonders hiding in the night sky.
Astrophysics (CfA) in Cambridge, Massachusetts. At Although this article was written about one club in
these lectures, she met several ATMoB members, which Massachusetts, the narrative could apply to any group.
led her to eventually visit our clubhouse in Westford, You want as many enthusiastic members as possible!
Massachusetts. She notes, “I was immediately greeted by Questions, comments, or suggestions? Email me at
a gentleman who put an eyepiece in my hand and [email protected]. Next month: Why should women
BY GLENN CHAPLE explained the details of how a telescope works. That eve- join astronomy clubs and how can current members
Glenn has been an
ning, I saw Stephan’s Quintet through a member’s 25-inch make them feel more welcome? Hear what female readers
avid observer since
a friend showed telescope. I was hooked on astronomy.” of this column have to say. Clear skies!
him Saturn through Over the past quarter century, Myers’ growing passion
a small backyard for the night sky led her to undertake terms as both presi- BROWSE THE “OBSERVING BASICS” ARCHIVE
scope in 1963. dent and secretary of ATMoB. She has coordinated public AT www.Astronomy.com/Chaple

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missed M24. Others said that M24 must be one and the
BINOCULAR UNIVERSE same as NGC 6603, a densely packed open cluster super-
imposed on the northeastern quadrant of M24. But
NGC 6603 shines faintly at 11th magnitude and mea-
sures only 4'. Compare that to Messier’s original descrip-
Explore tion and it’s obvious that they are not the same object,
though many past sources insisted they were.
While M24 stands out nicely through binoculars,
Sagittarius NGC 6603 is challenging due to its dimness, com-

pounded by its unfortunate position in front of the “star
cloud’s” brightest region. Estimates place as many as 100
Explore one of the richest areas of the Milky Way. individual stars within, although with none brighter
than 14th magnitude, they are far too faint to resolve
One of the most amazing through even giant binoculars. Instead, their light
regions to enjoy through blends to form a softly glowing smudge against a rich
binoculars lies just north backdrop. Look for it just north of an equilateral triangle
of the Sagittarius Teapot’s spout. of 7th-magnitude stars. By waiting for that special night
There, the clouds of our Milky Way under a clear, dark sky free from moonlight, artificial
billow northward like steam from a light pollution, and summer haze, you just might see
percolating kettle. Aim toward the something that Messier missed.
star at the spout, Alnasl (Gamma 2
There are several isolated patches of dark nebulosity
2
[γ ] Sagittarii), an optical double silhouetted in front of M24. The most obvious is cata-
star circumstantially paired with loged as Barnard 92 in Edward Barnard’s “On the Dark
1
unrelated 5th-magnitude Gamma Markings of the Sky, With a Catalogue of 182 Such
1
(γ ) almost a degree to its north. Objects,” published in The Astrophysical Journal’s
While viewing through your January 1919 edition. Barnard’s one-line description
binoculars, hop northeastward portrayed it as a “Black spot, 15' north and south, 9' east
along a series of wonderful deep-sky and west.” That likely led to its nickname, the Black
targets. You’ll pass a gallery of Hole, coined long before the expression was applied to
showpieces, including the Lagoon the end result of the most massive stars when they deto-
Nebula (M8) and the Trifid Nebula nate as supernovae.
(M20). Barnard’s black spot may be glimpsed with 35- and
The region known as By all means, pause at each, but 50mm binoculars, growing more obvious as magnifica-
M24 contains a vast then continue northeastward. Some 12° — about two tion and aperture climb. It does indeed look like an oval
cloud of stars, the
compact star cluster binocular fields — beyond Alnasl, you’ll arrive at a “black hole” oriented north-south through my 16x70s,
NGC 6603 (left of large, denser region of the Milky Way measuring about appearing about half as large as our Moon.
center), and two three Moon diameters across. Charles If you spot B92, try your luck with the next
prominent dark
nebulae, B92 and Messier included this as the 24th entry in his catalog entry, Barnard 93, about 1/3° east of
B93 (above right of famous catalog, noting its appearance in 1764 An amazing B92. But be forewarned; it’s tougher. While
center). FRED CALVERT AND
ADAM BLOCK, NOAO, AURA, NSF
as “a large nebulosity in which there are many region lies B93 matches B92’s size north-to-south, it
stars of different magnitudes.” just north appears less than half as wide east-to-west.
M24 was later christened the Small Unlike B92, which has sharp edges that clearly
Sagittarius Star Cloud, but that is not accurate.
of the define it from the surroundings, B93 slowly
M24 is not a single object. Nor is it a cloud of Sagittarius diffuses outward into its environs. In photo-
stars at all. Instead, this star-studded area is Teapot’s graphs, it looks like the silhouette of a
an open window into the depths of the Milky spout. northward-facing comet with a denser “coma”
Way. Like other spiral galaxies, the plane of and a fainter “tail” trailing southward.
our Milky Way is heavily polluted with inter- Finally, as a postscript to the history of
stellar matter, including vast clouds of opaque dust. M24: While it is obviously not NGC 6603, it is in fact
That’s why studying the center of our galaxy is so chal- listed in the second supplemental Index Catalog pub-
lenging. There is just too much local interference — lished after the New General Catalogue. There, we find
except toward M24. There, the dust is thin enough that it cross-referenced as IC 4715 and described as a “most
we can peer through our local arm to a depth of about extremely large cloud of stars and nebulae.” That seems
16,000 light-years, all the way to the Carina-Sagittarius reasonable.
arm, halfway between us and the inner Norma arm. Questions, comments? Send them to me via my web-
BY PHIL
Somewhere along the way, M24 went “missing.” At site, philharrington.net. Until next month, remember
HARRINGTON
Phil is a longtime least, that’s how some 20th-century references termed that two eyes are better than one.
contributor to it. That’s probably because those authors were looking
Astronomy and the through the narrow fields of their telescopes, which BROWSE THE “BINOCULAR UNIVERSE” ARCHIVE AT
author of many books. couldn’t take in the full breadth of the area and thus www.Astronomy.com/Harrington

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ASK ASTRO Astronomy’s experts from around the globe answer your cosmic questions.
Interstellar
Comets and asteroids slow them down completely. Therefore, the trajectory
in our solar system
orbit the Sun with
shows that the object originated somewhere else in the
closed elliptical universe, traveled through interstellar space, and
visitors
orbits. But objects entered the solar system. The object then reaches peri-
that come from other
star systems have helion before eventually leaving the solar system.
open-ended, Davide Farnocchia
hyperbolic orbits. This Navigation Engineer, Jet Propulsion Laboratory,
means they not only Caltech, Pasadena, California
originated elsewhere,
but also are traveling ORBITAL TRAJECTORIES
too fast for the Sun
to capture them, so
they’ll eventually
escape back into
interstellar space.
Elliptical orbit
QI WHY DOES SUPERNOVA 1987A
LOOK LIKE A RING INSTEAD OF
A SPHERICAL BALL OF DEBRIS?
ASTRONOMY: ROEN KELLY James Johnson
Indianapolis
Circular orbit
AI Supernova 1987A is a supernova remnant in
the Large Magellanic Cloud, the Milky Way’s
largest satellite galaxy. The remnant was created when a
Sun massive star exploded — an event we saw here on Earth
in February 1987. Since then, the remnant has evolved
as the energy from the exploding star travels outward,
slamming into nearby gas and dust.
Hyperbolic But if the explosion sent material and energy in all
orbit directions, then why does the remnant appear to have
three rings, instead of looking like a sphere? The answer
lies in what happened before the supernova, in the
behavior of the progenitor star doomed to explode. As
QI HOW DO ASTRONOMERS
DETERMINE IF ASTEROIDS OR
COMETS ARRIVE FROM OTHER STARS?
that star neared the end of its life, it evolved from a red
supergiant star into a blue supergiant star. At the same
Douglas Kaupa time, the star’s winds changed from dense and slow-
Council Bluffs, Iowa moving to thin and fast-moving. When the fast-moving
wind collided with the slower-moving wind that was
AI We recognize that an asteroid or comet is

interstellar from its trajectory. The trajectory
of an object is computed by comparing precise measure-
ejected before it, it caused material to pile up around
ments of its changing position on the sky to the possible

trajectories that account for all known forces acting on
it, such as the gravity of the Sun and the planets. The
calculated trajectory we use is the one that best matches
the object’s observed motion.
Objects that reside within our solar system (planets,
asteroids, and comets) all move approximately along
closed elliptical orbits, each with a perihelion (closest
point to the Sun) and an aphelion (farthest point from
the Sun). Objects move fastest at perihelion, and then
solar gravity slows them down as they try to race away
from the Sun. Eventually, they reach aphelion and solar
gravity brings them back closer to the Sun again.
Despite being computed the same way as the trajec-
tory of asteroids and comets, the trajectory of an inter- The star responsible for Supernova 1987A ejected more material
stellar object is different. It is essentially an open-ended in some directions than others. This artist’s impression shows
hyperbola with a perihelion point but no aphelion. how the supernova remnant might look from a different
viewpoint than we have on Earth. Rings of material are now
Interstellar objects have such high velocities that, on the lighting up as shock waves from the supernova pass through
outbound leg, the Sun’s gravity is not strong enough to them. ESO/L. CALÇADA

Each image in this
series depicts a unique
galaxy pair in a
different stage of a
galactic merger. As
time progresses from
1 to 6, the galaxies’
spiral shapes become
stretched out and are
ultimately destroyed.
NASA, ESA, THE HUBBLE HERITAGE
TEAM (STSCI/AURA)-ESA/HUBBLE
1 2 3 COLLABORATION AND A. EVANS

(UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA,
CHARLOTTESVILLE/NRAO/STONY
BROOK UNIVERSITY), K. NOLL (STSCI),
AND J. WESTPHAL (CALTECH)
4 5 6
the star. Furthermore, astronomers believe that, based pull the stars, gas, and dust of the spiral arms out of
on factors such as the star’s magnetic field and its rota- their original orbits. This is what causes the warped
tion during the red supergiant phase, more material shape of famously interacting pairs such as the Mice
piled up around its equator and in regions around its (NGC 4676) and the Antennae Galaxies (NGC 4038
poles. When faster winds crashed into those regions and NGC 4039). It is also what ultimately destroys the
later, it formed three distinct rings. initial spiral patterns of the two galaxies and results in
When the star finally exploded, the energy from the an elliptical galaxy once the merger is complete.
blast moved outward in all directions. The rings we now Galaxy collisions aren’t typically one-and-done
see are caused by shocks that occur as that energy events — galaxies don’t approach each other, smack
smacks into the existing rings, exciting the gas and light- together, and stick. Instead, depending on their initial
ing them up. The other areas around the now-dead star trajectories as they approach one another, two galaxies
aren’t glowing in a sphere simply because there isn’t may pass by or even through each other several times
much material there, since it’s mostly concentrated in over the course of billions of years before they finally
the rings that were left behind from before the explosion. merge. This repeated interaction pulls the spirals apart
Over time, these rings have appeared to change and a bit like stretching taffy, yanking at the stars that once
expand as the shocks move through them, illuminating serenely circled the center of their home galaxy in an
new regions as the material closer to the star fades once orderly fashion. During the merger, the stars become
the shock has passed. scattered and their orbits become random. This is what
To complicate matters, astronomers suspect the results in a single, football-shaped elliptical galaxy with
supernova explosion itself was possibly not symmetric, stars orbiting the center in all planes, rather than the
but instead sent more energy in one direction than oth- single plane of a flat spiral galaxy.
ers, exaggerating the nonspherical shape of the remnant Elliptical galaxies are also known for their dearth of
we see. star-forming material. This is because when spirals — SEND US YOUR
Alison Klesman which typically contain plentiful gas with which to
Senior Associate Editor
make new stars — collide, gravity also triggers that gas
QUESTIONS
Send your
to quickly condense and form stars all at once in a single
astronomy questions
big burst. Such starbursts, as astronomers call them,
QI WHY DO TWO COLLIDING SPIRAL
GALAXIES FORM AN ELLIPTICAL
GALAXY RATHER THAN ONE LARGER
use up the gas so that by the time the merger has fin-
ished, it has little material for new stars. What gas
via email to askastro@
astronomy.com, or
write to Ask Astro,
remains is too hot and spread out to condense into new P.O. Box 1612,
SPIRAL GALAXY? stars or clump together into new spiral arms. Instead, Waukesha, WI 53187.
Bill Dellinges the elliptical galaxy remains puffed up and its compo- Be sure to tell us
Apache Junction, Arizona your full name and
nents keep their randomized orbits, never again settling where you live.
AI When two spiral galaxies collide, gravity is the

main force that comes into play. As the galax-
ies approach each other, gravitational forces start to
into a spiral shape.
Alison Klesman
Senior Associate Editor
Unfortunately, we
cannot answer all
questions submitted.
READER GALLERY
Cosmic portraits
1
1. TRIPLE TREAT
As Comet C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS) moved
through Ursa Major on February 2,
2020, it passed the Owl Nebula
(M97, top) and edge-on spiral galaxy
M108. The Asteroid Terrestrial-
impact Last Alert System (or ATLAS)
survey discovered it December 28,
making it the final comet discovered
in 2019. • Gerald Rhemann
2. EXHAUST GAS
NGC 6883 is an open cluster in the
constellation Cygnus. This deep
image shows a bubble of interstellar
gas being blown away from the
Wolf-Rayet star WR 134, a star that
outshines our Sun by 400,000 times.
• Fred Herrmann

3. THE QUESTION
N185 is a superbubble that
lies in the Large Magellanic
Cloud. The current debate
about such objects is whether
they are supernova remnants
or supersonic flows of stellar
winds. Globular cluster NGC
1751 appears above N185, and
open cluster NGC 1711 lies to
its right. • Don Goldman
4. DON’T TELL A SOUL

Sharpless 2–201 lies in the
constellation Cassiopeia the
Queen, some 10,000 light-
years away. It sits along the
eastern border of the Soul
Nebula (IC 1848). The
photographer captured 51.4
hours of exposures through
Hydrogen-alpha, Oxygen-III,
3 and Sulfur-II filters to create
this image. • Douglas J.
Struble
5. I SEE YOU
Starburst galaxy IC 10 lies in
the constellation Cassiopeia
and belongs to the Local
Group. Although it glows at
magnitude 10.4, it’s difficult to
see because of its size (7' by
6') and because it’s near the
Milky Way’s plane. IC 10 lies
2.2 million light-years away.
• David Wills
6. CIRCLE OF LIGHT
On December 23, 2019,
moonlight created a halo
at daybreak over the Honghe
Hani Rice Terraces, a
UNESCO World Heritage Site
in Yunnan Province, China.
Thin cirrus clouds containing
4 5 tiny ice crystals refract the
light into a 44°-wide halo.
• Jeff Dai
SEND YOUR IMAGES TO:

Astronomy Reader Gallery,
P.O. Box 1612, Waukesha,
WI 53187. Please include
the date and location of the
image and complete photo
data: telescope, camera,
filters, and exposures.
Submit images by email to
6 readergallery@
astronomy.com.
BREAKTHROUGH
FROM TINY SEEDS GROW MIGHTY STARS

Astronomers often dream up fanciful names for the glowing gas clouds and sparkling star clusters that dot the sky. Yet this
stunning nebula is known only by a dreary catalog designation: LHA 120-N150. The small star-forming region lies on the
outskirts of the giant Tarantula Nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), the Milky Way’s largest satellite galaxy. Scientists
targeted LHA 120-N150 and six other small LMC nebulae because they harbor still-developing massive stars that appear
isolated, despite the assumption such suns should form only in clusters. However, it looks like theorists can breathe easy: The
Hubble images reveal compact clusters of 100 or more nascent stars surrounding each of the massive stars. ESA/HUBBLE, NASA, I. STEPHENS

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SOUTHERN SKY BY MARTIN GEORGE
October 2020
The Red Planet returns to glory
As darkness falls in among the dim stars of Pisces. far outshines the background Flamsteed (1646–1719). Yet
early October, a glitter- Mars moves slowly westward stars of Sagittarius. The ringed Flamsteed himself did not
ing array of planets spreads relative to the Fish’s stars this planet lies east of its planetary assign these numbers.
across the sky. You’ll want to month as Earth overtakes it on companion, though the gap Following a complex history
make Mercury your first tar- our planet’s faster, smaller orbit between the two worlds shrinks that involved Isaac Newton,
get. For Southern Hemisphere around the Sun. from 7° to 5° this month. Any Edmond Halley, and Johann
observers, the innermost planet This is the best time to telescope reveals Saturn’s Bode, the numbers we use
puts on its best evening show of observe Mars through a tele- 17"-diameter disk surrounded today are the ones that
the year during spring. To scope in more than two years. by a splendid ring system that appeared in 18th-century
locate the diminutive world, The planet spans 22.6" at its spans 38" and tilts 23° to our French astronomer Jérôme
first find majestic Scorpius closest during October’s first line of sight. You should also Lalande’s 1783 almanac.
halfway up the western sky week, but it remains above 20" see the planet’s brightest satel- However, astronomers then
about an hour after sunset. all month. Watch for subtle lite, 8th-magnitude Titan. and now still refer to them
Mercury is the brightest object dark markings on the other- Venus doesn’t clear the as Flamsteed numbers.
below the Scorpion. wise ocher surface, and be sure horizon until a few minutes As important as the original
The planet reaches greatest to notice the bright white south before morning twilight starts catalog was, it contained many
elongation October 1. It then polar cap. The south polar to paint the sky. The brightest errors. It included nonexistent
lies 26° east of the Sun and region stands out because it planet remains conspicuous, stars and even Uranus, which
stands 12° high an hour after tilts about 20° toward us. however, because it shines bril- was cataloged as 34 Tauri.
the Sun goes down. Glowing at After viewing the solar sys- liantly at magnitude –4.0. You From his observatory in
magnitude 0.0, Mercury out- tem’s two smallest planets, turn can find it low in the east as Greenwich, England, Flamsteed
shines every other object in the your attention to the two larg- twilight brightens. The inner could see no farther south than
vicinity. Although the planet est. Jupiter and Saturn pass planet has lost much of its tele- a declination of about –38°. So
dims slowly during the next two nearly overhead shortly after scopic appeal from earlier this his catalog did extend into the
weeks, its appearance through a sunset. The two appear just a year. In mid-October, Venus southern half of the celestial
telescope improves. On the 1st, few degrees apart against the spans 14" and appears about sphere, but only so far.
Mercury appears 6.7" across backdrop of Sagittarius, north- three-quarters lit. The southernmost star with
and 61 percent lit. A week later, east of the Archer’s distinctive a Flamsteed number is Upsilon
the world spans 7.6" and the Teapot asterism. The starry sky (υ) Scorpii, which appears as
Sun illuminates just under half Jupiter shines at magnitude A quick look at any good star 34 Sco in the catalog. Almost as
of its disk. The planet grows –2.3 in mid-October, just a atlas will show labels attached far south is Shaula (Lambda [λ]
larger and displays a thinning shade dimmer than Mars. And to many stars. Some have prop- Scorpii), which is number 35.
crescent until it disappears in with an equatorial diameter of er names, such as Sirius and Together, the two form the
twilight around midmonth. 39", it remains a splendid tele- Canopus, but these and others Scorpion’s Stinger, which you
Once you’ve spent some scopic sight. During moments are also often marked with can find halfway up in the
time with Mercury, shift your of good seeing, the gas giant’s the Greek letters 17th-century west-southwest during
gaze to the opposite side of the atmosphere resolves into an German astronomer Johann October’s early evening hours.
sky for magnificent Mars. The alternating series of bright Bayer assigned to them. And While gazing in this direction
Red Planet reaches opposition zones and darker belts punctu- in many cases, a number also and thinking of the famous
and peak visibility October 13, ated with smaller sites of turbu- appears next to a star. Astronomer Royal, grab your
when it rises at sunset and lence near their borders. Also The numbers, which reach binoculars and scan the lovely
climbs highest in the north keep an eye out for Jupiter’s as high as 140 (in the constella- star fields in this part of
around midnight local time. four brightest moons, which tion Taurus the Bull), owe their Scorpius. You can find two
The ruddy world shines bril- show up through any scope. existence to a star catalog pro- of my favorite open star clus-
liantly at magnitude –2.6 and Magnitude 0.5 Saturn pales duced by England’s first ters, M6 and M7, just 5° from
appears as a warm beacon in comparison with Jupiter but Astronomer Royal, John Shaula.
STAR DOME
S
C RU
X
516
MUSCA
CE
NT S
AU ` AN
RU
S
_ CIR
CIN
HOW TO USE THIS MAP AU
US
C HA M A E L E O N
This map portrays the sky as seen TR STRA
near 30° south latitude. Located
IA
NG LE 2070
UL A
MENS NGC
SW
inside the border are the cardinal UM
directions and their intermediate SCP
APU
points. To find stars, hold the map S
LU
S Y DRU UM
H UL
PU
overhead and orient it so one of N
C
S
O
the labels matches the direction M
R AR
you’re facing. The stars above A A
SMC
NG
the map’s horizon now match O C TA N S
C
NG
62
PA V
what’s in the sky. C
31
63 O 04
M4 97 NG C 1
SC
ar
The all-sky map shows T U C A NA ern
OR
TE
h
how the sky looks at: Ac
Anta
LE
IU P
AU R O
10 P.M. October 1
CO
res
CO
M6
S
PI
T
9 P.M. October 15
RA A
UM
8 P.M. October 31
N
M7
L
IN
IS
DU
S
Planets are shown
IX
M8
M
at midmonth
S AG
ICR
R
G RU S
IT
PTO
M20
O
M2 2
SC
ARI T
L
OP
SCU
M17
MAP SYMBOLS
US
IUM
OPHIUCHUS
PI
M16
aut
AU S C
W
SCUTUM
Jupiter
Open cluster ST IS
alh
RI
S a tu r n
Fom
Globular cluster N
U
S
Diffuse nebula
CA
SER
PR
M11
Planetary nebula
AQ
PEN
IC
UI
Galaxy
OR
S C
LA
NU
AQ Path
o f th
AU D
UA e Su
S
RI
EQ US
A
STAR UU
LE
US
MAGNITUDES
Al
ta
Sirius Enif
ir
SA
G DE M15
V
0.0 3.0 IT
U
TA LP
LP
H S
IN ASU
EC
1.0 4.0 US PEG

U
LA
2.0 5.0
STAR COLORS CY
A star’s color depends GN
US
N
W
on its surface temperature. L AC E RTA
•• The hottest stars shine blue

Slightly cooler stars appear white
• Intermediate stars (like the Sun) glow yellow
• Lower-temperature stars appear orange
Den
eb
• The coolest stars glow red
• Fainter stars can’t excite our eyes’ color
receptors, so they appear white unless you
use optical aid to gather more light
N
BEGINNERS: WATCH A VIDEO ABOUT HOW TO READ A STAR CHART AT
www.Astronomy.com/starchart.
NA
OCTOBER 2020
RI
NGC CA SUN. MON. TUES. WED. THURS. FRI. SAT.
VO
R 1 2 3
TO C s
PI pu
no
Ca
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
BA
SE
M
C O
LM
LU
D
A
O
R
C
ILLUSTRATIONS BY ASTRONOMY: ROEN KELLY

D
T
RE 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
M
U
EL
CA
M
IU
G 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
LO
RO
O
H
25 26 27 28 29 30 31
Note: Moon phases in the calendar vary in size due to the distance
from Earth and are shown at 0h Universal Time.
US AN
ERID
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
OE
PH
1 Mercury is at greatest eastern elongation (26°), 16h UT

Full Moon occurs at 21h05m UT
SGP
3 Venus passes 0.09° south of Regulus, 0h UT

NGC 25
The Moon passes 0.7° south of Mars, 3h UT

The Moon is at apogee (406,321 kilometers from Earth), 17h22m UT
4 Pluto is stationary, 6h UT
Mira
The Moon passes 3° south of Uranus, 9h UT

6 Mars comes closest to Earth (62.1 million kilometers away), 14h UT
10
S
Last Quarter Moon occurs at 0h40m UT

TU
rs
Ma
un (e
13 Mars is at opposition, 23h UT
CE
clip t
ic)
14 The Moon passes 4° north of Venus, 0h UT
Mercury is stationary, 4h UT
ES
SC
16
us
New Moon occurs at 19h31m UT

PI
an
Ur
The Moon is at perigee (356,912 kilometers from Earth), 23h46m UT

ES
17
RI
The Moon passes 7° north of Mercury, 19h UT

A
21 Orionid meteor shower peaks

22 The Moon passes 2° south of Jupiter, 17h UT
23 Dwarf planet Ceres is stationary, 3h UT
33 M
LU
M The Moon passes 3° south of Saturn, 4h UT
U
E
G
N
N First Quarter Moon occurs at 13h23m UT

IA
R
1 T Asteroid Parthenope is at opposition, 14h UT
M3
25 Mercury is in inferior conjunction, 18h UT
DA
O ME 26 Asteroid Papagena is at opposition, 6h UT
DR
AN 27 The Moon passes 4° south of Neptune, 6h UT
29 The Moon passes 3° south of Mars, 16h UT
30 The Moon is at apogee (406,394 kilometers from Earth), 18h45m UT
31 The Moon passes 3° south of Uranus, 13h UT
Full Moon occurs at 14h49m UT
Uranus is at opposition, 16h UT
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