01 Sky Amp Telescope January 2020

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INFRARED REVOLUTION:
TION: DIY: DEEP-SKY WONDERS:
Spitzer’s Legacy
y Make a Focus Mask Treasures of Auriga
PAGE 18 PAGE 30 PAGE 54
THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO ASTRONOMY

JANUARY 2020
Do
Microbes
Hide
Beneath
Mars’s
Surface?
Page 34
skyandtelescope.org
GOING DEEP: Wander Through FORENSIC ASTRONOMY:

Fishing the Winter’s How Science Saved
Pisces Cloud Splendors an Innocent Man
Page 58 Page 62 Page 26
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CONTENTS
THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO ASTRONOMY

January 2020 VOL. 139, NO. 1
FEATURES
16 Space Missions in 2020

By David Dickinson & Terri Dubé
18 Spitzer’s Legacy
NASA’s infrared space telescope is
shutting down after operating more
than 16 years. 62
By Michael Werner & Thomas Soifer
OBSERVING S&T TEST REPORT
26 Shadow of a Doubt
41 January’s Sky at a Glance 70 Meade’s LX85 ACF
In a historic Omaha court case,
By Diana Hannikainen By Rod Mollise
astronomical evidence played a key
role in foiling a plan to frame a 42 Lunar Almanac & Sky Chart COLUMNS / DEPARTMENTS
man for attempted murder.
43 Binocular Highlight 4 Spectrum
By Jeffrey Dobereiner
By Mathew Wedel By Peter Tyson
30 Mesh Focusing Masks 6 From Our Readers

44 Planetary Almanac
This easy-to-assemble imaging aid
can take the guesswork out of 45 Under the Stars 7 75, 50 & 25 Years Ago
focusing. By Fred Schaaf By Roger W. Sinnott
By H. R. Suiter & W. P. Zmek
46 Sun, Moon & Planets 10 News Notes
By Fred Schaaf
Cover Story: 14 Cosmic Relief
34 The Martian Underground 48 Celestial Calendar By David Grinspoon
Discoveries of life deep beneath By Bob King
57 Book Review
Earth’s surface are provoking
52 Exploring the Solar System By Richard Tresch Fienberg
scientists to wonder what might
hide in the Martian subsurface. By Thomas A. Dobbins
74 Astronomer’s Workbench
By Javier Barbuzano 54 Deep-Sky Wonders By Jerry Oltion
By Sue French
62 A Tourist’s Guide to the 76 Gallery
Winter Highlights 58 Going Deep
83 Event Calendar
Our nighttime favorites series By Ted Forte
BILL BASHAM
continues with a selection of 84 Focal Point
winter’s splendors. By Jerry Oltion By Larry Oakley
ON THE COVER ONLINE
JOIN THE AAS ASTRO TOURISM MONTHLY SKY PODCAST

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2 JANUARY 2 02 0 • SK Y & TELESCOPE

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SPECTRUM by Peter Tyson
Look Down The Essential Guide to Astronomy

Founded in 1941 by Charles A. Federer, Jr.
WHERE WOULD ASTRONOMY BE WITHOUT LIGHT? Save for a few and Helen Spence Federer
rocks that have crashed to Earth or that we’ve managed to bring
EDITORIAL
back from the closest bodies to us, most of what we’ve learned Editor in Chief Peter Tyson
about the cosmos has come courtesy of electromagnetic radiation Senior Editors J. Kelly Beatty, Alan M. MacRobert
arriving from afar. Visible light, X-rays and gamma rays, ultraviolet Science Editor Camille M. Carlisle
and infrared radiation, microwaves and radio waves — all these forms of light News Editor Monica Young
Associate Editor Sean Walker
have collectively enabled us to penetrate some of our universe’s deepest secrets.
Observing Editor Diana Hannikainen
See, for example, “Spitzer’s Legacy” on page 18.
Yet, ironically, astrobiologists are itching to go where there’s no light at all. Senior Contributing Editors
The reason is to potentially answer one of the biggest cosmological questions of Dennis di Cicco, Robert Naeye, Roger W. Sinnott
all: Does life exist elsewhere? Contributing Editors

Many scientists would agree that one of the most likely places to find signs Howard Banich, Jim Bell, Trudy Bell, John E. Bortle,
of extraterrestrial life is where darkness reigns — namely, belowground. If living Greg Bryant, Thomas A. Dobbins, Alan Dyer,
Tom Field, Tony Flanders, Ted Forte, Sue French,
things do exist beyond our planet, lightless zones such as the Martian subsurface
Steve Gottlieb, David Grinspoon, Shannon Hall,
or the deep oceans sheltered beneath the icy crusts
Ken Hewitt-White, Johnny Horne, Bob King,
of Europa and Enceladus might well harbor it. Emily Lakdawalla, Rod Mollise, James Mullaney,
As Javier Barbuzano writes in our cover story on Donald W. Olson, Jerry Oltion, Joe Rao, Dean Regas,
page 34, we’ve known for decades that life on Earth Fred Schaaf, Govert Schilling, William Sheehan,
Mike Simmons, Mathew Wedel, Alan Whitman,
can survive in total darkness. Entire ecosystems
Charles A. Wood
thrive in the ocean depths thousands of feet below
the point where the last feeble rays of sunlight can Contributing Photographers
reach. Similarly, microorganisms have been found P. K. Chen, Akira Fujii, Robert Gendler,
Just scratching the surface: doing just fine more than a mile underground. Babak Tafreshi
a 2-inch-deep hole drilled by
the Curiosity Rover on Mars
In these stygian realms, photosynthesis, the A R T, D E S I G N & D I G I T A L
basis of all life on the surface, is impossible. Art Director Terri Dubé
Instead, microbes at the base of the food chain have resorted to chemosynthesis, Illustration Director Gregg Dinderman
Illustrator Leah Tiscione
gaining their energy from chemical reactions. In some cases, this has allowed a
Webmaster Scilla Bennett
menagerie of much larger organisms to exist, such as the giant tubeworms that
cluster around hydrothermal vents on the seafloor. ADVERTISING
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Some scientists suspect that life on our planet might well have gotten its
start in such sunless environs, rather than on the surface in, say, Darwin’s AMERICAN ASTRONOMICAL
“warm little pond.” Maybe it began in a similar fashion on other bodies in our SOCIETY
Executive Officer / CEO, AAS Sky Publishing, LLC
solar system and flourishes there to this day, awaiting our probes.
Kevin B. Marvel
Just think: Light allows us to investigate objects and events right across the President Megan Donahue, Michigan State University
universe. Yet in all that inconceivably vast space, the spot where we’re most President Elect Paula Szkody, University of Washington
likely to turn up evidence of other life forms is perhaps but a few tens of feet Senior Vice-President Michael Strauss, Princeton
below the surface of our nearest neighbors. It’s like pondering where on our University
Second Vice-President Joan Schmelz, Universities
enormous globe you might strike gold, when the most
Space Research Association
promising spot is right where you’re standing. Third Vice-President Geoffrey C. Clayton, Louisiana
NASA and other space agencies: Here’s to going down. State University
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Editor in Chief Secretary Alice K. B. Monet, U.S. Naval Observatory (ret.)
Editorial Correspondence Advertising Information: Visit shopatsky.com Newsstand and Retail Distribution:
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FROM OUR READERS
When someone discovers a comet, it’s an amazing project! There have been
named after that person. Unfortunately, professional hydrogen-alpha surveys in
this is not the case for most deep-sky the past, but these have concentrated
objects. So I would like to suggest that more on the galactic plane. A truly all-
we give credit to those who first noted sky survey is bound to uncover a popu-
significant galaxies, clusters, and nebu- lation of previously unknown planetary
lae. In each of the following examples, nebulae.
most of which already have common An equally interesting project would
names, the discoverer found only one be an all-sky survey in the light of dou-
object of each type (OC stands for open bly ionized oxygen (O III), which would
cluster, GC for globular cluster, and PN surely reveal many faint unknown
NGC 6781 for planetary nebula): nebulae. Indeed, amateurs have discov-
Aratos’ OC M44, Aristoteles’ OC ered hundreds of new planetaries in
M41, Al Sufi’s galaxy M31, Cacciatore’s the past decade, and some of them are
Fun with Names GC NGC 6541, Cassini’s OC M50, de chronicled at planetarynebulae.net/en.
Ted Forte’s “Favorite September Sights” Chéseaux’s nebula M17, Flamsteed’s Sakib Rasool
(S&T: Sept. 2019, p. 30) features a plan- OC NGC 2244, Harding’s PN NGC Rochdale, United Kingdom
etary nebula in need of a name. From 7293, Caroline Herschel’s galaxy NGC
what I see in it, NGC 6781 in Aquila 253, Hodierna’s galaxy M33, Hodierna’s Nabbing Neptune
could be called the “Hot Blue Alien.” I nebula M8, Ihle’s GC M22, Kirch’s OC Thank you for the article “Cool Hunt-
see a face clearly: two eyes looking to M11, Kirch’s GC M5, Koehler’s OC ing” (S&T: Sept. 2019, p. 48)! It reminded
the right, a thin nose in between, two M67, Lacaille’s galaxy M83, de Mairan’s me that, despite my being a stargazer for
eyebrows, and just a hint of a smile nebula M43, Mechain’s nebula M78, more than 40 years, I had never tried to
along the color boundary at lower right. Mechain’s OC M103, Peiresc’s nebula spot Neptune. Possibly this was because
Once I noticed those details, I cannot M42, and Webb’s OC IC 4756. it had long been low in the southern sky
ignore them. Do others agree? Glen Cozens and didn’t seem to be a promising object
Gregg Paris • San Clemente, California New South Wales, Australia at all when observed from my latitude
of +53½°.
But after reading the article, and
with Neptune now at a more accessible
declination of –6°, I decided to give
Getting the Light Right star.” That is not true, as every astrono- it a try. The sky was a bit hazy on the
Igor Palubski and Aomawa Shields’s mer knows full well. The Sun is actu- evening of September 21st, and moder-
article on the factors to consider when ally a pure-white star; it only gives the ate light pollution from the small town
determining if a planet orbiting a red- appearance of being yellow when viewed where I live was obvious. But after some
dwarf star could harbor life (S&T: Aug. from ground level here on Earth. star-hopping with my 100-mm f/10
2019, p. 34) makes me wonder if we Edward S. Craig refractor, I found that tiny bluish dot.
need to consider additional variables Bangor, Maine Then I took a picture with my DSLR
when determining where life can exist camera, which revealed a small dot
“
in the universe. Camille Carlisle replies: This
A point about the upper caption on is a point of linguistic discomfort
page 37: Although a greater fraction of among astronomers. The Sun does
the radiation emitted by a red dwarf is appear whitish to our eyes, and solar
indeed in the infrared range, the total astronomers will describe it thusly. But
amount of its infrared light is less — not the Sun’s emission peaks at a wavelength
more — than that emitted by hotter around that of visible yellow. So when
stars such as the Sun. The blackbody discussing the Sun in the context of where
NGC 6781: JOSEF PÖPSEL / BE ATE BEHLE;
radiation diagram itself makes this it fits in with other stars, astronomers refer
comparison clear. to it (and other G-type stars) as yellow.
NEPT UNE: K A RL-LUDWIG A BK EN
Douglas Warshow
Ann Arbor, Michigan The H-Alpha Universe
I thoroughly enjoyed the article about
The first sentence in Palubski and the MDW Sky Survey (S&T: Oct. 2019, p A 13-second exposure at ISO 1600, shot
Shields’s article misleads readers by p. 20), and I wish Dennis di Cicco and using a 100-mm f/10 refractor, easily reveals
stating that the Sun is a “bright yellow Sean Walker success in completing such bluish Neptune. Triton is just to its lower right.

close to Neptune. What a surprise! I posed to astronomers by police officers having any kind of weapon. It’s surely a
read the article again and followed the who might confuse the tube of a Dobso- different world over there.
link to Sky & Telescope’s Triton Tracker nian for something more sinister. Harold Mead
app. After estimating the small dot’s I have no wish to become politically Somerset, United Kingdom
position angle and separation from involved in the ongoing U.S. gun-
Neptune, it was clear that the small dot control debate, but I must say I am very FOR THE RECORD
was indeed Triton. Although I wasn’t grateful to be an amateur astronomer • The caption for Messier 52’s image (S&T:
able to spot it with my eyes that night, in England. We still do not have rou- Oct. 2019, p. 32) should have stated that
it was a surprisingly easy target for my tinely armed police, and possession of a 158 million years is the cluster’s estimated
telescope and camera. handgun is 100% illegal here. The most age; its distance is about 5,000 light-years.
Karl-Ludwig Abken I might have to worry about is having • “Transit Timetable” (S&T: Nov. 2019, p. 48)
Nordenham, Germany my night vision ruined by a flashlight- correctly lists the event’s midpoint as 15:20
wielding policeman who is unlikely to Universal Time; the time-zone-specific mid-
Peace Officers in England be concerned about the possibility of me points listed below it should also end in :20.
I confess to being a little bemused at
recent correspondence (S&T: Nov. 2019, SUBMISSIONS: Write to Sky & Telescope, 90 Sherman St., Cambridge, MA 02140-3264, USA or email: letters@
p. 6) regarding the potential danger skyandtelescope.org. Please limit your comments to 250 words; letters may be edited for brevity and clarity.
75, 50 & 25 YEARS AGO by Roger W. Sinnott
1945 º January 1945 º January 1970 º January 1995

Spurious Perspective “In the Pulsar Periods “‘Continuing Terrestrial Gamma Rays “The
Adler Planetarium there is a mag- observations of the times of arrival Burst and Transient Source Experi-
nificent large model of the moon; of the radio pulses from the pulsars ment (BATSE) aboard NASA’s
when it is viewed from a distance visible from Jodrell Bank indicate Compton Gamma Ray Observatory
of 20 to 30 feet, something about that almost all [have rotation rates was designed to study gamma-ray
it appears very different from a that are slowing down],’ reports the bursts in space. Since its launch
telescopic view, and it must be British radio astronomer G. C. Hunt in April 1991 it has recorded more
[an] effect of spurious perspec- in Nature for December 6th. than 1,150 such events . . . But
tive involuntarily experienced in “For 13 well-observed pulsars, BATSE has also detected more
1970
telescopic views. he has derived the present rates of than a dozen gamma-ray flashes
“All of this emphasizes the increase of period . . . from the Earth. First dismissed
foolishness of [asking], ‘How far “The fastest changing pulsar is as spurious, these signals now
away does this telescope make the NP 0532 in the Crab nebula. . . . appear to be quite real and may be
moon appear to be?’ The answer to “[But] Dr. Hunt calls particular associated with electromagnetic
this question should be a polite but attention to CP 0808 in Camelopar- discharges in our planet’s upper
firm insistence that the telescope dalis, whose period of 1.292241315 atmosphere.
does not make the moon appear seconds has shown no sign of “Gerald J. Fishman (NASA-
nearer; the perspective is all wrong. increase. . . . This conflicts with Marshall Space Flight Center) and
1995 The only thing the telescope does Thomas Gold’s theory that the his colleagues reported that seven
is to magnify the naked-eye image energy radiated by a pulsar is of the earthly gamma-ray flashes
of the moon. Talk about magnifying obtained at the expense of its rota- occurred under the watchful eye
powers of 10,000 diameters to be tional energy. of a weather satellite, and in every
used on the 200-inch telescope, “To Dr. Hunt, CP 0808 suggests case there was a large thunder-
‘thus bringing the moon up to only strongly that there must be another storm nearby. [Moreover,] airplane
24 miles from the earth,’ is prob- source from which the radiated pilots and astronauts have reported
ably the maximum in telescoptical energy is drawn, this source being seeing mysterious flashes of light
absurdity. . . . either the magnetic field of the streaking upward from the tops of
“Unless astronomers assign object or else its gravitational thunderstorms. . . .
themselves the task of stopping contraction.” “To produce [gamma rays], the
journalistic nonsense about astron- Add to this “glitches,” which electric fields above storm clouds
omy, surely no one else is going to are occasional sudden speed- would have to accelerate electrons
do the job.” ups observed in pulsars that are to energies of a million electron
Longtime columnist Roy K. Mar- otherwise slowing down. Astrono- volts, making them some 30 times
shall was very much the “Science mers still struggle to model such more powerful than the fields nor-
Guy” of his time. changes. mally associated with lightning.”
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NEWS NOTES
The Hubble Space faint but distinct coma and the barest
Telescope obtained hint of a tail — cometary activity that
this image of ‘Oumuamua lacked (S&T: Oct. 2018,
Comet 2I/Borisov
on October 12,
p. 20). By October, Borisov had reached
2019, when the 16th magnitude, and it’s expected to
object was 2.8 a.u. peak at 15th magnitude in December.
from Earth. From early December through early
January 2020, when Comet Borisov is
expected to be brightest, it will travel
about 0.8° per day, from the central
part of Crater southward to Centau-
rus. The first 10 days of December will
COMETS
be best for amateur imaging and even
Second Interstellar Visitor Discovered visual attempts (using at least an 8-inch
telescope under pristine skies) before the
full Moon interferes on December 12th.
ON AUGUST 30, 2019, an amateur What sets Borisov (and ‘Oumua- Moon-free nights return on Decem-
astronomer discovered another inter- mua) apart from solar system comets ber 22nd.
stellar object — the second after is the eccentricity of its orbit. Planets, In September, astronomers obtained
‘Oumuamua (S&T: Feb. 2018, p. 10). asteroids, and comets have ellipti- spectra of Comet Borisov using the
This one’s a comet that will pass nearest cal orbits, with eccentricities between 4.2-meter William Herschel Telescope
the Sun and Earth in December. 0 and 1. But Borisov’s eccentricity is on La Palma, Spain, and the 8.2-meter
Gennady Borisov captured Comet more than 3, indicating a hyperbolic Gemini North telescope on Maunakea,
2I/Borisov using a 0.65-meter tele- orbit. That is, it’s not gravitationally Hawai‘i. The object’s slightly reddish
scope at the MARGO observatory near bound to the Sun. Moreover, its high surface color, its 2-kilometer-wide
Nauchnij in Crimea, when it was about velocity — which will reach a peak of nucleus, and the properties of its dust
3 astronomical units (a.u.) from the 44 km/s (100,000 mph) at perihelion and gas resemble aspects of long-period
Sun. Unlike ‘Oumuamua, which was — precludes an origin within the solar solar system comets. The results appear
spotted after its perihelion, the new system. The comet appears to be coming October 14th in Nature Astronomy, and
comet was still inbound. It comes clos- from Cassiopeia in the direction of the more observations are forthcoming.
est to the Sun on December 8th, passing galactic plane. ■ BOB KING & NOLA TAYLOR REDD
within 2 a.u. Its closest approach to Borisov was around 18th-magnitude • Find a chart for Comet Borisov at
Earth follows on December 28th. at discovery, and early images showed a https://is.gd/borisov.
ASTRONOMY & SOCIETY When Robert Wilson and Arno Pen- setting the photons free. This cosmic
Nobel Prize Honors zias at the Bell Telephone Laboratories microwave background (CMB) now fills
in New Jersey found a persistent buzz in the universe.
Exoplanet, Cosmology their radio experiments — a discovery Peebles worked for decades to under-
Discoveries that won them the 1978 Nobel Prize stand tiny fluctuations in the CMB,
in Physics — Peebles and his colleagues which turn out to encode information
THE ROYAL SWEDISH ACADEMY had already predicted the existence of about the universe’s earliest years. As
OF SCIENCES has awarded the 2019 background radiation. This radiation, astronomers were finding evidence for
Nobel Prize in Physics to James Peebles they theorized, was initially trapped the existence of dark matter and dark
(Princeton) and to Michel Mayor and in the primordial soup of ions in the energy in their observations of stars,
Didier Queloz (both at the University of hot, early universe. But 370,000 years galaxies, and galaxy clusters, Peebles
Geneva, Switzerland). The prize, which after the Big Bang,
CO ME T: N ASA / ESA / D. JE WIT T (UCL A);
NOBEL ILLUSTR ATIONS: NOBEL MEDIA
will be split in half, honors discoveries the soup had cooled

that offer new perspectives on our place enough to combine
in the universe. into neutral atoms,
Peebles is being honored for his theo-
u James Peebles (left)
retical contributions to our understand-
shares the 2019 Nobel
ing of the Big Bang, as well as the role Prize in Physics with
that dark matter and dark energy play Michel Mayor (center) and
in shaping our universe. Didier Queloz (right).

SOLAR SYSTEM
20 New Moons Found Prograde
moon
Around Saturn
JUPITER MAY BE THE KING of the
planets, but — right now, at least — Sat-
urn is the king of moons. Astronomers
Scott Sheppard (Carnegie Institution Retrograde
group
for Science), David Jewitt (UCLA), and
Jan Kleyna (University of Hawai‘i) have
announced the discovery of 20 new Prograde
moons circling the ringed planet, put- group
ting Saturn’s total at 82 compared with
Jupiter’s 79. The moons are each around
Schematic not to scale
5 kilometers (3 miles) in diameter.
The team used the 8.2-meter Subaru
telescope atop Maunakea, Hawai‘i, to p An artist’s concept shows the 20 newfound moons orbiting Saturn.
find the moons. Sheppard had previ-
ously led a team in discovering 10 new dubbed the Norse, Inuit, and Gallic 46° and one at an inclination of 36°.
moons around Jupiter, announced last groups, according to the inclination of They belong to the Inuit and Gallic
year (S&T: Oct. 2018, p. 8), using the their orbits. Of the 20 new moons, 17 moon groups, respectively.
6.5-m Magellan-Baade reflector at Las follow retrograde orbits and belong to The Carnegie Institution for Science
Campanas and the 4-m Blanco reflector the Norse group. The Norse group is has held a contest to name the moons.
on Cerro Tololo. diverse, but the orbits and inclinations Name suggestions, based on Norse,
“Using some of the largest telescopes of the newest moons suggest they all Inuit, and Gallic mythological giants,
in the world, we are now completing the originated from the same parent body. will go to the International Astronomi-
inventory of small moons around the Three other moons are in prograde cal Union for a final decision.
giant planets,” Sheppard explains. He orbits, two orbiting at an inclination of ■ MONICA YOUNG
and his colleagues are motivated by the
window into the solar system’s forma-
tion that these discoveries provide. Quasars Light Up Cosmic Web
Saturn’s outer moons can be roughly
Faraway galaxies act as flashlights, lighting up a
grouped into one of three clusters, piece of the cosmic web from when the universe
was only about 2 billion years old. Computer
simulations predicted this large-scale structure
was working to provide a solid theoreti- decades ago, yet the sparse gas bridging one
cal framework for these concepts. galaxy cluster to another is difficult to detect
Mayor and Queloz will receive the directly. But in the October 4th Science, Hideki
other half of the Nobel Prize for their Umehata (RIKEN Cluster for Pioneering Re-
discovery of an exoplanet orbiting a search, Japan) and colleagues published an
Sun-like star, a hot Jupiter known as image (right) of a 3-million-light-year-long section
of this gas. Using the Multi Unit Spectroscopic
51 Pegasi b. This gas giant, half the
Explorer (MUSE) on the European Southern
mass of Jupiter but half again as wide,
Observatory’s Very Large Telescope in Chile,
zips around its star every four days Umehata’s team zeroed in on a distant collection
BACKG ROUND: PAOLO SA RTORIO / SHU T TERSTOCK;
and reaches temperatures of 1200K

JPL- CA LTECH / SPACE SCIENCE INSTIT U TE, STA RRY
of galaxies, collectively known as SSA22. These

SAT UR N ILLUSTR ATION: SAT UR N IM AG E: N ASA /
(1800°F). These properties made it far galaxies, bursting with newborn stars (white
from the kind of exoplanet astronomers dots) and/or hosting a gas-guzzling black hole
had expected to find. Nevertheless, it (not shown here), irradiate the sparse hydrogen
served as a proof of concept that ignited gas that surrounds them. They light up two main
COSMIC WEB: HIDEK I U MEH ATA
an exponential firestorm of exoplanet filaments that run vertically through this image.
detections. More than two decades The astronomers calculate that this region of the
later, this worldwide effort has now cosmic web contains a trillion Suns’ worth of
gas, fueling new stars and black hole activity.
collectively amassed more than 4,000
■ MONICA YOUNG
confirmed exoplanets.
■ MONICA YOUNG
NEWS NOTES
BLACK HOLES
More Black Hole Mergers in LIGO Data
THE LIGO-VIRGO COLLABORATION The seven merger candidates
has so far announced 11 detections of involved black holes with masses similar
gravitational-wave surges based on data to those seen crashing together by the
collected during its first two observ- LIGO-Virgo Collaboration, roughly 20
ing runs. Each surge comes from the to 40 solar masses. Also similar to the
merger of distant compact objects. Now, LIGO-Virgo mergers, most of the new
an independent team sorting through candidates had small effective spins. The
the public data archive has found seven effective spin compares the speed and Artist’s illustration of two black
holes about to merge
additional black hole merger candidates. tilt of the two black holes’ individual
Tejaswi Venumadhav (Institute for spins relative to each other and to their
Advanced Study) and his colleagues orbit around each other. If a system has black hole was more massive and thus
developed their own data analysis pipe- an effective spin near zero, the most “outweighed” its slower partner.
line to look specifically for black hole likely reason is that the two black holes The LIGO and Virgo collaborations
mergers. This is unlike the approach either weren’t spinning fast before the have been discussing the results with
taken by the LIGO and Virgo collabora- merger or they were spinning but were Venumadhav’s team for about a year,
tions, who look at data with “eyes wide rolling on their sides relative to their and Brady for one thinks the analysis
open” to catch anything and every- orbit around each other. is sound. The collaboration plans to
thing, explains LIGO spokesperson However, one candidate, GW151216, release the second catalog of events
Patrick Brady (University of Wisconsin, bucks that trend. Its high effective spin around April 2020, which will include
Milwaukee). The more focused approach might mean that, before the merger, the candidates found in the third observing
provides greater sensitivity to spot qui- two black holes had similar masses and run’s first six months.
eter signals, Venumadhav said during a were whirling around each other like ■ CAMILLE M. CARLISLE
recent colloquium at Harvard Univer- two upright tops on a table. Or, it could • Read about the newfound black hole
sity’s Black Hole Initiative. be that one fast- and upright-spinning mergers at https://is.gd/newmergers.
SOLAR SYSTEM with so-called thermal tides, planet-scale

The Puzzling Clouds atmospheric waves generated when the
Sun heats the uppermost cloud layer.
of Venus The gas heats up and moves either
JAPAN’S AKATSUKI SPACECRAFT has toward higher altitudes or around to
revealed previously unknown dynam- the cooler nightside. This process could
ics in the Venusian atmosphere, say accelerate equatorial cloudtops, goading
scientists in two teams who presented them into superrotation.
their research at the joint meeting of Another factor plays a role in deter-
the European Planetary Science Con- mining wind speeds, says a group of
gress and the American Astronomical researchers led by Takeshi Horinouchi
Society’s Division for Planetary Sciences (Hokkaido University, Japan) and Yeon
in Geneva, Switzerland. Joo Lee (Technical University of Berlin).
The researchers’ findings relate to the p A false-color image shows what Venus looks They reported that the winds tend to be
BL ACK HOLES: LIGO / CA LTECH / MIT / AURORE SIM ONNE T
superrotation of Venus’s upper atmo- like at infrared and ultraviolet wavelengths. faster in the southern hemisphere than
sphere, which moves faster than the in the northern hemisphere. This differ- (SONO M A STATE ); V ENUS: PL A NE T- C PROJECT TE A M
planet’s surface turns. Venus takes 243 mottling and streaks in the cloud cover, ence could be linked to the distribution
Earth days to complete a single rotation, which the researchers tracked. While of a substance that absorbs ultraviolet
but its atmosphere whisks around the previous ultraviolet studies of the day- radiation. As this “unknown absorber”
planet in just four Earth days. side had found that clouds tend to drift affects how much heat the atmosphere
Kiichi Fukuya, Takeshi Imamura toward the poles, the infrared observa- takes in, variability in its abundance
(both at the University of Tokyo), and tions revealed that this trend reverses at would also affect wind speeds.
colleagues used Akatsuki’s Longwave night, when the clouds sometimes move ■ JAVIER BARBUZANO
Infrared Camera to observe cloud equatorward instead. • The BepiColombo spacecraft will
temperatures on the nightside as well as According to Imamura, the contrast- briefly visit Venus in 2020. Learn what’s
the dayside. These observations revealed ing cloud motions could be associated in store: https://is.gd/Venus2020.

GALAXIES
Exotic Messenger Probes
Galactic Halo
ASTRONOMERS UTILIZED a fast radio FRB 181112
host galaxy
burst, a powerful 40-microsecond-long
flash of radio waves, to evaluate the
state of the nearly invisible gas around Pulse of
radio waves
an intervening galaxy.
The mass of the hot, gaseous halo
that surrounds most massive galax- Intervening
ies is often on par with the mass of galaxy
all the stars in the galaxy itself. Yet
Earth
it largely evades detection. It’s both
very hot — “cooler” clouds of some
10,000K (17,500°F) float within a hot-
ter, million-degree atmosphere — and
sparse, with only a couple hundred p Astronomers utilized a 40-microsecond fast radio burst, designated FRB 181112, to probe a
atoms within the space of a child’s bal- galaxy’s outer reaches.
loon. So astronomers observe the gas
indirectly, by the way it absorbs the light J. Xavier Prochaska (University of radio waves passed through barely made
of background sources. California, Santa Cruz) and colleagues a dent in the signal.
Previous observations have sug- probed the halo using FRB 181112, a The intervening galaxy has a cen-
gested that halos tend to be turbulent, fast radio burst detected by the Austra- tral, supermassive black hole that’s still
with high-density clouds embedded in lian Square Kilometer Array Pathfinder. somewhat active. It’s possible that this
the rarefied gas. Yet when astronomers ASKAP immediately pinpointed the black hole once pushed out jets of mate-
reported in the October 11th Science source to a specific location on the sky. rial that evacuated the inner halo. Or,
that a powerful fast radio burst had As the powerful packet of radio waves it’s also possible that the gas that some
passed through the halo of an interven- traversed billions of light-years toward galaxies swim in is simply more serene
ing galaxy, they found that the radio Earth, it had passed within 95,000 than expected. The team plans to follow
waves seemed almost entirely undis- light-years of a foreground galaxy. up on other fast radio bursts to test
turbed, indicating an unexpectedly That’s close enough to pass through the these scenarios in other galaxies.
calm and sparse halo. galaxy’s halo, but whatever medium the ■ MONICA YOUNG
about an astrophysical black hole, an idea magnetic field, radio communications, the
IN BRIEF known as the no-hair theorem. The team operation of low-Earth satellites, and many
reports the results in the September 12th other aspects of Earth-space interactions.
Physicists Detect Black Physical Review Letters and in an upcoming Slated for a two-year primary mission, ICON
Hole Ringdown Physical Review X. will characterize the ionosphere indirectly, by
A re-analysis of LIGO’s first detection of ■ CAMILLE M. CARLISLE observing airglow, as well as directly via in
gravitational waves reveals that scientists can situ measurements. ICON’s launch came after
pick up the shudder in spacetime that follows a series of delays since its first scheduled
a black hole merger. This shudder, called
NASA Launches ICON launch from the Kwajalein Atoll in late 2017.
the ringdown, is like the dying vibration of a to Explore Ionosphere The delays were due to problems with the
struck bell. Physicists had typically looked for On October 10th Northrop Grumman’s Pegasus XL rocket, but ultimately the launch
the ringdown signal long after a merger, but Pegasus XL rocket, ejected from the fuselage went off without a hitch. Science measure-
graduate student Matthew Giesler (Caltech), of a L-1011 Stargazer aircraft, lofted NASA’s ments will begin at the current minimum of
Maximiliano Isi (MIT), and their colleagues dis- Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON) into solar activity, enabling scientists to focus on
covered that the ringdown could be detected low-Earth orbit. ICON will explore the bound- terrestrial drivers of space weather. If all goes
right away. The key, they found, is to look for ary between Earth and space by studying the well, ICON may observe solar maximum, too,
overtones, like additional tones in the ringing ionosphere, the region in Earth’s atmosphere when the Sun’s activity — and its effect on
ESO / M. KOR NMESSER
bell. Based on the ringdown’s fundamental that’s ionized by incoming sunlight. In the Earth — is more variable.
vibration and its overtones, the researchers ionosphere, rarefied ions and electrons flow, ■ DAVID DICKINSON
calculated the black hole’s mass and spin. their motions governed by winds, daytime
They confirmed that these two parameters heating and nighttime cooling, and solar Read more about ICON’s mission at:
encapsulate everything you need to know activity. The movements of ions affect Earth’s https://is.gd/ICONlaunch.
COSMIC RELIEF by David Grinspoon
Mission
to an
Interstellar
Object
It’s time to visit a body from
another star system — without
leaving ours.
EVERYTHING WE THINK WE KNOW

about the universe beyond our solar sys-
tem has come from photons and a few
grains of interstellar dust. But that near-
complete material isolation is about to
end. Our system apparently buzzes with
objects from elsewhere in the galaxy. It’s
time to go out and meet one. a “typical” comet (see page 10). Two The European Space Agency’s
The existence of extraterrestrial objects detected in a short interval recently selected Comet Interceptor
comets isn’t a surprise. We’ve known implies many more. mission has this philosophy. It will wait
for decades that, unless there’s some- Could we launch a mission to in a stable orbit and then shoot off
thing seriously wrong with our ideas intercept 2I/Borisov and do a close toward a suitable long-period comet.
about planet formation, they must flyby or even grab a sample? There isn’t These are hard to catch, because once
exist. Building planets through gravi- time. These things come in and fly off detected they quickly fly through the
tational accretion is messy. Planet fast, far too fast to be in permanent inner solar system and back out into
assembly should be causing a constant orbit around the Sun. But there will be the dark. Such an approach will be even
exodus of bodies loosed from the grip of more. The trick is to build and launch more crucial for interstellar comets,
their home stars. If anything, it seemed a spacecraft — a small and very fast which come in even faster.
a little strange that we hadn’t seen spacecraft — that will be ready to spring It has to be done, though, and if one
something hurtling in from elsewhere into action when we spy another such of the national space agencies doesn’t
in the galaxy. interloper on a trajectory we can reach. take it on, it’s a great opportunity for a
That changed in late 2017 when we
detected the bizarre extrasolar object It’s a great opportunity for a zillionaire philanthropist to make
‘Oumuamua whipping through our
solar system (S&T: Oct. 2018, p. 20). history with a theatrical and scientifically rich exploration first.
We didn’t get a very good look, and
‘Oumuamua was just so weird — cigar- This is not how we usually do things: zillionaire philanthropist to make his-
thin and seemingly accelerating myste- constructing a spacecraft when we tory with a theatrical and scientifically
riously — that it didn’t necessarily call haven’t even found the target. But the rich exploration first.
out, “I’m a typical interstellar wanderer merits of the approach became clear Just think: We can touch “other”
and there are many just like me.” with the recent success of New Hori- star stuff. What are we waiting for?
Now a second one has turned up. zons at 2014 MU69, also known as
LE AH TISCIONE / S&T
Found by Crimean amateur astrono- Ultima Thule (S&T: July 2019, p. 10). ■ Contributing Editor DAVID GRIN-
mer Gennady Borisov on August 30th, That was a fantastically rewarding SPOON is coauthor, with Alan Stern, of
2I/Borisov is already sporting a bit of encounter with a body that we hadn’t Chasing New Horizons: Inside the Epic
a coma, so it seems much more like discovered at the time of launch. First Mission to Pluto.

ONWARD AND UPWARD by David Dickinson and Terri Dubé
OUTER SOLAR SYSTEM
Space Kuiper Belt
Missions
in 2020 URANUS
Here’s our digest of active space mis-

sions for 2020. Included are astrophys-
ics, space weather, planetary, and solar
NEPTUNE
and stellar observation missions; we
omit missions that primarily observe SATURN
Earth. Planet locations are marked for
January 1, 2020. Mission statuses are
current (to the best of our knowledge)
as of September 2019. Those orbit-
ing Earth are primarily categorized
by research topic, which can be a bit JUPITER
subjective, and we’ve lumped all sci- Juno New
Horizons
ence projects aboard the International
Space Station under “ISS.” Also listed
are planned launches, though these are
always subject to change. Voyager 2
2020 is a Mars year. Four missions Voyager 1

from four separate space agencies are
looking to make the journey to the Red
Planet in 2020, adding to the grow-
ing fleet of craft both on and orbiting
Mars. China may also begin construc-
tion of its own space station in low- 2019 Scheduled
Earth orbit, and NASA’s Osiris-REX Launches
Chang’e 5 (to Moon)
mission will begin its asteroid sam-
Cheops (exoplanets, Earth orbit)
pling phase in mid-2020. Meanwhile, ICON (space weather, Earth orbit)
R O C K E T S: O PH AT A NGWO R A K U N / S H U T T E R S TO C K .C O M ;
Japan’s Hayabusa 2 sample-return mis-
sion is slated to return to Earth at the
2020 Scheduled
end of the year. Another big mission
Launches
PL A N E TS: M E LO K / S H U T T E R S TO C K .C O M
end: The Spitzer Space Telescope will Solar Orbiter (to Sun)
shut down after 16 years (see page 18). Lunar Scout (to Moon)
Mars 2020 (to Mars)
ExoMars 2020 (to Mars)
NOT TO SCALE Mars Global Sensing
Remote Orbiter (to Mars)
Mars Hope (to Mars)

INNER SOLAR SYSTEM
MOON EARTH-ORBITING SPACECRAFT

IN ORBIT ASTROPHYSICS PLANETARY
Themis-Artemis EARTH-SUN EARTH-SUN AGILE IBEX
Lunar Reconnaissance L2 POINT L1 POINT Asteria Hisaki
Orbiter Gaia ACE Astrosat NEOSSAT
Chandrayaan 2 Spektr-RG DSCOVR Chandra NEOWISE
SOHO DAMPE (Wukong)
ON SURFACE SOLAR
WIND Fermi
Chang’e 4 Hinode
HaloSat
IRIS
MOON-EARTH L 2 POINT Hubble
PROBA 2
Queqiao HXMT (Huiyan)
SDO
Integral
ISS SPACE
Lomonosov WEATHER
NUSTAR Geotail
Swift GOES
TESS MMS
XMM-Newton Themis
Van Allen Probes
STELLAR
BRITE
TESS
BepiColombo
Stereo A
VENUS
Akatsuki
SUN
Parker
Solar Probe
101955 BENNU
162173 RYUGU Osiris-REX
MERCURY
Hayabusa 2
Spitzer
MARS
IN ORBIT ON SURFACE
Asteroid Belt
Mars Odyssey Curiosity
Mars Reconnaissance Insight
Orbiter
MAVEN
MOM (Mangalyaan)
Trace Gas Orbiter
THE INFRARED SKY by Michael Werner & Thomas Soifer
Spitzer’s
NASA’s premier eye on the infrared sky is
shutting down after operating more than
three times longer than designed.
O n January 30, 2020, an era in astronomy will end.

On this date, NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope will
send us its final observations, finishing a remarkable,
16-year exploration of the universe at infrared wavelengths.
Spitzer is one of the four Great Observatories, a quartet
of space telescopes launched by NASA in the 1990s and early
2000s to unveil the multiwavelength universe, from infra-
red to gamma ray. Originally known as the Shuttle Infrared
Telescope Facility (SIRTF), the telescope concept came to life
in 1971, when NASA was seeking payloads to fly on the Space
Shuttle. Converted in 1984 to a free-flying observatory orbit-
ing Earth, SIRTF underwent a series of (sometimes drastic)
redefinitions before being launched as a Great Observatory
into a heliocentric orbit in August 2003.
Although the public often latches onto Hubble (another
Great Observatory) as the pinnacle of scientific discov-
ery machines, astronomers already knew while planning
Spitzer that there was at least as much to explore at infrared
wavelengths as at visible ones. Infrared radiation pierces our
galaxy’s giant molecular clouds to reveal the dusty cocoons
of forming stars. It also unveils distant galaxies heavily
enshrouded in cosmic dust. Furthermore, because the uni-
verse’s expansion stretches the light from distant galaxies
to longer wavelengths, it is infrared, not visible light, that
enables us to look back in time to the universe’s first few
billion years.
VISIBLE: DSS / D. DE M A RTIN; INFR A RED: N ASA / JPL- CA LTECH /

Still, back when mission planners were first envisioning
what Spitzer would do, no planets were known to orbit stars
other than the Sun, and the most distant objects known lay
10 to 11 billion years in the universe’s past. Now, Spitzer
has not only seen exoplanets crossing in front of their stars
but also directly detected the glow from their heat and the
chemical components of their atmospheres. We thought we
L. REBULL (SSC / CA LTECH)
were being bold in developing science programs to look back
t VANISHING CONTINENT The North America Nebula familiar to visual

observers (top) disappears when viewed at infrared wavelengths with
Spitzer (bottom). Dark clouds become transparent, and the glow of
dusty cocoons enveloping baby stars appears more prominent.

Legacy
q SPITZER’S JOURNEY Spitzer trails behind Earth in its heliocentric orbit,
moving farther from us with time. The space telescope operated with three
instruments during its six-year cryogenic mission. During the subsequent
“warm” and “beyond” phases of its mission, it has stayed cool by hiding in
its solar panels’ shadow, but it could only use one instrument at this higher
temperature (about 27K). As the craft has pulled farther from Earth, the
angle between its observing orientation and the one for pointing its antenna
toward Earth for data downlinks has become more severe. The solar panels
must now tilt away from the Sun beyond what mission planners designed
the craft to handle.
10th Anniversary
Aug. 25, 2013
sion
m mis
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Aug. 25, 2003 Earth Sun
Direction of orbit
around Sun
11 billion years, but Spitzer has detected galaxies seen as After the cryogen supply was exhausted in 2009, radia-
they were more than 13 billion years ago, just a few hundred tive cooling enabled Spitzer to continue observing in its two
million years after the Big Bang. In short, Spitzer has greatly shortest wavelength bands, at 3.6 and 4.5 microns, with no
advanced our understanding of the universe. loss of sensitivity. This second phase is known as Spitzer’s
warm mission.
Cosmic Chill The inherent sensitivity of a cryogenic telescope in space,
Spitzer originally observed mid- to far-infrared wavelengths, which provides access to the entire infrared spectrum free of
G REGG DINDER M A N / S&T, SOURCE: N ASA / JPL- CA LTECH
from 3.6 to 160 microns. For sensitive infrared observa-

tions from space, it is necessary to cool the telescope and
the detectors to within shouting distance of absolute zero. Rechristened
Previous infrared instruments had launched cold, but the
The Shuttle Infrared Telescope Facility’s name
team took a different approach with Spitzer: SIRTF launched
changed to Spitzer when the first scientific results
with most of the telescope at room temperature, then turned
were announced in December 2003. The name
the spacecraft so that its solar panels shielded the telescope
from sunlight and let it cool to less than 40 kelvin (−233°C)
honors astrophysicist Lyman Spitzer, Jr., who in 1946
by radiating its heat into cold space. Radiative cooling is very
was one of the first to propose putting a telescope in
effective in a heliocentric orbit, far from Earth’s glow; only space, and who tenaciously lobbied both NASA and
after this initial cooling did the liquid helium cryogen kick in Congress for a space telescope’s development.
to take the detectors to less than 2K.
The Infrared Sky
Wavelength (meters)
–12 –9 –6
10 10 10 10–3 100 103 106
Gamma rays X-rays UV Visible Infrared Microwaves Radio waves
106 103 100 10–3 10–6 10–9 10–12

Photon energy (eV )
Compton Chandra Hubble Spitzer
Atoms Molecules Human Grains Insects Humans Buildings

cells of sand
PROJECT; HU M A NS: A DRIEN COQ UE T / THE NOUN PROJECT; BUILDINGS: UN·DELIV ERED / THE
p THE GREAT OBSERVATORIES NASA’s four premier space telescopes observed from the far infrared to gamma rays. The Compton Gamma-Ray
PROJECT; M OLECULES: DELWA R HOSSAIN / THE NOUN PROJECT; HU M A N CELLS: TERRI DUBÉ
/ S&T; G R AINS OF SA ND: DENNIS / THE NOUN PROJECT; INSECTS: V ECTORSTA LL / THE NOUN
Observatory shut down in 2000; the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory and Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope now patrol that spectral range.
OBSERVATORIES INFOG R A PHIC: TERRI DUBÉ / S&T; ATO MS: CRE ATIV E STA LL / THE NOUN
the bright emission of the atmosphere or the telescope itself, visible light. Spitzer’s extensive studies of the formation and
allows the 33-inch Spitzer to be many times more sensitive evolution of stars and planetary systems exploit both these
than even a 10-m ground-based telescope operating at the qualities.
same wavelengths. Spitzer’s instruments exploited this gain Starbirth begins when a portion of a dense interstellar
by filling its focal plane with (what were then) large-format cloud of gas and dust starts to collapse under its own gravity.
detector arrays. These arrays not only enabled efficient spec- The forming star passes through a number of stages, each of
troscopy at wavelengths between 5 and 40 microns, but also which has a characteristic appearance in the infrared, driven
allowed Spitzer to achieve both deep and rapid imaging sur- initially by the energy released by the infalling material and
veys over fields of view comparable to or much larger than the later by the onset of nuclear fusion. Even as the core bulks up
angular size of the full Moon. These capabilities gave astrono- and develops into a star, conservation of angular momentum
mers a valuable window on the universe, from star formation dictates that some of the collapsing cloud forms a protoplan-
and exoplanets to the evolution of galaxies over cosmic time. etary disk orbiting the star.
NOUN PROJECT
Spitzer’s surveys have measured hundreds to thousands of
Formation of Stars and Planetary Systems young stars in each of these stages. Those observations have
Although our Milky Way Galaxy came together some 13 bil- shown that the coagulation process that results in planets
lion years ago, stars have been forming
throughout its history, from its first years
through when the Sun and Earth coalesced
some 4.6 billion years ago and to today.
We now understand that, in most cases, Edge On
a forming star gives birth to a planetary Spectrum of an Edge-on Disk
system.
Infrared observations can peer through Methane
dense interstellar dust clouds, which are gas
opaque at visible wavelengths. They can Methyl
also record the light emitted by objects alcohol
Brightness
which are too cold (below a few thousand

degrees kelvin) to produce appreciable Carbon
Water dioxide ice
ice
u COSMOCHEMISTRY Spitzer observations of Silicates
stars cocooned in dusty gas (illustration, center)
have picked up several common compounds. 10 15
Silicate minerals show up in spectra of protoplan- Wavelength (microns)
etary disks seen edge on (left, for protostar HH 46
IRS 1), whereas face on we have a clear view of
the warm inner regions around the star (far right,
for AA Tauri).

begins within a few million years of the disks’ formation.
Spitzer has also seen the very stuff that life as we know it
depends on being absorbed into forming planetary systems.
Spectra of face-on protoplanetary disks show us warm gas
rich in water vapor within the central few astronomical units
around the protostar. At the same time, looking edge-on
through a cold disk we see absorption due to silicate dust, IC 417 in Auriga, infrared composite
as well as the telltale signatures of frozen water and other
ices that have condensed on the cold surfaces of the silicate
grains. These icy grains might one day participate in the for- we thus also know the worlds’ densities. This makes Trap-
mation of habitable worlds. pist-1 perhaps the best characterized planetary system outside
of the solar system.
Exoplanets Astronomers can also use Spitzer to study planets’ heat
The study of exoplanets is one of the most exciting areas signatures. If a planet glows brightly enough in the infrared,
20 0 4; FACE- ON SPECTRU M: A DA PTED FRO M N ASA / JPL- CA LTECH / J. S. CA RR A ND J. R. N A JITA /
PROTOPL A NE TA RY DISK: N ASA / JPL- CA LTECH / R. HURT (SSC / CA LTECH); EDG E- ON SPECTRU M:
of contemporary astrophysical research. Astronomers have then when it passes behind its star Spitzer will detect a tiny
A DA PTED FRO M A . NORIEG A- CRESPO E T A L. / ASTR OPHYSICAL JOUR NAL SUPPLEMENT SER IES
detected only a few dozen exoplanets directly, because it is drop in the system’s emission, because the light of the planet
very difficult to see the light from a planet in the glare of the is no longer seen. The depth of this eclipse tells us how much
nearby host star. But exoplanets are so common that many lie infrared radiation the planet emits. When combined with the
in orbits seen edge on, passing first in front of, then behind planet’s size, this measurement indicates the planet’s tem-
their stars from our perspective. This geometry gives Spitzer perature. Spitzer has measured planets as hot as 3000K and
multiple ways to learn about alien worlds. as cool as 700K, but it cannot reach down to Earth’s tempera-
One of the most famous examples of this work is the Trap- ture, which is about 300K.
pist-1 planetary system. Following up on ground-based obser- Transiting systems can also tell us about exoplanet atmo-
vations that hinted at a peculiar system, a 20-day Spitzer spheres. Spitzer’s measurements can be combined with obser-
campaign caught seven Earth-size planets transiting across vations at shorter wavelengths to study the composition of an
SCIENCE 20 0 8; IC 417: N ASA / JPL- CA LTECH
the face of the faint red star Trappist-1 in 2016. Three of these exoplanet’s atmosphere and even to diagnose the presence of
exoplanets may lie in the star’s habitable zone, where liquid clouds or hazes. Spitzer eclipse measurements in five infrared
water could exist stably on their surfaces. bands between 3.6 and 16 microns show that the exoplanet
Spitzer’s precise timing of these worlds’ transits enabled GJ 436b, for example, has a much higher fraction of heavy
astronomers to determine that gravitational tugs exchanged elements in its gaseous atmosphere than does its host star. GJ
by the planets changed the exact moment when each planet 436b is about the size of Neptune, which, interestingly, shows
crossed in front of the star. The altered transit times in turn a similar enhancement in heavy elements relative to the Sun.
revealed the exoplanets’ masses. As the planets’ radii are In addition, we can study another aspect of a planet’s
known from how much starlight they block as they transit, atmosphere by observing the change in its brightness
Spectrum of a Face-on Disk
Face On Acetylene Hydrogen Carbon All other features

cyanide dioxide are water
Brightness
13 14 15 16
Wavelength (microns)
The Infrared Sky
throughout its orbit as it shows us different fractions of its in the region between these two belts, just as Jupiter, Saturn,
starlit side. This pattern, called a phase curve, shows how well Uranus, and Neptune lie between the two solar system belts.
the atmosphere redistributes the energy of absorbed starlight. Finally, collisions between 100 km-size asteroids in systems,
When astronomers converted Spitzer’s phase curve into a inferred from transient increases in the dust orbiting the
map of the temperature distribution for the Jovian-mass stars, are counterparts to the violent events that shaped our
exoplanet HD 189733b, the map showed that the hottest system’s inner planets.
spot on this exoplanet is not at the point where the star is Thus, the evolution of the universe has led in many cases
directly overhead. Rather, the hotspot is displaced by about to conditions similar to those in our own system, including
30 degrees in longitude, likely due to winds of thousands of conditions that might be favorable to the development of life.
miles per hour transporting energy before it can be radi-
ated away. Spitzer has seen similar offsets on other planets, The Distant Universe
including 55 Cancri e. In the case of the recently discovered Spitzer has also observed beyond the stars and exoplanets of
super-Earth LHS 3844b, by contrast, the absence of such an our own galaxy, reaching out to the billions upon billions of
offset, combined with the drastic drop in temperature from galaxies in the universe. Understanding how galaxies form
the dayside to the nightside, shows that this exoplanet has at and evolve has been a driving question in astrophysics for
most a very thin atmosphere. Although many telescopes have many decades. Infrared observations have been applied to this
measured transits, Spitzer has stood almost alone in its ability question in two separate domains: low and high redshifts.
to measure eclipses and phase curves. These domains split at a redshift of 3, corresponding to a
The discussion above illustrates how scientists have used lookback time of approximately 11.5 billion years.
Spitzer and other telescopes to derive remarkably detailed With its enormous gain over prior missions in imaging
information about exoplanets, even though they’re never sensitivity, predominantly at 24 microns, and its substantial
directly seen. The architectures of these systems differ from spectroscopic capability, Spitzer has probed infrared-bright
that of our own solar system. Indeed, if our familiar eight galaxies throughout the universe’s last 11.5 billion years. For
planets orbited a nearby star at the same distance they orbit these galaxies, any infrared emission at wavelengths longer
the Sun, they would have gone undetected by most of the than 5 microns is generally the warm glow from dust heated
techniques used to date. by young stars. This radiation is a proxy for the number
Nevertheless, there are remarkable similarities between of young stars, and from this glow we can determine the
our own solar system and exoplan-
etary systems. Systems with multiple
planets are common. The silicate C
materials found often resemble those B
seen in comets, such as Hale-Bopp
and Tempel 1. Many systems show
evidence for two bands of circumstel-
lar dust, corresponding roughly to the
zodiacal dust in the inner solar system
and the Kuiper Belt farther out. In at A (not to scale)
least one case, four giant planets orbit
G REGG DINDER M A N A ND LE A H TISCIONE / S&T, SOURCE N ASA / JPL- CA LTECH /

UNIV. OF CA MBRIDG E A ND N ASA / JPL- CA LTECH / L. K REIDBERG (CEN TER FOR
Relative brightness, compared with star only (%)
B
Brightest spot on planet
points directly
rec at us
u PHASE CURVE When 55
100.004 A C
Cancri e transits in front of its Planet passes Planet passes
star (A in both orbit and light in front
nt o
of star behind
ind star
curve diagrams), the dip’s size
reveals the planet’s diameter. 100.002
When the planet moves behind
ASTROPH YSICS, H A RVA RD & SMITHSONIA N)
the star, its infrared glow disap- Planet light

pears (C), revealing its bright- 100.000
ness. Together, the two dips Starlight
tell astronomers the planet’s
temperature. However, the peak 99.998
of the planet’s light curve (B) is
offset from its eclipse, indicating
that the hottest point is not at 99.996
high noon. That suggests strong
winds redistribute the star’s heat
across the planet. Duration of one orbit (17.8 hours)

u GALAXY IN INFRARED The spiral arms of M81 in Ursa Major become
more dramatic in this infrared composite (top). Blue traces the distribu-
tion of stars, whereas green is radiation from hot dust. In visible light, the
bulge is what catches the eye (bottom).
star-formation rate. Combined with multiwavelength data

from other instruments, these results show that star forma-
tion across the universe peaked between 2.3 and 3.8 billion
years after the Big Bang and has been decreasing ever since.
Astronomers refer to this period of rampant starbirth as
cosmic high noon.
Swathed in dust, many of the distant galaxies we see are
faint at visible wavelengths, even though they blaze in the
infrared. As we look back in time, the concentration of galax-
ies that are oddly bright in the infrared skyrockets. These
systems appear to be predominantly powered by vigorous star
formation, with hundreds to thousands of solar masses of
gas being converted each year into stars. The starbursts are
almost entirely obscured by dust. Thus, the most active period
of star formation in the universe is largely hidden from view
in visible light and accessible only with infrared observations.
For far more distant galaxies, those with a redshift of 6 or
greater (or a lookback time of 12.5 billion years or more), the
galaxy’s light has been stretched so much that the glow from
star-heated dust is undetectable by Spitzer. For a galaxy at red-
shift 6, an observed wavelength of 4.5 microns corresponds to
an emitted wavelength of 0.64 micron, which lies at the red
edge of the visual band. Thus for high redshifts, Spitzer tells
us not about the thermal emission from galaxies but about
the visible light they emit.
This visible light comes from the galaxies’ older stars.
Because these older stars dominate a galaxy’s stellar popula-
tion, we can use their light to measure the total mass of stars
in the galaxy.
Astronomers can also compare Spitzer observations to
those by Hubble or ground-based instruments to extract the
INFR A RED: N ASA / JPL- CA LTECH; VISIBLE: N ASA / ESA / HUBBLE HERITAG E TE A M (STSCI / AUR A)
age of the stars producing the ultraviolet and visible light

that’s been redshifted to Spitzer’s domain by cosmic expan-
sion. Observations of one such galaxy, at a redshift of 9.11,
indicate the stars are approximately 300 million years old.
Reaching into the Past

The basic tool used to discover galaxies with high red-
shifts is the Lyman dropout technique (S&T: Apr. 2018,
p. 14). This method utilizes the fact that neutral
hydrogen atoms become ionized when they absorb photons with wavelengths shorter than 0.09 micron. So the
universe, which is suffused with neutral hydrogen gas, is effectively opaque to such photons. Thus, if an image
obtained at 0.5 micron shows a galaxy that is not seen at 0.4 micron, we infer that the redshifted wavelength
of hydrogen ionization falls between the two bands, at about 0.45 micron. From there, we can calculate that
the galaxy has a redshift of approximately 4.
The Infrared Sky
p DISTANT GALAXIES Every circle in this composite visible and infrared image marks a galaxy with a redshift of more than 7, corresponding to a
lookback time of nearly 13 billion years. The inset is a Spitzer image of one of the galaxies. The main image is of part of the sky near the Draco-Ursa
Major boundary, and most of the objects in the image are galaxies.
Since the galaxy is observed at a lookback time of 13.2 billion large ground-based telescopes, we are indeed developing an
years, the result suggests that this galaxy’s star-formation accurate picture of the growth and evolution of galaxies in
episode occurred about 300 million years after the Big Bang. the universe.
These observations enable Spitzer to measure the growth
of galaxies in two ways: by measuring how much mass is Infrared Leaps
in galaxies at a given time, and by measuring how fast the This wide-ranging scope of discovery is now coming to an
galaxies are growing by forming stars. Comparing what we’d end. Faced with a limited pool of funds, NASA has chosen to
expect the stellar masses to be, based on the starbirth rates, retire Spitzer because the high operating cost inherent to its
with what we actually observe yields a gratifying conflu- mission design made it less attractive than other operating
ence across more than 12 billion years of cosmic history. The missions that were competing for the same funds.
N ASA / JPL- CA LTECH / ESA / SPIT ZER / P. OESCH / S. DE BA RROS/ I. L A BBE

strong agreement demonstrates that with Spitzer, Hubble, and Because Spitzer was such a leap in capability compared to
what had come before, it was able to lead the way in astro-
physical exploration over the last decade and a half. This
is the constant lesson of advances in technology that have
The Farthest Galaxy driven astrophysics since the end of World War II. We saw
Spitzer Can See this with the early infrared missions, with space observato-
ries, with the twin Keck telescopes, and with the Very Large
Spitzer’s redshift limit is currently set by the heroic
Telescope quartet in Chile, as well as with myriad other
observation by Pascal Oesch (now University of instruments, all of which, in one way or another, have probed
Geneva) and his colleagues of a galaxy at a redshift the mysteries of the infrared universe. Doubtless we will
11.1. The detection required about 70 hours of continue to see it with future ground- and space-based tele-
Spitzer observations at 4.5 microns. We see this scopes, including the next major infrared facility, the James
galaxy at a time when the universe was only 3% Webb Space Telescope, set to launch in 2021.
of its current age. Even as Spitzer sends its final data back to Earth at the end
of January 2020, commands will be sent to place the space-

u GALAXY GROWTH Astronomers have tracked the history of star for- Time (billions of years ago)
mation back 13 billion years (top). Starbirth peaked across the universe 12 10 8 6 4 Today
0.006
Cosmic star formation rate (solar masses

approximately 10 billion years ago. When they add up all the star forma-
per year per million light-years cubed)

tion over time, astronomers can estimate the universe’s bulk mass in
stars (black line, bottom graph) — and this estimate agrees with observa-
0.003
tions of galaxies’ buildup (data points, bottom graph). The density drops
as we look back in time because fewer stars had formed then.
0.001
craft into a safe orientation and shut it down, leaving it to
drift silently in an Earth-trailing orbit. As we bid it goodbye, 0.0006
we eagerly anticipate seeing the wonders of the universe
unveiled by Spitzer further explored by future telescopes.
0.0003
¢ MICHAEL WERNER (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) has been

project scientist for the Spitzer Space Telescope since 1983. 0.0001
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
THOMAS SOIFER (California Institute of Technology) has been Redshift
the director of the Spitzer Science Center since 1997 and
was a member of the Infrared Spectrograph science team for Time (billions of years ago)
12 10 8 6 4 Today
(solar masses per million light-years cubed)

Spitzer from 1984 to 2012.
FURTHER READING: A more complete account of Spitzer sci- 107
Cosmic stellar mass density

ence is given by Werner and Peter Eisenhardt in More Things in
the Heavens: How Infrared Astronomy is Expanding Our View of
the Universe. Princeton University Press, 2019 (see book review 106
on page 57).
Read the Spitzer team blog: spitzer.caltech.edu/explore/blog 105
104
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
Redshift
G R A PH S: P. M A DAU A N D M . D ICK IN SO N / AN N UAL RE VIE W OF ASTRON OM Y &
ASTROPH YSICS 2 014; W4 0 : N ASA / JPL- CA LTEC H
STELLAR NURSERY The wings of the

cosmic butterfly W40 are dusty, organics-
rich material ejected by the young cluster
of stars at the nebula’s heart. This infrared
mosaic combines four Spitzer images.
FORENSIC ASTRONOMY by Jeffrey Dobereiner
May 22, 1912. 3:21½
Shadow of a Doubt
In a historic Omaha court case, astronomical evidence played a key role in foiling an attempt
to frame a man for attempted murder.
tp A 1910 trial in Omaha, Nebras-

ka, hinged on two girls who saw a
man matching the description of
the accused carrying a suitcase
bomb on their way home from
church, where they had been pho-
tographed after a confirmation cer-
emony. William Rigge, astronomer
at Creighton University, invalidated
their testimony by analyzing the
shadows in the photo and proving
that it had been taken a half hour
after the bomb was discovered.
Rigge (in foreground, with watch)
reenacted the scene precisely two
May 22, 1910. Computed time within one minute of 3:21½ years after the first photo, showing
the shadow in the same location.

O The key to RigƐe’s method is that the daily
n December 9, 1910, attorney John Yeisner’s client
was on track to be convicted for attempted murder.
Every piece of evidence seemed stacked against him. course of the Sun from east to west and its
One can imagine the confusion in the Nebraska courthouse north-south variation through the seasons
when Yeisner called his star defense witness to the stand. The
53-year-old man wasn’t a doctor, an investigator, or a charac- yield only a pair of dates and a single time
ter witness for the accused. to which any given solar position can ever
He was an astronomer, clad in the formal garb of a Jesuit
priest. correlate.
In a remarkable meeting of photography, cutting-edge
science, and organized crime, Father William Rigge used
astronomy to demolish the prosecution’s case. With care- The public was fascinated by this revelation. Somewhere in
ful analysis of a shadow in a photograph, he dismantled the the buzz of local media and the public lectures surrounding
timeline presented by the police, invalidated the testimony of Rigge’s newest work, his pioneering method lodged itself in
the prosecution’s key witnesses, and put an innocent man on the mind of an up-and-coming attorney named John Yeisner.
the path to freedom. And six years later, when a tough case looked to be at the
It was a stroke of luck that Rigge ended up in Nebraska at brink of losing an innocent man his freedom, Rigge’s meth-
all. He had distinguished himself at Georgetown University’s odological innovation would save the day.
observatory in Washington, DC, and seemed poised to lead The case began on May 22, 1910, when the police found
in the field of astronomy. But severe eyestrain prevented him and defused a suitcase bomb on the porch of Omaha’s reign-
from continuing his research, so the Jesuits reassigned him ing political boss and racketeer. The police quickly fingered
from the newly built 12-inch refracting telescope at George- Yeisner’s client, a mortal enemy of the politico, as their prime
town to fledgling Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska. suspect. As the investigation grew, the prosecution found
Rigge’s vision may have been impaired, but his spirit their ace in the hole: a pair of eyewitnesses. Two teenage girls
remained undimmed. He threw himself into enhancing and claimed that they had seen the accused carrying a suitcase
running Creighton Observatory and became a central mem- matching the bomb’s description as they were on their way
ber of the Omaha community, as well as an evangelist of home after church that day. They could not see his face but
astronomy and modern science. His outreach efforts included recognized him by his clothes and distinctive limp.
a widely publicized construction of a Foucault pendulum in Yeisner suspected that the supposed victim had planted
an abandoned smokestack on Creighton’s campus, organiz- the bomb on his own porch and then hired a look-alike to
ing a faculty expedition to Georgia to witness the famed total walk the streets with a dummy suitcase to make the suspect
solar eclipse of 1900, and hosting regular public viewing look guilty. But as the trial date approached, all looked lost —
sessions through Creighton’s 5-inch refracting telescope. He that is, until December 2nd, a week before open court, when
also published widely on topics designed to engage broader Yeisner uncovered what would become the key piece of excul-
audiences, from perpetual calendars to upcoming eclipses patory evidence. He discovered that the teenage witnesses
and transits, as well as reviews of the newest developments in had been photographed after church on the day of the crime.
the field of astronomy. The Sun had projected
A 1904 article Rigge published in Scientific American may a prominent shadow
stand out as his work of greatest consequence. While contem- across the church
plating a photo of his observatory taken some years earlier, façade. The attorney had
Rigge mused that pronounced shadows cast onto the front an inkling: Could this
of the structure could offer the means to reconstruct when be the key to exonerat-
it was taken. Rigge worked through the riddle, calculated the ing his client? He set out
precise moment the photograph was snapped, and went on to find the astronomer
A LL PHOTOS COURTESY OF CREIG H TON UNIV ERSIT Y
to confirm his hypothesis by watching the expected tableau who would help him
of shadows realign on the façade of the observatory when his find out.
projected date and time rolled around again in 1904. Rigge leapt at the
The key to Rigge’s method is that the daily course of the opportunity, excited by
Sun from east to west and its north-south variation through the prospect of bring-
the seasons yield only a pair of dates and a single time to ing his method to bear
which any given solar position can ever correlate, as shown
on page 28. Rigge’s breakthrough was realizing that pro-
u William Rigge had a
nounced shadows in a photograph can offer the means to keen mind, a dry wit, and
reverse-engineer the Sun’s position in the sky — and by exten- a passion for mathematical
sion, the exact date and time of the photograph’s capture. precision.
Forensic Astronomy
in a court of law. He went to the church and redrew the

profile of the shadow as shown in the photo. Working with a
professional surveyor, he then measured the distance south,
west, and upward to the roof corner that cast the shadow.
He incorporated his collected measurements with data on
latitude and longitude, ran trigonometric equations, and
determined the exact position of the Sun in the sky at the
time the photograph was taken. A quick check in an astro-
nomical almanac yielded the moment the photo was cap-
tured on May 22nd. As Rigge entered the courtroom on that
fateful December day, just a week after meeting Yeisner, he
knew exactly when the photograph was taken. He announced
without hesitation to the judge and 12 jurors that it was
captured between 3:20.5 and 3:22.5 p.m.
Rigge had just blown up the prosecution’s case. The police
had discovered and defused the bomb at 2:50 p.m. Rigge’s
testimony meant the witnesses were claiming to have seen
the defendant carrying the bomb after it was already safely in
the hands of the police — a clear impossibility. The witnesses’
testimony had to be thrown out. With no direct evidence to
bolster their case, the prosecution was left with a hung jury.
The struggle, however, wasn’t over for Rigge and the p In a 1904 Scientific American article, Rigge proved that this photo
was taken on May 2, 1893, at 3:06 p.m. Central Time. The position of the
defense team. The prosecution pressed for a retrial. In the
shadow on the window casing gave the time and narrowed the date to
three months before the return to court, they attempted to either May 2nd or August 11th. The state of the grass proved that it was
intimidate and discredit Rigge. The lead detective and sup- May, and the clarity of the air and position of the weathervane matched
posed victim visited Rigge’s offices at Creighton repeatedly, meteorological records for 1893.
trying to persuade him to abandon Yeisner’s cause. At one
point, they even presented a doctored photograph to Rigge, in confident that the testimony on which the case hinged was
an attempt to catch him in a contradiction. incorrect, and he wasn’t going to be bullied. When the second
Rigge saw through the doctored photograph, and held his trial began in March 1911, however, the prosecution was
ground, like pioneering astronomers before him. He insisted ready for him.
that he had no interest in the guilt or innocence of Yeisner’s The lead prosecutor began to attack Rigge’s methods and
client. But as an unbiased and professional scientist, he was science in general, offering sarcastic asides to the jury during
Shadow Science A line from the tip of a shadow through the tip of the
object that casts it points directly to the Sun. By defini-
tion, it’s local apparent solar noon when the Sun is on the
Zenith Sun on May 22
2:54 local solar time meridian, due south as seen from the North Temperate
Zone. The Sun’s hour angle (distance west of the merid-
e ian) determines the time of day, and its declination (dis-
ic
e lst tance north or south of the celestial equator) determines
tic 6 p.m. o s
e rs xe
m no the time of year, or date.
um qui
s 3 p.m. e To pin down a moment within a year, you need to
… Noon know both the date and time. Ironically, it’s quite easy to
…
on ice measure the time, the less significant of those numbers,
un lst
S E o because the Sun’s east-west motion results primarily
o f
ers
G REGG DINDER M A N / S&T
t
in from Earth’s rotation, roughly ¼° degree per minute, as
th
w
Pa
N
…
users of non-tracking telescopes know to their sorrow.
When measuring the time of photographs, Rigge was
S
essentially using the structures in the photos as giant
W sundials, and a first-rate sundial is indeed accurate to

a biting cross-examination. By referencing the inaccuracy of
weather predictions as well as the mass hysteria surrounding
the recent passage of Halley’s Comet, he built an air of absur-
dity around the scientific method. The technique worked; at
the second trial the jury convicted and sentenced Yeisner’s
client to 15 years in prison.
But Yeisner wasn’t going to let an innocent man rot in
prison. He appealed the sentence to the Supreme Court of the
State of Nebraska, whose five judges were less susceptible to
rhetorical flourishes than the local jury; they threw out the
conviction on the basis of insufficient evidence.
The prosecution made one more attempt to discredit Rigge
by hiring an independent astronomer, hoping that he would
derive a different time for the photo. But the two results
agreed within less than a half minute.
In the lead-up to May 22, 1912, two years after the day of
the incident, Rigge wrote an article in the local newspaper
inviting people to come to the church where the photograph
was taken to see for themselves the veracity of his method. A
group of students and journalists, as well as a photographer
from the Omaha Daily News, took him up on his offer. As the
promised shadow passed its expected point at 3:21.5 p.m., the
photographer snapped a photo that matched the 1910 picture
perfectly. Photos taken one minute earlier and later showed
the shadow in visibly different positions. A piece congratu-
lating Rigge was written up with great fanfare. Publications
around the country and the world began to reprint the story,
recounting how Rigge — and the discipline of astronomy —
won a well-deserved victory on their day in court.
p Rigge used this 3-inch transit telescope to measure the positions
of stars with sub-arcsecond accuracy, roughly 1,000 times better than
needed for his shadow measurements. Creighton Observatory was
¢ JEFFREY DOBEREINER is a science communicator and
Omaha’s official timekeeper, using the transit times of standard reference documentary TV producer, with a PhD in anthropology and a
stars to synchronize the public clocks. particular passion for space.
one or two minutes. The main error results from shad- 15 Equation
of time
Time difference (minutes)
ows’ fuzziness, which is caused by the fact that the Sun

10 Tilt of Sundial
is an extended object rather than a point source. axis
5 reads earlier
Determining the date is harder, because it results than clock.
G REGG DINDER M A N / S&T, SOURCE: THO M AS STEINER / CC -BY-SA 2.5
from Earth’s revolution around the Sun, which is roughly 0

365 times slower than its rotation. Moreover, the Sun’s –5 Sundial
declination changes very slowly near the solstices, as reads later
–10 Orbital than clock.
you can see on the ecliptic chart on page 44. Finally, eccentricity
–15
the Sun reaches any given declination (except the
Jan. 1 Apr. 1 July 1 Oct. 1 Jan. 1
extremes) twice a year, once on its way north and again
on its way south. In the case of the church photo, of p Earth rotates once every 23.934 hours. The extra 0.066 hour in the 24-
hour day comes from the Sun’s apparent motion through the stars, which
course, Rigge already knew the date ahead of time.
is in turn caused by Earth’s revolution around the Sun. Unlike Earth’s ro-
Having determined a local apparent solar time of 2:54 tation, the west-to-east motion due to revolution varies considerably de-
p.m. for the shadow in the church photo, Rigge then pending on the season. That’s due partly to the fact that Earth’s orbit is
added 24 minutes because Omaha is 6° west of the not a perfect circle, and partly to the fact that its axis is tilted. This graph
shows the two separate components and how they add up to form the
center of its time zone, plus 3½ minutes for the equa- equation of time, the difference between apparent solar time, as shown
tion of time, as shown at right. by sundials, and mean solar time, the basis of our civil time system.
FOCUS TOOLS by H. R. Suiter and W. P. Zmek
Mesh Focusing Masks

This easy-to-assemble imaging aid can take the guesswork out of focusing.
DEPTH OF FOCUS
Hartmann / Scheiner No mask Focused +1 +2 +3
DEPTH OF FOCUS
Bahtinov No mask −1 Focused +1 +2
DEPTH OF FOCUS
Bahtinov Mesh No mask −1 Focused +1
Top row: A simple Hartmann mask Middle row: The popular Bahtinov mask normally Bottom row: Replacing the straight vanes
helps to get close to focus, but stop- works by producing diffraction spikes that appear of the Bahtinov mask with a 7-count mesh
ping down the optical aperture signifi- symmetrical when the optic is in focus, but the grid produces lateral diffraction detail. Not
cantly reduces the system’s resolution spikes are only visible on the brightest stars. You only are the first-order diffractive images
compared to the unmasked stellar can use fainter stars by balancing the first dif- apparent above and below the stellar
image, making it a challenge to see fractive order images above or below the stellar image, the side dots can be employed for
the slight oval shape when nearing the image (circled). The optic is in focus when these checking the mask alignment.
focus point. side-by-side orders look evenly spaced.

F
ocusing a telescope can take a great deal of fine-tuning The drawback to this approach is the diffraction spikes are
and finesse. It’s hard enough to focus a telescope or only clearly visible on the brightest stars.
lens by eye, even though most eyes are somewhat Bahtinov himself suggested a second method that works
forgiving. Once you’re within the range of a half-diopter well on dimmer stars. Instead of concentrating on the main
or so, the eye’s internal process of focus accommodation image of the star, use the first-order diffraction spots seen
automatically takes over, at least for young eyes. Of course, above or below the actual star image when using the mask.
there are mechanical constraints that have nothing to do The monochromatic Fourier diffraction model seen on the
with the quality of the image viewed. For example, manu- facing page is slightly inaccurate as it doesn’t show the first-
ally adjusting the focus knob causes the view to jiggle around order spots stretched into stubby spectra, but with dim stars
the field. An image that jumps and shakes instead of stand- the visible spectrum is very short. If you’re focusing a camera
ing still is impossible to focus, no matter how you measure through any color filter, monochromatic images of first-order
success. Motorized focusers mostly solve these mechanical spots are nearly perfect tools for achieving focus.
constraints — judgment of focus becomes nearly real-time, if As alluded to earlier, the long diffraction spikes are great
the focusing action is slow enough. if you can see them. The fi rst-order spots, on the other
Most solutions for visual observing, however, do not cover hand, are always there, making many more stars avail-
the full scope of the focusing problem. Astro-cameras possess able for use as focusing targets. More importantly, you can
no biological eye accommodation, making them even more employ a star in the direction of your telescope tube’s lean
difficult to focus. Poor focus can ruin an arduous exposure. angle to compensate for the effect of tube flexure at differ-
Many imagers rely on computer software to aid in the pro- ent points in the sky.
cess, employing metrics like the width and central bright-
ness of a stellar image (known as the full-width at half- Mesh Mask Alternative
maximum, or FWHM) to determine quality of focus. Anyone Nearly all amateurs who know about the Bahtinov mask
familiar with these methods will no doubt continue to use have tried to fabricate one themselves by cutting long,
them. But it’s handy to have an independent way of check- straight plastic strips, and some have succeeded after pains-
ing the results, and it’s even better to have a backup plan if taking effort. Whether or not they were successful, all agree
software fails to deliver. that they don’t want to attempt it a second time. Isn’t there
a straightforward alternative that doesn’t involve such an
Dividing the Field extraordinary effort?
Imagers and observers alike use various tricks to determine
perfect focus in an effort to convert the process from an q Whether you’re a visual observer or astrophotographer, focus masks
can take some of the guesswork out of focusing under less-than-ideal
exercise in judgment to a purely geometrical comparison.
conditions. Below is an easy-to-assemble 20° Bahtinov mesh mask for a
These methods have met with varying degrees of success; 4-inch telescope that works well for both imaging and observing alike.
some work better than others.
One of the oldest is to place a device called a Hartmann
mask or Scheiner disk over the telescope aperture that sub-
divides it into two smaller holes, producing two images of the
same star that merge into a single image as you rack through
focus. This method is repeatable if there’s a way of recording
the focuser’s precise position and returning to the observed
center of the pattern. The drawback to this mask is that it is
very coarse. The Hartmann mask significantly reduces the
resolution of the instrument, increasing the size of the Airy
disk (the bright central core of a star’s image formed by a lens
or telescope) so much that it masks the shape of the star as it
approaches best focus.
In the mid-2000s, Russian astrophotographer Pavel
Bahtinov introduced a new type of focusing mask that soon
ALL IMAGES COURTESY OF THE AU THORS
spread throughout the imaging community. Bahtinov made

a mask having three coarse diffraction gratings at shallow
angles to one another. These gratings were angled in such a
way as to induce an easily interpreted imbalance in position
between the diffraction orders of the various grids in defo-
cused images. This imbalance is visible in two ways. The first
and most commonly used are long, overlapping (high-order)
diffraction spikes that are centered only at the point of focus.
Focus Tools
ASSEMBLE YOUR OWN MASK

(A) Plastic canvas can be found at most any craft
store or online and can be cut with scissors. (B)
Draw the pattern for your mask holes on a sheet
of cardboard, being careful to place the registra-
tion lines of the two smaller holes at precisely
the same angles relative to the larger aperture.
The edges of the apertures don’t need to be
particularly neat, since they don’t contribute to
the image shift. (C) Assemble your mask with the
mesh aligned to previously marked registration
lines. (D) Remember that it’s important that all
three mesh screens are precisely aligned to your
registration lines. (E) When completed, add three
holes to install long nylon screws that will secure
the mask to the front of your telescope or lens. A B
There is, though it produces a complicated image to For example, with a 7-count mesh with two tilted regions
interpret. The answer is to simply replace the long slits of the diverted to ±10°, the triplet is separated by about 11 arcsec-
Bahtinov mask with a mesh grid, eliminating the need for onds, delivering two divided separations of 5.5 arcseconds
any precision cutting while still producing a usable diffrac- each. For a generic 1,000-mm focal length imaging system,
tion effect. the first-order triplet is separated by twice 26 micrometers.
First, you need to find an inexpensive mesh that’s rigid and Depending on the size of the camera’s pixels, this may be
sufficiently large enough to allow the first-order diffraction tight or loose. A camera with 5-micron pixels has about 5
spots to appear between 10 to 30 arcseconds from the central samples between the dots, and so should work fine.
peak. The grating relationship, which allows for calculating the
diffraction angle based on the grating period and the wave- Making a Mesh Mask
length of illumination, predicts this spacing for mesh periods Assembling a mesh focus mask couldn’t be simpler. Perforate
of roughly 11 to 3.5 mm. An extensive search identified an a thin sheet of cardboard with the major holes that com-
ideal material known as plastic canvas that you can purchase prise the three large openings of the mask. There’s no need
online or at most hobby and craft stores. Plastic canvas is nor- to be particularly neat cutting the edges of these large holes,
mally used to provide a backing for needlework through which because they don’t contribute to the desired linear diffrac-
brightly colored yarn can be strung to make simple pixel-like tion. However, the alignment of the three mesh screens is
decorative patterns. We found it to be nearly perfect for our important. The two smaller tilted regions must be mounted
use — it’s rigid, accurate, inexpensive, and easy to cut. at the same opposite angles. An error in angle will result in
The three spots at the end of the fi rst-order diffraction a focus position with a systematic offset, producing slightly
image are angled in the classic 40°, 12.7-mm period Bahti- out-of-focus results.
nov pattern. The outer spots of the triplet, which arise from Using a mesh is not a kludge. They even have a built-in
the two angled areas of the mask, are separated by about 6 self-test for alignment accuracy: The first-order maxima in
arcseconds. You should select a mesh period that will main- the spots seen horizontally from the main star will imme-
tain at least this 6-arcsecond separation or a little
bit more with the mesh mask, keeping in mind
the pixel resolution at the effective focal length
of the system. The tilt angle should be lower than
40° for fi ner meshes than the classic mask, or else
the three spots appear too far apart for accurate
judgment. For a 5- to 7-count plastic mesh (5 to
7 periods per inch), the best tilt angle is roughly
10° to 20°.
u Another excellent focus mask called the Oleshko two-

frequency mask uses a bisected aperture with 5- and
7-count mesh grids.
uu Assembling an Oleshko mask is even easier than craft-

ing a Bahtinov. Simply abut 5- and 7-count plastic canvas
along a single registration line.

C D E
diately display any mutual misalignment of the two smaller don’t attach to anything; they simply extend like fingers
tilted regions. down over the edge of the tube. The complete structure is
Another advantage is that mesh masks are extremely easy light and won’t affect balance.
to modify or repair. It’s as simple as turning the grids over the For visual use, diffractive masks require high power. At
holes or simply cutting out a new piece of plastic canvas. 560 nm, the 5- and 7-count meshes give first-order dif-
Another diffractive focusing mask was popularized at fraction peaks separated by 32 and 23 arcseconds from the
roughly the same time as the Bahtinov mask. Although Andrei zeroth-order (in-focus) stellar image at the center. Given
Oleshko’s mask made less impact in the amateur community, this scale, you can imagine Jupiter covering about half of the
it’s equally sensitive and even easier to make with mesh. frames modeled here. To show deviations of spacing or linear-
Using plastic canvas mesh, the most straightforward ity well enough, the magnification for small telescopes should
way of making one is to place a 5-count grating parallel to approach 20× per centimeter of aperture. When focusing a
a 7-count grating over a mirror-image hole. The modeled camera, the spread of the diffracted first-order dots or spec-
color image below shows the way the Oleshko mask works. trum separations should extend at least 7 to 10 pixels.
Because the 5-count grating wasn’t available in black, it was These masks are not magical. Because of many variables,
constructed out of translucent plastic. A pleasant observation including mechanical stability and atmospheric turbulence,
was that the transparency of the mask material makes little focusing will still be a challenge. But it will be noticeably
difference to the final image. Poorly focused light transmitted easier than simply viewing a dancing point of light and trying
through the translucent material is scattered through such a to decide where it’s smallest and brightest.
wide angle that the translucent mesh works as effectively as
black mesh. ¢ DICK SUITER is the author of Star Testing Astronomical
Because strict alignment of any of these diffraction masks Telescopes. BILL ZMEK is the author of Interferometry for
over the aperture isn’t necessary, they can be loosely placed Amateur Telescope Makers. For more information on focusing
on the front of the telescope using long nylon screws. These masks, visit https://is.gd/focusingmasks.
DEPTH OF FOCUS
Oleshko Mask No mask −1 Focused +1 +2
23
arcseconds
The Oleshko two-frequency mask produces vertical spectra that line up when the optic is in focus.
LIFE ON MARS, RECONSIDERED by Javier Barbuzano

Discoveries of life deep beneath
Earth’s surface are provoking scientists
to wonder what might hide in the
subsurface world of Mars.
NICOLLE R . FULLER / SAYO -A R T LLC
Life on Mars, Reconsidered
n February of 1977, an oceanographic expedition study- live freely inside and around the vents, occupying the bottom
I ing hydrothermal vents at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean

made a discovery that changed biology forever. Two kilo-
meters deep, near a volcanic zone northeast of the Galápa-
of the food chain in these isolated ecosystems.
This discovery showed that life is much more versatile and
resilient than previously thought, opening the scope of where
gos Islands, explorers onboard the deep-ocean submersible to look — and what to look for — when searching for life. It
Alvin found four dense agglomerations of clams, mussels, has led to the realization that, in our quest to find signs of
crabs, anemones, and other creatures. Some of them were life on Mars, maybe we’ve been looking in the wrong place.
living among an alien-looking variety of tubular worms that
vaguely resembled giant albino tulips. In awe, the research- From Underwater to Underground
ers — probably inspired by the stark contrast with the barren It didn’t take long for scientists to realize that one of the
seafloor beyond the vents — named the fourth, tubeworm- places they should be looking for chemosynthetic life forms
bedecked spot the “Garden of Eden.” was under their own feet. At first they piggybacked on com-
At the time it was a mystery how this mercial drilling and mining operations, then
lush ecosystem could survive at such depth. later on they explored caves and conducted
Biologists had assumed that sunlight was the
This deep biosphere their own drilling campaigns. By the early
energy source that powered all life on Earth, [is] mainly populated 1990s, researchers had collected enough evi-
effectively constraining the habitable zone to by bacteria and other dence to show that Earth’s crust is populated
a thin layer on the planet’s surface. Within by a variety of microbes sustained by chemo-
that layer, photosynthetic organisms capture single-celled organisms synthetic organisms.
solar photons and use the energy to split water called archaea, although This deep biosphere, as it’s called, extends
molecules. They then combine the hydrogen from a few meters below the surface to several
with carbon from the atmosphere to form
recent research has also kilometers down, depending on the local
G A L Á PAGOS RIF T E X PEDITION 2011 / CC BY 2.0; NEM ATODES:

GIANT TUBE WORMS: NOA A OKE ANOS E X PLORER PROGR AM,
sugars, releasing oxygen as a byproduct. In found fungal species conditions. It’s mainly populated by bacte-
that scheme, all the other organisms, no mat- ria and other single-celled organisms called
ter how high up in the food chain, depended
and even animals. archaea, although recent research has also
on the yield of these primary producers. found fungal species and even animals, such
But these giant tubeworms survive thanks to their abil- as nematode worms and tiny multicellular creatures called
G A Ë TA N BORGONIE / ELI, BELGIU M

ity to host chemosynthetic bacteria inside themselves. Like rotifers. In some places, where the conditions allow it, these
photosynthetic organisms on the surface, these bacteria also communities can live in the pores and cracks of rocks up to
produce their own sugars, but instead of using sunlight — 10 kilometers deep.
there is none 2 kilometers deep in the ocean — they obtain An expansion of scientific drilling projects in the last two
energy from chemical reactions. In this case they do it by decades has confirmed the findings and extended the range
oxidizing hydrogen sulfide present in the warm waters. Later of subsurface environments where microorganisms can live,
research revealed that other types of chemosynthetic bacteria from the ancient continental crust to the younger and more
p HYDROTHERMAL TULIPS Giant tubeworms (Riftia pachyptila) live p NEMATODES Members of the species Monhystrella parvella inhabit
among anemones and mussels at a deep-sea vent on the Galápagos a stalactite 1.4 km underground in the Beatrix gold mine in South Africa.
Rift. This is one of the largest concentrations of Riftia found so far. Each nematode is a couple hundred microns long.

dynamic oceanic crust. This implies a huge diversity of living raising important questions. Is subsurface life merely a result
conditions, for the most part under high temperature and of what trickles down from the surface? How long have these
pressure, but also in the near-freezing environments under the species been evolving in the darkness? Could life have origi-
polar ice sheets or basking in the heat of radioactive minerals. nated underground and then colonized the surface?
Although life is pervasive underground, it’s more austere Both surface and subsurface life follow the same DNA
than on the surface. The lack of sunlight and oxygen limits blueprint, suggesting that life had a single origin, but it’s not
the energy supply. Subsurface organisms have slower metabo- clear how or where it initially appeared. “There is much we
lisms and are much less abundant than their surface coun- don’t understand about the origin of life on this planet,” says
terparts. While one gram of surface soil can host more than Barbara Sherwood Lollar (University of Toronto, Canada),
10 billion microbes, one gram of oceanic crust may contain a geologist specialized in characterizing underground water
only 10,000 cells, and continental crust one-tenth of that. reservoirs. “Certainly I don’t think we understand yet the
However, the volume of the deep biosphere is huge when kind of environment where life first arose.”
compared to the surface world. Subsurface inhabitants
therefore make up an important fraction of all life on Earth.
“We’ve estimated that subsurface microbial life is about 1030
cells,” says Tullis Onstott (Princeton University), a pioneer
in the field who has been involved in subsurface-life research
since the 1990s. “That’s more than [the] stars in the visible
universe and as many cells as in the surface world.” Onstott’s
team estimates that subsurface life could represent around
one-tenth of Earth’s total biomass.
In order to subsist, chemosynthetic organisms — or chemo-
lithotrophs, as they are called when they are able to extract
energy from inorganic compounds — need to pair substances
that can act as electron receivers and electron donors. When
an electron jumps from the donor to the receiver, there is a
small energy release these microbes can exploit. Luckily for
them, many geological processes can provide this kind of
chemical pair.
One example is the decay of naturally occurring radioac-
tive elements within the rocks, such as uranium, thorium,
or potassium. As these disintegrate, they emit high-energy p ANCIENT WATERS Members of Barbara Sherwood Lollar’s team take
particles that can break water molecules. This process, called samples of water in rock fissures deep in Beatrix Mine in South Africa.
radiolysis, releases huge quantities of hydrogen and reactive The team has found evidence of life in this mine and others.
oxygen. Hydrogen is like a super food for microorganisms: It’s
so eager to donate electrons that even poor receivers such as In 2013, Sherwood Lollar and her team discovered the
sulfates can oxidize it, making it the ideal microbial fuel for oldest underground water ever found in Earth’s crust, a thin
MINING E X PEDITION: G A Ë TA N BORGONIE / ELI, BELGIU M;
BACTERIA ICONS: BA RBA R A M A RSILL AC, BR A ND M A XIM
the deep underground. network of veins 1.5 billion years old hidden 2.4 kilome-
Another source of free hydrogen is serpentinization, a ters deep inside a mine in northern Ontario, Canada. This
process in which iron-rich minerals react with water, filling mineral-rich water contains the electron donors and receivers
the environment with leftover hydrogen that microbes can that organisms need to survive, showing that these habit-
use. In some cases serpentinization can also produce hydro- able environments can be preserved over long time scales,
K ULIKOV / THE NOUN PROJECT
carbons such as methane, another favorite meal for many something that could also happen on Mars. Sherwood Lollar
microorganisms. Not only can they grab its hydrogen for and her collaborators have found signs of microbial life in
food, they can also use it as a source of carbon. the water, but although they are sure the life isn’t a modern
Recent analyses have shown that underground dwellers are arrival, there is no way to say how long it’s been there. It
genetically diverse. There are even microbe species that are could have been isolated from the upside world for at least
unique to the subsurface and cannot survive on the surface, hundreds of millions of years.
THE DEEP COMMUNITY

According to a 10-year study by the international Deep Carbon
Observatory team, 70% of Earth’s bacteria live underground.
Earth q GEOLOGICAL TIMELINE When life arose on Earth, Mars also had
seas and lakes. By the time photosynthetic life had taken over and trans-
Oldest Oldest formed Earth’s atmosphere, however, Mars’s surface was a wasteland.
minerals rocks
Oldest
life Great
Photosynthesis Oxygenation
Event
Intense impact
bombardments
Anoxygenic Oxygenic
Global oceans
4 3 Billions of years ago 2 1 0
Mars
Seas and lakes Localized ephemeral brine
Hydrothermal
activity
Global transition
Magnetic field Some researchers think that life on

Mars might have arisen underground
Intense impact
bombardments instead of migrating there, avoiding
the surface altogether.
Erosion of
atmosphere
But on other worlds, could pockets of underground life even think that this life could persist underground today.
have originated independently from the surface? Recent studies suggest that the same geological processes
“It’s a question that is very important but we cannot that provide energy for subsurface microorganisms on
address yet, whether or not life can originate in a subsurface Earth — serpentinization and radiolysis — occurred on Mars.
environment,” Onstott says. “When you think of Europa or NASA’s Mars Odyssey spacecraft has found an abundance of
Enceladus or any of the icy satellites and planets that exist the radioactive elements thorium, potassium, and uranium
out there that have subsurface oceans but never had a surface in the modern Martian crust. In eons past, these elements
ocean, if life can originate in the subsurface then there’s a could have produced a global habitable subsurface several
chance that life exists there.” kilometers thick, thanks to radiolytically generated hydrogen.
Even if humans cannot explore the oceans of Enceladus This could have provided enough chemical energy to support
yet, there is a place within our reach that has potential for microbes for hundreds of millions of years, as long as there
underground life: Mars. was enough water to split.
“There is no reason why you couldn’t take the same organ-
Next Stop: The Red Planet isms we find three kilometers down in South Africa and just
MICH A LSK I E T A L. / NATUR E GEOSCIENCE 2018
Although the Martian surface is currently inhospitable to teleport them to the subsurface of Mars, they would do just
G REGG DINDER M A N / S&T, SOURCE: J. R.
life, various lines of evidence indicate that until about 3½ fine,” says Onstott. “Deep below the surface [life] could be
billion years ago, the Red Planet had surface water and an quite pervasive and quite active.”
atmosphere (S&T: July 2018, p. 14). If life had time to appear On the other hand, Mars might not have given life the
on the surface during the billion or so years of clement condi- chance to evolve on its surface. By current estimates, life
tions, then it might have also colonized the Martian under- appeared on Earth sometime prior to 3.7 billion years ago,
ground, where conditions would have remained stable long roughly the same time that Mars’s outer core stopped churn-
after the surface became hostile. These life forms could have ing and the planet lost its magnetic field, exposing its atmo-
left fossils or other signs of their presence. Some scientists sphere to the gusty solar wind. Photosynthetic life appeared on

q UNDERGROUND WATER This map from the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter shows hydrogen’s distribution (bluer colors mean more hydrogen) in the
uppermost meter of Mars’s surface. Hydrogen might indicate water, water absorbed into the surface, or minerals formed in water.
Water signature in equatorial regions may signify shallow permafrost, hydrated

minerals, or the former locations of the planet’s poles in ancient times.
–180° –150° –120° – 90° – 60° –30° 0° 30° 60° 90° 120° 150° 180°
90° 90°
Water-rich permafrost Water-rich permafrost

60° 60°
30° 30°
0° 0°
–30° –30°
–60° –60°
Water-rich permafrost
Water-rich permafrost
– 90° –90°
Earth soon after, and by the time it became widespread enough Looking for Subsurface Life
to dramatically boost our atmosphere’s oxygen content, Mars’s Finding out if there is or has ever been underground life on
surface had been a frozen and hyperarid desert bombarded by Mars is not a straightforward proposition. First of all, we don’t
high-energy radiation for more than a billion years. really know the physical properties of what lies below the sur-
For this reason, some researchers think that life on Mars face. Things like temperature and water availability remain big
might have arisen underground instead of migrating there, unknowns. We only know there is a frozen layer close to the
avoiding the surface altogether. In their view, searching for surface and a core that is probably still warm, making it likely
evidence of life on the Martian surface is a biased approach that a temperate zone exists somewhere in between.
fueled by what we see on Earth. Here, photosynthesizing sur- “These are reasonable conjectures, but we won’t really
face life is extremely abundant, favored as it is by a protective know until we study Martian geophysics,” says Ricardo Amils
atmosphere and magnetic field, a moderate climate, and easy (Center for Astrobiology, Spain), who has worked extensively
access to water. One way or the other, scientists increasingly in characterizing southern Spain’s Rio Tinto region, considered
think that Mars research needs to shift its focus from the one of the best Martian analogs we have on Earth. Still, he’s
surface to the underground. Even if life got a foothold above confident scientists need to look beneath the surface to fully
ground, the harsh surface conditions might have wiped out assess the Red Planet’s habitability. “If there is life on Mars it
any organic remains or other revealing signs, thwarting any has to be in the subsurface, there is no doubt about that.”
ESA / I. MITROFA NOV E T A L. 2018
life-searching missions based on surface features. That’s why NASA’s Insight lander is an important fi rst
“Anything related to life, extinct or extant, leads us to step towards the exploration of the Martian underground.
the subsurface,” says Vlada Stamenković (NASA Jet Propul- The probe landed on Mars on November 26, 2018, carry-
sion Laboratory), an ardent advocate for subsurface Martian ing a seismometer, a thermal probe, and radio antennas,
exploration. “It’s clear that if we really want to understand which together will reveal key aspects of Martian geophysics,
if there ever was or is life on Mars, then we really have to dig such as the size and physical properties of the planet’s core,
into the subsurface and explore what’s beneath.” mantle, and crust, as well as details about its inner heat flow.
Mars South Polar Region Mars Express Radar Footprints Radar Image of Subsurface
Brightest
radar echo
Permanent
ice cap Surface
1.5 km
Brightest
radar echoes
Ice and
dust layers
Study area
p SUBSURFACE LAKE? Multiple passes by the European Mars Express orbiter reveal a highly reflective layer about 1.5 km below layers of ice and
dust near Mars’s south pole. Scientists suspect the 20-km-wide “anomaly” (blue triangle in radar footprints, center image) is a brine patch or lake. The
righthand panel shows an example radar profile of the region.
Another open question is the availability of liquid water been just little investment so far,” he says. “As with many
below the surface. Orbiters have found that a frozen layer of things on this planet, it’s not the technology. It’s the funding
soil and water ice called permafrost is common in the polar that is limiting.”
regions and covers large swaths of the rest of the planet, However, Stamenković’s optimism clashes with Onstott’s
including equatorial areas. But little is known about what experience chasing deep life. Even on Earth, he warns, drill-
lies below. In July 2018, scientists using the MARSIS radar ing through frozen rock is an energy-intensive process that
instrument onboard the European Space Agency’s orbiter is prone to equipment failures and unexpected engineering
Mars Express announced they’d detected hints of liquid water challenges, from frozen pipes to broken drill bits.
1.5 kilometers deep below the southern polar cap. While the For the time being, researchers will have to exploit other
finding remains controversial, researchers think that these opportunities to study the Martian subsurface until drill-
are probably brines, bodies of water-soaked salt. ing technologies become available. That means relying on
The detection would support the idea of an underground indirect measurements and looking for certain features
where high pressure and milder temperatures can make liquid that are far less exciting than those uncovered by drilling
water available. Although water’s presence wouldn’t mean life kilometer-deep holes. Instead, researchers could look for
is present, it certainly would make things easier. “Life doesn’t exposed crustal rocks with unusual metal or carbonate accu-
need a lot of water,” says Amils. “Until now it was said that if mulations, biotextures in rocks caused by interactions with
there isn’t liquid water there can’t be life. Well, there is water.” microbes, or the buildup of organic molecules in fractures or
Obviously, the most direct way to solve these questions fluid inclusions in rocks.
is drilling, but current and future planned missions have While the arguments for going deep in Martian explora-
limited digging capabilities. The Curiosity rover can grind just tion are sound and the possible outcomes fascinating, it
a few centimeters into the rock, and the upcoming European seems that we will have to put our curiosity on hold. Even
ExoMars 2020 rover will be able to drill up to 2 meters down. if indirect methods can reveal hints at what lies below the
Insight, meanwhile, spent months stalled at a fraction of its surface, only specialized instruments and drilling will provide
ESA / N ASA / JPL / ASI / UNIV. RO ME, R. OROSEI E T A L. 2018

3-meter goal — still nowhere near where a deep biosphere definitive answers. Based on his experience, Onstott thinks
might have existed. that humans will not reach the Martian underground until
“Mars exploration has been focusing so much on the sur- after humans establish a base on Mars and need to access
face that there has been very little investment in real subsur- water below the surface for a permanent colony. “That’s an
face exploration,” says Stamenković, who is leading a concept important question for them,” Onstott says. “When they
design for a solar-powered Martian drill called Ares Subsur- access the water, will there be Martian organisms in it?”
face Great Access and Research Drill (ASGARD), able to reach
depths of at least 1 kilometer. Stamenković was recently part ¢ Former S&T intern JAVIER BARBUZANO is a freelance writer
of a workshop hosted by the Keck Institute for Space Studies, based in Barcelona.
where scientists and industry representatives discussed the
future of underground Martian exploration. “We’ve realized Read the story of the 1977 hydrothermal vents discovery at
that, actually, drilling technology has a lot to offer, there has https://is.gd/1977ventsdisc.

OBSERVING
A fireball streaks across the
sky above ruins near the city
January 2020
of Damghan in Iran during
the 2011 Quadrantids meteor
shower.
BABAK TAFRESHI
3–4 ALL NIGHT: The short-lived 10 FULL MOON (2:21 P.M. EST) 20 DAWN: The waning crescent
Quadrantids peak for North America A penumbral lunar eclipse is visible Moon, Mars, and Antares form a pretty
around 3 a.m. EST. The first-quarter across most of Europe, Africa, and triangle along the border between
Moon sets by 1:30 a.m. local time Asia. The Americas will have to wait Ophiuchus and Scorpius before
and won’t interfere with best viewing until the summer, when a shallow event sunrise.
opportunities that start about 2 a.m. will be visible on the night of July 4–5
(see page 48). (see page 50). 22 DAWN: A very thin lunar crescent
rises in the southeast with Jupiter
5 EARTH passes through perihelion, 13 EVENING: Algol shines at trailing it by around 6° — catch the
its closest point to the Sun for the year minimum brightness for roughly two pair before the Sun drowns out their
(just 3% closer than at aphelion in July). hours centered at 10:46 p.m. PST. delicate light.
7 DUSK: The waxing gibbous Moon 16 EVENING: Algol shines at 27 EVENING: Some 6° separate
is between the horns of Taurus, the minimum brightness for roughly two Venus and the thin lunar crescent in
Bull, only about 3° left of Aldebaran. hours centered at 10:36 p.m. EST Aquarius. Viewers with telescopes
(7:36 p.m. PST). might spot Neptune less than ¼°
8 DUSK: The fattening Moon, still from Venus.
in Taurus, is less than 1° from Zeta 19 EVENING: Algol shines at — DIANA HANNIKAINEN
(ζ) Tauri (for viewers in eastern North minimum brightness for roughly two
America). hours centered at 7:25 p.m. EST.
JANUARY 2020 OBSERVING North
Lunar Almanac
Northern Hemisphere Sky Chart h
ζ Al
D G
co
Va oub ala
M r
iza
+60°
O ria le x r
January 1
Di pe ble sta y
G ff n s r ε
Pl lob use clu tar
Di
12 h
pp
α
an ul ne ste Bi er Thuban
et ar
Fa g
ar clu bul r ci δ
y a γ
ne ste n
bu r
g
la
NE
β
M MINOR
A β α
10 Yellow dots indicate
JO R
U URSA
SA R +80°
β
which part of the
Moon’s limb is tipped M81
the most toward Earth M82
by libration.
M O
IN
LE
N ASA / LRO Polaris
O
L
R
EO
13
14 ι
ο
LY
CA
MOON PHASES ME
N
LO
X
PA
CAN
SUN MON TUE WED THU FRI S AT AL
RD
IS
1 2 3 4
R CE
Castor
γ
5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Pollux
M44
GEMINI
Capella
M
P
Ja oon
γ
α
ER
α
β
M67
α
12 13 14 15 16 17 18 n1
9
0
h
S
AURIGA
EU
Facing East
α
θ
HYDRA
δ
M38
S
19 20 21 22 23 24 25
M36
M37
β
l
CANIS
MINORα
ε
β
ρ
26 27 28 29 30 31 β
M35
μ
ζ
η
ζ
γ
Ple
iad
Procyon
es
Hya
Be
α des
FIRST QUARTER FULL MOON t elg Ald Moo
eu
e ba
MO
α
Jan n
M4 8
se
λ
ran
January 3 January 10 TA λ 6
NO
UR
γ
O US
4:45 UT 19:21 UT R ξ ο
Be
CE
IO
lla
M5
tri
α
N α
x
0
RO
LAST QUARTER NEW MOON

δ
M4
ζ
β
0°
S
M
6
42
January 17 January 24 β
M4
12:58 UT 21:42 UT
7
Si
ο2
ri u
ε
Ri
s
DISTANCES
el
C
γ
α
β
A
-1 α
N
Apogee January 2, 2h UT ERIDA

IS
0 β
NUS
41
M
404,580 km Diameter 29′ 32″

A
1 γ –20°
JO
LE
Perigee January 13, 20h UT 2 PU
R
S
365,959 km Diameter 32′ 39″ 3
Fa
4 α
ng
ci
Apogee January 29, 21h UT 6h α

SE CO
405,393 km Diameter 29′ 29″ Planet location LU
shown for mid-month M CA
BA EL
FAVORABLE LIBRATIONS UM
USING THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE MAP
–40°
• Baillaud Crater January 1 Go out within an hour of a time listed to the
right. Turn the map around so the yellow
• Schluter Crater January 10 label for the direction you’re facing is at the 3
bottom. That’s the horizon. The center of the
• Hausen Crater January 13 map is overhead. Ignore the parts of the map
• Cabeus Crater January 14 above horizons you’re not facing. Facing

ζ χ2
Facing ν χ1
1
GEMINI
λ
ι
β
72 69 5°
ν
h
γ
18
η γ
ORION
bi
no
DRACO α W
cula
ga HD 44033
ν
Ve N
ζ g
n
ε
r view
ξ
γ
ci
2169
a
A
F
R
LY
Dipper
Little ξ 73
74
rn
h s
δ
β
s
e
o
o
N Cr
δ
ire
r t
Alb
o
S χ
α U
N
μ
G
γ
β
De α
7
b
M2
29
C
ne
α MONOCEROS
M
γ
+80° US E μ
39
PH ζC E
M
ε
61
S
ε
Binocular Highlight by Mathew Wedel
TA
INU
δ
EIA
ER
P
SIO M52
S
C
PH
CA
LA
A Stellar Smorgasbord
ε γ
δ
DEL
β
γ
+60°
ter α
O
Clus ur destination this month lies in the northeast-
ble h
21
Do u
ern reaches of Orion, the Hunter. Set 73 and
EQUULEUS
M15
74 Orionis near the south edge of your field of view,

η
Facing West
1
ANDROMEDA
PEGASUS
and 69 and 72 Orionis near the north edge. You’ll

M3
β
Al
μ
γ
34
g
find yourself looking at a sprawling, complicated

M
ε
β
Zenith field with chains of bright stars, doubles, at least

α
UM
Square
Great
one cluster, and more besides.

UL
3
β
M3
NG
Right away you’ll notice an arc of bright stars

IA
α
M2
TR
running east-west like a lopsided smile, bounded

θ
ζ
S
IE α by HD 44033 in the east and Nu (ν) Orionis in the
AR
α
β
γ west. Just south of Xi (ξ) Orionis, four 6th- and
γ
+20°
S
et
E
7th-magnitude stars make a miniature arc within

cl
C
γ
η
IS
E C the larger one. Just a bit to the west lies the open
ir
L I P
C
P
T I C cluster NGC 2169. It’s a small cluster, only about

Venus 5′ across as seen from Earth, but bright enough
γ Moon to show up even under moderate light pollution.
α
T O R Jan 2 At telescopic magnifications its stars spell out the

E Q U A Moon
ι
number 37, hence its nickname, the “37 Cluster.”
a
Mir θ Dec 30 South of the arc, have a closer look at 73 and
US
η
ζ 74 Orionis. They look comparably bright, both about
RI
T US 5th magnitude, but that’s an illusion. 74 Orionis is

UA
CE
around three times as bright as the Sun and lies 65
AQ
τ
β light-years away. 73 Orionis is about 1,200 light-years
away, but it’s also more than 200 times brighter than
its neighbor. I’m a sucker for cosmic odd couples like
this, which remind us of the depths of the night sky.
SW
FORNAX α I haven’t been shy about proposing new aster-

h
g
0
R cin isms in this column, but I just can’t make this field
TO Fa WHEN TO
cohere into a neat picture. If we include 69 and
LP 72 Orionis along with the bright arc, maybe there’s
U USE THE MAP
SC a cross-eyed Cheshire Cat, or an upside-down
Late Nov 11 p.m.
toadstool? I’m really reaching here. A better solution
θ Early Dec 10 p.m.
is to stop trying to impose an order on Nature, and
Late Dec 9 p.m.
3h just take it all as it is.
Early Jan 8 p.m.
Late Jan Dusk ¢ “Just take it all as it is” is on MATT WEDEL’S
These are standard times. bucket list (not checked off yet).
g South
JANUARY 2020 OBSERVING
Planetary Almanac
PLANET VISIBILITY Mercury: very low at dusk starting on the 27th • Venus: visible at dusk,
sets in early evening • Mars: visible at dawn • Jupiter: very low at dawn starting on the 12th •
Mercury
Saturn: hidden in the Sun’s glow all month
Jan 1 11 21 31
January Sun & Planets
Venus Date Right Ascension Declination Elongation Magnitude Diameter Illumination Distance
Sun 1 18h 42.4m –23° 05′ — –26.8 32′ 32″ — 0.983
31 20h 50.9m –17° 40′ — –26.8 32′ 28″ — 0.985
1 16 31 Mercury 1 18h 18.1m –24° 39′ 6° Mo –0.9 4.7″ 99% 1.434
Mars 11 19h 28.5m –23° 51′ 2° Ev –1.4 4.7″ 100% 1.429
21 20h 39.4m –20° 33′ 7° Ev –1.2 4.9″ 98% 1.362
1 16 31 31 21h 47.3m –14° 46′ 14° Ev –1.0 5.5″ 87% 1.212
Jupiter Venus 1 21h 08.7m –18° 21′ 34° Ev –4.0 13.1″ 82% 1.278
11 21h 56.7m –14° 19′ 36° Ev –4.0 13.7″ 80% 1.220
21 22h 42.5m –9° 40′ 38° Ev –4.0 14.4″ 77% 1.160
31 23h 26.4m –4° 38′ 40° Ev –4.1 15.2″ 74% 1.096
Mars 1 15h 43.8m –19° 23′ 42° Mo +1.6 4.3″ 96% 2.184
16 16h 26.1m –21° 29′ 47° Mo +1.5 4.5″ 95% 2.073

16
31 17h 09.7m –22° 55′ 52° Mo +1.4 4.8″ 93% 1.956
Saturn
Jupiter 1 18h 27.9m –23° 12′ 3° Mo –1.8 31.8″ 100% 6.209
31 18h 57.3m –22° 45′ 27° Mo –1.9 32.5″ 100% 6.074
Saturn 1 19h 31.3m –21° 44′ 11° Ev +0.5 15.1″ 100% 10.996
16
31 19h 46.3m –21° 10′ 16° Mo +0.6 15.1″ 100% 10.976
Uranus Uranus 16 2h 01.5m +11° 51′ 97° Ev +5.8 3.6″ 100% 19.667
Neptune 16 23h 11.3m –6° 20′ 51° Ev +7.9 2.2″ 100% 30.538
Neptune
The table above gives each object’s right ascension and declination (equinox 2000.0) at 0h Universal Time on selected dates,
10"
and its elongation from the Sun in the morning (Mo) or evening (Ev) sky. Next are the visual magnitude and equatorial diameter.
(Saturn’s ring extent is 2.27 times its equatorial diameter.) Last are the percentage of a planet’s disk illuminated by the Sun and
PLANET DISKS have south up, to match the
the distance from Earth in astronomical units. (Based on the mean Earth–Sun distance, 1 a.u. is 149,597,871 kilometers, or
view in many telescopes. Blue ticks indicate the
92,955,807 international miles.) For other dates, see skyandtelescope.com/almanac.
pole currently tilted toward Earth.
+40° 18h 16h 14h 12h 10h 8h 6h 4h 2h 0h 22h +40°

Vega RI GHT ASCENS ION GEMINI CYGNUS
Castor
+30° BOÖTES +30°
Pollux
D ECL INATION
Pleiades ARIES
Arcturus LEO
+20° HERCULES PEGASUS +20°
Jan PISCES
14 10 –11 6 Uranus
+10° Regulus TAURUS +10°
AQUILA Betelgeuse
OPHIUCHUS VIRGO CANCER
0° Procyon Jan 2 0°
17 C ORION EQUATOR Neptune
TI 29 AQUARIUS
–10°
LIBRA
LIP Rigel
EC Sirius
–10°
Saturn 20 Spica CORVUS CETUS Venus
ERIDANUS
Jupiter Mars HYDRA
CANIS CAPRICORNUS
SAGITTARIUS
Antares MAJOR Mercury
–30° Fomalhaut –30°
SCORPIUS LOCAL TIME OF TRANSIT
–40° 10 am 8 am 6 am 4 am 2 am Midnight 10 pm 8 pm 6 pm 4 pm 2 pm –40°
The Sun and planets are positioned for mid-January; the colored arrows show the motion of each during the month. The Moon is plotted for evening dates in the Americas when it’s waxing (right side
illuminated) or full, and for morning dates when it’s waning (left side). “Local time of transit” tells when (in Local Mean Time) objects cross the meridian — that is, when they appear due south and at
their highest — at mid-month. Transits occur an hour later on the 1st, and an hour earlier at month’s end.

Under the Stars by Fred Schaaf
Silent
Starlight
January’s starry sky inspires
a year of dreams and plans.
Silent sunlight, welcome in

There is work I must now begin
All my dreams have blown away
And the children wait to play
They’ll soon remember things to do
When the heart is young
And the night is done
And the sky is blue
—Cat Stevens (Yusuf Islam),
from Silent Sunlight
W elcome to the first of these

columns for the potentially very
inspiring year of 2020.
A few years back I coined the term
“vidience” as the counterpart in sight
to what “audience” is in sound. A vidi-
first two hours of right ascension strad-
dling the meridian at 1h sidereal time
and earning the name “the Andromeda
The song stanza quoted above is ence is what we observers are collec- Hour.” Ottewell no longer does a print
certainly inspirational, but for our pur- tively when we are stirred by the sights version of his legendary annual Astro-
poses here we need to adapt a few of the of a silent starry sky. nomical Calendar, but you can get a more
lines. Silent starlight is as powerful in its Start of the stars. Is January the basic (and free) version for 2020 at his
own, somewhat different way, as silent best month to begin a year — or life- website universalworkshop.com. There
sunlight is. And our hope is that the time — of observing the stars? We really you can also find how to purchase his
night we love is not done. To protect and must factor in what times of the night deluxe Map of the Starry Sky and 2020
regrow the night, however, there is work are best in a given month. I continue Zodiac Wavy Chart.
we — not just I — “must now begin.” to be fascinated with the fact that the The hour of our January issue all-
Silent starlight. The mention of brightest star, Sirius, is on the merid- sky chart. It is, perhaps, the Pleiades
“silent sunlight” makes me think of ian almost exactly at midnight of Hour or the Perseus Hour at the time of
sunlight pouring in through a window January 1st, the first minute of the New our chart on page 42, because the lovely
on a clear, sharp winter day, all quiet Year. I’ve also written here before about star cluster and the heroic constella-
out-of-doors. Sunlight itself is silent how early evening in January brings us tion are both near the meridian. Orion
— and so is the light of the multitude the hour Orion is rising and late evening is midway up the southeastern sky,
of suns, the stars — that shine in the the hour it’s highest. Which of these with Sirius not far above the southeast-
night sky. On calm, windless winter ought to be called “Orion o’clock?” ern horizon at this hour. The group of
nights we hear even fewer sounds, so The first step in dealing with these bright constellations surrounding Orion
the brilliance of Orion and the other matters is using sidereal time, which almost fits within the east-to-southeast
winter constellations — the brightest of is the time measured by the rotation celestial pie slice in a pie of sky whose
the year — has an even greater pres- of the Earth relative to the fi xed stars center is the zenith. Andromeda-Pegasus
ence. Of course, we might occasionally rather than to the Sun. hangs down the western sky from near
hear loud cracking from something The Heavens by Hours again. The the zenith to near the horizon. And the
freezing up in the night, or the sounds liveliest, most memorable way to follow departing Northern Cross of Cygnus
of our footsteps crunching on ice or time by the stars is with the system of stands upright on the west-northwestern
snow. But those kinds of sounds have a the Heavens by Hours, a system that has horizon with Deneb at top.
DENNIS DI CICCO
quality reminiscent of the sharp spar- a name for each sidereal hour. This idea
kling of stars, reinforcing the stellar was originated by astronomical author ¢ FRED SCHAAF welcomes your com-
beauty above. and illustrator Guy Ottewell, with the ments at fschaaf@aol.com.
Sun, Moon & Planets by Fred Schaaf
To find out what’s
visible in the sky
from your location,
go to skypub.com/
almanac.
Planetary Prelude
The first month of this year provides a foretaste of some of the amazing sights to come.
T he year 2020 shapes up to be truly

spectacular for the planets.
Jupiter and Saturn will pull close
sharper in telescopes for observers at
mid-northern latitudes.
Which planetary sights can you view
DUSK TO MID-EVENING
Venus has a dramatic increase in
sunset altitude for observers at mid-
together in May, separate, and then in this first month of 2020? As Janu- northern latitudes this month. If you
come back together in December to have ary progresses, Venus comes into sight can already spot the planet’s intense
their tightest conjunction in centuries. higher and higher in the southwest at spark as the Sun drops below the hori-
Also in 2020, Venus passes through nightfall. Mercury pokes into visibility zon, you’ll find it about 25° above the
the Pleiades near the apex of an out- very low in the early evening twilight southwestern horizon on January 1st
standing evening apparition for observ- near month’s end. But after Venus sets and about 34° high on the 31st. The
ers at mid-northern latitudes. After around mid-evening no bright planet is interval between sunset and Venus-set
that, brilliant Venus moves over into visible until several hours before sun- increases from 2¾ hours to almost 3½
the morning sky for an almost equally rise, when Mars rises in Libra, Scorpius, hours during January. You should be
excellent dawn display. or Ophiuchus. The last two bright plan- able to tell in your eyepiece that the
Finally, Mars in 2020 glides close ets follow Mars up at dawn but are only planet has a gibbous phase that shrinks
past Jupiter and Saturn in March and in just emerging from the solar glare as from 82% to 74% lit and a disk that
the fall will appear almost as bright and January progresses: Jupiter around the enlarges from 13″ to 15″ during the
big in our sky as it was at the perihelic second week of the month and Saturn, course of January.
opposition of 2018. But this time Mars just barely for lucky binocular observ- Venus spends the month track-
is 30° farther north and therefore much ers, at month’s end. ing past Delta (δ) Capricorni (Deneb
q These scenes are drawn for near the middle of North America (latitude 40° north, longitude 90°
west); European observers should move each Moon symbol a quarter of the way toward the one Dusk, Jan 6 – 8 Pleiades
for the previous date. In the Far East, move the Moon halfway. The blue 10° scale bar is about the 1 hour after sunset
width of your fist at arm’s length. For clarity, the Moon is shown three times its actual apparent size.
Moon
Jan 6
Dusk, Jan 3 Dawn, Jan 4 α Lib
45 minutes after sunset 45 minutes before sunrise
Moon
b Jan 7
Aldebaran
10° Mars
β
Venus
Moon TA U R U S
Jan 8
_ SCORPIUS
CAPRICORNUS Antares
`
ORION
Betelgeuse
Looking Southwest Looking Southeast Looking East, halfway up

Algedi) and then entering Aquarius,
where it has a very close encounter with December
solstice
Neptune. Almost 12 magnitudes fainter
Earth
than Venus, Neptune’s tiny disk is just
2.2″ wide and should be discernible in Uranus
telescopes in good seeing conditions. Venus

That little aqua blip is only about 10′ March Sept.
equinox equinox
lower right of Venus at nightfall on
Jupiter Sun
January 27th for viewers along the Neptune Mercury
East Coast, with a little more distance Saturn
separating the two planets for viewers Mars
farther west in North America.
June
Uranus, two magnitudes brighter solstice
than Neptune, is high in the south in

Aries at nightfall. Detailed finder charts ORBITS OF THE PLANETS
for Uranus and Neptune are in the The curved arrows show each planet’s movement during January. The outer planets don’t
change position enough in a month to notice at this scale.
September 2019 issue and can also be
accessed at https://is.gd/urnep.
Mercury goes through superior con- and 18th, when it passes less than 5° become visible to the naked eye before
junction with the Sun on January 10th. northwest of Antares, the heart of Scor- sunrise. Magnitude –1.9 Jupiter comes
It begins to come into view extremely pius. At this conjunction of the orange- up more than 1½ hours before the Sun
low in the southwest about 30 min- gold planet and orange-gold star, Mars as January ends.
utes after sunset in the final days of shines at magnitude 1.5, a half-magni- Saturn makes a rare passage directly
the month. As January ends, Mercury tude dimmer than Antares. Mars bright- behind the Sun’s disk on January 13th,
shines at magnitude –1.0 and sets about ens and grows slightly during January, reaching conjunction with the Sun just
70 minutes after the Sun. but even at month’s end its 93%-lit disk two hours after Pluto does. Saturn,
in telescopes is only 4.8″ wide. shining at magnitude 0.6, may be visible
PRE-DAWN AND DAWN Jupiter passed directly behind the to exceptionally well-placed binocular
Mars rises about three hours before the Sun’s disk at superior conjunction on observers at month’s end, rising about
Sun in January and cuts an interesting December 27, 2019, and is only a few an hour before sunup.
path through Scorpius and Ophiuchus degrees from the Sun, lost in the solar
during the month. Mars begins the glare, as 2020 begins. Not until the EARTH AND MOON
month and year some 4° to 5° upper second week of January does Jupiter Earth arrives at perihelion, a minimum
right of the wide double star Beta (β) of 0.9832 a.u. from the Sun, at 8h UT
Scorpii (Graffias). The highlight of on January 5th.
Mars’s trek through the stars this month The Moon is waxing gibbous and
Moon Dusk, Jan 26 – 28
occurs on the mornings of January 17th Jan 28 30 minutes after sunset
3° to 4° left or upper left of Aldeba-
ran at nightfall on January 7th. The
Venus Moon undergoes a penumbral eclipse,
mostly visible in the Eastern Hemi-
Dusk, Jan 10
45 minutes after sunset
sphere on January 10th (see page 50 for
Moon details), and rises only a few degrees
Venus Jan 27
lower right of Pollux at nightfall that
b Cap evening across North America. On the
American morning of January 20th, the
Fomalhaut
waning lunar crescent forms a com-
Moon pact pattern with Mars and Antares. At
Jan 26 nightfall on January 27th, the waxing
lunar crescent is some 6° below Venus,
Fomalhaut and the next night approximately the
Mercury same distance upper left of Venus.
¢ FRED SCHAAF had the 10-mile-wide

asteroid 7065 Fredschaaf named after
Looking Southwest Looking Southwest
him in November 2016.
Celestial Calendar by Bob King
Quadrantid Meteor Shower
1 am, Jan 4
Big
Dipper
URSA
Polaris MAJOR
URSA 10°
Catch MINOR Mizar
the Quads Little Dipper
After a bright Moon slammed Quadrantid

radiant
both the Perseids and the DRACO
BOÖTES
Geminids last year, January
opens with the promise of
an excellent show from the HERC ULES Arcturus
Quadrantid meteor shower.

Looking Northeast
I like to think of the “Quads” as the

shower without a home. Its mete-
ors radiate from within the obsolete
The radiant for the Quadrantids is in northern Boötes. By 1 a.m. local time
constellation Quadrans Muralis, the the radiant is well above the horizon for observers at mid-northern latitudes,
Mural Quadrant (which was a device with best viewing possibilities after 2 a.m. local time.
once used to measure star positions).
Joseph Jérôme de Lalande invented the
figure in the 1790s using a handful of during that time at your location, you about 90° either side of the radiant for
faint stars glimmering in the empty could see up to 120 meteors per hour, a nice mix of long- and short-trailed
realm north of Boötes and south of according to the American Meteor Soci- meteors. Once settled in I pull a big,
Draco. Soon after, the quadrant made ety. That’s an idealized number assum- wool blanket up to my chin and do
an appearance in several star atlases, ing no Moon, the radiant at the zenith, nothing for the next hour or two but
including Johann Bode’s Uranographia, and pristine skies. absorb the beauty of the stars and what-
and stuck around long enough to brand Off-peak you’ll see closer to 25 mete- ever meteors chance by.
the Quadrantids when the shower was ors an hour from a dark site. I caught If possible, face away from the worst
first recognized in the 1830s. the shower close to maximum under light pollution to preserve night vision
Alas, the constellation was not uni- clear skies just once back in the 1980s. and maximize your meteor count. The
versally accepted and ultimately shown What a show! Meteors sparked about majority of meteors are faint, so the
the door in the early 20th century. But one a minute across the frigid pre-dawn darker the sky the more you’ll see.
it has bequeathed its name to the first sky, including a few fireballs, a classic If you’re planning on taking photos,
meteor shower of the new year. The Quadrantid characteristic. If you live in get an intervalometer for your DLSR. The
Quads peak on the night of January 3–4 North America, 2020 is the year you’ve device presses the shutter button for you
with the best view in the early morning been waiting for. The International at preset intervals, so you don’t have to
after about 2 a.m. local time until the Meteor Organization (IMO) puts the maintain a frozen vigil at the camera.
start of dawn around 6 a.m. The focal peak at around 8h UT on January 4th, or You can purchase one at camera shops
point, or radiant, of the shower stands 3 a.m. Eastern Standard Time, favorable or online outlets including eBay. Use
at the juncture of Hercules, Boötes, and for North America. The first-quarter a wide-angle lens with a focal length
Draco and climbs high in the northeast Moon sets by 1:30 a.m., leaving a bliss- of 35 mm or less and start with an
sky before first light. fully black sky perfect for Quad-gazing. exposure of 30 seconds at f/2.8 and ISO
While many meteor showers are My favorite way to enjoy a winter 1600. Once activated, the intervalom-
active for several nights, the Quadran- meteor shower is to crack open the eter will snap one photo after another
tids are famous for their fussiness, squeaky folding chair and square it up while you cozy away under that blanket.
with a peak typically lasting only about in the driveway. As far as which direc- If you think frost or dew might become
6 hours. If the radiant is well-placed tion to face, any works, but I like to look a problem, rubber-band a couple of

chemical handwarmers around your visible all night. Be alert for Quadrantid an American astronomer and meteor
lens and intervalometer. In an hour’s earthgrazers, meteors that climb upward researcher, has proposed that the
time you will have tallied more than from the northern horizon and glow for Quadrantid stream evolved from the
100 images without even trying. Later, many seconds as they skim the top of breakup of a much larger comet nucleus
when you’re indoors, you can swipe the atmosphere. of which 2003 EH1 is a remaining frag-
the frost off the camera back and click Unlike many meteor showers that ment (https://is.gd/2003EH1). Because
through your take to find (we hope!) a originate from dust and debris sloughed the debris stream is narrow and Earth
treasure or two. off by passing comets, the Quads’ encounters the stream perpendicularly,
Because the radiant lies at a declina- parent body appears to be an extinct the planet zips through the densest
tion of 50° north, it’s circumpolar from near-Earth comet discovered in 2003 meteoroid braids in hours, which is why
many North American locations and called 2003 EH1. Peter Jenniskens, the peak is so brief.
Hot Rocks for Cold Nights

TWO BRIGHT ASTEROIDS ply the eve- on December 8, 1845, after searching years, what had been a trickle of new
ning sky this month — 5 Astraea and steadfastly for 15 years with a small objects became a torrent. In fact, so
511 Davida. Davida reaches opposi- achromatic refractor. many new asteroids were discovered
tion on January 15th in Gemini and On the night of his discovery Hencke that astronomers abandoned calling
Astraea on the 21st in Cancer. Both assumed the new object was a variable them planets — the popular term at the
shine around 9th magnitude and are star since he’d swept the region many time — and settled instead on asteroid,
glimpsable in binoculars from dark times before. He sent off an account of a word meaning “starlike.” One man’s
skies, but most of us will fi nd a small his new find to a Berlin newspaper. Sev- persistence had paid off — Hencke
telescope better suited to the task. eral days later, Johann Encke of Encke’s unintentionally revolutionized our
Astraea, a large stony asteroid about Comet fame, confirmed the object as a understanding of asteroids as minor
119 kilometers across, starts the month new “planet” after having observed it solar system bodies compared to the
at magnitude 9.5, brightens to 8.9 at move against the fi xed stars. Two years more massive planets.
opposition and fades to 9.3 by month’s later, Hencke discovered his second
end. Astraea was the fifth asteroid asteroid, 6 Hebe. 8h 20m 8h 10m 8h 00m
discovered after the familiar foursome These two almost back-to-back finds
20
of Ceres, Pallas, Juno, and Vesta. Those reenergized astronomers to begin hunt-
+18° ζ 3
30
first discoveries came one after another ing anew for asteroids. In the coming
between 1801 21
25
and 1807. Then α ρ
38 years went by +16° 12 tr aea 5
τ As
without a single +30° Apr 1 of 1
Jan 3 th
Pa
new object found. ι σ Mar 1
ι 29
Many astrono- β +14° Dec 31
mers assumed υ 12
that was all she CANCER Feb 1 27 8

+25° a
wrote until Karl id
Ludwig Hencke, a D av κ
of +26° 76
German amateur, h δ
γ P at 23
spotted a fifth Jan 1, 2020
+20° Apr 1 Mar 1 20
u The tick marks +25°
represent 0h UT; for δ Dec 1, 2019 GEMINI 17
North America, this aea κ
time falls in the early ζ Astr λ 14
o f Feb 1
evening (or late after- th +24° a
Pa 11 id
noon) of the previous +15°
D av
date. The chart for Jan 1, 2020 Jan 8 of 82
Davida traces the Dec 1, 2019 a th
asteroid’s path one +23° P
CANIS
week prior to and one 8h 30m 8h 00m MINOR 7h 30m 7h 55m 7h 50m 7h 45m 7h 40m
week after opposition.
Celestial Calendar
Action at Jupiter
JUPITER WAS VISIBLE LOW in evening
twilight in the first week or two of
December 2019 and in conjunction
with the Sun on December 27th. Look
Our second featured asteroid, asteroid belt, exactly where you’ll find for it to reappear very low in the dawn
511 Davida, is a 290-kilometer-wide Davida, which takes its name from the sky around January 12th.
ball of carbonaceous goodness and late-19th, early-20th century American When Jupiter is observable, any
one of the few that reveals a shape in astronomer David Todd. telescope shows the four big Galilean
ground-based instruments. Its reflec- Davida begins the month at magni- moons, and binoculars usually show at
tance spectrum indicates it’s a Type C tude 9.9, brightens to 9.5 at opposition, least two or three. The moons orbit Jupi-
asteroid enriched in carbon. Unsurpris- and fades to 10 by month’s end while ter at different rates, changing positions
ingly, its surface is considerably darker embarking on a loop near the bright along a nearly straight line from our
than Astraea’s, with an albedo of about star Pollux in Gemini. You couldn’t ask point of view on Earth. Use the diagram
0.06 versus 0.23. Type C asteroids are for an easier guide star. And what better at right to identify them by their relative
related to the CI and CM carbonaceous sight on a cold January night than a positions on any given time and date.
chondrite meteorites. They’re more carbon-rich asteroid soaking up sun like All of the January interactions
common in the outer part of the main a turtle on a log? between Jupiter and its satellites and
their shadows are tabulated on the fac-
ing page. Find events timed for Jupiter’s
brief period of twilight visibility.
Penumbral Lunar Eclipse Features on Jupiter appear closer to
the central meridian than to the limb
SKYWATCHERS IN Europe, Africa, Asia, and western Australia will see a deep for 50 minutes before and after transit-
penumbral lunar eclipse on Friday, January 10th. The eclipse begins at 17:08 UT ing. Here are the times, in Universal
with maximum at 19:11 UT and conclusion at 21:12 UT. At maximum, 89.5% of Time, when the Great Red Spot should
the Moon will dip within Earth’s outer, or penumbral, shadow. Observers should cross Jupiter’s central meridian. The
easily notice a “graying” of the Moon’s southeastern limb about 20 minutes into dates, also in UT, are in bold. (Eastern
the eclipse. All four of 2020’s lunar eclipses are penumbral. Western Hemisphere Standard Time is UT minus 5 hours.)
observers will witness two of them, a shallow event on the night of July 4–5 and a December 1: 0:19, 10:14, 20:10;
deeper one in the early morning hours of November 29–30. 2: 6:06, 16:02; 3: 1:58, 11:54, 21:49;
4: 7:45, 17:41; 5: 3:37, 13:33, 23:29;
6: 9:25, 19:20; 7: 5:16, 15:12; 8: 1:08,
11:04, 21:00; 9: 6:55, 16:51; 10: 2:47,
12:43, 22:39; 11: 8:35, 18:31; 12: 4:26,
Minima of Algol 14:22; 13: 0:18, 10:14, 20:10; 14: 6:06,
29
Dec. UT Jan. UT 16:01; 15: 1:57, 11:53, 21:49; 16: 7:45,
18
2 6:29 2 19:29 30 17:41; 17: 3:36, 13:32, 23:28; 18: 9:24,
5 3:18 5 16:18 PERSEUS 19:20; 19: 5:16, 15:12; 20: 1:07, 11:03,
8 0:07 8 13:08 38 20:59; 21: 6:55, 16:51; 22: 2:47, 12:42,
21 22:38; 23: 8:34, 18:30; 24: 4:26, 14:22;
10 20:56 11 9:57 Algol
25: 0:17, 10:13, 20:09; 26: 6:05, 16:01;
13 17:45 14 6:46
27: 1:57, 11:52, 21:48; 28: 7:44, 17:40;
16 14:34 17 3:36
29: 3:36, 13:32, 23:27; 30: 9:23, 19:19;
19 11:23 20 0:25 31: 5:15, 15:11
TRIANGULUM
22 8:12 22 21:14 34 January 1: 1:07, 11:02, 20:58; 2:
25 5:02 25 18:03 6:54, 16:50; 3: 2:46, 12:42, 22:37; 4:
28 1:51 28 14:53 p Perseus stands high in the northeastern 8:33, 18:29; 5: 4:25, 14:21; 6: 0:17,
30 22:40 31 11:42 sky in the evening. Every 2.7 days, Algol (Beta 10:12, 20:08; 7: 6:04, 16:00; 8: 1:56,
These geocentric predictions are from the
Persei) dips from its usual magnitude 2.1 to 11:51, 21:47; 9: 7:43, 17:39; 10: 3:35,
3.4 and back. Use this chart to estimate its
recent heliocentric elements Min. = JD 13:31, 23:26; 11: 9:22, 19:18; 12: 5:14,
2445641.554 + 2.867324E, where E is any brightness in respect to comparison stars of
integer. For a comparison-star chart and magnitude 2.1 (Gamma Andromedae) and 3.4
15:10; 13: 1:05, 11:01, 20:57; 14: 6:53,
more info, see skyandtelescope.com/algol. (Alpha Trianguli). Algol remains near minimum 16:49; 15: 2:45, 12:40, 22:36; 16: 8:32,
for about 2 hours. 18:28; 17: 4:24, 14:19; 18: 0:15, 10:11,

Jupiter’s Moons
20:07; 19: 6:03, 15:59; 20: 1:54, 11:50, These times assume that the spot
21:46; 21: 7:42, 17:38; 22: 3:33, 13:29, will be centered at System II longi-
23:25; 23: 9:21, 19:17; 24: 5:12, 15:08; tude 322°. If the Red Spot has moved
25: 1:04, 11:00, 20:56; 26: 6:52, 16:47; elsewhere, it will transit 12/3 minutes Jan 1
27: 2:43, 12:39, 22:35; 28: 8:31, 18:26; earlier for each degree less than 315° 2
29: 4:22, 14:18; 30: 0:14, 10:10, 20:05; and 12/3 minutes later for each degree
3 EAST WEST
31: 6:01, 15:57 more than 315°.
4
Phenomena of Jupiter’s Moons, January 2020 5
6
Jan. 1 15:19 I.Sh.I 19:40 I.Tr.E 16:27 I.Ec.D 2:08 III.Oc.R
15:24 I.Tr.I 23:35 II.Ec.D 17:17 III.Ec.D 15:30 I.Sh.I
7
17:33 I.Sh.E Jan. 9 2:40 II.Oc.R 19:03 I.Oc.R 15:58 I.Tr.I
17:38 I.Tr.E 13:18 III.Ec.D 21:39 III.Oc.R 17:44 I.Sh.E 8
21:00 II.Ec.D 14:33 I.Ec.D Jan. 17 13:36 I.Sh.I 18:13 I.Tr.E
23:50 II.Oc.R 17:01 I.Oc.R 13:57 I.Tr.I 23:50 II.Sh.I 9
Jan. 2 9:19 III.Ec.D 17:10 III.Oc.R 15:50 I.Sh.E Jan. 25 0:48 II.Tr.I
12:38 III.Oc.R Jan. 10 11:42 I.Sh.I 16:12 I.Tr.E 2:31 II.Sh.E 10
12:38 I.Ec.D 11:56 I.Tr.I 21:14 II.Sh.I 3:30 II.Tr.E
14:59 I.Oc.R 13:56 I.Sh.E 21:58 II.Tr.I 12:50 I.Ec.D 11
Jan. 3 9:48 I.Sh.I 14:10 I.Tr.E 23:55 II.Sh.E 15:35 I.Oc.R
9:55 I.Tr.I 18:38 II.Sh.I Jan. 18 0:40 II.Tr.E Jan. 26 9:58 I.Sh.I 12
12:02 I.Sh.E 19:07 II.Tr.I 10:55 I.Ec.D 10:28 I.Tr.I
12:09 I.Tr.E 21:18 II.Sh.E 13:33 I.Oc.R 12:12 I.Sh.E 13
16:02 II.Sh.I 21:48 II.Tr.E Jan. 19 8:04 I.Sh.I 12:43 I.Tr.E
16:16 II.Tr.I Jan. 11 9:01 I.Ec.D 8:27 I.Tr.I 18:01 II.Ec.D 14
18:42 II.Sh.E 11:32 I.Oc.R 10:18 I.Sh.E 21:44 II.Oc.R Io
18:57 II.Tr.E 10:42 I.Tr.E Jan. 27 7:18 I.Ec.D 15
Jan. 12 6:10 I.Sh.I
Jan. 4 7:07 I.Ec.D 6:26 I.Tr.I 15:26 II.Ec.D 10:05 I.Oc.R
9:30 I.Oc.R 18:55 II.Oc.R 11:01 III.Sh.I
16 Callisto
8:24 I.Sh.E
Jan. 5 4:16 I.Sh.I 8:41 I.Tr.E Jan. 20 5:24 I.Ec.D 13:07 III.Tr.I
17
4:25 I.Tr.I 12:52 II.Ec.D 7:03 III.Sh.I 13:59 III.Sh.E
6:30 I.Sh.E 16:05 II.Oc.R 8:04 I.Oc.R 16:09 III.Tr.E
18 Europa
6:39 I.Tr.E Jan. 13 3:03 III.Sh.I 8:40 III.Tr.I Jan. 28 4:27 I.Sh.I
10:18 II.Ec.D 3:30 I.Ec.D 9:59 III.Sh.E 4:58 I.Tr.I 19
13:15 II.Oc.R 4:11 III.Tr.I 11:40 III.Tr.E 6:41 I.Sh.E
23:05 III.Sh.I 5:59 III.Sh.E Jan. 21 2:33 I.Sh.I 7:13 I.Tr.E 20
23:43 III.Tr.I 6:02 I.Oc.R 2:57 I.Tr.I 13:08 II.Sh.I Ganymede
Jan. 6 1:35 I.Ec.D 7:10 III.Tr.E 4:47 I.Sh.E 14:12 II.Tr.I 21
1:59 III.Sh.E Jan. 14 0:39 I.Sh.I 5:12 I.Tr.E 15:48 II.Sh.E
2:40 III.Tr.E 0:56 I.Tr.I 10:32 II.Sh.I 16:55 II.Tr.E 22
4:00 I.Oc.R 2:53 I.Sh.E 11:23 II.Tr.I Jan. 29 1:47 I.Ec.D
22:45 I.Sh.I 3:11 I.Tr.E 13:12 II.Sh.E 4:35 I.Oc.R 23
22:55 I.Tr.I 7:56 II.Sh.I 14:05 II.Tr.E 22:55 I.Sh.I
Jan. 7 0:44 IV.Sh.I 8:32 II.Tr.I 23:53 I.Ec.D 23:28 I.Tr.I 24
0:59 I.Sh.E 10:36 II.Sh.E Jan. 22 2:34 I.Oc.R Jan. 30 1:09 I.Sh.E
1:10 I.Tr.E 11:14 II.Tr.E 21:01 I.Sh.I 1:43 I.Tr.E 25
2:21 IV.Tr.I 21:58 I.Ec.D 21:28 I.Tr.I 7:18 II.Ec.D
2:57 IV.Sh.E Jan. 15 0:33 I.Oc.R 23:15 I.Sh.E 11:09 II.Oc.R 26
4:46 IV.Tr.E 11:31 IV.Ec.D 23:42 I.Tr.E 20:15 I.Ec.D
5:20 II.Sh.I 13:54 IV.Ec.R Jan. 23 4:44 II.Ec.D 23:05 I.Oc.R 27
5:41 II.Tr.I 14:30 IV.Oc.D 8:20 II.Oc.R Jan. 31 1:13 III.Ec.D
8:00 II.Sh.E 28
17:09 IV.Oc.R 18:21 I.Ec.D 6:36 III.Oc.R
8:22 II.Tr.E 19:07 I.Sh.I 18:41 IV.Sh.I 17:23 I.Sh.I
20:04 I.Ec.D
29
19:27 I.Tr.I 21:04 I.Oc.R 17:59 I.Tr.I
22:31 I.Oc.R 21:21 I.Sh.E 21:08 IV.Sh.E 19:38 I.Sh.E
30
Jan. 8 17:13 I.Sh.I 21:41 I.Tr.E 21:15 III.Ec.D 20:13 I.Tr.E
17:25 I.Tr.I Jan. 16 2:09 II.Ec.D 22:57 IV.Tr.I
31
19:27 I.Sh.E 5:30 II.Oc.R Jan. 24 1:44 IV.Tr.E
Every day, interesting events happen between Jupiter’s satellites and the planet’s disk or shadow. The first columns give
the date and mid-time of the event, in Universal Time (which is 4 hours ahead of Eastern Daylight Time). Next is the satellite
The wavy lines represent Jupiter’s four big satellites. The
involved: I for Io, II Europa, III Ganymede, or IV Callisto. Next is the type of event: Oc for an occultation of the satellite behind
central vertical band is Jupiter itself. Each gray or black
Jupiter’s limb, Ec for an eclipse by Jupiter’s shadow, Tr for a transit across the planet’s face, or Sh for the satellite casting its
own shadow onto Jupiter. An occultation or eclipse begins when the satellite disappears (D) and ends when it reappears (R ). horizontal band is one day, from 0 h (upper edge of band)
A transit or shadow passage begins at ingress (I) and ends at egress (E ). Each event is gradual, taking up to several minutes. to 24h UT (GMT). UT dates are at left. Slide a paper’s edge
Predictions courtesy IMCCE / Paris Observatory. down to your date and time, and read across to see the
satellites’ positions east or west of Jupiter.
Exploring the Solar System by Thomas A. Dobbins
t Reported to appear similar to but consider-

ably fainter than the gegenschein seen at left,
Kordylewski’s clouds of dust reside 60° ahead
of and behind the Moon in its orbital path.
In 1951 the Polish astronomer

Kazimierz Kordylewski, a specialist in
celestial mechanics and the photoelec-
tric photometry of variable stars, began
a systematic visual search for “Trojan”
bodies located at the L4 and L5 points
of the Earth-Moon system using the
8-inch refractor of the Kracow Observa-
tory. He looked for objects with a stellar
appearance that would betray their
nature by moving at the lunar rate —
about ½° every hour — relative to the
background stars.
Despite many nights at the eye-
piece, Kordylewski failed to detect any
suspects brighter than 12th magni-
tude, corresponding to objects about
20 meters in diameter with the same
The Kordylewski Clouds reflectivity as the lunar surface. Deep

photographic surveys using a 20-inch
Schmidt camera and a 24-inch reflector
Join the hunt for these enigmatic lunar attendants. also proved disappointing.
Professor Josef Witkowski of Poznan
T he most challenging observing tar-

gets in the solar system are located
right in our cosmic backyard, yet they
an entire family of asteroids that circle
the Sun near the L4 and L5 points in
Jupiter’s orbit. Following a suggestion
University suggested to Kordylewski that
he search for swarms of dust particles
rather than discrete bodies. Far too tiny
can’t be seen through any telescope. by Austrian astronomer Johann Palisa, to be seen individually, if present in suf-
The path that led to their discov- these objects were named after famous ficient numbers these dust motes would
ery six decades ago can be traced back heroes of the Trojan War, and to date be visible as a very faint nebulous patch.
almost two and a half centuries to more than 7,000 “Trojan” asteroids Without a contrasting expanse of sur-
attempts to solve the vexing “three- have been cataloged. They comprise rounding dark sky to reveal its outlines,
body problem” in celestial mechanics. almost one-fifth the mass of the main however, any cloud of sufficiently large
In 1772 the mathematician Joseph- asteroid belt. dimensions would elude detection in
Louis Lagrange determined that a
relatively small body that shares the
orbit of a planet and lies 60° ahead Five Lagrangian points L2 (40,750 miles
exist for each three-body beyond Moon)
or behind it will maintain its position Moon
system. L1, L2, and L3
for an indefinitely long period of time. (not shown, but on the
These Lagrangian points are designated far side of Earth at the L1
L4 (leading) and L5 (trailing). Forming Moon’s distance) lie on (36,000
G EG ENSCHEIN: ESO / Y. BELE TSK Y; L AG R A NGIA N
a pair of equilateral triangles with the a straight line drawn miles inside
through the two large Moon’s orbit)
planet and the Sun, they are exception-
masses. Weak perturbing
POIN T DIAG R A M: LE A H TISCIONE / S&T
ally stable because the gravitational forces will knock objects 60° 60°
attraction of the planet and the Sun on L4 L5
at these points out of
the small body just balance the centrip- orbit. The stable L4 and
etal force of its orbital motion. L5 are the third points of
two equilateral triangles
The Lagrangian points remained
drawn in the plane of the
an abstract notion until the dawn of two large objects. Earth
the 20th century, when astronomers
discovered the brightest members of

the narrow field of a telescope. It would u Kordylewski made this iso-
be a classic case of being “too close to phote diagram by photoelec-
α Leo
trically scanning negatives
the forest to see the trees.” 5°
obtained on March 6, 1961.
A special combination of circum- The contour lines of increas-
stances is required for such a cloud to β Leo
ing brightness are centered
be observable. The Lagrangian point about 5° from the L5 point.
of interest has to be located well above
the horizon to minimize the effects of densest at the center of
airglow and atmospheric extinction. the image. To overcome
6. .5
5
0
To provide a contrasting background, it this source of error he
0
7.
must lie clear of the Milky Way as well made four exposures
0
tic
8.
as the band of the zodiacal light that on every night with the lip
10 .0
Ec
9
12 0 .
.0
runs along the ecliptic. It would appear Lagrangian points at
.0
brightest when nearly opposite the Sun, different locations rela-
14
= Center
but at such times the Moon — only 60° tive to the center of the = Anti-solar point
away — is in a bright gibbous phase, so photograph. = L5 point
sightings are only possible before the The negatives were
Moon rises or after it sets to avoid a scanned with a micro-
bright background sky awash with scat- photometer at the Wroclaw Observa- recorded a faint glow around the L5
tered moonlight. tory. This sensitive instrument measures point that was remarkably consistent
Kordylewski hoped to find images the density of the films, allowing for the with Kordylewski’s observations six
of cloud satellites in the thousands of accurate plotting of contour lines that decades earlier.
wide-angle patrol photographs taken at delineate regions of density. Deforma- There has also been no shortage
the Sonneberg Observatory in Germany tions of these contour lines on all of of negative results, which led some
over a period of three decades. Unfor- the photographs revealed the presence astronomers to question the reality of
tunately, not a single one had recorded of two oval clouds near L5. Measuring the cloud satellites. In 1991 the Japa-
the L4 or L5 points when the Moon was about 2° by 3° and separated by about nese Hiten space probe failed to detect a
below the horizon! 8°, the clouds were present in photo- significant increase in dust particle den-
In October 1956 Kordylewski visited graphs of the constellation Leo taken on sity when it passed directly through L4
the Skalnaté Pleso Observatory in the March 6 but absent in photographs of and L5. In 2010 astronomers Amanda
Tatra mountains of Slovakia. From this the same region taken two nights later Lowry and Dwight Russell reported
dark, remote location, he managed to when the Lagrangian point had moved that they didn’t record any reddening of
glimpse with his naked eye an exceed- into the constellation Virgo. the light of background stars in the L5
ingly faint, diffuse patch of light about There has been no shortage of region that would occur if the starlight
four times larger than the full Moon confirming observations over the years. had passed through even an exceedingly
near the L5 point. It was one or two In 1967 J. Wesley Simpson recorded tenuous dust cloud.
magnitudes fainter than the notori- the cloud satellites using instruments The solution to this conundrum may
ously difficult gegenschein, the “counter- aboard NASA’s Kuiper Airborne Obser- be that the Kordylewski Clouds are vari-
glow” located directly opposite the Sun vatory. Eight years later, J. R. Roach veri- able. The feeble pressure that sunlight
within the band of zodiacal light that is fied their presence using data acquired exerts will gradually sweep away any
produced by the backscatter of sunlight during 16 successive lunations with the sub-micron grains of dust at the L4 and
from motes of interplanetary dust. Its Orbiting Solar Observatory 6. During L5 points, suggesting that the debris shed
changing location on successive nights the 1980s they were repeatedly captured by passing comets or ejected from lunar
confirmed that it was moving at the on photographs taken with a battery of impacts periodically replenishes them.
same rate as the Moon. wide-field cameras by the Polish astron- If you have access to an exceptionally
On an expedition to nearby omer Maciej Winiarski from a dark site dark observing site and modern digital
Kasprowy Wierch mountain in the in the Carpathian Mountains. imaging equipment, the Kordylewski
late winter through early spring of Last year a team of Hungarian Clouds are well worth looking for. Just
1961, Kordylewski took 11- to 13-min- astronomers reported the most con- remember that you’ll be straining to
ute photographic exposures of the L5 vincing evidence yet. Reflected sunlight record something ephemeral that may
region using a wide-field Leica camera is always polarized to some extent, so not always be there!
LE AH TISCIONE / S&T
equipped with a 50-mm f/1.5 lens. by using a linear polarizing filter that
Although his films covered an area of transmits only light with a particular ¢ This column marks Contributing Edi-
25° by 37°, the optical system’s vignett- direction of oscillation attached to a tor TOM DOBBINS’ 50th article in Sky &
ing imparted uneven sky fog that was camera lens and CCD detector, they Telescope in 33 years.
Deep-Sky Wonders by Sue French
Auriga, the
Charioteer
Some of the sky’s finest
nebulae and star clusters
adorn this constellation.
Thou hast loosened the necks of thine

horses, and goaded their flanks
with affright,
To the race of a course that we know not
on ways that are hid from our sight.
As a wind through the darkness the wheels
of their chariot are whirled,
And the light of its passage is night on the
face of the world.
— Algernon Charles Swinburne,
Erechtheus, 1876
A ccording to one myth, Erechtheus

(or Erichthonius) was the mor-
tal son of the Greek god Hephaestus.
p Deep photographs show that NGC 1931, IC 417, IC 410, and IC 405 (top left, upper left, lower
left, and lower right, respectively) are actually the brightest parts of a single nebula. The bright
stars of asterism Melotte 31 shine between IC 410 and IC 405.
Erechtheus created the first four-horse

chariot (quadriga) to ride beneath the strung from 16 to 19 Aurigae are par- ing of suns is framed by a triangle of
heavens, which impressed the gods and ticularly eye-catching. Sky & Telescope 9th-magnitude stars and ensnared in
earned him a place among the stars as Senior Editor Alan MacRobert has the eastern reaches of a gauzy mist.
the constellation Auriga. long referred to this cute asterism as The cluster appears about 12′ across,
We’ll start our tour of Auriga’s starry the Leaping Minnow, while California while the nebula overspreads at least
realm with Melotte 31. This elongated amateur Robert Douglas calls it Auriga’s 19′. Boosting the power to 76×, I count
group of 35 stars spans 2¼° with golden Frying Pan. Despite the striking counte- forty 9th- to 13th-magnitude stars.
16 Aurigae at its center. In a suburban nance of Melotte 31, its stars seem to be The nebula is patchy and irregular,
sky, Melotte 31 looks like a hazy glow largely unrelated. with a dimmer bay in its eastern side
to the unaided eye, but a rural sky may Melotte 31 is named for the British and dark blotch just west of the clus-
allow you resolve a few of its stars. astronomer Philibert Jacques Melotte, ter’s center.
The group is easily visible through who included it as one of the 245 NGC 1893 reveals 60 stars, and
a finderscope, binoculars, or a small objects listed in his 1915 Catalogue of it doubles in size when seen through
telescope at low power. The bright stars Star Clusters shown on the Franklin- my 10-inch reflector at 70×. Many of
Adams Chart Plates. Melotte is also well- the bright stars follow a pattern that
known for his discovery of Pasiphaë, reminds me of a pair of crossed candy
7RFHOHEUDWH\HDUVRI6XH)UHQFK˪V
VWHOODUFRQWULEXWLRQVWR6N\ 7HOH one of Jupiter’s moons. canes, and the brightest star in the
VFRSHZHZLOOEHVKDULQJWKHEHVWRI Through my 105-mm (4.1-inch) northeastern part shines with a golden
STE V E CA NNISTR A
KHUFROXPQVLQWKHFRPLQJPRQWKV refractor at 28×, the Minnow shares hue. IC 410 stretches westward to a
:HKDYHXSGDWHGYDOXHVWRFXUUHQW the field of view with the emission 9th-magnitude star near the cluster’s
PHDVXUHPHQWVZKHQDSSURSULDWH nebula IC 410 and its embedded open edge and faintly beyond toward the
cluster NGC 1893. This coarse gather- nice double star Espin 332. The pair

consists of an 8.9-magnitude primary u The nebula IC 410 and its embedded star
with a 9.5-magnitude secondary to its cluster NGC 1893 are gorgeous in this color
image. The author saw the southern Tadpole
southwest.
(Simeis 130) through her 10-inch reflector, but
Suspecting a small brighter spot in not the fainter northern Tadpole, Simeis 129.
the nebula about one-third of the way
from the golden star to the 10th-mag- mirror-imaged view, I faintly see a 1½°
nitude star at the center of the cluster, I J of nebulosity, especially when I scan
zoomed in on the area with higher pow- east-west across it. The J dangles upside
ers. They gave a much better view, and down in the sky, but only the bright
I could easily see a patch of enhanced region in its hook forms the Flaming
brightness. A faint star rests inside and Star Nebula.
a dimmer one nuzzles the southern Now lets move eastward to the 5th-
edge. This bright region marks the head magnitude star Phi (ĳ) Aurigae. Phi
of Simeis 130, one of IC 410’s cometary gleams in the smile of a 1.5° asterism
nebulae. Nicknamed the Tadpoles, they that New York amateur Ben Cacace
are sites of denser gas and dust being dubbed the Cheshire Cat. There
eroded by stellar winds and radiation are six stars in the wide grin, tipped
from the cluster. I didn’t notice the north-northeast, and two eye stars to
head of the other Tadpole, Simeis 129, their west. Phi and the northern eye
located 4′ northwest, nor did I see the both glow yellow-orange in my 105-
Tadpoles’ tails trailing away from the mm scope at 17×. Since the vanishing
cluster. Can you? cat’s dimmest star is magnitude 6.9,
About ¾° northwest of the Min- the asterism is an easy target for most
now, we find the eruptive variable AE binoculars.
Aurigae, a blue-white star that fluctu- The opulent open cluster Messier 38 Stock 8 is wrapped in the nebulous
ates irregularly between magnitude 5.4 decorates the northern corner of the cloak of IC 417. Through my 105-mm
and 6.1. This runaway star was ejected Cheshire Cat’s mouth. Splashy M38 and refractor at 47×, they appear as a hazy
from the Orion star-forming complex nearby, powdery NGC 1907 were fea- patch with several faint stars, the
approximately 2.5 million years ago. It’s tured in Ken Hewitt-White’s “A Chariot brightest one shining at 9th magnitude
thought that a close encounter between Full of Clusters” (S&T: Mar. 2008, p. 55). near the center. This star becomes a
two binary systems led to some star Off the lip of the Cheshire Cat, right double (Σ707) at 76×, with the 11th-
swapping that resulted in the eccentric next to Phi Aurigae, the open cluster magnitude companion 18″ southeast of
binary Iota Orionis and two high-speed
escapees, AE Aurigae and Mu Columbae.
AE Aurigae now serves as the chief +36°
M38
source of illumination for the emission/
reflection nebula IC 405, which it only 4
Star magnitudes
chanced upon in astronomically recent AURIGA
5
times. The German astronomer Max Cheshire 6
1907 Cat
Wolf noted that the nebular material 7
surrounding AE Aurigae “looks like a 8
IC 405 9
burning body from which several enor-
Stock 8 10
mous curved flames seem to break out f
like gigantic prominences.” He thought Mel 31 AE
1931
this “flaming star” worth study, and IC 417
its nebula thus became known as the Sh 2-237 19 +34°
Flaming Star Nebula. IC 410
With my 105-mm refractor at 17×,
1893
nebulous haze is fairly obvious near AE
16
Aurigae and the 7.7-magnitude, pale-
yellow star 8′ to its northwest. If you
SE A N WA LK ER / S&T
Espin
have a hydrogen-beta filter, IC 405 is 332
one of the relatively rare objects you can 14
add to its trophy case — but a narrow- 5h 30m 5h 20m 5h 10m
band filter can also be of help. In my
Deep-Sky Wonders
p Open cluster Stock 8, together with the surrounding emission nebula IC 417, is visible in
small telescopes under moderately dark skies.
u Sharpless 2-237 is so bright that it almost hides NGC 1931, its embedded star cluster.
the primary. The sparse cluster shows nebula Sharpless 2-237. The 11th- the three brightest members arranged
11 stars and is elongated north-south magnitude star nestled in its heart is in a tiny triangle and the fourth
about 6½′, while the nebula is a little almost overpowered by the glow of the component to their northeast. Several
longer and extends farther east of the nebula, but it shows up much better additional stars straggle south through
cluster than west. when I increase the power to 87×. It west-southwest of the group.
Stock 8 looks much richer when sits at the northwest corner of a 3½′ The three clusters highlighted here
viewed through my 10-inch reflector at box that it forms with three dimmer are among the youngest visible in the
118×. I see 35 to 40 moderately bright stars. The nebula is very bright close to sky. Their eldest members are a mere 4
stars loosely strewn across 11′ of sky. IC its star and fades sharply outward to a million years old, and starbirth within
417 engulfs the more crowded regions diameter of perhaps 3½′. them is still ongoing.
of the cluster and covers about 8′. NGC 1931, the cluster associated
Viewed through my little refractor with Sh 2-237, begins to emerge in my ¢ Contributing Editor SUE FRENCH
at 47×, IC 417 shares the field with 10-inch scope at high power. The bright wrote this column for the January 2010
the smaller but much more obvious star is shown to be a quadruple, with issue of Sky & Telescope.
Chariot of Stars, Clouds of Fire

Object Type Mag(v) Size/Sep RA Dec.
IC 417: SE A N WA LK ER / S&T; NGC 1931: M ASIL IM AGING TE A M

Melotte 31 Asterism — 135′ 5h 18.2m +33° 22′
IC 410 / NGC 1893 Nebula / cluster 7.0 40′ × 30′ 5h 22.6m +33° 22′
Espin 332 Double star 8.9, 9.5 14.8″ 5h 21.4m +33° 23′
AE Aurigae Bright Star 6 — 5h 16.3 m +34° 18′
IC 405 Bright nebula — 30′ × 20′ 5h 16.6m +34° 25′
Cheshire Cat Asterism 3.9 90′ 5h 27.3m +34° 52′
Stock 8 / IC 417 Cluster / nebula — 15′ 5h 28.1m +34° 25′
Sh 2-237 / NGC 1931 Nebula / cluster — 7′ 5h 31.4m +34° 15′
Angular sizes and separations are from recent catalogs. Visually, an object’s size is often smaller than the cataloged value and varies according to the aperture
and magnification of the viewing instrument. Right ascension and declination are for equinox 2000.0.

BOOK REVIEW by Richard Tresch Fienberg
Though She Be But Little,

She Is Fierce
MORE THINGS IN THE HEAVENS
Michael Werner & Peter Eisenhardt ing of planets, stars, and galaxies as of the science are contained in notes at
Princeton University Press, 2019 fundamentally — if not as visibly (pun the end of the book; I’d have preferred
304 pages, ISBN 9780691175546 intended) — as Hubble. More Things in to see those in boxes adjacent to the
$35.00, hardcover. the Heavens makes this evident with relevant text so that more people would
well-written text and abundant color read them.
photos and illustrations accompanied Two appendixes cover Spitzer’s his-
by good, clear captions. The book is well tory from conception (as a telescope
edited and is printed on nice paper, but mounted in the Space Shuttle’s cargo
if you prefer digital you can download bay) to launch, as well as technical
the ebook (ISBN 9780691191966), details of the spacecraft, its science
which will save you about $15. instruments, the observing strategy, and
Spitzer is a lot smaller than Hubble, the solar orbit that keeps the telescope
sporting only an 85-centimeter-diame- and detectors at the icy temperatures
ter mirror compared with Hubble’s 2.4 required to maximize their sensitivity.
meters. But what Spitzer lacks in aper- Like so many NASA missions, Spitzer
ture it more than makes up for in other took decades to go from idea to reality,
ways. Hence the title of this review, and I remember the journey well. When
also from Shakespeare (this time from I was a graduate student at the Harvard-
A Midsummer Night’s Dream) and also Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in
quoted in the book. the 1980s, I helped write the proposal
SHAKESPEARE AFICIONADOS will Werner and Eisenhardt, both at the for what ultimately became Spitzer’s
recognize the title of Mike Werner and Jet Propulsion Laboratory, have been workhorse instrument, the Infrared
Peter Eisenhardt’s new book as part involved with Spitzer for decades and Array Camera (IRAC).
of a famous line in Hamlet but may know their subject intimately. (Werner The timing of More Things is auspi-
not immediately grasp what the book is coauthor of the article on page 18.) cious but slightly sad: Spitzer is sched-
is about. The subtitle, “How Infrared After a whirlwind tour of the universe uled to be decommissioned on January
Astronomy Is Expanding Our View of as seen in the infrared, they cover in 30th. But don’t be discouraged! Its data
the Universe,” is apt but incomplete. detail every aspect of astronomy that archive will be mined for years by a new
True, the book explores how observa- Spitzer has touched, giving due credit to generation of researchers, and the much
tions at wavelengths longer than those the scientists whose work they describe larger James Webb Space Telescope,
of red light have revealed previously and, thankfully, presenting data in optimized for infrared observations, is
unknown celestial objects and phenom- graphs that have been redrawn for a on track for launch in 2021. The expan-
ena, but the real focus of the story is popular audience rather than being sion of the universe is accelerating, and
NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, which lifted straight from the pages of profes- the expansion of our scientific under-
isn’t mentioned on the cover at all. sional journals. standing, thanks to infrared astronomy,
I suspect this has something to do The authors are at their most enthu- is about to accelerate too!
with Spitzer’s living in the shadow of siastic when explaining research that
the Hubble Space Telescope, which wasn’t even on the drawing board when ¢ Former S&T editor in chief RICK FIEN-
is not just a household name but a Spitzer was conceived, such as studies BERG is press officer of the American
cultural icon. If so, I hope this book of exoplanet atmospheres and active Astronomical Society. He worked on one
will help Spitzer become better known, galaxies in the first billion years of of the first digital cameras for infrared
because the less famous orbiting obser- the universe’s existence. Some of their astronomy, a device that boasted a
vatory has transformed our understand- most beautifully written explanations whopping 256 pixels.
Going Deep by Ted Forte
Fishing in Pisces
The Pisces Cloud contains many faint galaxies — be prepared to probe deep to spot them.
A bout 230 million light-years from

Earth, on the edge of the Perseus-
Pisces Supercluster, lies a string of
harbors a supermassive black hole and
is the site of intense activity that acts
as a launchpad for powerful jets. When
southwest of its core. That remained
for the second wave of discovery that
Irish engineer Bindon Stoney con-
elliptical galaxies known as the Pisces these high-speed jets interact with the ducted at Birr Castle on November 4,
Cloud (or the Pisces Chain). Hovering intergalactic medium, they give rise to 1850. Using the giant “Leviathan of
around 13th magnitude, the brightest bright radio emission via the synchro- Parsonstown,” the 72-inch reflector
members of this group are accessible to tron process (when relativistic charged built by William Parsons, 3rd Earl of
an 8-inch telescope. Owners of large- particles, usually electrons, spiral in Rosse, Stoney added five more objects
aperture scopes might track down a magnetic field). However, none of to the then-known “nebulae” in the
more than 50 galaxies within 1° of the this is visible through the eyepiece of a group. Later observations by other Birr
group’s brightest member, so this is a telescope. Instead, we see only a slightly Castle observers — Heinrich d’Arrest,
good area in which to test your mettle elongated object with a nearly round Lawrence Parsons (son of William),
and push your optics. bright core. Herschel assigned NGC 383 Guillaume Bigourdan, R. J. Mitchell,
One of the things I find most intrigu- to his group II (faint nebulae). Robert Ball, John Dreyer, and Herman
ing about deep-sky observing is the sense Herschel didn’t record as a sepa- Schultz — added another 10 objects to
of retracing the steps of the great visual rate object NGC 383’s small, round the group by 1886. Edwin Hubble and
astronomers of the past. This group of companion, NGC 382, about 30″ Milton Humason identified 25 galaxies
galaxies has an interesting history that
begins on September 12, 1784, with Wil-
q FINDER CHARTS You’ll find the Pisces Cloud in the northern reaches of the constellation that
liam Herschel at Datchet in Berkshire, bears its name, northwest of M33, or the Triangulum Galaxy, and south of Beta Andromedae. The
England. Herschel’s Sweep 268 with the box in the finder chart below represents the area portrayed in the image at right. The chart below
“large 20-foot” (18.7-inch aperture) left shows the positions of the Cloud members in relation to nearby stars.
reflector encompassed six objects in the
area and included the brightest member 1h 40m 1h 20m 1h 00m 0h 40m
of the group, NGC 383. μ
NGC 383 is a radio galaxy, an active
galaxy that is very luminous at radio
wavelengths. The core of the galaxy
β
ANDROMEDA
+35°
TRIANGULUM
π
2
Star magnitudes
410
PISCES CLOUD IM AG E: POSS-II / STSCI / CA LTECH /
6
Star magnitudes
3
7 392
8 4 HD 7033
+33°
374 5
9 403 6
10
399 7 σ
11 82
383
12 398 8
PISCES δ
+30°
PA LO MAR OBSERVATORY
M33
HD 7033 τ
+32°
78 σ ε
76
1h 15m 1h 10m 1h 05m

82

NGC 394
NGC 392
NGC 410
NGC 414 NGC 407 NGC 397
NGC 403
NGC 374
NGC 399
NGC 379
NGC 398
HD 7033
NGC 380
NGC 383
NGC 382
NGC 387
NGC 386
NGC 375
NGC 385
NGC 384
NGC 373
NGC 388
DEEP FISHING Look for a string of what at first glance appears to be five elliptical galaxies to start your perusal of the Pisces Cloud. Upon closer
examination, fainter galaxies within and north and east of the string will reveal themselves. Good observing conditions and large aperture will
help. The area covered in this image is indicated by the box in the chart at left.
Going Deep
The Pisces Cloud

Surface
Object Type Brightness Mag(v) Size RA Dec.
NGC 383 Lenticular 13.0 12.4 1.4′ × 1.4′ 01h 07.4m +32° 25′
NGC 382 Elliptical 12.4 13.2 0.7′ × 0.7′ 01h 07.4m +32° 24′
NGC 387 Elliptical 13.6 15.5 0.4′ × 0.4′ 01h 07.6 m +32° 23′
NGC 414 Double system 12.9 13.8 0.8′ × 0.6′ 01h 11.3m +33° 07′
NGC 399 Barred spiral 13.3 13.5 1.1′ × 0.8′ 01h 09.0m +32° 38′
Angular sizes are from recent catalogs. Visually, an object’s size is often smaller than the cataloged value and varies according to the aperture and magnifica-
tion of the viewing instrument. Right ascension and declination are for equinox 2000.0.
as belonging to the Pisces group in their Arp’s 1966 Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies. of galaxies” in his catalog — Arp
1931 photographic survey of the area Arp compiled the catalog using photo- included eight galaxies in this string.
with the 100-inch Hooker telescope at graphs taken at Palomar Observatory Located a little more than 3° south-
Mount Wilson Observatory. with both the 200-inch Hale and the southwest of Beta (β) Andromedae, or
The galaxy group’s popularity as 48-inch Schmidt telescopes in the early Mirach, the Pisces Cloud is an inter-
an observing target was no doubt 1960s. Listed as the core of the Pisces esting stop between the Andromeda
enhanced by its inclusion in Halton Cloud is Arp 331, one of several “strings (M31) and Triangulum (M33) galax-

ies. A 10-inch scope will easily show little brighter; I need averted vision to between two 14th-magnitude stars that
a string of five elliptical galaxies in see NGC 387 as anything more than flank the galaxy to its northeast and
a roughly north-south line. A closer stellar, even with a 30-inch telescope. southwest. The core is obscured by a
examination of the brightest object in Herschel discovered three more foreground star, making it appear stellar.
the middle of that string should reveal galaxies on the same sweep as his Three more objects complete our
its dual nature. This is the aforemen- other Pisces Cloud finds. Two of them, survey of NGCs within 1° of the Pisces
tioned NGC 383 and its smaller com- NGC 392 and NGC 410, are consid- Cloud’s core. NGC 403 lies about 30′
panion, NGC 382. ered official members of the Cloud. northeast of NGC 383. It’s fairly bright
The galaxies in the Pisces Cloud are NGC 392, about 45′ north-northeast and an easy catch compared to the
nearly all ellipticals or lenticulars and, of NGC 383, is the brightest in a 15th-magnitude galaxy 2′ to its south-
as such, have little to no readily visible group of three galaxies. Its compan- east. It’s elongated along the east-west
structure. Ellipticals are round or oval ions, NGC 394 and NGC 397, are both axis and is very much brighter toward
and typically have only slight brightness rather small and faint. They’re easily the center. About 8′ southwest of
variations to mark their more con- missed and weren’t discovered until NGC 403 is the only spiral on our tour.
centrated centers. Most are composed
primarily of old stars, with little or no
ongoing star formation. Lenticulars are
intermediate between ellipticals and
A fine hunting ground indeed. Part of the fun of explor-
spirals; they’re more flattened than ing galaxy groups like the Pisces Cloud is in the sense
ellipticals but lack prominent spiral
arms. At the distance of the Pisces of discovery and accomplishment.
Cloud, lenticulars are hardly distin-
guishable from their elliptical brethren.
The southern end of the string 1854 and 1866, respectively, both with NGC 399 is rather faint, of even bright-
comprises NGC 384 and NGC 385, a the 72-inch at Birr Castle. This small ness almost to the core, and devoid of
similar-looking pair of ellipticals with trio is listed as KTG 3 in the Isolated visible spiral structure. Another 7′ far-
brighter cores. You may find it curi- Triplets of Galaxies catalog published ther south is NGC 398, a small, round,
ous that Herschel didn’t find these, in 1979 by Valentina Karachentseva averted-vision object.
as they can be detected in an 8-inch and collaborators. NGC 410 forms The area surrounding NGC 383 con-
under optimum conditions. Herschel’s a pair with NGC 407 about 5′ to the tains several non-NGC galaxies that are
innovative sweep method allowed him west-southwest. Herschel described within range of mid- and large-aperture
to systematically survey the sky, but both as extremely faint and very small. instruments; my astronomy software
it wasn’t without its drawbacks. His NGC 410 is larger and rounder, while identifies 26 non-NGC galaxies brighter
method of overlapping sweeps left some NGC 407 is rather elongated and than 16th magnitude, and 51 brighter
gaps. According to Herschel expert considerably brighter toward the center. than 17th magnitude within 1° of the
and author Wolfgang Steinicke, the A third object about 4′ southeast of group’s core. A fine hunting ground
method effectively covered only 66% of NGC 410 and designated NGC 414 is indeed. Part of the fun of exploring
the sky. Steinicke goes on to point out actually two interacting compact galax- galaxy groups like the Pisces Cloud is in
that Herschel discovered 66% of the ies (PGC 4254 and PGC 93079), but this the sense of discovery and accomplish-
objects above his horizon and theoreti- small, faint spot of nebulosity doesn’t ment. You have the chance to test your
cally detectable in his telescope. This reveal its dual nature in the eyepiece. skills against the famous observers who
match shows an incredible efficiency, Three small NGC galaxies flank went before you. True, you have quite
so we must conclude that NGC 384 the southern end of the chain. About an advantage in knowing in advance
and NGC 385 just never fell within 6′ almost due west of NGC 384 is that there are objects there to find, but
Herschel’s field of view. NGC 373. NGC 375 is about the same still, imagine the pride of retracing their
The northern end of the string is distance northwest of NGC 385, and steps and perhaps even besting Herschel
home to NGC 380, which is fairly bright NGC 388 lies 4′ east of NGC 385. All and the Birr Castle observers. Think of
and round with a bright core, and three are small, faint, round, and easily the bragging rights!
NGC 379, which is a little more elon- overlooked, often mistaken for stars. I
gated and a bit brighter overall. use averted vision to pick them up. I can ¢ Contributing Editor TED FORTE enjoys
High power should expose a fainter eventually hold NGC 375 with direct retracing the steps of the great visual
pair of galaxies to the east of the chain, vision, but the other two remain elusive. observers of the past from his backyard
between NGC 383 and NGC 385. Extending the chain from NGC 379 observatory outside of Sierra Vista,
NGC 386 and NGC 387 are both pretty almost due north by about 16.5′, we find Arizona. He can be reached at
faint and of similar size. NGC 386 is a NGC 374, a 13.4-magnitude lenticular tedforte511@gmail.com.
BIG, BOLD, BRIGHT, BEAUTIFUL by Jerry Oltion
A Tourist’s G
Win
Jerry Oltion’s ongoing series of
nighttime favorites continues with
a selection of winter’s splendors. to the
W
inter highlights? There are winter highlights? If you
live in the Pacific Northwet [sic], as I do, the very
concept may seem oxymoronic. But we do get a few
clear nights throughout the winter, and when the clouds roll
away and I actually get some sky, I don’t waste a minute of
it. No tracking down faint fuzzies for me; in the wintertime
I go for the gusto, filling my night with the biggest, boldest,
brightest, and most beautiful targets I can find.
Here are some of those glorious targets guaranteed not to
waste your time.
First off, of course, is M42, the famous Orion Nebula.
If you can only look at one item in the winter sky, this is
it. The middle of the sword hanging from Orion’s belt, this
emission nebula is arguably the best one in the sky. It’s vis-
ible by naked eye, although it just looks like a fuzzy star, but
in binoculars or any telescope it’s absolutely stunning. Big
sweeping arcs of glowing gas and dust
stretch outward and curve around
B like two hands cupping a precious
10”
E jewel. That jewel is the Trapezium,
A a tight group of four stars, named A
D
THE TRAPEZIUM through D as shown at left. C, the
C brightest, is the powerhouse that
F
makes the entire nebula glow.
You can (and should!) spend
hours studying the Orion Nebula. At
low power you can see its overall structure as the birthplace
of hundreds of brand-new stars (indeed stars are still form-
ing there), and as you crank up the power you can zoom in
on more and more structure within the nebula. A nebula fil-
ter (O III, Ultra-High Contrast, or even just a skyglow fi lter)
will reveal even more.
At high power (and unfiltered) the Trapezium gives up two
more stars, the first relatively easy between the two that make
up the narrow end of the skewed trapezoid, and the other
much more difficult just outboard of the dazzling C star. You
need good seeing and high magnification for this, but picking
out the E and F stars of the Trapezium is always a kick.

uide
ter Highlights
WINTER’S SPLENDORS The iconic Orion

Nebula, or M42, is a favorite and for many
is probably one of the first nonstellar tar-
BILL BASHAM
gets spotted in the telescope.
Big, Bold, Bright, Beautiful
While you’re in the neighborhood, check out Rigel,

Orion’s lower right kneecap. It’s big and bright — and fun to
N
watch twinkle. When it’s near the horizon, Rigel looks like
a police car flashing red and blue. Turbulent air acts like
dozens of prisms, splitting the starlight into its spec-
trum and flashing different wavelengths at you at
random. In a telescope you’d swear the mothership
was making a dive straight for you, lights ablaze.
When Rigel rises high enough to steady out,
crank up the power and look for its binary compan-
ion less than 10″ away. The difference in magnitude
is pretty extreme (0.3 and 6.8) and their separation
is pretty tight, so the secondary will be just outside
the glare of the primary. But if the seeing is relatively
steady it’s usually there as a distinct separate star.
Up alongside Orion’s left side you’ll find M78, one
of the brightest reflection nebulae in the sky. M42 is an
emission nebula, its gas glowing like a neon light, but M78 is
simply reflecting starlight. You can see the two stars that are
casting most of M78’s light; they’re off-center to the north
N
end of the nebula. That end is the brightest, and the rest of
the nebula trails away to the south in a cone shape that gives
it a cometary appearance. There’s a third, dimmer star near
the nebula’s southern edge. Stars are forming within this
nebula, too. Most are still hidden within the gas and dust,
but infrared studies have discovered nearly 200 young stars
in several still-developing clusters.
As long as you’re still in the neighbor-
hood, check out Barnard 33, the Horse-
p BY ORION’S SIDE M78 is head Nebula. Ha ha ha! Just checking
one of the brightest reflection to see if you were paying attention. The
nebulae in the sky. FOV=35′
Horsehead Nebula is big and beauti-
t SMALL ANALEMMA Not
ful, but it’s neither bold nor bright, and
as complete as a proper solar unless you’ve got a 12-inch scope or
analemma, Collinder 91 nev- greater and dark, dark, really dark skies
ertheless forms a recognizable — and a hydrogen-beta filter — it’s not
figure 8 in the sky. FOV=75′
likely to show up.
Collinder 91, on the other hand,
stands out nicely about 9° to the east of
M78. Not far from the Rosette Nebula (which you should
6h λ 5 +10°
h also check out if you have dark skies), Collinder 91 is a fairly
α bright open cluster that also has the neat added property of
Betelgeuse
γ having its stars arranged in a pattern that suggests something
astronomical: an analemma.
Rosette What’s an analemma? It’s the pattern the Sun makes in
Nebula ORION
the sky if you photograph it at the same time of day for an
Cr 91 entire year. The Sun climbs up and down with the seasons
ε δ
Star magnitudes
1 M78 0° due to Earth’s axial tilt, but it also lags left and right as the
2 Earth speeds up and slows down in its elliptical orbit. The
3 ζ
combined effect of these two factors makes a big bowling-
4
Trapezium pin-shaped figure eight in the sky.
5 γ M42
6 β β Collinder 91’s major stars are arranged in just such a pat-
JERRY OLTION (4)
β ERIDANUS tern. The narrow end of the analemma doesn’t quite close
κ Rigel the loop — it looks like the photographer still has a few weeks
MONOCEROS –10°
left to go — but the rest of it makes a remarkably good figure

eight. It’s a little more than ½° long, so it’s best viewed at low 6h 5h 4h
power. I can even make it out in binoculars. I can also see it
as an ampersand (&), or a musical treble clef, but I think it’s Capella α PERSEUS
β
coolest to think of it as an analemma. ε 1664
AURIGA
The M-Thirty-Somethings are also reliable winter spec-
+40° ε
tacles. I’m talking about the string of four open clusters that η ζ
extend from the feet of Gemini into the circle of Auriga.
They start with M35 at Castor’s toe and run through M37
θ M38
and M36 to M38 in the center of Auriga. (Yes, they’re out of
order. Talk to Charles Messier about that.) Of the four, my M36 1907
favorite is M35 because of little NGC 2158 next to it. Both M37 ι
are open clusters, but while M35 is big and showy, NGC 2158 +30°
Star magnitudes
is much smaller and fainter. Seeing them both in the same 1
field really provides a 3D effect, as NGC 2158 recedes 2
GEMINI β 3
way into the background. M38 also has a little cluster, TAURUS 4
M35
NGC 1907, next to it. 2158 5
Moving on through Auriga to the west brings you to 6
μ
NGC 1664, also known as the Kite Cluster. This open cluster η
sports a loose diamond of stars that stands out well from
the background, and an equally visible long tail that makes
it look amazingly like a kite. There’s even
a smaller line of stars opposite the tail
that looks like the kite string, and to the u AT THE FOOT OF THE TWINS
N
M35 is bright and showy with a
northwest there’s a straight line of stars
distinctive arc of stars in the middle,
that could be the ground if the kite is plus it has a fainter, more delicate
flying along sideways. This is a must-see companion, NGC 2158, to the south-
cluster any night it’s up. I can also see west. FOV=1°
this one as a manta ray gliding along over
q CAN YOU SPOT THE KITE?
the ocean bottom.
NGC 1664, the Kite Cluster, re-
Farther to the west of Auriga lies ally does look like a kite swooping
a wonderful naked-eye spectacle: the through the Milky Way. FOV=30′
Alpha Persei Cluster, also known as
Collinder 39 or Melotte 20. The con-
stellation of Perseus is dominated by a wide scattering of NGC 2158
blue-white stars, the brightest of which — Alpha (α) Persei
itself, also known as Mirfak — anchors the center of the
constellation. What’s neat about this group is that it’s a true
cluster of stars; it’s just so close to us (600 light-years) and
it’s old enough that it’s scattered across several degrees of
sky. Most of the stars you see here were born together
N
50 million years ago and are still moving through
space together. This cluster is far too wide to
appreciate even in binoculars; just lean back and
admire this one by naked eye.
Moving farther north, just inside the middle
bend of Cassiopeia’s W, look for NGC 457, the
Dragonfly Cluster, a gangly splotch of stars
streaming away from two bright luminaries.
This is one of those objects that always elicits
an “Oh, wow!” at star parties, and it never fails
to make me smile when I look at it myself. It’s
a gorgeous dragonfly fluttering around out there
in space, with two big glowing eyes and wide-swept
wings that sparkle just like the wings of a dragonfly
in bright sunlight. This cluster also counts among its
nicknames the Owl, the E.T., the Kachina Doll, and several
others. Whatever you call it, you won’t forget this one.
Moving back to the south of the Alpha Persei Cluster, q BRIGHT STAR AMONG MANY JEWELS
look for NGC 1342, a loose, coarse, bright (magnitude 6.7) NGC 2362 is dominated by Tau Canis Majoris,
open cluster of about 60 stars elongated in an east-west a star possibly more than 100,000 times
brighter than the Sun. FOV=20′
orientation. I call this one the “Chipmunk Cluster” for rea-
sons that will be obvious when you see it. It looks just like a
chipmunk scampering out of the Milky Way right into your
telescope. I’m sure this cluster is guaranteed to put a smile N
on your face, too. It’s about ¼° across, so it looks good at
low to medium power.
Farther to the west lies Almach, Gamma (γ) Andromedae.
Almach is one of the prettiest doubles in the sky. It’s a mini-
Albireo, with a bright gold primary and a somewhat dimmer,
bluer companion. Almach’s two components’ magnitudes are
similar enough (2.3 and 5.0) and they’re separated by enough
distance (about 10″) that they’re an easy split in almost any
telescope. The colors are vivid enough to stand out under any
conditions, even bad city skyglow.
Just 5° south of Almach lies a little-observed but quite
nice open cluster, NGC 752. Also known as Caldwell 28, this
is a bright, sparse, and very large open cluster more than 1°
across. It’s probably best in binoculars, but it’s fun to cruise
around in with a telescope to look at its many star chains,
mini-clusters within the larger cluster, and doubles.
If you’re going through these objects in order, things
have moved a ways to the west now, and a few more gems
are rising high enough in the southeast to enjoy. Let’s drop
all the way back down toward Orion, but skip off to the left
of Canis Major, just above the rump of the dog, to NGC
2362. This is the Tau Canis Majoris Cluster, so named for q LARGE CLUSTER The Alpha Persei
the single bright star, Tau (τ) Canis Majoris, that dominates Cluster is one of the closest and largest open
clusters in the sky. This is too big for a tele-
all the rest. Tau is assumed to be a true cluster star, which,
scope; enjoy it by naked eye. FOV=9°
N
β ε β
δ γ
CASSIOPEIA
α
CAMELOPARDALIS
457
η
Star magnitudes
1
+50° λ Cr 39 γ 2
α τ φ 3
θ φ 4
ι 5
δ 6
κ ANDROMEDA
+40°
β γ
ε
1342
ρ 752
PERSE US
β β
4h ο 3h 2h TRI 1h

N
8h 7h
MONOCEROS
α –10°
θ
1 M47
Star magnitudes
2438
2
3 γ
4 M46 α Sirius
ι
5
PUPPIS β
6
–20°
ρ ξ 2362
τ CANIS
κ δ MAJOR
p COMES WITH A BONUS M46 is beautiful in its
own right, but the planetary nebula in the foreground
makes it a must-see object. FOV=75′
η ε
–30°
u PRETTY IN BINOCU-
LARS NGC 752 boasts
several gently curving arcs
of stars. FOV=2°
t NESTLED IN PER-
p OWL, E.T., OR DRAGONFLY? To me, SEUS I call NGC 1342 the
NGC 457 resembles a dragonfly with its Chipmunk Cluster for rea-
two bright eyes and outstretched wings and sons that will be obvious
body. What do you see? FOV=40′ when you flip the page
around to give you the
JERRY OLTION (6)
telescope view. FOV=40′
compared to the others, makes it very bright indeed, more While you’re in the neighborhood, check out M47, a larger
than 100,000 times brighter than the Sun. The cluster itself and coarser cluster about 1° to the west. It’s close enough to
is pretty, too, with a loose scattering of relatively bright stars fit in the same binocular field as M46.
surrounding the central luminary. Many of these stars are You’ve probably noticed by now that the majority of the
intrinsically bright, hot O- and B-type stars, which means big, bold, bright, and beautiful objects of winter are open
they’re relatively young (around 5 million years). Indeed, this clusters. Why is that? Because in the winter we’re looking
is one of the youngest known clusters. outward toward the rim of the Milky Way, right down the
A little higher and to the east you’ll find one of my favorite length of the Orion Spur in which we live and into the Per-
open clusters of all: M46. M46 is a beautiful dusting of seus Arm, both of which are full of clusters. Why no globular
delicate stars of magnitudes 10–13, but it comes with a bonus clusters? Because those hang out closer to the core of the gal-
Easter egg: a planetary nebula directly in line with the cluster. axy, which is visible in the summer. Look for another article
The planetary nebula, NGC 2438, is relatively large and easy in six months dealing with some of those.
to spot under dark sky, and one of the cluster stars shines
through to masquerade as the central star (which isn’t visible ¢ Contributing Editor JERRY OLTION enjoys pareidolia, as you
itself in a normal-sized amateur scope). can tell by the names he gives open clusters. Contact Jerry at
The cluster stands out well in binoculars and is best appre- j.oltion@gmail.com.
ciated at low power in a telescope . . . until you zoom in and
see how many more stars appear. This is an eye-pleaser at any FURTHER READING: For more “big, bold, bright, and beauti-
magnification, in any aperture. In fact, it’s just visible to the ful” targets, see Jerry Oltion’s spring and fall collections in the
naked eye under a dark sky. May 2018 and October 2018 issues, respectively.
Winter’s Splendors
Object Designation Type Mag(v) Size/Sep RA Dec.
Orion Nebula M42 Emission nebula 4.0 65′ × 60′ 05h 35.4m –05° 27′
Trapezium Theta1 Orionis Open cluster 4.7 18″ 05h 35.3m –05° 23′
Rigel Beta Orionis Double star 0.3, 6.8 9.4″ 05h 14.5m –08° 12′
M78 Reflection nebula 8.3 8′ × 6′ 05h 46.7m +00° 03′
Analemma Cluster Collinder 91 Open cluster 6.4 14′ 06h 21.6m +02° 20′
M35 Open cluster 5.1 25′ 06h 09.0m +24° 21′
NGC 2158 Open cluster 8.6 5′ 06h 07.4m +24° 06′
M37 Open cluster 5.6 15′ 05h 52.3m +32° 33′
M36 Open cluster 6.0 10′ 05h 36.3m +34° 08′
M38 Open cluster 6.4 15′ 05h 28.7m +35° 51′
Kite Cluster NGC 1664 Open cluster 7.6 18′ 04h 51.1m +43° 41′
Alpha Persei Cluster Collinder 39 Open cluster 2.3 5° 03h 24.3m +49° 52′
Dragonfly Cluster NGC 457 Open cluster 6.4 20′ 01h 19.5m +58° 17′
Chipmunk Cluster NGC 1342 Open cluster 6.7 17′ 03h 31.7 m +37° 22′
Almach Gamma Andromedae Double star 2.3, 5.0 9.7″ 02h 03.9m +42° 20′
Tau Canis Majoris Cluster NGC 2362 Open cluster 3.8 6′ 07h 18.7 m –24° 57′
M46 Open cluster 6.1 20′ 07h 41.8m –14° 49′
NGC 2438 Planetary nebula 10.8 1.2′ 07h 41.8m –14° 44′
M47 Open cluster 4.4 25′ 07h 36.6m –14° 29′
Angular sizes and separations are from recent catalogs. Visually, an object’s size is often smaller than the cataloged value and varies according to the aperture and
magnification of the viewing instrument. Right ascension and declination are for equinox 2000.0.

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S&T Test Report by Rod Mollise
Meade’s
LX85 ACF
This new SCT package offers
performance and portability at
an attractive price.
LX85 Series
Telescope – 8-inch ACF
U.S. Price: $799 (mount)
$1,799 (with 8-inch ACF OTA)
meade.com
What We Like
Good pointing accuracy
Excellent optics
What We Don’t Like

No power cable included
Insufficient user manual
AMONG THE MOST POPULAR tele-

scope mounts today is the medium-
capacity, computerized German equato-
rial mount (GEM). There are several
reasons why, including their reasonable
cost, good payload capacity, and general
versatility — a solid equatorial mount is
useful for a wide variety of optical tube
assemblies. In the past Meade has pro- p Meade’s new LX85 mid-weight German equatorial Go To mount is offered with a variety of opti-
duced several GEMs in this range, but cal tube assemblies. We tested the mount paired with the 8-inch Advanced Coma-Free Schmidt-
the LX85 is the first new one in years, so Cassegrain telescope seen above.
I was interested to test its performance
when paired with Meade’s latest 8-inch Assembling the LX85 mount and tri- with the mount. While I’ve accumu-
Advanced Coma-Free (ACF) Schmidt- pod is a simple task. The telescope con- lated several Meade AC power adapters
Cassegrain telescope. nects to the mount with a Vixen-style over the years, the connector on this
The LX85 arrived in two large boxes. dovetail bar and is secured with two mount is slightly different. None of the
One contained the equatorial head, a bolts. It was never difficult to mount cables I had worked. Meade was quick to
12-pound counterweight, a tripod with or dismount the relatively light 8-inch send me a new power supply. Purchasers
2-inch diameter steel legs, the AudioStar telescope, even in the dark. should be aware that the optional cable
hand controller, a compass, a CD with The mount and telescope combo or power supply is a must-have item.
A LL PHOTOS BY THE AU THOR
Meade’s AutoStar Suite software, and were, I had to admit, striking in appear-
a printed manual. The other box held ance. However, looks aren’t everything, In the Field
the 8-inch ACF tube assembly and 8 × and the only true test of a telescope sys- One of the most desirable features of
50-mm finderscope, as well as the visual tem is under the stars, and that’s where a medium-duty mount is its portabil-
back, a 1¼-inch mirror star diagonal, I ran into a little snag. ity. Despite its stated 33-pound payload
and 25- and 9.7-mm Plössl eyepieces. Meade didn’t include a power cable capacity, the LX85 mount weighs just

23 pounds without telescope or coun- eye. Moving the tube by hand gave me a clicked OK. The second star, Vega, was
terweight. I had no trouble carrying pretty good feel for the smooth motion in the eyepiece when the scope stopped
the assembled LX85 into the backyard. provided by the ball bearings Meade slewing — a good sign.
There, I oriented the tripod so the uses on both axes. Pressing the Mode key brought up
polar axis was pointed roughly north, Finally, I turned on the power and the Object menu where I entered “Deep
installed the counterweight and 8-inch the AudioStar’s red LED display came Sky” and then “Messier”. I input “M13”,
SCT, balanced the load, and plugged in to life. Before beginning alignment, the pressed Enter and Go To, and the tele-
the power supply. The large handle on LX85, like most Go To mounts, requires scope began slewing in the correct direc-
the scope’s rear cell is a real help in get- the time, date, location, and daylight tion. When it stopped and I put my eye
ting the tube mounted on the LX85. savings time status to be entered with to the eyepiece, there was the globular
A German equatorial mount needs to the hand control. Once input, the cluster glowing dimly. Nice! How about
be aligned so its polar axis points to the AudioStar instructed me to “Press 0 to M15, over in the east? In moments, the
celestial pole if it is to track the stars align, or Mode for menu.” bright little cluster was in view. It was
accurately. The LX85 doesn’t come with Choosing 0 brought up the Easy on the edge of the field, but it was there.
a polar-alignment borescope to assist Align mode, in which the controller I was off to a very good start.
with this alignment, but one is available chooses two alignment stars, slews the
as an option. Without it, I performed a telescope to them, and then you center Optical Performance
rough alignment by moving the mount the stars in the eyepiece. There are three Accurate Go To pointing is great, but
until I could see Polaris centered in the other alignment options, including what really matters is how good objects
hollow bore of the polar axis. 1-Star Align, 2-Star Align, and 3-Star look in the eyepiece when you get to
The next order of business was set- Align. In those modes, the user rather them. Meade’s ACF optical design less-
ting up the mount’s Go To pointing. than the computer chooses the align-
The included manual instructs users ment stars. While my experience has q Top: The 8-inch ACF offers improved edge
to line up pairs of arrow stickers on been that it takes three stars to provide performance compared with a standard
each of the mount’s axes marking the good accuracy over the entire sky, I was Schmidt-Cassegrain, producing round stars
over a wide field. Bottom: In addition to the
mount’s home position. When I tried interested to see how the LX85 could do
AudioStar input (HBX) and dec cable connec-
lining up the marks for the declination with an Easy Alignment. tion, the RA axis includes an ST-4-compatible
axis, however, the locking lever bumped The computer chose Arcturus in autoguider port and an auxiliary port to connect
into a motor housing. That didn’t seem Boötes as its first target and began slew- Meade’s optional focus motor.
correct, so I checked the pictures in ing to the star. When the scope stopped,
the manual. It was evident that one of Arcturus wasn’t in the eyepiece but was
the marks was 180° from its proper only a degree or so away. I centered it
position. This wasn’t a serious problem in the 25-mm eyepiece (80×) using the
since it was easy to align the mount by hand paddle’s direction buttons and
The LX85 8-inch ACF package includes an 8 × 50-mm finderscope, 9.7- and 25-mm Plössl
eyepieces, a 1¼-inch mirror star diagonal, and a SCT-to-1¼-inch adapter.
S&T Test Report
ens the effect of coma, t The AudioStar Go three seconds, which I consider good.
an optical aberra- To controller includes a Comfortable with the LX85’s Go To
30,000-object database
tion that makes stars performance, I explored the AudioStar’s
with descriptive presenta-
toward the edge of the tions and several alignment
other features. Foremost is the reason
field look blurred and routines, though only the for its name; it contains audio files
misshapen. Not only Easy Align mode is de- for many of the objects in its library.
were objects sharp tailed in the manual. When observing M13, for example, I
at the center of the was treated to a presentation on the
field of view, but also it to be less than 30 star cluster. If you tire of hearing these
toward the field edge. arcseconds. mini lectures, the AudioStar can be set
Jupiter, for example, As the evening pro- to deliver them on demand instead of
showed a wealth of gressed, I forgot I was automatically.
atmospheric detail at working on a prod- In addition to the guided tours, the
209×, including small uct review and just AudioStar hand paddle includes nine
features within its enjoyed myself visiting selectable slewing speeds, a serial port
belts and zones. dozens of deep-sky for communications with a PC, a library
The visibility of favorites. At the end of 30,000 targets, and even a built-in
details on a planet of my tour (Audio- red flashlight.
is a stringent test Star contains a list of
of the quality of a telescope’s optics, ready-made sky tours), I took a break to Guiding Performance
and this scope showed itself to have see if a more accurate polar alignment Long-exposure deep-sky astrophotog-
optics as good as those of any 8-inch would also improve the mount’s Go raphy is the most demanding test of a
Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescope I’ve used. To pointing accuracy. After additional mount. The night I chose to shoot M13
Naturally, deep-sky objects like globular tweaking, objects were close to the cen- wasn’t perfect — there was plenty of
clusters were subdued from my light- ter of the 25-mm eyepiece at 80× and haze and a fat Moon hanging in the
polluted backyard, but the ACF’s sharp at least in the field of a 12-mm ocular east. But I wasn’t looking to capture a
optics helped immensely while resolving at 160×. The improvement was enough beautiful portrait of the cluster. I just
star clusters. Messier 13 wasn’t just a that I strongly recommend the purchase wanted to see how well the LX85 tracks.
dim blur; it showed itself to be a globe of the optional polar-alignment scope. After installing Meade’s AutoStar
of tiny stars. Not only did the LX85 GEM display Suite planetarium simulator on my
Like most SCTs, the 8-inch ACF impressive Go To accuracy, it was also a PC laptop, I connected it to the LX85
focuses by moving the main mirror quiet experience even at its top slew- using a Meade-compatible serial cable
when the focus knob on the scope’s rear ing speed of 4° per second. I was also I had on hand. Once a connection was
cell is turned. There was some focus impressed by the mount as it reached its established, I was able to send the tele-
shift as I moved back and forth through targets. A rap on the telescope tube pro- scope to targets using the planetarium
focus, but it was small and I estimated duced vibrations that died out in about software. Clicking on a target onscreen
q Left: As delivered, lining up the home position markings on the declination axis causes the axis clutch lever to impact the motor box. Right: Turning
the head 180° to match the illustrations in the manual (and Meade’s website) allowed for successful Go To alignment.

would slew the LX85 to it in seconds.
In addition to an optional Meade serial
cable, for this you’ll also need to provide
your own USB-to-serial adapter.
Virtually every gear-driven telescope
mount has some periodic error that can
cause stars to trail during long expo-
sures, and the LX85 is no different in
this aspect. To compensate, the LX85
includes an ST-4-compatible autoguider
port that permits users to attach a guid-
ing camera. Even without fine-tuning
the default settings in my camera’s p Left: The LX85 includes a compass to help with rough alignment before darkness sets in. Right:
autoguiding software, the LX85 pro- Meade incorporates the Vixen-style mounting system into the LX85, permitting a wide variety of
duced round stars in brief 60-second tube assemblies weighing up to 33 lbs to ride atop the mount.
exposures as well as longer 5-minute
shots. The periodic error of the mount misplaced home-position sticker, my It also offers some advantages over
was smooth and regular, and the guide only disappointment with the LX85 is similar mounts, particularly its amaz-
camera and computer had no problem its user manual. Both the printed and ing AudioStar computer. The excellent
keeping it under control. Users can online versions are too brief and don’t 8-inch ACF SCT was also a good match
reduce tracking error further by record- sufficiently explain all the mount’s for the mount. If I were in the market
ing the guide camera’s corrections using features. For example, while the LX85 for a medium payload GEM and OTA,
the AudioStar’s Permanent Periodic offers several alignment modes, the I wouldn’t hesitate to purchase the
Error Correction (PPEC) feature. After manual doesn’t describe anything other Meade LX85 8-inch ACF SCT package.
recording a few minutes of guiding cor- than the Easy Align procedure.
rections, they can be stored and played The Meade LX85 is one piece of ■ Contributing Editor ROD MOLLISE
back, reducing overall periodic error equipment I was sorry to see go when likes the combination of a generous
as well as the number of corrections it was time to return it to the manu- aperture and portability afforded by
necessary during an exposure. facturer. It was a joy to use both for Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescopes. A great
Other than the minor issue of the visual observing and photography. Go To system doesn’t hurt either.
p While the mount includes a threaded bore

to install an optional polar-alignment scope,
moderately accurate Go To alignment is still
achievable when roughly aligning the mount by p Five-minute autoguided exposures of the globular cluster M13 in Hercules showed round, sharp
sighting Polaris through the open bore. stars across the field of the author’s APS-format DSLR camera.
ASTRONOMER’S WORKBENCH by Jerry Oltion
the top. You want the surface and the

sides to literally be squeaky clean, and
water should sheet off it rather than
Silvering Mirrors bead up when you rinse it.

Once you’ve got the mirror abso-
lutely clean, you sensitize it with the tin
An idea whose time has come . . . again. solution. This goes on as a spray. You
then spray on the two-part silvering
WHEN SKY & TELESCOPE Contribut- after some initial setbacks they have had solution. Within seconds of beginning
ing Editor Howard Banich decided it some resounding success. You can too! the latter, the silver coating starts to
was time to recoat the mirror in his Silvering a mirror is a multi-part pro- form. If all goes as planned, you’ll get a
28-inch telescope, he received a rude cess, but each step is pretty simple. First smooth, even silver coating.
shock: It would cost about $2,000 to you strip off the old coating, then you Your first few attempts will prob-
have it aluminized. Connecticut ATM clean the mirror. Next, you sensitize ably not go well. It’s hard to believe how
Zane Landers faced a different problem: it with a tin-based solution and finally much you need to clean the glass in
His local coater moved away, and he coat it with a two-part silver solution, order to get a perfect coating. But it’s
was reluctant to subject his pride and using two sprayers simultaneously. easy to remove the silver and try again,
joy to the vagaries of the mail. Cleaning is by far the most difficult and each coating costs probably $10-$20
Both of them arrived at the same part, but it’s not all that hard. You just in chemicals. Practice makes perfect.
conclusion: Silver-coat the mirrors have to be painstaking. You must get The expired chemicals aren’t par-
themselves. every bit of oil, dirt, or anything else ticularly dangerous, but you do need to
Silver-coating used to be the only way off the surface of the glass or the silver collect and dispose of them properly.
it was done. But silvering was a finicky won’t stick. Howard starts by scrub- Fortunately, the same company that
chemical process, and when aluminiz- bing with talcum powder mixed with a sells home silvering kits (Angel Gilding,
ing in a vacuum chamber came along, little distilled water, then rinses that off angelgilding.com) also sells a clay-
the convenience of having someone else with distilled water. Then he uses the based cleanup and disposal kit that’s
do the coating, and more importantly glass cleaner from the silvering kit and safe and easy to use.
the increased durability of the coating, rinses again. He repeats those two steps, There’s one last problem with silver:
quickly supplanted home silvering. changing into a new pair of dispos- It tarnishes. You can only get a year or
When you’re looking at a cool two able gloves before each step. Be sure to so out of an unprotected silver coating
grand for a coating, though, the equa- never touch the mirror with bare skin, before it needs to be recoated. As cheap
tion quickly becomes weighted toward because even freshly washed skin is as the chemicals are, that’s no big deal,
economy. Plus, silver has one distinct covered with oils. but an anti-tarnish cloth made for
advantage: It reflects 98% of the light The most common mistake is to not silverware draped over the mirror will
that hits it, as opposed to aluminum’s clean the sides of the mirror enough. extend the life a bit. Even better, the
89%. Howard and Zane and dozens Oils from your fingers as you were Oregon ScopeWerks, a group of ATMs
more like them have begun to reevalu- handling the mirror will work their way that Howard and I belong to, has been
ate silver as a coating of choice, and back onto the surface as you rinse off experimenting with protective coatings
q Left: The mirror must be squeaky clean before coating it. Middle: The two-
CLE A NING MIRROR A ND NE A R PERFECT COATING: HOWA RD BA NICH (2);

part silvering solution is applied simultaneously using two sprayers. Right: With
a little practice, you can achieve a near-perfect silver coating.
SPR AYING SILVER: JERRY OLTION

Get Off the Beaten Path in 2020
Join a Tour to …
… the Okavango Delta!
African Stargazing Safari
July 17–23, 2020
p Insufficient cleaning will lead to areas that

don’t coat smoothly. This is most common at
the edges of the mirror.
and have come up with a great one: A skyandtelescope.com/botswana2020

product called Midas Tarnish Shield
(https://is.gd/mtshield) has proven, so
far, to protect silver from tarnishing
even under extreme exposure to sulfur … Chile, Argentina, and Antarctica!
compounds, which is silver’s worst
enemy, without noticeably affecting
Total Solar Eclipse By Sea
the mirror’s figure. Angel Gilding has Nov. 27–Dec. 19, 2020
recently begun selling the same stuff
under the name Angel Guard.
Howard and Zane and many others
have become devotees of home silvering.
As aluminizing and postage costs con-
tinue to rise, it seems likely that more
and more people will switch back to
this venerable old method. If you have
a big mirror, or just want to undertake skyandtelescope.com/chile2020
the entire telescope-making experience
yourself, you might want to give it a try.
For more information, contact How- … to Buenos Aires and Patagonia!
ard Banich at hbanich@gmail.com or Total Solar Eclipse By Land
Zane Landers at zdlanders@gmail.com.
Also check out articles by Howard, Peter
December 9–18, 2020
Pekurar, and Rob Brown that go into
much greater depth on the subject on
their website at https://is.gd/silvering.
■ Contributing Editor JERRY OLTION

once tried chrome spray paint, but that
didn’t work so well.
SHARE YOUR INNOVATION skyandtelescope.com/argentina2020

º Do you have a telescope
or ATM observing accessory
that S&T readers would enjoy
See full itineraries, photos, and prices at the links above.
Z A NE L A NDERS
knowing about? Email your

projects to Jerry Oltion at All S&T tours: skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-travel
j.oltion@gmail.com.
GALLERY
t COMETARY ENCOUNTER
Gerald Rhemann
Comets ASASSN (C/2018 N2) and
260P/McNaught appear to almost cross
tails in this ultra-rare conjunction on
the evening of September 8, 2019.
DETAILS: Astro Systeme Austria ASA
12-inch f/3.6 Newtonian Astrograph with
Finger Lakes Instrumentation MicroLine
ML16200 CCD camera. Total exposure:
50 minutes through LRGB filters.
q NORTHERN GLOW
Barry Burgess
Ursa Major above and hay bales below
frame faint greenish auroral curtains
in Hants County, Novia Scotia, on the
evening of September 1, 2019.
DETAILS: Canon EOS 6D DSLR with
20-mm f/1.8 Rokinon lens at f/2.5. Total
exposure: 30 seconds at ISO 3200.
Gallery showcases the finest astronomical images that our readers submit to us. Send your best shots to gallery@skyandtelescope.com. See
skyandtelescope.com/aboutsky/guidelines. Visit skyandtelescope.com/gallery for more of our readers’ astrophotos.

pq DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES
Terry Hancock
While attractive in visible light as seen above, emission and reflection nebulae M20, M8, and NGC 6559 (clockwise
from top) appear more like three-dimensional hollows illuminated from within in the narrowband image below.
DETAILS: Takahashi FSQ-130 astrograph with QHY367C CMOS camera. Total exposure: 10.5 hours (above), 15 hours
through narrowband filters (below).
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INSIDE
This Issue
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FOCAL POINT by Larry Oakley
sight beyond the intervening stand of
Greeting the forest. Perfectly round, timeless, as red

as grass is green, enthroned on high,
the undisputed queen of the night sky
Queen of Night had arrived.

“Shall we howl?” my friend asked.
We only laughed. Perhaps we’d
Two friends linger late at a remote lake to savor a regal display. become too civilized to howl at some-
thing so powerful and beautiful.
Where the moonlight touched the
rippling water below us, the lake came
alive. A glimmering pathway of light
danced across the surface from the
shoreline beneath us, growing brighter
as the Moon rose higher. Mosquitoes
tested our resolve to stay and watch
from our outcrop, even as they were
The loon’s melancholy cry,

unearthly yet unmistakable,
only enhanced the harmony of
the silent spectacle before us.
hunted by hungry dragonflies, which in

turn were pursued by bats.
A single loon, black-hooded, white-
breasted, and checker-backed, paddled
into our view, immersed in that beam
of celestial light that penetrated deep
into Hidden Lake. The loon’s melan-
choly cry, unearthly yet unmistakable,
only enhanced the harmony of the
silent spectacle before us.
THAT NIGHT, the trees surrounding the tance, a chorus of pond frogs sang out a We spoke few words, preferring the
shoreline of Hidden Lake looked like an warning, perhaps to the heron, telling it company of our private thoughts as the
army of crowned kings, standing with their wetland was “too deep, too deep,” moonlight reached deep into new cran-
arms interlocked. Halted at the water’s while the coarse voice of a lone bullfrog nies in the rockface below.
edge, they seemed to be patiently croaked, “Go round, go round.” A long time later, we finally left our
waiting for a glimpse of a secret and My friend asked, “When was the last stone perch, but our adventure that
solitary queen, who was about to pass time you looked down and saw a blue night had not yet ended. We followed
before them. My friend and I also were heron flying?” our Moon shadows on foot through the
in attendance, perched high above the Night in the wilderness does not woods to our bicycles, which we’d left
treetops on a smooth, rocky bluff that descend from the sky, as it does in the behind along the old railway bed. In the
overlooked the lake. city. It creeps out casually and quietly ashen moonlight, we pedaled a long way
As darkness approached, day reluc- from the dark places where it lurks, back to the car. Finally, we loaded the
tantly gave way to night and its accom- waiting patiently for the sunlight to mountain bikes onto the roof rack and
panying sounds in the surrounding fade away. As night inched forward motored home to Kingston — far from
swamps and forest. Not far off, a whip- around us, soft and sudden glows flick- the railway bed, the forested lake, and
poorwill called its name, while lonely ered and faded from beneath the wings the Queen of Night.
tree frogs called out for a mate. The of busy fireflies.
BA RRY BURG ESS
long, wide wings of a great blue heron Then she appeared, rising slowly ¢ LARRY OAKLEY lives in Kingston,
creaked as it flew below us, searching over the treetops across the lake, as if Ontario, and is the author of Inside the
for a place to land and hunt. In the dis- ascending from some royal coffer out of Wild and Inside the Wild 2.

Setting a New
Standard of
Excellence
SVX80T-3SV
Stellarvue DSSP, Likely, CA. Image © Tony Hallas
New Stellarvue SVX80T-3SV features a 80 mm f-6 (480 mm focal length) fully multi-coated, 3-element
objective lens hand-figured in our shop in Auburn, California to an extremely high Strehl ratio (.98 –
.996). Every SVX model comes with its unique Zygo test report measuring the objective at full aperture.
This system uses an over-sized 3" focuser that eliminates the vignetting seen when using full-sized
ccd chips and 2.5" focusers. This focuser is robust, smooth, and stable. Included are Stellarvue's new
risers and a Losmandy-sized mounting rail. The visual/photographic system is specifically designed
for imaging and has American-made hardware with rings bolted directly to the tube, eliminating any
felt flexure. The SVX80T-3SV comes with a matched SFF4 field-flattener that threads onto the 3"
Stellarvue focuser for imaging. Also included a heavy-duty case that holds the telescope, risers and
rings as one unit. Merely take it from the case and slide it onto your mount.
The mission of Stellarvue is to inspire a healthy interest in science

and astronomy by handcrafting the finest telescopes on the planet.
STELLARVUEC
WWW.STELLARVUE.COM
11802 Kemper Rd. Auburn CA 95603
530.823.7796
SVTELESCOPES SVTELESCOPES STELLARVUETELESCOPES

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CONTROL. FOCUS.

DEEP SKY IMAGER IV (DSI

OPT Telescopes | optcorp.com High Point Scientific | highpointscientific.com MeadeInstruments

THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO ASTRONOMY

GOING DEEP: Wander Through FORENSIC ASTRONOMY:

Barlows, Paracorr, Plus Scope Offer!

THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO ASTRONOMY

16 Space Missions in 2020

30 Mesh Focusing Masks 6 From Our Readers

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JOIN THE AAS ASTRO TOURISM MONTHLY SKY PODCAST

2 JANUARY 2 02 0 • SK Y & TELESCOPE

Order online at www.omegon.com

Look Down The Essential Guide to Astronomy

all: Does life exist elsewhere? Contributing Editors

Editor in Chief Secretary Alice K. B. Monet, U.S. Naval Observatory (ret.)

4 JANUARY 2 02 0 • SK Y & TELESCOPE

NexStar 130SLT NexStar Evolution 8 CGX 1100 HD

B&H Photo – 800.947.9970 – bhphotovideo.com Woodland Hills – 888.427.8766 – telescopes.net Visit

6 JANUARY 2 02 0 • SK Y & TELESCOPE

75, 50 & 25 YEARS AGO by Roger W. Sinnott

1945 º January 1945 º January 1970 º January 1995

will be split in half, honors discoveries the soup had cooled

10 JANUARY 2 02 0 • SK Y & TELESCOPE

and reaches temperatures of 1200K

of galaxies, collectively known as SSA22. These

SOLAR SYSTEM with so-called thermal tides, planet-scale

12 JANUARY 2 02 0 • SK Y & TELESCOPE

EVERYTHING WE THINK WE KNOW

14 JANUARY 2 02 0 • SK Y & TELESCOPE

OUTER SOLAR SYSTEM

Space Kuiper Belt

Here’s our digest of active space mis-

2020 is a Mars year. Four missions Voyager 1

16 JANUARY 2 02 0 • SK Y & TELESCOPE

MOON EARTH-ORBITING SPACECRAFT

O n January 30, 2020, an era in astronomy will end.

VISIBLE: DSS / D. DE M A RTIN; INFR A RED: N ASA / JPL- CA LTECH /

were being bold in developing science programs to look back

t VANISHING CONTINENT The North America Nebula familiar to visual

18 JANUARY 2 02 0 • SK Y & TELESCOPE

Spitzer launch 0.5 a.u.

from 3.6 to 160 microns. For sensitive infrared observa-

Gamma rays X-rays UV Visible Infrared Microwaves Radio waves

106 103 100 10–3 10–6 10–9 10–12

Compton Chandra Hubble Spitzer

Atoms Molecules Human Grains Insects Humans Buildings

which are too cold (below a few thousand

20 JANUARY 2 02 0 • SK Y & TELESCOPE

Spectrum of a Face-on Disk

Face On Acetylene Hydrogen Carbon All other features

G REGG DINDER M A N A ND LE A H TISCIONE / S&T, SOURCE N ASA / JPL- CA LTECH /

the star, its infrared glow disap- Planet light

22 JANUARY 2 02 0 • SK Y & TELESCOPE

star-formation rate. Combined with multiwavelength data

age of the stars producing the ultraviolet and visible light

Reaching into the Past

N ASA / JPL- CA LTECH / ESA / SPIT ZER / P. OESCH / S. DE BA RROS/ I. L A BBE

24 JANUARY 2 02 0 • SK Y & TELESCOPE

Cosmic star formation rate (solar masses

per year per million light-years cubed)

¢ MICHAEL WERNER (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) has been

(solar masses per million light-years cubed)

FURTHER READING: A more complete account of Spitzer sci- 107