Sky - At.night - Magazine November.2012

TAKE SHARPER PLANET SHOTS: INTRODUCING THE ADC
DC
C
THE BIGGEST NAME
Sky at Night IN ASTRONOMY
’S
THE WORLD ST
NASA NEEDS
BE
BIGGEST &
NIGHT-SKY
YOU!
GUIDE
How your observations will help a

new mission to a near-Earth asteroid
PLUS
Sounds
d of the Northern Lights
Ancient legends are borne out by science
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE
Out of the aether

THE BIG
The failure that paved the way for relativity QUESTIONS
Get to grips with spacetime
in part 1 of our new series
Seeing the spiral
See the enigmatic
The new clue to the shape of our Galaxy Triangulum Galaxy
On test: beginners’
observing equipment
Getting your bearings
while at the eyepiece
NOVEMBER 2012 #90
www.skyatnightmagazine.com
001_Sky90_COVER.indd 1 01/10/2012 14:13

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LETTER FROM THE EDITOR NOVEMBER 03
This month’s
contributors
include...
HEATHER COUPER
Welcome
It’s never been easier for amateurs to do real science
SCIENCE BROADCASTER
Heather Citizen science
explores has really come of HOW TO CONTACT US
some of the age in our times. Subscriptions, binders, CD cases and back issues
enduring Thanks to the power 0844 844 0254
mysteries of Mon to Fri 8am to 8pm; Sat 9am to 1pm for orders
of the web, we can
the Triangulum Galaxy Editorial enquiries
– and explains how to now participate in 0117 314 7411
see it with the naked eye. scientific research 9.30am to 5.30pm, Mon to Fri
on all manner of Advertising enquiries
MIKE EVANS 0117 314 8365
THEORETICAL PHYSICIST disciplines ranging
Mike
launches
from evolutionary
biology and seismology, to deciphering
Subscription email enquiries
skyatnight@servicehelpline.co.uk
Editorial enquiries
The Big ancient papyri and psychology. contactus@skyatnightmagazine.com
Questions Astronomy was one of the first fields to App enquiries
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straight answer to one
harness the time of we passionate amateurs immediateapps@servicehelpline.co.uk
of the biggest of them through the SETI@home project, and there Editorial enquiries
all: what is spacetime? is now a whole Zooniverse of citizen science Sky at Night Magazine, Immediate Media Co. Bristol
astronomy projects to dive into. On page 32 Ltd., Tower House, Fairfax Street, Bristol, BS1 3BN
MARTIN LEWIS
PLANETARY IMAGER our very own Will Gater looks at one of the
Martin latest of these collaborative projects – Target If you find yourself in need of a little more
reveals the Asteroids! – and how its aim of studying explanation, then look no further than The
secret to near-Earth asteroids will feed into a future Big Questions on page 75. This is our new
super sharp
NASA mission to gather surface material occasional series in which we clarify some of
planetary
images: a small piece of from one of these space rocks. the cosmic conundrums that may come to
kit called an atmospheric We’re also looking into the past: 125 years you while you’re out looking at the stars. In
dispersion corrector. ago this month, a historic experiment was this inaugural three-part installment, we’ll
EMILY WINTERBURN
carried out to test for the theoretical ‘aether’. be looking into the concept of space itself.
ASTRONOMY HISTORIAN Turn to page 70 for the fascinating story of Enjoy the issue and this month’s night skies!
Emily tells why 19th century astronomers were convinced
the story that space had to be full of this stuff and how
of Albert the experiment set up to reveal the aether’s
Michelson
existence in fact proved the exact opposite
and Edward
Morley, the men whose – in the process demonstrating the
Chris Bramley Editor
work on the aether paved adaptability that makes science such a
the way for Einstein. potent tool for explaining our Universe. PS Next issue goes on sale 20 November.
Sky at Night LOTS OF WAYS TO ENJOY THE NIGHT SKY...
TELEVISION ONLINE FACEBOOK VODCAST iPAD TWITTER

Find out what Patrick Visit our website for All the details of our Don’t miss the Sky Get each month’s Follow @skyatnightmag
and the team will be reviews, competitions, latest issue, plus news at Night Magazine issue on your iPad, to keep up with the
exploring in this month’s astrophotos, observing from the magazine and vodcast in HD video, featuring live links latest space stories and
episode on page 101 guides and our forum updates to our website hosted by Will Gater and zoomable images tell us what you think
skyatnightmagazine.com 2012
003_Sky90_welcome.indd 1 01/10/2012 12:33

04
In the magazine
ON THE COVER
32
3262 39
NASA NEEDS YOU!
Your observations could help
NASA to sample this asteroid
COVER IMAGES: NASA, DETLEV VAN RAVENSWAAY/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY
44
70
14
75 85 80
FEATURES REGULARS
06 Eye on the sky 11 Bulletin 84 Scope doctor
The latest astronomy and space news. Your astro equipment questions answered.
32 NASA needs you!
How you can contribute to NASA’s daring 19 Patrick Moore 85 Reviews
mission to grab a piece of near-Earth asteroid. Patrick considers how much our Tired & tested
knowledge of cosmology has 86 Sky-Watcher SkyHawk 1145P Go-To.
39 The tale of Triangulum changed in the past half century.
First light
We delve into the mysteries of galaxy M33.
22 Interactive 90 Orion 15x70 Astronomy Binoculars.
44 Sounds of the aurora Your letters, emails and tweets. 94 Visionary Saxon 4.5-inch reflector.
Finnish folk tales about the Northern Lights 98 Books
couldn’t possibly be true – could they? This month’s essential astronomy titles.
26 SUBSCRIBE
Get your issues at a discount 100 Gear
62 Atmospheric The best stargazing accessories.
dispersion correctors
How this little-known device can help you 28 Hotshots 101 What’s on
see more of Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. The finest of your astro images.
105 Glossary
70 Out of the aether 47 THE SKY 106 What I really
How the ‘greatest failure’ of science became
one of the most important experiments ever.
IN NOVEMBER want to know is…
Your 15-page guide to How can we map the surfaces of planets?
75 The big questions the night sky featuring
our pick of the top
This month: what exactly is spacetime?
sights, an all-sky NEW TO ASTRONOMY?
chart, a deep-sky tour See Stargazing Skills on page 80 and
80 Stargazing skills and much more… the Glossary on page 105.
Which way is up?
004-005_Sky90_contents.indd 1 01/10/2012 14:12

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004-005_Sky90_contents.indd 2 01/10/2012 14:12

006-009_Sky90_eyeonthesky.indd 1 27/09/2012 10:53
EYE ON THE SKY NOVEMBER 07
Forever
blowing
bubbles
This composite image
captures a superbubble
ripping gas clouds apart
CHANDRA X-RAY OBSERVATORY
30 AUGUST 2012
The bulbous, blue interior of this composite

image is a superbubble. Created by winds
from nearby massive stars and the shockwaves
from supernovae, this powerful radiation has
produced a vast tear in the gas and dust clouds
– shown in red and yellow in this image.
NASA/CXC/U.MICH./S.OEY, JPL, ESO/WFI/2.2-M
Contained within the Large Magellanic Cloud

(LMC), a small satellite galaxy located around
160,000 lightyears from Earth, the effects of
this shockwave were captured in X-ray light
from the Chandra X-ray Observatory, seen
here in blue, and infrared data from NASA’s
Spitzer Space Telescope, seen here in red.
Optical light from the 2.2m Max-Planck-ESO
telescope appears here in yellow.
006-009_Sky90_eyeonthesky copy.indd 2 01/10/2012 14:16

08
NASA/JPL-CALTECH/MSSS, NASA, NASA/JPL-CALTECH/SSI, NASA/JPL/UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA
A distant peak
CURIOSITY ROVER, 27 AUGUST 2012
Mount Sharp looms high on the horizon

in one of the first images from the
100mm Mast Camera on NASA’s
Curiosity rover. The mountain’s top
ridge lies 16.2km in the distance, but in
the thin haze of Mars’s atmosphere it
appears to be much closer.

EYE ON THE SKY NOVEMBER 09
Green with envy

ISS IMAGERY, 15 JULY 2012
There are only a few people lucky enough to see

the aurora australis from this unique perspective and
NASA astronaut Joe Acaba, who snapped this vivid
shot from onboard the International Space Station, is
one of them. The structure in the foreground is the
Canadarm2 robot arm.
Polar perfection X
MARS RECONNAISSANCE ORBITER, 15 AUGUST 2012
Enormous, pristine dunes spread softly across the Martian North Polar
plains in this false-colour image, captured by the HiRISE camera
onboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Analysing changes
to the dunes will help scientists to understand the interaction between
the Red Planet’s atmosphere and its surface more fully.
W Seasonal produce
CASSINI SPACECRAFT, 29 AUGUST 2012
Saturn’s indigo and ochre hues are undergoing a seasonal change.

When Cassini arrived at Saturn in 2004, the planet’s northern
hemisphere was bathed in azure blue, but as the years have passed,
spring has begun in the northern hemisphere. The blue has begun to
fade, migrating south where winter is fast approaching, as shown in
this natural-colour image of the gas giant and its largest moon Titan.

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BULLETIN NOVEMBER 11
Bulletin
The latest astronomy and space
news written by Hazel Muir
PLUS
CUTTING EDGE
Our experts examine the hottest
new astronomy research papers
CHRIS LINTOTT
LEWIS DARTNELL
14
16
Physicists are using data from the South

Pole Telescope, visible on the right, to
work out the evolution of the Universe
Comment
by Chris Lintott
The south pole might seem
a strange place to put a
telescope, but the remote
location offers some of the
best conditions on Earth
for viewing the cosmic
microwave background
(CMB). The pole is nearly
915m above sea level and
surprisingly dry. The snow
that threatens to bury
buildings doesn’t fall, but
blows in, leaving the
atmosphere water-free.
Thanks to (take a deep
breath) the patchy kinetic
Sunyaev-Zel’dovich effect,
the strength of small-scale
massive galaxies ionising hydrogen gas in and fluctuations in the CMB
around them, creating ionisation ‘bubbles’ millions varies due to the influence
of lightyears wide. of free electrons in the first
Fireworks in the This period in the Universe is known as the ionised gas, excited by
light from the first stars.
early Universe ‘epoch of reionisation’. By combining the south pole
observations with data from NASA’s Wilkinson By studying this effect
astronomers have gleaned
Microwave Anisotropy Probe, the team could put
The first huge galaxies lit up time limits on when the reionisation began and ended. critical information about
what was happening
the cosmos surprisingly fast “We find that the epoch of reionisation began
billions of years ago.
when the Universe was at least 250 million years old There is lots more to
OBSERVATIONS BY A telescope at the and lasted less than 500 million years,” says Zahn. come from the South Pole
Amundsen Scott South Pole Station in Antarctica “Before this measurement, scientists believed that Telescope; further refining
have revealed that extremely bright galaxies lit reionisation lasted 750 million years or longer and these measurements will
up the cosmos when it was just 750 million years had no evidence as to when reionisation began.” allow us to understand
old. These first massive galaxies in the early Zahn concludes that extremely bright galaxies whether reionisation was
Universe must have exploded into life much were thriving 13 billion years ago, only around patchy or whether it
happened everywhere
faster than expected, say scientists. 750 million years after the Big Bang.
nearly simultaneously. That’s
A team led by Oliver Zahn from the University “Studying the epoch of reionisation is important
knowledge that’s literally
of California, Berkeley, analysed data from the because it represents one of the few ways by which worth travelling to the end
South Pole Telescope, which measures the cosmic we can study the first stars and galaxies,” adds of the Earth for.
microwave background (CMB), the ‘afterglow’ team member John Carlstrom from the University
of the Big Bang. Temperature fluctuations in the of Chicago. CHRIS LINTOTT co-presents
GETTY
CMB allowed them to detect the signature of > See Comment, right The Sky at Night on BBC TV
011_Sky90_news1.indd 1 01/10/2012 11:39

12
Mars Science Laboratory limbers News in brief

DRY ICE FALLS
up for the long road ahead ON MARS
NASA’s Mars
The Curiosity rover has passed rigorous tests with flying colours Reconnaissance Orbiter
has revealed the clearest
evidence yet of carbon
dioxide snow falling
on the Red Planet. Its
observations reveal snow
clouds of frozen carbon
dioxide, or ‘dry ice’,
swirling above the planet’s
south pole in winter. The
dry ice snowfalls explain
the presence of Mars’s
southern carbon
dioxide ice cap.
“These are the first
definitive detections of
carbon dioxide snow
clouds,” says Paul Hayne
from NASA’s Jet Propulsion
Laboratory in California.
“We firmly establish the
The marks left by Curiosity’s tracks contain Morse code The Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI), in the centre with clouds are composed of
for the letters JPL – NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory white LEDs either side, will take close-ups of rocks and soil carbon dioxide – flakes
of Martian air – and they
are thick enough to result
in snowfall accumulation
at the surface.”
ECCENTRIC
PLANETS COULD
HOST LIFE
Life might exist on more
diverse alien planets than
astronomers assumed.
Previously, they believed
a habitable world needs
liquid water all year
round. But now Stephen
Kane from the California
Institute of Technology
says planets in highly
NASA/JPL-CALTECH/MSSS X 4, NASA/JPL-CALTECH/UCLA, GEORGE HALL, ESA - P. CARRILL
stretched out orbits,

with vast temperature
MAHLI, on the end of the robotic arm, took this shot as part This image was taken after MAHLI’s reclosable dust cover
swings, could
of the latest tests; Mount Sharp is visible in the background was opened for the first time; the view is 86cm across
nonetheless host life.
“You might have a
NASA’S LATEST MARS rover, Curiosity, has Systems in San Diego, California. “It’s already world that heats up for
continued to make excellent progress on the Martian been an incredible journey.” brief periods in between
surface. In September, tests of the rover’s 2.1m robotic An X-ray spectrometer on Curiosity, which will long, cold winters,” says
arm showed that it is working correctly in Mars’s determine the compositions of rocks, also passed Kane. Such planets could
temperature and gravity conditions, allowing early tests with good results. “We’re getting excellent host organisms similar to
it to begin rock examinations in earnest. resolution, just as good as we saw in tests on Earth some spores and extreme
bacteria on Earth.
A variable-focus camera on the rover has also under ideal conditions,” says the chief scientist for
returned intriguing colour images of a mountain the instrument, Ralf Gellert from the University of
called Mount Sharp (officially known as Aeolis Guelph in Ontario, Canada.
Mons). “Seeing those images with Curiosity’s Curiosity is expected to spend at least two years
wheels in the foreground and Mount Sharp in the trying to assess whether Mars ever offered the right
background simply makes me cry,” says camera environment for microbial life.
chief scientist Ken Edgett from Malin Space Science www.nasa.gov/msl
012-013_Sky90_news2.indd 1 01/10/2012 14:18

MOON’S SHACKLETON News in brief

CRATER RICH WITH ICE AMATEURS SPOT
JUPITER EXPLOSION
Amateur astronomers
PATCHES OF WATER-ICE in the Moon’s Shackleton
spotted a fireball on Jupiter
Shackleton Crater could make up almost on 10 September, when
10 per cent of the surface material, a new analysis an impact created a flash
suggests. The finding adds to growing evidence visible for around two
that lunar water-ice could one day be a useful seconds. Several such
resource for astronauts living on a Moon base. impacts have been
spotted since mid-2009,
Shackleton Crater is a permanently shadowed
when a comet strike left
depression near the Moon’s south pole. A team an Earth-sized mark on
led by Bradley Thomson from Boston University Jupiter’s atmosphere.
in Massachusetts analysed radar observations Shackleton’s water-ice could supply a lunar base one day Dan Peterson from
from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, Wisconsin first reported
which indicated significant blocky ice deposits to permit ice to accumulate,” says team member the September impact on
just below the surface of the crater walls. Ben Bussey from the Johns Hopkins University www.cloudynights.com’s
“The interior of this crater lies in permanent in Maryland. forum, saying: “My best
shadow and is a ‘cold trap’ – a place cold enough www.nasa.gov/lro guess is that it was a small
undetected comet that is
now history.” Amateur
astronomer George Hall’s
“WISE has exposed a menagerie of hidden image of the impact flash
objects,” says Hashima Hasan, a WISE scientist is shown below.
at NASA’s headquarters in Washington DC, who
WISE unearths adds that the spacecraft has already identified
cool objects much closer to home.
myriad black holes “We’ve found an asteroid dancing ahead of
Earth in its orbit, the coldest star-like orbs known,
The spacecraft has also discovered and now supermassive black holes and galaxies
hiding behind cloaks of dust.”
hundreds of galactic ‘hot DOGs’ WISE was launched in 2009 and scanned
the whole sky twice in infrared light. The
MILLIONS OF NEW supermassive black hole latest analysis of its observations should help ESA BEGINS SPACE
candidates and around 1,000 ‘hot DOGs’ – dust- astronomers understand some of the most DEBRIS SEARCH
obscured galaxies – have turned up in a survey by extreme objects in the cosmos, such as the vast ESA has begun developing
NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) black holes that lurk at the centres of galaxies. a radar system to test
spacecraft. Some of the newly revealed distant The spacecraft detected infrared light from the ways of monitoring orbiting
galaxies could be among the brightest ever seen, warm dust surrounding them. space debris, largely the
remains of spent rockets
although their light is muffled by thick dust shrouds. www.nasa.gov/wise
and defunct satellites. The
debris poses a serious
Each purple dot is a hot DOG; collision threat to operating
WISE has spotted around spacecraft, and monitoring
1,000 so far it can help satellite operators
avoid damage.
The new radar system
will be situated in France.
One of the ESA project
leaders, Nicolas Bobrinsky,
said Europe welcomes “an
active and autonomous role”
in developing essential
tracking assets.
012-013_Sky90_news2.indd 2 01/10/2012 10:09

14
CUTTING EDGE Our experts examine the hottest new research
Seeing the Milky Way’s structure

Huge, winding clouds of dust and gas could be a new clue to the shape of our Galaxy
WORDS: CHRIS LINTOTT
The dark cloud of the
Nessie Nebula snakes
across the middle of this
image, stretching out
for 30 lightyears
Inspired by its twists and turns, or perhaps having

stared for too long at the images which reveal it,
astronomer James Jackson and colleagues called it
the ‘Nessie Nebula’. Along its length, Nessie sparkles
with the kind of compact, dense regions in which
stars are forming. These ‘cores’ are regularly spaced,
appearing roughly once every 15 lightyears. And the
Nessie Nebula, it turns out, is far from unique.
E
ver since astronomers realised that our
own Galaxy was just one of millions, they
have tried to understand what shape it is.
“Many of the long dust lanes
After all, we know that other galaxies
come in a wide variety of shapes and structures, from
recorded to date seem to run
giant ellipticals to beautiful ‘grand design’ spirals.
Observing the Milky Way is made difficult by the along the main plane of the
fact that we are inside it – precisely the reason it’s
interesting in the first place. But a short and galactic disc”
provocative paper from Colorado astronomers Cara
Battersby and John Bally suggests that another piece The structure of Nessie and similar clouds
of the puzzle may just have been slotted into place. undoubtedly tells us something about the process
The first attempts to record the Milky Way’s of star formation, but it may be revealing the Milky
structure were essentially maps of stars, and this Way’s basic structure, too. Most ‘grand design’ spirals
tradition continues. ESA’s Gaia satellite, due to have distinct dark lanes on either side of each arm.
launch next year, will map the nearest 10 million Could the MMFs be the Milky Way’s equivalent?
stars or so with unprecedented precision, but it won’t It’s not clear, but Battersby and Bally point out an
tell the whole story. Battersby and Bally are specialists interesting coincidence: many of the long dust lanes
in star formation, which means they pay attention to recorded to date seem to run along the main plane
the dark clouds of gas and dust which make up the of the galactic disc, which is exactly where we’d
Galaxy’s stellar nurseries. Such regions are usually expect them to be if they’re our spiral arm-tracing
identified by their darkness in the infrared. In this Chris Lintott is an dust lanes. It would also mean that these stellar
astrophysicist and
they are quite different from the dark dust lanes seen nurseries depend more on the structure of the
co-presenter of The Sky
from Earth in the Milky Way, which often glow at Night on BBC TV. Galaxy as a whole than on any internal process,
brightly when studied with infrared telescopes. He is also the director an important clue in understanding what drives
NASA/JPL-CALTECH/UNIV. OF WISCONSIN
The authors are particularly interested in what of the Zooniverse project star formation. Nessie and her friends, it seems,
they call massive molecular filaments, or MMFs. In are worth keeping an eye out for.
contrast to normal star-forming clouds, which are
typically small and roughly round, these are sinuous
structures, stretching for more than 30 lightyears and
accounting for more than a thousand Suns’ worth of CHRIS LINTOTT was reading… An 80pc Long Massive Molecular Filament in the Galactic
mass. The most famous example lies in the southern Mid-Plane by Cara Battersby and John Bally.
sky and is more than 150 times longer than it is wide. Read it online at http://arxiv.org/abs/1208.4608
014_Sky90_cutting edge_lintott.indd 1 01/10/2012 09:25

The star system, shown in this

artist’s illustration, is about
4,900 lightyears from Earth
News in brief
SUBARU CAMERA
TO PROBE
Two planets for two stars
DARK ENERGY A double star in Cygnus keeps at least two planets in orbit
In August, the giant camera
pictured above was USING NASA’S KEPLER spacecraft, astronomers The outer planet is within the star system’s habitable
installed at the Japanese have found the first multi-planet solar system orbiting zone, where liquid water could exist. “It is probably a
Subaru Telescope in a double star, consisting of a Sun-like star and another gas giant planet,” says team member William Welsh
Hawaii to probe the
that is one-third of the size. Follow-up observations from San Diego State University in California. “But
biggest questions in
suggest that the two planets have masses of about large moons, if present, would be interesting worlds
cosmology. Scientists hope
its observations will shed eight and 20 times that of Earth, and orbit the to investigate as they could potentially harbour life.”
light on dark matter – the binary star every 49 days and 10 months. www.nasa.gov/kepler
invisible substance that
makes up most matter in
the Universe – and dark
energy, a mysterious effect
causing the expansion of
the Universe to accelerate. WANT TO NAME A
The camera’s field of
view is seven times wider FAMOUS ASTEROID?
than Subaru’s previous
camera. “It’s a dream NASA HAS INVITED students under the age of 18
machine for deciphering to name the asteroid that its upcoming OSIRIS-REx
the mystery of elusive dark spacecraft will visit. Scheduled for launch in 2016,
energy,” says project the OSIRIS-REx mission will return samples of
director Satoshi Miyazaki. the asteroid in 2023 (find out more in our feature
“Who knows what kind of about the mission, pictured right, on page 32). University of Arizona, the lead scientist for the
entirely new phenomena The asteroid is currently named (101955) 1999 mission. For details, see the link below – the
or objects might emerge
RQ36. “We look forward to having a name that is competition deadline is 2 December.
from its survey.”
easier to say,” says Dante Lauretta from the http://planetary.org/name
GRAIL TWINS
CLOSE IN ON The Pleiades clu
ster
THE MOON is famed for its
rs
NASA’s twin lunar orbiters, naked-eye sta
Looking back
The Sky at Night

the Gravity Recovery and
Interior Laboratory (GRAIL)
spacecraft, have lowered
NAOJ, NASA/JPL, NASA/JPL-CALTECH/T. PYLE, NASA, THINKSTOCK
November 1961
their average altitude
from 55km to 23km for an
extended science phase.
The goal is to measure
the gravitational influence On 22 November 1961, in the cluster,
of lunar features as small The Sky at Night broadcast which is thought
as craters. pondered the question: how to have formed from
many stars are there in the the same cloud of gas
Pleiades? This striking star cluster and dust within the last Astronomers estimate
in Taurus, also known as the Seven 100 million years or so. that the Pleiades cluster will
Sisters, lies about 420 lightyears More recent observations survive for roughly another
away and contains several bright suggest it contains at least 250 million years, then its stars
stars visible to the naked eye. 1,000 stars, although there will disperse due to gravitational
By the late 1700s, astronomers are probably many others encounters with other stars in
had mapped several dozen stars too faint to observe. its galactic neighbourhood.
015_Sky90_news3.indd 1 01/10/2012 10:12

16
CUTTING EDGE Our experts examine the hottest new research
Has Earth life colonised the Solar System?

An asteroid impact could have sent life-bearing material from Earth out to the other planets
WORDS: LEWIS DARTNELL
During the Late Heavy
Bombardment, collisions
with large asteroids
were far more frequent
than they are now
scenarios, a significant fraction of the ejected material

– a few per cent of the total number of particles – falls
back down to Earth within less than 10,000 years and
thus is relatively unexposed to space conditions. The
importance of this is that even if a cataclysmic collision
wiped all life off the early Earth, the planet could have
simply repopulated itself with returning meteorites.
And encouragingly for the prospects of early terrestrial
E
arth is hit by a comet or asteroid with a
diameter in the tens of kilometres once
every 100 million years or so. But during
“Up to about one rock in 2,000
a more hazardous epoch of the Solar
System’s history soon after the birth of the planets, may make the long journey to
known as the Late Heavy Bombardment, Earth and
its neighbours are believed to have been pummelled Jupiter or Saturn and their
by such giants much more frequently.
While that’s obviously rather bad news for life in
the immediate region of any impact, as well as a
icy moons successfully”
general inconvenience globally, such events are also life seeding other worlds, Reyes-Ruiz and colleagues
likely to have flung biologically laden material off found that the transfer rate to Mars is about 10 times
the planet. After a looping interplanetary journey, a higher than previously calculated.
certain fraction of such terrestrial meteorites may Hurling material all the way out to Jupiter or Saturn
have fallen onto another world in the Solar System, and their icy moons, though, is only possible under
and potentially even delivered Earth life intact. This particular conditions, the paper says. The object that
is the idea behind ‘lithopanspermia’: it is possible hits Earth in the first place must be travelling at least
that if we do detect life on Mars or Europa it may not 30km/s and must slam into the planet’s leading face,
be native, but a descendent of such space migrants. to give the ejecta extra orbital velocity around the
Many papers have looked at different aspects of Sun. Nonetheless, up to about one rock in 2,000 may
this transfer process, and Mauricio Reyes-Ruiz and make this long-haul journey successfully.
colleagues have now contributed the most complete Lewis Dartnell is The next step, say the researchers, is to focus
study yet of the orbital dynamics of the ejecta cloud an astrobiologist at on the probability of terrestrial material actually
from a massive impact. They ran simulations of University College colliding with Europa, Ganymede, Titan and
London and the author
over 100,000 test particles being sneezed off Earth, Enceladus – and thus to calculate the odds that
of Life In The Universe:
tracking their trajectories as they swirled through A Beginner’s Guide Earthly life of some kind may already have visited
the Solar System. They limited the simulation length these potentially habitable worlds.
to 30,000 years – after that any microbes are likely to
have been sterilised by cosmic radiation.
Once a splinter of the crust has been ejected off Earth,
where is it most likely to end up? The authors found
THINKSTOCK
LEWIS DARTNELL was reading… Dynamics of Escaping Earth Ejecta and Their Collision
that the answer depended on how fast the incoming Probabilities with Different Solar System Bodies by M Reyes-Ruiz et al
object is and where it strikes the planet. For most Read it online at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2012.06.017
016_Sky90_cutting edge_dartnell.indd 1 28/09/2012 09:07

Gaia survives its deep freeze News in brief

STAR BREAKS
From next year, the spacecraft will map stars with amazing accuracy MAGNETIC FIELD
RECORDS
ESA’S GAIA SPACECRAFT, due for launch late Using telescopes in Texas
next year, has passed rigorous tests to prove it can and Hawaii, below,
withstand the extremely cold temperatures of deep astronomers led by Gregg
space. The mission will make the most precise Wade from the Royal
measurements yet of the positions and motions Military College of Canada
of one billion stars in our Galaxy and beyond, have discovered a massive
revealing new information about the Milky star with the strongest
magnetic field on record. It’s
Way’s composition, formation and evolution.
20,000 times stronger than
Gaia will orbit the Sun about 1.5 million km
the Sun’s magnetic field.
behind Earth, as viewed from our star. It will operate
at a temperature of roughly –110°C, shielded from
the blazing heat of the Sun by a giant shade that will
keep its instruments in permanent shadow.
Over 19 days, ESA has carried out rigorous tests
of Gaia’s service module at a frigid –170°C. The
service module is the part of the spacecraft that
houses electronic units essential for functions such
as running science instruments, propulsion and
communication. Other tests checked that all the
components worked properly when subjected to PLANETS COULD
a huge temperature swing from –20°C to 70°C. FORM IN THE
“The thermal tests went very well – all measurements GALACTIC CENTRE
were close to predictions and the spacecraft proved to Planets could form around
be robust,” says Giuseppe Sarri, Gaia’s project stars near the centre of our
manager. “It demonstrated that the service module is Galaxy, despite the chaotic
Gaia’s service module, covered in insulation sheets
compatible with working in space and that we are on overcrowding of stars in
above, underwent 19 days of thermal-vacuum testing
track for launch by the end of next year.” Further the region and the
thermal tests will continue on the payload module, signal the presence of an orbiting planet. Gaia powerful gravity of the
Milky Way’s central
which contains the spacecraft’s scientific instruments. will also look farther afield at around 500,000
supermassive black hole.
Gaia should map stars for a period of at least distant energetic galaxies, called quasars, and Astronomers say that
five years. Its observations will be very useful to closer to home it will observe our own Solar System a cloud of gas – illustrated
extrasolar planet hunters, who monitor stars to to study asteroids and icy comets. below – recently discovered
look for telltale ‘wobbles’ or light variations that http://gaia.esa.int in the region looks like
ASTRIUM SAS, KEIO UNIVERSITY NAOJ X 2, MARTY HARRIS/MCDONALD OBSERVATORY, DAVID A. AGUILAR (CFA)
the shredded remains of

a planet-forming disc
orbiting an unseen star.
“This unfortunate star
got tossed toward the
HELICAL GAS CLOUD central black hole – now

it’s on the ride of its life,”
SEEN IN OUR GALAXY says team leader Ruth

Murray-Clay from the
Harvard-Smithsonian
A CURIOUS CLOUD of gas, dubbed the ‘pigtail’, Center for Astrophysics
has been discovered near the centre of the Milky in Massachusetts. Other
Way. The cloud has a helical structure thought to stars in the region might
have been sculpted by twisted magnetic fields retain a planet-forming
disc, she adds.
when two separate clouds collided.
“The data revealed that the pigtail molecular
cloud has a huge volume of gas, several hundreds
of thousands times greater than the Sun has,” says
Shinji Matsumura from Keio University, whose
team discovered the cloud using Nobeyama Radio
Observatory in Japan. “We were amazed by its
clear and beautiful helical structure.” An artist’s impression of the pigtail and, inset, the actual
www.nro.nao.ac.jp view made from data from the radio telescope
017_Sky90_news4.indd 1 01/10/2012 10:14

PATRICK MOORE NOVEMBER 19
THE UNIVERSE
ACCORDING TO
Patrick
Moore
Patrick looks back over 50 years of space
exploration and research, and ponders what
new insights the next 50 years will bring
C
ast your mind back to 1962 – 50 years accepted by most astronomers in 1962 but there
ago. We thought we knew a great deal were some doubters. Certainly the idea of a static
about the structure and origin of the Universe had been generally discarded.
Universe. Well, we certainly knew When we come to the source of stellar energy,
something, but many of the ideas that were there have certainly been major changes in our
current at that time have since been cast aside. outlook. All kinds of theories had been put forward,
First, consider the age of the Universe. It was such as the collision of atoms with each other to
known that the Universe was very old, but estimates heat the material, but of course we now know that
ranged from below 10 billion years to over 20 billion this is completely wrong. The stars generate their
years. Secondly, how did it begin – and how will it energy by nuclear reactions. Hydrogen is the essential
end? Here, we were on slightly firmer ground. At least key, and is also the most plentiful substance in the
we were sure that the stars and galaxies formed by entire Universe. Four atoms of hydrogen can
condensation from a vast cloud of tenuous material. combine to make one atom of helium, admittedly
Thirdly, how did stars generate their energy? by a rather roundabout route.
Einstein’s theory of relativity had become generally Every time one helium atom is formed, a little
accepted by 1962, though there were some mass is lost and a little energy is released. It is this
astronomers who doubted it – and there still are. energy that makes the stars shine, and the loss of
mass amounts to a staggering four million tonnes
“When we come to the per second. Luckily for us, there is as yet no prospect
of all the available hydrogen being used up.
source of stellar energy, Still in the dark

With regard to the expansion of the Universe, this
there have been major was generally accepted 50 years ago. It now seems
that in its outer regions, the rate of expansion is
changes in our outlook” actually increasing, and this leads us on to the
mysteries of dark matter and dark energy. Here we
At least we know now that the age of the Universe have to admit we are still very much in the dark.
is 13.7 billion years, and we are confident that this I think most people accept the idea of dark
time we are not far wrong. But how will the Universe matter, which we cannot see but which betrays its
end? Here we have not made a great deal of progress, presence by its gravitational force on objects that we
and it is by no means certain that there will be an can see. We have no idea what dark matter is, but
end at all. The expansion of the Universe was the evidence in favour of its existence is very strong. >
019-020_Sky90_patricks column.indd 1 28/09/2012 15:26

20 PATRICK MOORE NOVEMBER
believed, and Lowell’s picture was generally discarded

by around 1940. But rockets have given us a chance
to make a breakthrough.
With any luck at all, it will not now be long before
we will be able to send a sample-return probe to
Mars. If we manage this, our spacecraft will certainly
not be met by a welcoming committee, but if it
brings back samples which contain elementary life
– and if we can prove that this life is genuinely
Martian, and not Earthly contamination – it would
be a pointer to the idea that where life can appear, it
will! We should certainly be able to answer this in
the foreseeable future, but otherwise we have not
advanced a great deal over the past 50 years.
Wanted: a new Newton

Of course, we have made immense strides in the
exploration of very remote parts of the Universe
because we have telescopes and spacecraft which
would have seemed more like dreams in 1962. By
then we had entered the photographic age and
sheer visual observation was going out of fashion.
But now we have come to the age of electronics,
which is overtaking photography. It is fair to say
that photography has been more or less abandoned
by leading research teams, which has opened up
all manner of new fields of research.
Where do we go from here? I am confident that
the advances to be made over the next 50 years will
exceed those of the past 50, but I cannot go further
than that. When asked what I expect, I simply reply,
“I expect the unexpected!” This may be a cowardly
> Dark energy is a different proposition altogether Þ The past 50 years have way out, but it is the best I can do at the moment.
– it is assumed to be responsible for the acceleration answered many questions Looking back then to 2012, we may fi nd that some
about the Universe, its
of expansion of remote parts of the Universe, but of the ideas that are now current have become
origins and its structure,
what it actually is remains a total mystery. but many puzzles remain
hopelessly out-of-date. I do not expect to find
To my mind, at least, solving the question of the fundamental flaws in some of our most cherished
nature of dark matter and dark energy will take us a ideas, but one never knows.
There is really very little point in further
“The rate of progress over speculation, but at least we can say that the rate of
progress over the last half-century has been more
the last half-century has rapid than at any other time in history. We live in
an exciting period and things may well become even
more exciting in the next few decades. To quote a
been more rapid than at famous politician, “Wait and see!”
My own personal hope would be that we make
any other time in history” contact with another intelligent race far across
the Universe, which would indeed be fascinating.
long way to an understanding of the Universe as a Much depends upon the arrival of a new Newton
whole. If present day theories are correct, dark or Einstein. But if anyone in the year 2062 is
matter makes up most of the material in the able to read the present article, he may smile
Universe. What we can see is a very small part of the contemptuously, and I would not blame him! S
VICTOR DE SCHWANBERG/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY
whole. This is where we come up against what is so

far an impenetrable wall in our knowledge. We have
to break through this before we can really progress.
Then there’s the question of life beyond Earth.
Fifty years ago we had to admit we did not have the
slightest idea whether or not we are alone in the Watch The
Sky at Night
Universe. Again, our progress has been very limited,
this month
but at least there may be some light, and in my view on BBC One for the latest
(not shared by many) the key may be Mars. There developments in cosmology.
are no intelligent Martians as Percival Lowell once See page 101 for details.
019-020_Sky90_patricks column.indd 2 28/09/2012 15:26

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE
Big Cats
Neil Phillipson of Astronomia introduces us
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available to the amateur astronomer.
T he invention of the Schmidt Camera by Bernhard Schmidt in 1930 was the catalyst for a revolution
in observatory-class telescopes and has unlocked many of the wonders of the night sky to amateur
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The Schmidt Camera was a simple design that used a contrast. However they do represent good value for money
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Sky_90_021 21 01/10/2012 11:03

22
Interactive
EMAILS • LETTERS • FORUM • TWEETS • CROSSWORD
This month’s Email us at inbox@skyatnightmagazine.com
top prize: four
Philip’s books MESSAGE OF THE MONTH
The ‘Message of the Month’
writer will receive four top A fiery event stokes the flames of passion
titles courtesy of astronomy
publisher Philip’s. Heather Thomas’s image is
Couper and Nigel marvellous even
Henbest’s Stargazing 2012 without the fireball
is a month-by-month guide
to the year and you’ll be
able to find all the best
sights with Patrick Moore’s
Guide to Stars and Planets.
Stargazing with Binoculars
by Robin Scagell and
David Frydman contains
equipment and observing
guides, and you’ll be
viewing planets in no time
with Peter Grego’s Solar
System Observer’s Guide.
Your magazine and an incredible once-in-a-lifetime sudden I was dazzled by an extraordinarily bright
experience have got me hooked on astronomy forever. light. First I thought was a firework. After staring
On 21 September 2012, my girlfriend and I were on a in awe for a couple of seconds I snapped out of my
weekend away in southwest Scotland for her birthday. trance, ran over to my camera and hit the shutter.
I surprised her with her very first telescope and we It was a tense wait to see if I had captured the
decided to go stargazing that night, especially as we spectacle, but when I looked at the final image I knew
were only 10 minutes from Clatteringshawes Loch I had captured on camera a very rare and special event
in Galloway Forest Dark Sky Park. En route, we – an enormous meteor fireball! I now have an
picked up a copy of Sky at Night Magazine as we’re excitement for astronomy that I never thought I would.
both new to observing and needed all the help we Thomas Heaton, Whitley Bay
could get – there was plenty in the magazine! We set
up the scope and were blown away by what we could A fantastic image, Thomas. Cautious preliminary
see, not only with the scope, but with our own eyes. calculations of this fireball’s trajectory from Dutch
I decided to capture the Milky Way so I set up my satellite expert Marco Langbroek suggest that it may
camera and did a couple of test shots when all of a have been from the Aten asteroid group. – Ed
Stars of CCTV
S It’s remarkable that the fireball set off your motion
I thought I’d share an image of the recent meteor detector, Cliff. – Ed
fireball, which I captured on 21 September. It was
taken
t using a simple infrared USB webcam The longest hour ever
modified with a 75º field of view lens to give a When night fell on Friday 21 September I headed
The fireball was so wide view. I use this as a motion-detecting out to a local castle to take a star trail image.
bright that it triggered CCTV camera to monitor my garden! A few minutes into the sequence I struck gold
Cliff’s automatic camera Cliff Tate, Middlesbrough by capturing a massive meteor fireball directly
022-024_Sky90_interactive.indd 1 01/10/2012 14:20

LETTERS NOVEMBER 23
in my field of view. Lucky isn’t the word! However,

I had to wait to the end of my hour-long session to
see if I had caught it.
Drew Buckley, Pembrokeshire
The big
debate
Have your say at This splendid fireball
http://twitter.com/ shot across a swathe READERS’ SCOPES
skyatnightmag of northern Europe
For my 60th birthday I treated myself to a 12-inch
Meade RCX400 telescope and now have it housed in
@skyatnightmag Thanks again to Marco Langbroek, we have an my garden observatory. Together with a CCD camera,
asked: With darker estimate of a trajectory that began as far east as it has really opened up the Universe. To help with
nights approaching, northern Germany, passed over North Yorkshire weather monitoring I have an MSG weather satellite
which objects are you and Cumbria before ending in Leitrim, system, using the dish shown here to provide images
looking forward to northwest Ireland. – Ed of the European weather. The other scope pictured
observing? is a 3-inch from William Optics that I usually use for
Young philosopher solar imaging. I bought my first telescope in 1961 at
age 16 – a 1.25-inch refractor. I made an 8.5-inch
@the_eyeballkid Looking My five-year-old grandson is interested in black
reflector two years later, but it was not until 1985 that
forward to seeing the holes and seems to understand that they are formed
I bought my first computerised scope. This made all
Orion Nebula for the first from large stars that collapse at the end of their
the difference to my observing, letting me locate
time through the telescope lives. He has just asked me this question: “What many Messier and NGC objects without problems.
I bought this summer!! happens to black holes at the end of their lives?” I also started routine daytime astronomy because
I told him I didn’t know but that I would try to the scope could drive straight to Venus and Jupiter
@starnutty14 Everything find out. Can you help him (and me) please? in broad daylight, which I still do regularly.
Alan Turk, via email Lawrence Harris, Stowupland, Suffolk
@k1n8y My next door Tell us about your scope! Email
neighbours un-illuminated You’ll have to hang around for a long while, but inbox@skyatnightmagazine.com
security light. even black holes don’t live for ever. Most black
holes are evaporating, due to a process known as commitment and enthusiasm. And thank you
@tinyian The Pleiades. ‘Hawking radiation’ after Stephen Hawking. It Sky at Night Magazine for recognising one of the
My first ever Messier takes a long time – a black hole the size of the Sun great amateur astronomers of our time.
and still worth a look will take more than 10 thousand billion, billion, Andy Harrison (44 and a half), Woking
at every opportunity. billion, billion, billion, billion, billion years to
disappear. – Chris Lintott We want to celebrate the inspiring figures of amateur
@mrphildog I got a astronomy. If you’d like to nominate someone, please
telescope just as Orion School reunion get in touch using the email address on page 22. – Ed
was disappearing. Unbelievable! I nearly choked on my cornflakes
Looking forward to when I opened the September edition of Sky at Is this the end of TLP?
viewing the Orion Night Magazine to see Laurence Anslow smiling Now that we have enormous close-ups of Crater
Nebula. Last year back at me. Mr Anslow (I was taught by him and Aristarchus from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance
I used binoculars calling him Laurence still doesn’t seem right) Orbiter, can we discount transient lunar phenomena
was my inspiration for astronomy. (TLP) observed there by J C Greenacre in 1963, or
@Cloudspirits I have Back in the mid 80s we didn’t have the internet, indeed TLP observed by Patrick Moore in Crater
never taken night photos but we got to see the Voyager images of Saturn Gassendi in 1966?
of clouds passing a full and Jupiter with a slideshow and commentary Nick Warren, Pinner
Moon. Just observing from Mr Anslow that left us thinking we’d been
them is a story itself. there! With his encouragement I built an 8-inch The LRO’s splendid photographs certainly do not
Anybody do this? Dobsonian telescope when I was 15, importing disprove or confirm the reality of TLP. The question
the optics from the US and making the tube and was really settled when Audouin Dollfus obtained
@MikeStewart75 mount in my dad’s garage. Even today, that first a recording in polarised light of activity in Crater
Everything. But I am view of the rings of Saturn through a telescope Langrenus using the 33-inch telescope at the
particularly looking I’d built still sends a shiver down my spine. Observatory of Meudon in 1992. – Patrick Moore
forward to Virgo Thank you Mr Anslow for the Friday .........................................................................................
Cluster again. afternoon astronomy club, for taking us to OOPS!
British Astronomical Association meetings In October 2012’s Gear on page 100, the price of the
and the chance to meet Patrick Moore, for your Ostara UHC filter should have been £42.99, not £21.99.

24 LETTERS NOVEMBER
ASTRO CROSSWORD Sky at Night Magazine is published by Immediate Media Company

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BBC WORLDWIDE MAGAZINES UNIT
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28
Hotshots
This month’s pick of your very best astrophotos
PHOTO
OF THE
MONTH
S Mosaic of the hydrogen-alpha Sun

GARY PALMER camera, Coronado SolarMax II 90 solar About Gary: “I have been into
SUTTON, SURREY, 26 JULY 2012 telescope, Celestron CGEM mount. astronomy for quite a long time
Gary says: “I have been working on larger but only started solar imaging
mosaics for a while now and am really happy Sky at Night Magazine says: “Gary’s image about 18 months ago. It was
with the detail that has come out here. It was captures the dynamic nature of our local star a Coronado PST that got me
a lot of work but well worth it in the end.” wonderfully. It’s not easy making these solar hooked; now I’ve worked my
mosaics, but the detail in the prominences and way up to a Solarmax II 90 and try to get as
Equipment: Imaging Source DMK 31 CCD the surface mottling is superb.” much detail into the images as I can.”
028-030_Sky90_hotshots.indd 1 01/10/2012 14:21

HOTSHOTS NOVEMBER 29
S Aurora
australis
PAUL ALBERS
VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA
15 JULY 2012
Paul says: “This picture
was taken from my back
veranda after the X1.4
solar flare we had on
12 July. I was able to see
the aurora with the naked
eye so I decided to set the
camera up. The aurora
lasted most of the night
so the family managed
to see it too, though they
were disappointed they
couldn’t see the details
the camera captured.”
Equipment: Pentax K-x
DSLR camera, 14mm
Samyang lens.
The Crescent S The North America Nebula

Nebula X ANDRE VAN DER HOEVEN
THE NETHERLANDS, 23 JULY 2012
FRANCESCO DI CENCIO
ITALY, 19 JULY 2012 Andre says: “This shot took three nights to image.
I was experimenting with using my Canon 100mm lens
Francesco says: “I used
on my CCD camera. The experimenting took some time,
a multichannel exposure
but I think this could have been taken in one night. At
for this beautiful object. It
least now I know how it works.”
was taken over two nights
and took some hours.” Equipment: Starlight Xpress SXV-H9 CCD camera, Canon
100mm lens, Custom Scientific hydrogen-alpha filter,
Equipment: QHY9 CCD
Astrodon OIII and SII filters.
camera, Teleskop Service
Photoline Triplet apo
4-inch refractor, Celestron
CGE mount.

30 HOTSHOTS NOVEMBER
Noctilucent clouds
ALAN KENNEDY
FERRYHILL, COUNTY DURHAM
29 JUNE 2012
Alan says: “I particularly like the colours in this image, going from the red haze on
the horizon, to the electric blue of the noctilucent clouds, to the deep purple of the
twilight sky. Where some displays only cover 20-30º of the horizon, this display
covered nearer to 100º.”
Equipment: Canon EOS 1000D DSLR camera, Sigma 70-300mm lens.
W The Bubble Nebula and Messier 52

GRAHAM GREEN
WATERLOOVILLE, HAMPSHIRE, 25 JULY 2012
Graham says: “The area around Cassiopeia is one of my favourite parts of the night
sky as it hosts a rich variety of deep-sky objects. The Bubble Nebula is one of my
favourite objects within that area. The contrast between the open cluster M52 and
the Bubble makes a pleasing composition.”
Equipment: Canon EOS 600D DSLR camera, William Optics Megrez 3.5-inch refractor,
Sky-Watcher NEQ6 Pro mount.
The Witch’s Broom Nebula X

MARTIN BAILEY
GNOSALL, STAFFORDSHIRE
23 JULY 2012
Martin says: “I’ve had this on my list of ‘must image’
objects since I started astrophotography last year,
after seeing the wonderful colours other imagers were
able to bring out. I thought a lot of that was in the
processing, but it really does look like this! The bright
star in the centre just adds that extra sparkle.”
Equipment: Canon EOS 1000D DSLR camera,
Sky-Watcher Explorer 200PDS telescope, Celestron
CG5 mount.
ENTER TO WIN A PRIZE!

We’ve teamed up with Astronomia to offer the winner of next month’s best Hotshots
image a fantastic prize. The winner will receive a Celestron X-Cel LX 2x Barlow lens,
a great accessory enabling you to double the magnifi cation offered by your eyepieces.
www.astronomia.co.uk • 01306 640714
Email your pictures to us at hotshots@skyatnightmagazine.com or enter online.

WORTH
£85

031_Sky90_APY AD.indd 1 27/09/2012 10:52
32
NASA NEEDS
YOU!
Want to get involved with NASA’s
NASA/GODDARD/UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA, DETLEV VAN RAVENSWAAY/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY
asteroid research? Will Gater

explains what you can do to help
E
leven years from now, the skies over Utah will bear witness to
a spectacular homecoming. High above the sandy desert floor
a capsule will return from space, bathed in fi re. Tearing through
the sky shrouded in a dazzling ball of light, the capsule will
eventually parachute to the surface, where it’ll be whisked away to a secure
facility at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. Inside the bowl-shaped capsule will
be a precious cargo: not humans, but a sample of the surface of an asteroid
plucked from the space rock by a robotic arm. The landing in Utah will be the
climax of a daring mission, known as OSIRIS-REx, which is set for launch
in 2016. And as part of the mission, NASA is calling on amateur astronomers
around the world to turn their own telescopes towards certain asteroids, in
order to help scientists study these enigmatic objects. >
032-037_Sky90_nasa needs you.indd 1 28/09/2012 15:25

TARGET ASTEROIDS NOVEMBER3 3
OSIRIS-REx will return a

sample from an asteroid, but
NASA needs your help to
understand its context

34
THE RIGHT STUFF

What you need to help Target Asteroids!
✓ Access to an 8-inch scope and CCD

camera OR…
✓ Access to an online robotic scope
✓ Desire to study and image asteroids
✓ Knowledge of calibrating and capturing
images or a willingness to learn
✓ Minor Planet Center observatory code
> The main aim of OSIRIS-REx (which stands for astronomers, says Hill. “Another tactic is to obtain
Þ To get involved in Target
Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Asteroids! you’ll need an many observations, that may be of a lower quality,
Security Regolith Explorer) is to retrieve a sample of 8-inch scope or larger and with smaller telescopes. A large number of lower
regolith – the loose ‘soil’ found on the surfaces of (ideally) a CCD camera quality observations can be used to determine a
some Solar System bodies – from (101955) 1999 higher quality result.”
RQ36, a near-Earth asteroid with a diameter of And that’s where you come in. To find out how
roughly 550m. NASA scientists hope the sample you can get involved, see ‘Step by step’, opposite.
will tell them about the composition and history
of the asteroid, while measurements made by Target selection
the spacecraft’s instruments should provide With amateurs providing crucial contextual
information about how much of an impact information about 1999 RQ36’s asteroid
risk it poses to Earth. friends, it’ll be up to the NASA teams
But it won’t just be the scientists who to examine the space rock up close.
are scrutinising 1999 RQ36 and its ilk There are several factors that make
as part of the mission. The team is also 1999 RQ36 an attractive target, says
asking amateur astronomers to observe Jason Dworkin, the mission’s project
asteroids as part of a citizen science project scientist. “There are over half a million
known as Target Asteroids! asteroids, including more than 8,000 near-
“In order to learn more about the entire Earth objects. And of those, 300 have orbits
NASA/JPL-CALTECH, THINKSTOCK, MARK HENRICH
asteroid population, we must be able to place that you can get a sample-return mission to.”
1999 RQ36 in context,” says Dolores Hill from the However, just 27 of those 300 candidates are
Target Asteroids! campaign. “In an ideal world, we Þ A radar image of 1999 larger than 200m across. “That’s important
would like to know everything about our targets, RQ36 captured by NASA’s because asteroids smaller than 200m tend to
such as their size, rotation rate, taxonomic type, Deep Sky Network be very fast rotators,” says Dworkin. “Operations
colour and reflectivity. To do this, we could get antenna in California around an asteroid become difficult if its day
time on a large professional telescope and use is measured in seconds and also it’s likely that
that to make high signal-to-noise observations.” any loose regolith has been thrown off by its fast
But there’s another option – one that makes rotation. So we need something big enough to
use of a worldwide network of advanced amateur retain regolith,” he says. >

STEP BY STEP
How you can take part in the Target Asteroids! citizen science campaign tonight
STEP 1 STEP 2
Sign up Capture your images
The first task for any would-be asteroid observer is to register with Target The next step is to choose your target from the list of asteroids
Asteroids! using the form on their website at bit.ly/asteroid_forum supplied by the Target Asteroids! team, and then capture several
“The most important qualification is a desire to learn about asteroids images of it. You’ll need a telescope with an aperture of at least
and to participate in a citizen science programme that helps the 8 inches. “The ideal setup is a telescope with a colour-calibrated
OSIRIS-REx mission,” says Dolores Hill. “We would like everyone who CCD camera and an internet connection,” says Hill.
is involved with the programme to obtain an MPC (Minor Planet “Individuals could perhaps team up and use a telescope owned
Center) code at some point and we are willing to help with this.” by a friend, astronomy club, local college or observatory. There are
The MPC code is a unique identification code that is assigned to a also several private telescope vendors all over the world from which
permanent observing location. You’ll find more information about how interested observers may purchase telescope time, such as Sierra
to get one on the Minor Planet Center website at bit.ly/MPC_code_info Stars Observatory Network, iTelescope.net or LightBuckets.”
STEP 3 STEP 4
Collate your data and observing information Send in your results
You should capture at least three images of an asteroid, separated The final step in the process is the submission of the images that you’ve
by 30-minute intervals. You’ll also need to record details of the time captured and processed, as well as all the relevant data.
and your location as well as information about the scope, camera “In addition, asteroid observers should measure asteroid astrometry
and filters you used – there’s a full list of what information needs to (position against the background stars) with readily available software
be supplied on the Target Asteroids! website. Ideally your images such as Astrometrica or MPO Canopus, and submit the results to
should be correctly calibrated with flat fields and bias frames, but Target Asteroids! and the International Astronomical Union’s Minor
“all observations are useful, with or without corrections,” says Hill. Planet Center,” says Hill. “The images will then undergo data reduction
“One goal of the programme is to help observers acquire new skills, in order to determine the brightness of the asteroid at the time of
so those new to asteroid observing may contact us for assistance observation. And all of the observations for a particular object will
with making good flat field corrections and bias subtractions.” then be combined for further analysis.”

36
OSIRIS-REx is due to primitive objects, primitive meteorites like

launch in 2016, and carbonaceous chrondrites.”
to start collecting It turns out that only five of the 27 large asteroids
samples in 2019
right for a sample-return mission appear to have the
same composition as the carbonaceous meteorites.
“Out of those five, 1999 RQ36 is the one we
understand the best,” says Dworkin.
That understanding of 1999 RQ36 has come from
a concerted professional observing campaign using
telescopes in space and on the ground, says the mission’s
deputy principal investigator Ed Beshore. “We used
the powerful Arecibo and Goldstone interplanetary
radars to prepare shape models of the asteroid and
to get more precise orbital ephemerides. We know,
for instance, that the asteroid is roughly spherical,
with an equatorial ridge, and there doesn’t seem to
be anything larger than about 10m on the surface.”
The team has also been able to confirm that there’ll
be suitable material for the spacecraft to pick up.
“Measurements made with the radars indicate an
abundance of regolith,” explains Beshore. “In
addition to radar, we used the Spitzer Infrared Space
Telescope to measure the thermal infrared emissions
from the asteroid. This told us a lot about so-called
thermal inertia, which also leads us to believe that there
is surface regolith that will suit our sampling system.”
1999 RQ36 is probably not one solid lump of rock
“The spacecraft will be in either, says Dworkin: “Its density is about one,
meaning it’s almost certainly a rubble pile.” Yet
despite all this scrutiny, 1999 RQ36 could still be
contact with the surface for holding on to some secrets. “It may be an extinct
comet, so we’ll be looking for outgassing plumes
less than five seconds” while we’re there,” he adds.
> But, naturally, it’s not purely the logistics of Space rock rendezvous
capturing a sample that the NASA team has had to It will take around two years for OSIRIS-REx to
think about in selecting 1999 RQ36 as the target for make the journey to 1999 RQ36, with the current
OSIRIS-REx. The asteroid is also of great scientific rendezvous date set for 15 October 2018. Yet it’ll
interest. “We’re very interested in the origin of life,” be a while after arrival before the spacecraft can
explains Dworkin. “The keys to that are in the most go down to the asteroid’s surface. The fi rst thing
THE EXPERT
Dr Ed Beshore, Deputy Principal Investigator on the OSIRIS-REx mission
What questions do We will also be attempting to tie together beginning of the Solar System. With a
you hope to answer? our ground-based observations of asteroids substantial sample of an asteroid like this we
Our science team with observations that we will be taking in might be able to make some important strides
will be investigating the vicinity of 1999 RQ36. in answering fundamental questions like: where
questions about the did the water come from? How did the organics,
dynamical history of What part of the mission excites you most? that are so important life, come to Earth? It just
NASA/GODDARD/UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA, NASA
the asteroid – where There is no doubt about it, it’s returning a doesn’t get any better than this for a scientist.
did it come from? sample. 1999 RQ36 is a carbonaceous
Has it undergone asteroid. More specifically, we think it is How likely is it that 1999 RQ36 will hit us?
a long history of representative of the CM chondrite meteorites Current estimates suggest that there is about
collisions? Was it part of a larger body at [a class of meteorites] that we have in our a 1 in 1,800 chance of a collision with Earth
some point in the past? We will also be collections here on Earth. If so, we will be late in the 22nd century. While I would take
looking very carefully at the composition of able to have an unaltered sample of one those odds crossing the street, that’s quite
the asteroid to try to relate its composition to of the oldest objects in the Solar System. high for an asteroid collision. At 500m
the composition of meteorites we have in our CM chondrites have the same elemental across, a collision of 1999 RQ36 with the
collections here on Earth. This will be an abundances as we find in the Sun. We Earth would do a considerable amount of
important effort — to tie together our studies can infer from this that such asteroids have damage. It’s certainly worth us understanding
of meteorites with our studies of asteroids. undergone very little processing since the the real threat that this asteroid poses.

the team will need to do is assess the enormous

space rock and choose a suitable place to collect the
Mars
valuable sample from. They’ll also have to contend
with the difficulties of flying a spacecraft close to
an asteroid – not an easy business, says Beshore.
“When you’re orbiting Mars or another large body,
gravity is the biggest force to be reckoned with and
so is relatively easy to predict. Around 1999 RQ36
we will be dealing with gravitational forces that are
a tiny fraction of those found around larger objects.
Forces like solar radiation pressure and the thermal Venus
Orbit of 1999 RQ36
re-emission of radiation from the spacecraft have to
be carefully factored in. Combine this with the fact
that we will be making passes over the surface of the
asteroid as low as 250m as we perform reconnaissance Mercury Earth
on our proposed sample site. You really have to
understand the forces at play before you let your
spacecraft get that close!”
Once the team has chosen the site it’ll be time for
OSIRIS-REx to inch toward the asteroid. “That’s
going to be scary!” says Beshore. “We have to send
the craft on a trajectory that will have it touch the
asteroid at a closing velocity of less than 10cm/s.
The spacecraft will be in contact with the surface Þ 1999 RQ36’s orbit OSIRIS-REx will also investigate a phenomenon
for less than five seconds while it collects a sample, brings it close to Earth, known as the Yarkovsky effect. “This involves the
before it executes a preprogrammed manoeuvre to which is one reason why absorption of visible light and infrared radiation by
NASA is keen to learn as
retreat from the vicinity.” much about it as it can
the asteroid, and the re-emission of that energy as
thermal infrared. This re-emitted radiation acts as
Reaching out a tiny rocket thrust which can cause an asteroid’s
The instrument responsible for collecting orbit to migrate,” explains Beshore.
a sample from the asteroid is known as That might not seem important, until one
TAGSAM – the Touch-And-Go Sample considers that a small nudge from the
Acquisition Mechanism. It will sit on Yarkovsky effect could bring an asteroid
the end of a 3m robotic arm that close to the Earth. “Indeed, 1999 RQ36
will reach out from OSIRIS-REx is one of the most hazardous
towards 1999 RQ36. asteroids that we know about,”
“TAGSAM will work by adds Beshore. “There are multiple
blowing compressed highly collision solutions with this
pure nitrogen gas to fluidise asteroid late in the 22nd century.
the regolith, then capture it We hope that the measurements
in an air fi lter-like device,” we make of the Yarkovsky effect
explains Dworkin. It’s hoped at 1999 RQ36 will help us better
the device will capture at understand the threat this
least 60g of material this way, asteroid represents to the Earth.”
but it could collect up to 2kg. With OSIRIS-REx still four
There will also be sample pads on years from launch there’s plenty
TAGSAM to pick up small samples of time to capture images of the
as a contingency. “If all else fails asteroids the team is interested in. Now’s
we’re sure to capture something,” says the chance to get onboard: with the right
Dworkin. The team will get three chances equipment, and the weather on your side, you
to retrieve a sample; once it has been collected, could start helping NASA tonight! S
the TAGSAM device will be placed inside its return
Þ NASA’s Stardust probe
capsule and sent on its long journey back to Earth. has previously collected
“The purpose of the mission is to get a sample and ABOUT THE WRITER
samples from comets,
characterise the context of that sample so we can providing a blueprint for Will Gater is features editor of
understand it,” says Dworkin. To that end, OSIRIS- the OSIRIS-REx mission Sky at Night Magazine and a keen
amateur astrophotographer. He
REx will spend about 500 days with 1999 RQ36, holds a degree in astrophysics from
carrying out scientific measurements and mapping its University College London.
surface with its suite of cameras and laser altimeter.
For full details of how to help the Target Asteroids! project visit. http://osiris-rex.lpl.arizona.edu

MYSTERIOUS M33 NOVEMBER 39
You’ll need dark,

transparent skies to
observe the Triangulum
Galaxy in November
THE TALE OF THE

Triangulum
Galaxy
ROB GENDLER/WWW.ROBGENDLERASTROPICS.COM
Visible to the naked eye this month, M33 is

distinctly unlike anything in our neighbourhood.
Heather Couper takes a closer look
039-043_Sky90_M33.indd 1 27/09/2012 10:55

40
T
he constellation of Triangulum > Lord Rosse’s 19th century sketch
is located just below sprawling of M33, then thought to be a ‘spiral
Andromeda; its three main stars, nebula’. Astronomers wouldn’t
realise its true nature until the 1920s
two of the third magnitude and
one of the fifth, form a distinctive triangle.
The ancients were very fond of this little
constellation, and honoured it with a variety
of names. One was
Sicilia, after the
triangular shape of the “Lord Rosse revealed M33 had
island of Sicily. But it’s
most famous for the
celestial gem it harbours:
a spiral structure. He also was
the Triangulum Galaxy,
M33. It’s one of those
aware of its ragged appearance”
astronomical sights that instantly brings
chills to the back of your neck when you
realise what you’re seeing.
The Triangulum Galaxy is a challenge to spot,
especially from a light polluted city or suburban
environments. Nonetheless, it can be seen with
the naked eye in dark, transparent skies. It’s
unmistakable when you glimpse it – just a tiny
smudge of light not far from Alpha Trianguli.
So much for the Andromeda Galaxy, M31,
being the most distant object visible to the unaided
eye. While M31 lies 2.5 million lightyears away,
the latest estimates for M33 put it close to three
million lightyears distant. But – being small and
of low surface brightness – it’s a devil to fi nd.
This apparently didn’t stop Giovanni Battista
Hodierna, the Sicilian who is acknowledged to
have discovered the Triangulum Galaxy. He
was an astronomer at the court of the Duke of
Montechiaro, and described the object in 1654
as being ‘cloud-like’. Hodierna was doing what
his successor Charles Messier would continue:
to sweep the skies for fuzzy blurs in the sky that
could be confused for comets.
Classification conundrum
It was the far better-known Messier, who
– almost exactly a century later – logged
the object for posterity, entering it into
ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY, NASA/JPL-CALTECH/WISE TEAM
his fabled catalogue as M33. Messier

noted the elusiveness of the object:
“Seen with difficulty in a one-foot
telescope. Found from Alpha < Hodierna spotted M33 first, but
Trianguli.” William Herschel also this achievement was not widely
observed the object, and added: “It recognised at the time – he simply
wasn’t well known enough
will bear no magnification.”
A century on, Lord Rosse – he of the allowing him to estimate its distance
mighty six-foot (72-inch) telescope at using the period-luminosity law discovered
Birr Castle in Ireland, ‘the Leviathan by American astronomer Henrietta Leavitt:
of Parsonstown’ – sketched M33 and the brighter the star, the longer it took to
revealed that it had a spiral structure. cchange brightness. Hubble realised that
Rosse was aware of its ragged appearance. M33 was a galaxy in its own right.
M
“The whole nebula in flocculi,” he observed.. M33 is the third largest galaxy in our Local
M
It was only in 1926 that astronomers Group – a motley assortment of some 50 spiral,
Grou
became aware of the real nature of the beast.
t. dwarf elliptical and irregular galaxies. In appearance,
The pioneering Edwin Hubble identified ranks way below the magnificent grand spirals of
it rank
35 Cepheid variable stars in the ‘nebula’, the Mi
Milky Way and the Andromeda Galaxy, and is
039-043_Sky90_M33.indd 2 27/09/2012 10:55

MYSTERIOUS M33 NOVEMBER4 1
comparatively small. It has a diameter of 50,000

lightyears and contains just 40 billion stars – our
Galaxy is double the size and estimated to have
200-400 billion stars. Like the Andromeda Galaxy,
M33 is heading towards us – at a rate of 24km/s.
Yet this little runt of a galaxy contains some
fascinating enigmas within its scruffy spiral arms
– and beyond. For a start, it boasts the biggest
stellar-mass black hole ever found. M33 X-7 was
spotted in 2007 by the Chandra X-ray Observatory.
The black hole orbits a companion star that eclipses
it every three and a half days. These eclipses have
allowed the Chandra astronomers, along with a
team from the Gemini Observatory telescope in
Hawaii, to weigh the black hole. It comes in at 15.7
times the mass of the Sun.
Black holes like M33 X-7 are formed when
supermassive stars explode as supernovae at the end
of their lives. But most are around 10 solar masses.
“The discovery raises all sorts of questions
about how such a big black hole could have been
formed in such a close binary system”, says team
leader Jerome Orosz of San Diego State University.
“Standard theories would tell us that either the
black hole would end up widely separated from its
companion (or not bound at all) or that the black
hole would have merged with its companion.” Þ Infrared images of black hole weighs in at four million solar masses;
M33 reveal widespread Andromeda’s at over 100 million.
Supermassive mystery star-forming regions, A team from Rutgers University, New Brunswick,
And it’s not just the black hole that is awesome: its visible in green and red used the Hubble Space Telescope to observe the
eclipsing star has a mass equivalent to 70 Suns. As speeds of stars orbiting M33’s galactic centre. To their
Jeffrey McClintock of the Harvard-Smithsonian surprise, rather than speeding up under the pull of
Center for Astrophysics notes: “Eventually, the the gravity of a massive black hole, the stars actually
companion will also go supernova and then we’ll slowed down. The team concludes that the central
have a pair of black holes.” black hole is 3,000 solar masses at most – which,
M33 X-7 may be big, but it doesn’t make up they add, is approximately three orders of magnitude
for the greatest mystery about the Triangulum lower than any other supermassive black hole.
Galaxy: that its central black hole isn’t of the Unlike our Galaxy and the Andromeda Galaxy,
supermassive variety. Our Milky Way’s central M33 lacks a nuclear bulge made of ageing red and >
THE EXPERT
Roger Davies, Philip Wetton Professor and head of astrophysics, University of Oxford
M33 is a ragged influence of a central black hole? Is the star formation due to an interaction
little beast – not We see that all galaxies with a central bulge with the Andromeda Galaxy?
like the smoothies host black holes in their centre and we’ve Yes, it is quite likely that the gravitational
that are the Milky learned that the mass of the black hole is interaction with M31 continues to ‘tickle’
Way and the typically about 0.2-0.5 per cent of the mass M33 to generate disturbances that causes
Andromeda Galaxy. of the bulge. From this we conclude that as the gas in the disc to form stars.
How typical is it as the bulge component of galaxies assembles,
a spiral galaxy? so its black hole grows in mass. M33 has The next encounter with the Andromeda
Spiral galaxies no bulge and we have not detected a black Galaxy could be violent. Any guesses as
like this one are hole. Quite why there is this relationship to what could happen?
very common. The ragged appearance arises remains a mystery. There are hints that past interactions with
from the large number of star-forming regions, Andromeda have distorted the outer parts of
which give the M33-like galaxies a spotty M33 contains NGC 604, one of the largest M33’s disc and that some of the atomic
appearance. The spots are not individual regions of star birth known. How come hydrogen clouds falling into M31 might have
stars, but clusters of young stars. – and in such a small galaxy? originated in M33. Who knows what could
Galaxies with lots and lots of stars formation happen next time?
One of the unusual things about the often have huge regions like this. So for
Triangulum Galaxy is that it doesn’t seem example the Large Magellanic Cloud hosts Might M33 merge with our Galaxy one day?
to have a black hole at its core. How can a the Tarantula Nebula [a star-forming region Yes this seems likely – it will take several
spiral galaxy exist, or even form, without the about 1,000 lightyears across]. billion years though.
039-043_Sky90_M33.indd 3 27/09/2012 10:55

36
NGC 604
> yellow stars. Instead, the core comprises a Þ M33’s NGC 604 would stars; they range in mass from 15 solar masses
region of ionised hydrogen, which emits the dwarf our own Orion to 60, which means that their futures will almost
most luminous X-ray radiation in the Local Nebula – it’s an incredible certainly end in supernovae. Some of these
Group. So why is the nucleus missing? “It’s very 60 times larger than M42. doomed, fledgling stars may have been born
NGC 604’s location within
hard to say,” says Prof Roger Davies, galaxy expert only three million years ago. In fact, the whole
X-RAY: NASA/CXC/CFA/R. TUELLMANN ET AL./OPTICAL: NASA/AURA/STSCI, CHART BY PETE LAWRENCE, THINKSTOCK
M33 is shown in the inset

and head of the department of astrophysics at of M33 is a hotbed of star formation. There are
Oxford University. “In the computer simulations dozens of other massive nebulae, which give the
of galaxies forming in an expanding Universe galaxy its blotchy appearance.
dominated by dark energy and dark matter, it The culprit for all this activity could well be
is very hard to make galaxies without a central its near neighbour, the Andromeda Galaxy.
amorphous ‘bulge’ of stars. So how M33-like According to the latest measurements, the two
objects are made remains a topic of research.” galaxies are just 750,000 lightyears apart. Could
the galaxies have had an altercation in the past
Perpetual birth – one that has dumped gas on M33 and triggered
Most of the action in M33 seems to take place star birth? Quite apart from the incredible rate
in its spiral arms. In its outermost arm, to the of star formation, more than four times that of
northeast of the galaxy, lies the enormous star- Andromeda, the 54 globular clusters surrounding
forming region NGC 604. It was first logged by Triangulum appear to be several billion years
William Herschel in September 1784. One of the younger than those surrounding the Milky Way.
largest nebulae in the Local Group, this crucible Some seem to have been born during the past
of star birth is 1,500 lightyears across – over 100 million years, coinciding with an inflow of
60 times bigger than the Orion Nebula. It’s also gas into the centre of M33.
more than 6,000 times more luminous. Were it The Green Bank Telescope at the National
at the same distance as its counterpart in Orion, Radio Astronomy Observatory in West Virginia
it would shine brighter than Venus in our skies. has been keeping a close watch on both galaxies.
The Hubble Space Telescope has picked out In June of this year, it confirmed the presence of
over 200 hot young stars at the heart of this gas between M33 and Andromeda – the existence
mighty maelstrom of gas. These are no ordinary of which had been disputed for eight years. This
039-043_Sky90_M33.indd 4 27/09/2012 10:55

MYSTERIOUS M33 NOVEMBER 43
HOW TO FIND M31
M33
Set up away from
ANDROMEDA
_
Alpheratz
PEGASUS
streetlights and any

other sources of light
pollution. A dark-sky
site where there are Almach a ` Mirach
no lights for miles
around is ideal. For the
best view you’ll need to NGC 752
wait for a dark autumn Great Square
or winter night with M33 of Pegasus
particularly transparent `
skies – like those you a
often get in the winter
after a rain shower. Even a
a light haze will really _
spoil the view. Begin by TRIANGULUM
finding the bright, mag.
+2.0 star Hamal (Alpha
(α) Arietis). Imagine a line
between Hamal and the
ARIES _
mag. +2.1 Mirach (Beta ` PISCES
(β) Andromedae); M33 Hamal
lies roughly two-thirds a 15 NOVEMBER AT 9PM, FACING SOUTHEAST
of the way along it.
hydrogen bridge is very faint, but contains six

dense clumps of gas.
“The properties of this gas indicate that these
two galaxies may have passed close together DISTANT NAKED-EYE GALAXIES
in the distant past,” says Jay Lockman of the
National Radio Astronomy Observatory.
“Studying what may be a gaseous link can give
us a new key to understanding the evolution of
both galaxies.”
An encounter between the two galaxies is
estimated to have taken place between two and
eight billion years ago, and another is predicted
for 2.5 million years time – astronomers intend
to monitor the ‘tidal trail’ over the next few years.
“We plan to use the Green Bank Telescope to
continue this work and learn more about the gas
and, hopefully, the orbital histories of these two
galaxies,” Lockman adds.
And it’s not just a matter of the history of the
two galaxies – it’s a question about the future,
too. Because Triangulum, Andromeda and the
Milky Way are all in gravitational thrall with
each other. The cosmic dance of these three
M33 is not the most distant galaxy visible – and M83 in Hydra are the farthest
spirals will eventually determine the fate of to the naked eye. In his book Deep-Sky objects visible with the naked eye.”
the Local Group. S Companions: the Messier Objects, M81 lies 12 million lightyears away;
eagle-eyed US visual astronomer Stephen M83 a staggering 15 million lightyears.
James O’Meara reports on the night that It’s also been claimed Centaurus A, some
ABOUT THE WRITER he managed to see even farther. 10-16 million lightyears from Earth, has
Heather Couper is an astronomy “Here – in Hawaii, after years of been seen without optical aid. To achieve
author and broadcaster. Her latest trying from other locations – I have these distance-defying feats, you need to
book is Philip’s Stargazing 2013, finally succeeded with M81,” he writes. have transparent skies and use averted
which is co-authored with fellow “I estimated the galaxy’s brightness with vision. Don’t look directly at the object,
astronomy writer Nigel Henbest the naked eye to be magnitude 6.8. As but to one side – this directs the light to
for its distance, M81 – pictured above the most sensitive area of the eye.
039-043_Sky90_M33.indd 5 27/09/2012 10:55

44
SOUNDS OF THE
aurora
The strange noises long described in Sami folklore have
been recorded for the first time. Paul Money reports
O
ne of the most magnificent University, Finland, it seems we can occasionally hearing odd sounds when
sights in the night sky has add sound to the list of effects that an auroral display is active.
to be the majesty of the accompany the visual drama. Laine’s
aurora borealis, or Northern results were presented in July at the Myth no more
Lights. They are caused by charged solar 19th International Congress of Sound Until recently, these sounds and the
particles racing down Earth’s magnetic and Vibration in Vilnius, Lithuania. myths surrounding them had no
field lines and exciting the gases in our He explains that in the cultures scientific basis. There were no reliable
atmosphere, principally oxygen and of the indigenous Sami peoples of recordings or analyses that could explain
nitrogen. The energy with which the Finland, Sweden and Norway there how the aurora, occurring at a height
particles smash into those gases causes are myths mentioning noises when of 100-300km in the upper atmosphere,
them to glow, giving us the colourful the aurora occurs. “The Sami people could produce sound close to ground
light show we know so well. in the northern part of Finland claim level. So Laine set about trying to verify
Studies have shown that this process that the Northern Lights speak to them, the noises scientifically.
causes radio noise too. And now, according saying: ‘klip-klap’,” he tells us. Workers His research bore fruit when he set up
to research by Prof Unto Laine of Aalto in those high latitudes have also reported microphones at a site from where the
044-045_Sky90_sounds of the aurora.indd 1 28/09/2012 14:23

AURORA NOVEMBER4 5
aurora borealis was regularly seen. coincide with Laine’s recordings. reach such a high value locally that
Using a portable recorder, he captured “The recordings feature audio a short discharging occurs.”
four channels of audio: two from the that sounds like a ‘clap’ and ‘crackle’. He also adds that it’s still too early to
recorder’s twin stereo mics, one from However, the sounds are quite subtle speculate on other mechanisms that may
a second microphone 13.4m away and required some amplification,” says be involved and that, since he receives no
mounted atop a reflector dish, and Laine. The data allowed the location of official funding to carry out the research,
one from a very low frequency (VLF) the sounds to be pinpointed to a zone his continued research will need to be
antenna to capture the fluctuations in about 70m above ground level. done in his own time.
the magnetic field. The audio recordings “As for the mechanisms that could “I have two other interesting sound
were then compared with simultaneous explain the sounds, in my opinion events to study, which I found in the
measurements of the geomagnetic the most probable explanation is data recorded at different places and
disturbances made by the Finnish atmospheric electric discharging,” on different nights,” he says.
Meteorological Institute. These showed a he adds. “Many times the static electric We’ll certainly be staying tuned for
pattern, typical of that made by Northern field increases close to the ground further developments. S
Lights episodes, which appeared to during a geomagnetic storm, so it may
HOW THE AURORA IS RECORDED

Laine used a Brüel & Kjær 4179
Sound source, microphone mounted at the focus
70m from ground of a reflector dish, connected to
a Zoom H4n recorder with two
internal mics placed 13.4m away.
A VLF antenna was also connected
to the recorder to pick up the
magnetic field fluctuation.
THINKSTOCK X 2, UNTO K LAINE X3

Di
S ou
re
ct
so
n ds
un
El e c t
ds
refl
ds
e ct
o un
r om a
ed
ct s
gnet i
fro
Dir e
mg
c sig
rou
nal
nd
VLF coil
Zoom H4n four-track recorder

with two built-in microphones
Reflector and
Brüel & Kjær microphone
044-045_Sky90_sounds of the aurora.indd 2 01/10/2012 14:22

THE SKY GUIDE NOVEMBER 47
The Sky Guide

November M35 and Ceres
Beautiful open cluster M35 in Gemini
has a cosmic visitor this month, as
dwarf planet Ceres makes a close
pass just to the south of it.
OUR STARGAZING EXPERTS

PETE LAWRENCE
As well as writing The Sky Guide, Pete can
be seen on BBC TV’s The Sky at Night every
month. On page 60, he shows you how to
capture Ceres’s flyby of M35 on camera.
PATRICK MOORE
The presenter of The Sky at Night writes our
Moonwatch column on page 59. A renowned
lunar observer, his map helped early Russian
probes reach the Moon.
CAROL LAKOMIAK
Carol lives in Tomahawk, Wisconsin, where
she bravely goes out observing even when
the local wolf pack can be heard howling!
She shares her sketching tips on page 58.
STEVE RICHARDS
PETE LAWRENCE
Steve is passionate about observing deep space

and likes nothing more than taking images of
distant galaxies – follow his Deep-sky tour on
page 56 to find a host of fascinating objects.
047-053_Sky90_skyguide1.indd 1 01/10/2012 14:24

48
HIGHLIGHTS
Your guide to the night sky this month
This icon indicates a good photo opportunity
2
FRIDAY
1
THURSDAY Keep watch for
Mag. –3.9 Venus sits 0.5º northwest (above) of Taurid meteors
mag. +3.9 star Zaniah (Eta (η) Virginis) in the over the next few weeks.
run-up to dawn. You should be able to spot the There are two branches to this
pair in the east-southeast from 04:30 UT. stream: the southern branch
peaked last month, but the
The waning gibbous Moon (92% lit) can be seen northern branch peaks around
rising in the northeast quite close to mag. –2.6 Jupiter 12 November with a zenithal
just before 18:00 UT. The Moon then starts closing in on the hourly rate of five meteors per
planet, passing 1.5º to the south of it around midnight. Look hour. The Taurids may show
out for Jupiter’s Great Red Spot after midnight. enhanced fireball activity this year.
8
THURSDAY
The waning crescent
Moon (38% lit) passes
just over 6º to the south
of mag. +1.3 star Regulus (Alpha
(α) Leonis) in the early hours.
From tonight until the 21st will be

a good time to take this month’s
deep-sky tour – find out more on
page 56.
11 12 14
SUNDAY X MONDAY WEDNESDAY
A slender Following Jupiter’s Great
crescent on from Red Spot lies on
Moon (9% lit) lies yesterday’s the planet’s
just over 7º to the southwest of meeting of the Moon and Venus, central meridian at 01:00 UT.
brilliant mag. –3.9 Venus in the this morning the bright mag. +1.0
dawn sky. View the dramatic star Spica (Alpha (α) Virginis)
duo from 05:30 UT onwards. joins in. Spica lies 7º to the
southeast of Venus, with the waning
crescent Moon (3% lit) lying just
under 4º southeast of Spica.
17 18
SATURDAY SUNDAY
22
Mag. –3.9 The crescent THURSDAY
Venus sits Moon (30% lit) Dwarf
less than 4º to is in the south- planet
the north of mag. +1.0 star Spica southwest around 20:30 UT. As it Ceres makes a
(Alpha (α) Virginis) in the early heads towards the horizon, use close pass of mag. +5.1 open
hours. Look out for them from binoculars to look for two stars cluster M35 in Gemini, the Twins.
05:00 UT, low in the east- close to its northern edge. The Ceres will be less than 1º to the
southeast. brighter one is mag. +3.1 Beta1 south of the centre of the cluster
(β1) Capricorni. The fainter star, this evening. See page 50 for
mag. +6.1 Beta2 (β2 ) Capricorni, more information.
is just below naked eye visibility.
28
W WEDNESDAY
A penumbral
lunar eclipse
takes place
today. These are hard to see
without specialist equipment
but it’s sometimes possible to make
PETE LAWRENCE X 6
out that one edge of the bright full

Moon is slightly darker. The
eclipse ends at 16:51 UT, when
the Moon will be only 8º above
the east-northeastern horizon.

What the team will be

observing in November
Pete Lawrence “Jupiter takes centre stage for
me this month – both as an object to be
4 6
SUNDAY TUESDAY
Jupiter’s Great Mag. –4.0 Venus lies just viewed through a telescope and also, with
Red Spot is over 1º to the south the prospect of two close passes by the
well placed around (below-left) of mag. +2.7
02:40 UT. Look out, too, for the double star Porrima (Gamma (γ) Moon, as something to savour with the naked eye.”
giant moon Ganymede off the Virginis) in the period before
planet’s northeast limb. dawn. Look for the pair from Will Gater “This month I’m hoping to lug my
04:30 UT onwards, low in the 8-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain onto Dartmoor
east-southeast.
for a bit of visual observing. There are some
nice open clusters in Perseus like NGC 1528
that I haven’t looked at in a long while.”
FRIDAY X Chris Bramley “I’m going on a bit of a
9 At
22:00 UT,
Jupiter’s moon
Io is located just to the
east of the planet. Look
double-star mission this month, seeing how
many I can resolve and how much colour
I can make out. Almach here I come!”
carefully and on Jupiter’s

disc you should be able to
see the Great Red Spot and
Terms you need to know
Io’s shadow. Io itself transits the UNIVERSAL TIME (UT)
disc at around 22:15 UT. Throughout this guide we’ve used Universal Time (UT), the standard
time used by astronomers worldwide. UT is the same as GMT.
RA (RIGHT ASCENSION) AND DEC. (DECLINATION)
16
W FRIDAY These co-ordinates are the night sky’s equivalent of longitude and
Find the slender latitude, describing where an object lies on the celestial ‘globe’.
crescent Moon
(11% lit) at
17:00 UT and mag. +3.8 star
Mu (μ) Sagittarii will appear from
behind it a few minutes later.
Icons explained
Tonight through to dawn is also
a good time to watch out for
How to tell what equipment you’ll need
Leonid meteors – see page 51.
NAKED EYE
Allow 20 minutes to become dark-adapted
27
TUESDAY
Mag. +0.8 Saturn and BINOCULARS
mag. –3.9 Venus are just 0.5º
10x50 recommended
apart this morning. Catch them
low in the east-southeast from 05:20 UT onwards.
PHOTO OPPORTUNITY
Tonight’s full Moon sits roughly 6º to the south of
Use a CCD, webcam or standard DSLR
the Pleiades open cluster. The cluster’s stars will be
drowned out by bright moonlight, but you may
see them if you use a pair of binoculars. SMALL SCOPE
Reflector/SCT under 150mm, refractor under 100mm
29 30
THURSDAY FRIDAY LARGE SCOPE
Centre Jupiter’s Reflector/SCT over 150mm, refractor over 100mm
to centre, Great Red
the full Moon Spot is visible
and Jupiter are just over 1º apart
this morning. Look for them from
on the planet’s central meridian
at 23:50 UT this evening.
Getting started in
01:30 UT onwards. astronomy
If you’re new to astronomy, you’ll find two
essential reads on our website. Visit http://
bit.ly/10_Lessons for our 10-step guide to
getting started and http://bit.ly/First_Tel
for advice on choosing your first scope.

50
DON’T MISS...
3 TOP SIGHTS
Ceres passes below
open cluster M35
All month, closest approach 20-27 November Imaging over several nights will reveal Ceres’s movement across the sky
DWARF PLANET Ceres planets which mostly swarm when Ceres will appear as
will make a close pass of between the orbits of Mars and bright as it ever gets, as a mag. ! NEED TO KNOW
The brightness of a star is
open cluster M35 this month, Jupiter. This means that it’s +6.7 star. Unfortunately this is known as its magnitude – the
passing within 1º of the also relatively bright (although still below the threshold of lower the number, the brighter
cluster’s centre between not the brightest), which naked eye visibility, so keep the star; with the naked eye you
can see down to mag. +6.0.
22-26 November. Ceres was explains why it was the first those binoculars handy!
the largest asteroid known asteroid-class body found. M35 is easy to see in
until it was reclassified as a Ceres gets brighter over binoculars or a small scope At the start of November,
dwarf planet back in 2006. It the month, starting off at a using a low-power eyepiece: it’s mag. +8.0 Ceres can be
now officially shares this title binocular-friendly mag. +8.0 a glittering jewel box of stars, found close to the third-
with four other bodies: Pluto, but becoming almost a some arranged in curving magnitude star Propus
Haumea, Makemake and Eris. magnitude brighter at +7.3 by paths. If you look closely, one (Eta (η) Geminorum). As
At 975km in diameter, Ceres the end of November. Its peak of these patterns resembles the the days go by, Ceres tracks
has a significant size compared brightness occurs in the outline of the Space Shuttle a path westward, curving
to the vast number of minor middle of December 2012, coming in to land. slightly to the north. It
passes between the binocular
variable stars 6 and WY
11 Dec Geminorum in the middle
of the month, heading close
to the mag. +6.7 star TYC
1864-2010-1 which lies to the
6 Dec south of M35. It passes just to
the north of this star on the
Ceres
nights of 24-25 November.
1 Dec
The closest approach to M35
occurs between the 22nd and
GEMINI the 26th. M35 has an apparent
NGC 2129 Berkeley 21
diameter of just over 0.5º. At
26 Nov
M35 closest approach, Ceres passes
0.8º south of the centre of M35,
which puts it quite close to the
21 Nov
outlying members of the cluster.
WY TYC 1864-2010-1 r As usual with this type of
object, the best way to see it is
16 Nov
6 to draw or photograph the star
ORION field you suspect it to be
11 Nov
located in. Do this over the
6 Nov Propus course of several nights; if
d r
Collinder 89 one of the ‘stars’ in the field
1 Nov
moves between sketches or
PETE LAWRENCE X 4
images, then it’s very likely

+ to be Ceres. For more
Tejat Posterior information on how to
photograph this close
Dwarf planet Ceres passes close to open cluster M35 in late November, presenting a great photo opportunity passage, turn to page 60.

The Leonid meteor shower

WHEN: 16-20 November
2012 HASN’T BEEN too bad a year as

far as meteors are concerned. The Moon LEO MINOR
was relatively kind for the Perseids in
August (even if the weather wasn’t!) and
kle
the Orionids were favourably timed, too.
This month sees the return of the famous 15 Nov
Sic
Leonid shower, which peaks on the night
of 16/17 November, with the actual peak Leonids radiant
17 Nov
being predicted for 09:30 UT on the LEO 20
Nov
morning of the 17th.
The Leonids are probably best known a
for their habit of putting on spectacular
meteor storms. At peak output hundreds Regulus
if not thousands of meteors have been _
known to rain down every hour. Sadly
this year isn’t expected to be one which
produces a storm-level event, but it has
to be said that we don’t know everything
about every shower. The only way to
improve on predictions is to go out, Denebola
watch and record what happens. `
The shower is expected to peak at a
zenithal hourly rate of 15 meteors per hour
at 09:30 UT on the 17th, but may also
show additional peaks of up to 10 meteors The Leonids peak on 17 November, but reasonable activity could continue until the 20th
per hour at 21:00 UT on 17 November
(unfavourable for UK viewing), followed them, head to a dark site away from 30 minutes. Viewing from midnight through
by a further peak of 15 meteors per hour at any stray lights. Wrap up warm and to dawn should produce the best results.
06:00 UT on the morning of 20 November. find some way to lie comfortably so that
Leonid meteors produce fast trails you’re looking up at an angle of about
that appear to emanate out of the head 60° (about two-thirds of the way up the ! NEED TO KNOW
The zenithal hourly rate (ZHR) of a
of Leo, the Lion. They are due to Earth sky). Any direction will do but the region meteor shower is the expected number of
passing across the debris stream of between Taurus and Cancer is a good meteors seen under perfect conditions with
Comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle. To view place to start. Give yourself at least the radiant point of the shower overhead.
Two Moon and Jupiter conjunctions

WHEN: Nights of 1/2 November and 28/29 November
THERE WAS A spectacular occultation The Moon’s not one to hang about
of Jupiter by the Moon back in July 2012. though, and by just after midnight, when
Unfortunately, the awful summer weather both objects are high in the sky, the Moon
we’ve had this year spoilt the view for and Jupiter will appear just less than
many in the UK. Sadly we can’t offer you 1.5º apart, centre-to-centre, and should
another occultation of Jupiter this month look pretty spectacular.
but we can point you in the direction of If you miss this pass then don’t worry,
two close passes by the Moon. because there’s another at the end of This month brings us not one but two chances
The first occurs on the night of November. On the evening of the 28th to see Jupiter and the Moon close together
1 November. The Moon and Jupiter rise the full Moon rises around 15:45 UT,
above the northeast horizon just before in penumbral eclipse as it pops up above Again, as time passes the Moon closes
18:00 UT. As they do so, the waning the northeast horizon. Jupiter follows in on Jupiter, so that by 01:15 UT on the
gibbous Moon (92% lit) lies 3.5º to the soon after, located nearly 4.5º to the 29th the centre-to-centre distance between
west of mag. –2.6 Jupiter. east of the Moon. the pair is just over 1º.

52
THE PLANETS
Pick of AURIGA
the month Pleiades
JUPITER
BEST TIME IN NOVEMBER:
30 November, 00:20 UT
TAURUS
ALTITUDE: 58º
Elnath
LOCATION: Taurus
v
`
No
DIRECTION: South
ov
Jupiter
30
1N
RECOMMENDED EQUIPMENT: V
3-inch telescope or larger Early morning Hyades
Early morning
Moon 29 Nov a
FEATURES OF INTEREST: 2 Nov
Atmospheric belts and features, Great Aldebaran

Red Spot, moons _
YOU CAN’T FAIL to be impressed by the c

gas giant Jupiter through November and
December, as it gets extremely high in
UK skies in the period around midnight.
Opposition is actually next month on The Moon makes two close passes of bright planet Jupiter during the course of November
3 December, but the planet’s putting its
best side forward through much of the four Galilean satellites, Io, Europa, There’s visual evidence of Jupiter’s short
end of the year. Ganymede and Callisto. With rotation time when you look through a
With the naked eye, binoculars you should certainly telescope, as the planet’s disc looks
Jupiter looks like a be able to see the moons distinctly flattened: the equatorial regions
dominant mag. –2.6 star change position from one bulge outwards due to the fast rotation.
in the feature-rich night to the next as they A small telescope will also show the
constellation of Taurus, orbit their giant parent. major belts and zones of the planet. If
the Bull, just to the east A small telescope will your timing is right you should also be
(left, as seen from the show Jupiter’s bright dot to able to make out the Great Red Spot, an
UK) of the V-shaped be a disc. Despite its great anticyclonic storm which has raged on
Hyades open cluster. size – approximately 11 times Jupiter’s disc for at least 200 years. If the
Binoculars will show the diameter of Earth – Jupiter spot is hidden from view, don’t worry
the planet to be a bright The bands and zones is also the fastest rotator in the – Jupiter’s fast rotation and good visibility
dot with up to four dimmer of Jupiter can be Solar System, completing one mean that there’s a good chance it’ll
dots nearby – these are the seen in a small scope turn in just under 10 hours. rotate back into view before dawn.
How the planets will appear this month

The phase, tilt and relative sizes of the planets in November. Each planet is shown with south at the top, to show what it looks like through a telescope
MERCURY
1 NOVEMBER VENUS
15 NOVEMBER URANUS
15 NOVEMBER
MERCURY
15 NOVEMBER
NEPTUNE
MARS 15 NOVEMBER
15 NOVEMBER SATURN
PETE LAWRENCE X 2
MERCURY 15 NOVEMBER
30 NOVEMBER
JUPITER
0” 10” 20” 30” 40” 50” 1’
15 NOVEMBER ARCSECONDS

MERCURY SATURN
BEST TIME IN NOVEMBER: BEST TIME IN NOVEMBER:
30 November, 06:45 UT 30 November, 06:15 UT
ALTITUDE: 8º ALTITUDE: 13º
LOCATION: Libra LOCATION: Virgo
Jupiter’s moons
DIRECTION: Southeast DIRECTION: Southeast Using a small scope you’ll be
able to spot Jupiter’s biggest
Mercury is best placed at the Saturn should be visible low in
moons. Their positions change
end of the month, when you the southeast morning sky dramatically during the month,
can see it low in the southeast towards the end of the month, as shown on the diagram. The
dawn sky. Mag. –3.9 Venus climbing to an altitude of 13° line by each date on the left
and mag. +0.8 Saturn form a in dark skies. Saturn looks represents midnight.
line pointing down to it. On good through a telescope,
30 November, Mercury will with its rings tilted open by JUPITER IN NOVEMBER
appear as a mag. –0.1 ‘star’ in 18°. Venus is close by on the DATE WEST EAST
Libra just before sunrise. 27th, with the two planets 1
Through a telescope on this separated by just 0.5°.
2
date, its small 7-arcsecond
disc will show a 44% lit phase. URANUS 3
BEST TIME IN NOVEMBER:
4
VENUS 1 November, 21:20 UT
BEST TIME IN NOVEMBER: ALTITUDE: 38º 5
1 November, 05:30 UT LOCATION: Pisces 6
ALTITUDE: 18º DIRECTION: South
LOCATION: Virgo Uranus is well placed this 7
DIRECTION: East-southeast month, reaching its highest 8
Venus is easily the brightest point, 38° up from the UK,
star-like object visible in the when the sky is dark. At mag. 9
east-southeast before dawn. +5.7 you might just be able to 10
Its apparent diameter is 13 catch a naked-eye glimpse, but
11
arcseconds on 1 November, binoculars will guarantee the
but by the end of the month it view. A small scope will reveal 12
shrinks to 11 arcseconds. The the planet’s green colour, but
13
small aspect comes from the don’t expect much detail on its
fact that Venus is now on a tiny 3-arcsecond disc. Lying 14
distant part of its orbit relative just to the east of the Circlet 15
to Earth. It passes mag. +0.8 asterism in Pisces, Uranus is
Saturn by 0.5° on the 27th and due south at 19:20 UT by the 16
should be an interesting sight end of November. 17
in binoculars or a small scope.
NEPTUNE 18
MARS BEST TIME IN NOVEMBER: 19
BEST TIME IN NOVEMBER: 1 November, 19:10 UT
20
30 November, 16:40 UT ALTITUDE: 25º
ALTITUDE: 5º (low) LOCATION: Aquarius 21
LOCATION: Sagittarius DIRECTION: South
22
DIRECTION: Southwest Distant Neptune is currently
Mars isn’t well positioned at in Aquarius, not too far from 23
the moment, being both very mag. +4.3 star Iota (ι) Aquarii. 24
distant from Earth and very The planet can be found due
low down in the southwest south and 25° up just after 25
after sunset. Through a 19:00 UT at the start of 26
telescope the mag. +1.2 planet November; by the end of the
barely scrapes 4 arcseconds month, its mag. +7.9 blue 27
across and shows little detail. coloured disc is in the same 28
A slender waxing crescent position two hours earlier.
29
Moon (11% lit) sits 5° northeast Binoculars will show it but a
of Mars on the evening of telescope is needed to reveal 30
16 November. its small, 2-arcsecond disc.
01
See what the planets look like through your telescope with the 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
field of view calculator on our website at: arcminutes
http://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/astronomy-tools Jupiter Io Europa Ganymede Callisto

54
M51
MA M101
r
UR JOR Alco
n
M
SA
NORTHERN
Thuba
izar
a b
N Plo
HEMISPHERE
O ug
RT h
HE
`
A
Merak Dubhe _
ST
When to use this chart
L
1 NOV AT 00:00 UT > 15 NOV AT 23:00 UT > 30 NOV AT 22:00 UT
EO M
M
S
82
ick
On other dates, use the interactive planetarium on our website at
le
www.skyatnightmagazine.com/interactive-planetarium
M
INO
81
How to use this chart
R
is
_
LY
N
X
D ALIS
O PAR
CA MEL
X
RR
_
M44
Ca
Pollux
¡
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sto _
_
b
CAN
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CER
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1. HOLD THE CHART so the direction you’re facing
Mirphak
S
is at the bottom. a
_
AU
GEMINI
2. THE LOWER HALF of the chart shows the sky Ca
RIG pel
EAST
ahead of you. la
A
b
b
`
4t
3. THE CENTRE OF THE CHART is the point _

h
M37
directly over your head.
M38
M36
“K
Procy
id s”
The Sun and Moon this month
M35
on
Algol `
DATE SUNRISE SUNSET
_ ` Elnath
E PERSEUS
01 Nov 2012 07:09 UT 16:36 UT ` TA
U RU
11 Nov 2012 07:28 UT 16:18 UT
S
a
M1
21 Nov 2012 07:47 UT 16:04 UT 1s
t
01 Dec 2012 08:03 UT 15:54 UT
iter
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Jup 2 ds
ep
uri
Pl
DATE MOONRISE MOONSET 8th
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es
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01 Nov 2012 18:02 UT 09:49 UT se h

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11 Nov 2012 04:05 UT 14:49 UT tel ” 5

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b M Be
Ald
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21 Nov 2012 13:03 UT ––:–– UT N _
O
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01 Dec 2012 18:37 UT 10:02 UT CE ORIO

a
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ad
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Times are given for the centre of the UK unless otherwise indicated.
es
Sou ov, ZH
5N
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ther
a M78
n TaR 7
Moon phases in November

urid
_ Mirror
s
of Ven
MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY us
i
1 2 3 4 e
42 ` r
nka _
M
` ` Me
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SO
5 6 7 8 9 10 11
ge
LEPU
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UT
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a
EA
CHART CONVERSION BY PAUL WOOTTON
12 13 14 15 16 17 18 T a
S
` Zaurak
NEW MOON M79
19 20 21 22 23 24 25 ERID
ANU
S
26 27 28 29 30
_
FULL MOON FOR
`

56
DEEP-SKY TOUR
With Steve Richards
THE PLEIADES
We take the bull by the horns as
3 The Pleiades open cluster has always announced
the arrival of winter and long, star-filled nights.
This wonderful collection of stars hangs 13° to the
we journey into Taurus and Auriga northwest of Theta (θ) Tauri. It’s a stunning sight with the
naked eye – you should be able to see at least six
✓ Tick the box when you’ve seen each one member stars from a good location – but through
binoculars, or a small telescope at low magnification, the
cluster is truly breathtaking, with myriad bright blue stars
sparkling in the field of view. This cluster is made up
One of the easier stops of the of approximately 500 member stars, the four most
tour, the Pleiades is chock-full prominent of which form a distorted rectangle. Also
of magnificent hot stars look out for the lovely bent line of stars to the east of
mag. +4.1 star Merope (23 Tauri) – another celestial body
named for a daughter of Atlas. SEEN IT
THE CRYSTAL
4 BALL NEBULA
We’re journeying from an easy object to a rather
tricky one now, described by William Herschel
as: “A most singular phenomenon! A star of about eighth
magnitude with a faint luminous atmosphere.” It was this
observation of the Crystal Ball Nebula, NGC 1514, that
convinced Herschel that objects like this were not simply
distant star clusters. Look 8.5° north-northeast of the
Pleiades to find this planetary nebula. Adding an OIII filter
to an 8- to 10-inch telescope will certainly help to reveal
more detail, showing an almost perfectly circular hazy
disc of nebulosity with a central star and a brighter band
running from southeast to northwest. SEEN IT
M36
1
THE HYADES
The long, dark November nights are an open
invitation to stargaze and there are few better places
5 Imagine a line from the Crystal Ball Nebula to
mag. +2.7 star Hassaleh (Iota (ι) Aurigae). Extend
it for just under half the distance again to find our next
to start than Taurus. Mag. +0.9 star Aldebaran (Alpha (α) stop, open cluster M36 in Auriga. This cluster has about
Tauri) shines like an orange beacon, guiding us into our 60 members. If it were as close to us as the Pleiades, it
first object, the Hyades star cluster. Aldebaran lies at the would have a very similar appearance because it, too,
bottom left of an obvious ‘V’ of stars that trace the outline comprises young hot stars and no red giants. The core
of this lovely open cluster – though Aldebaran isn’t actually of M36 is quite condensed at just 12 arcminutes in
a member itself, just a star in the foreground in chance diameter, and at mag. +6.0 the young stars make this
alignment. A wonderful sight through binoculars or a quite a bright object. A 4- to 6-inch telescope will
rich-field telescope, the cluster paints in the Bull’s face, resolve numerous stars. SEEN IT
with the horns continuing off to the northeast. SEEN IT
THE CRAB NEBULA

CHART: PETE LAWRENCE, PICTURES: STEVE RICHARDS
2
THETA TAURI
Imagine a line drawn between Aldebaran and
mag. +3.7 Gamma (γ) Tauri, the star at the apex of
6 We leave Auriga and heading back into Taurus
for our final object, the famous Crab Nebula, M1.
Draw a line from Hassaleh to mag. +3.0 star Zeta (ζ)
the V. About halfway along you’ll find our next object, the Tauri; the nebula lies 1º to the northwest of Zeta on this
binary star Theta (θ) Tauri. It comprises mag. +3.8 Theta1 (θ1) line. This nebula is a supernova remnant from an event
and mag. +3.4 Theta2 (θ2), and these two stars dominate that was recorded in 1054 AD by Chinese astronomers,
the cluster. Because of their wide separation, the pair can who described it as shining around four times brighter
be easily split using binoculars, while a small telescope will than the planet Venus. A 6-inch telescope will show
reveal their white-blue colouring. These two stars, both a faint, grey nebulous patch painted on a darker
spectroscopic binaries, are also known as Phaeo and background canvas, but a 10-inch or larger instrument
Phaesyla respectively – they are named after two of will reveal the elliptical crab-shell shape that gives the
the daughters of Atlas in Greek mythology. SEEN IT nebula its common name. SEEN IT

56
THIS DEEP-SKY TOUR HAS BEEN AUTOMATED

ASCOM-enabled Go-To mounts can now take you to this
DEEP-SKY month’s targets at the touch of a button, with our Deep-Sky

Tour file for the EQTOUR app. Find it on the coverdisc!
TOUR THE PLEIADES

With Steve Richards 3 The Pleiades open cluster has always announced
the arrival of winter and long, star-filled nights.
This wonderful collection of stars hangs 13° to the
northwest of Theta (θ) Tauri. It’s a stunning sight with the
naked eye – you should be able to see at least six
member stars from a good location – but through
We take the bull by the horns as binoculars, or a small telescope at low magnification, the
cluster is truly breathtaking, with myriad bright blue stars
we journey into Taurus and Auriga sparkling in the field of view. This cluster is made up
of approximately 500 member stars, the four most
✓ Tick the box when you’ve seen each one prominent of which form a distorted rectangle. Also
look out for the lovely bent line of stars to the east of
mag. +4.1 star Merope (23 Tauri) – another celestial body
named for a daughter of Atlas. SEEN IT
One of the easier stops of the
tour, the Pleiades is chock-full
of magnificent hot stars THE CRYSTAL
4 BALL NEBULA
We’re journeying from an easy object to a rather
tricky one now, described by William Herschel
as: “A most singular phenomenon! A star of about eighth
magnitude with a faint luminous atmosphere.” It was this
observation of the Crystal Ball Nebula, NGC 1514, that
convinced Herschel that objects like this were not simply
distant star clusters. Look 8.5° north-northeast of the
Pleiades to find this planetary nebula. Adding an OIII filter
to an 8- to 10-inch telescope will certainly help to reveal
more detail, showing an almost perfectly circular hazy
disc of nebulosity with a central star and a brighter band
running from southeast to northwest. SEEN IT
M36
5 Imagine a line from the Crystal Ball Nebula to
mag. +2.7 star Hassaleh (Iota (ι) Aurigae). Extend
it for just under half the distance again to find our next
stop, open cluster M36 in Auriga. This cluster has about
60 members. If it were as close to us as the Pleiades, it
THE HYADES would have a very similar appearance because it, too,
1 The long, dark November nights are an open

invitation to stargaze and there are few better places
to start than Taurus. Mag. +0.9 star Aldebaran (Alpha (α)
comprises young hot stars and no red giants. The core
of M36 is quite condensed at just 12 arcminutes in
diameter, and at mag. +6.0 the young stars make this
Tauri) shines like an orange beacon, guiding us into our quite a bright object. A 4- to 6-inch telescope will
first object, the Hyades star cluster. Aldebaran lies at the resolve numerous stars. SEEN IT
bottom left of an obvious ‘V’ of stars that trace the outline
of this lovely open cluster – though Aldebaran isn’t actually
a member itself, just a star in the foreground in chance THE CRAB NEBULA
alignment. A wonderful sight through binoculars or a
rich-field telescope, the cluster paints in the Bull’s face,
with the horns continuing off to the northeast. SEEN IT
6 We leave Auriga and heading back into Taurus
for our final object, the famous Crab Nebula, M1.
Draw a line from Hassaleh to mag. +3.0 star Zeta (ζ)
Tauri; the nebula lies 1º to the northwest of Zeta on this
line. This nebula is a supernova remnant from an event
CHART: PETE LAWRENCE, PICTURES: STEVE RICHARDS
THETA TAURI that was recorded in 1054 AD by Chinese astronomers,

2 Imagine a line drawn between Aldebaran and
mag. +3.7 Gamma (γ) Tauri, the star at the apex of
the V. About halfway along you’ll find our next object, the
who described it as shining around four times brighter
than the planet Venus. A 6-inch telescope will show
a faint, grey nebulous patch painted on a darker
binary star Theta (θ) Tauri. It comprises mag. +3.8 Theta1 (θ1) background canvas, but a 10-inch or larger instrument
and mag. +3.4 Theta2 (θ2), and these two stars dominate will reveal the elliptical crab-shell shape that gives the
the cluster. Because of their wide separation, the pair can nebula its common name. SEEN IT
be easily split using binoculars, while a small telescope will
reveal their white-blue colouring. These two stars, both
spectroscopic binaries, are also known as Phaeo and
Phaesyla respectively – they are named after two of
ON THE CD
Print out this chart and take an automated Go-To tour
the daughters of Atlas in Greek mythology. SEEN IT

05h 06h +30º
Collinder 62
h NGC 1514
NGC 1857 Pleiades
+40º +
4
3 Merope
056-061_Sky90_skyguide3.indd 2
NGC 1778
AURIGA d
NGC 1435
m
Hassaleh +20º
f q Alcyone
M38
IC 405
NGC 1907
NGC 1931 q
r
NGC 1893
M36 5 TAURUS
r pg
o
Elnath ` ¡
+30º
NGC 1746 b1 06h
N b3 b 2 a
5º 5 º W e1
2 Hyadum I
2 . f NGC 1647
c Aldebaran e2 /
c l ipti _
E m 2
E m1 l 1Hyades
S 6
M1
NGC 2129 c
06h Berkeley 21 +20º NGC 1817 NGC 1807 05h +10º
28/09/2012 15:27
58
SKETCHING
With Carol Lakomiak
Mirach’s Ghost
NEED TO KNOW
STEP 1
NAME: Mirach’s Ghost
Place Mirach’s Ghost in the centre of your
TYPE OF OBJECT: eyepiece. Then use a B pencil to draw a
Galaxy handful of anchor stars, drawing brighter
CONSTELLATION: stars larger than the dimmer ones. Anchor
stars are the foundation of your sketch,
Andromeda
so it’s important to get their positions right.
RA: 01h 09m 27s
DEC: +35° 43’ 05”
TIME TO SKETCH:
7-16 November,
7pm till midnight
EQUIPMENT:
6-inch reflector; H and B
pencils; blending stump;
cotton bud
FIELD OF VIEW:
21 arcminutes;
203x magnification
MIRACH’S GHOST IS a galaxy discovered objects like galaxies. It places the graphite
by William Herschel in September 1784. on the paper gently enough to create a STEP 2
It’s located almost 7 arcminutes northwest smoky look, but you’ll still need to Make a swatch of B graphite on another piece
of paper and rub the tip of a cotton bud on it.
of mag. +2.1 star Mirach (Beta (β) darken the centre of the galaxy to
Do the same with a blending stump. Draw
Andromedae), and looks somewhat like a represent the brighter core. That’s where Mirach’s Ghost by lightly applying the cotton
lens flare – or a ghost image of the star, the blending stump is useful. You don’t bud’s graphite to the center of your sketch,
which is where the nickname comes need to coat the tip of the stump – just then use the stump to add its core.
from. The galaxy is quite easy to see put the tip of it straight down on the
despite the glare from Mirach, but before centre of the galaxy and rub a bit. The
starting your sketch you might find it hardness of the stump will force the
easier to study the galaxy by moving the graphite into the bottom layer of the
star out of your eyepiece’s field of view. paper’s texture, and by doing so, will
To begin, centre Mirach’s Ghost in make the area look darker.
your eyepiece but don’t start sketching An easy way to populate the star field
it yet – the anchor stars come first. In is by looking for shapes and using them
SKETCHES: CAROL LAKOMIAK, LUNAR FEATURE: PETE LAWRENCE
choosing your anchor stars, include some to determine where to place other stars.
that are located on the outer edge of the The most common shape seems to be the
field of view. This is especially important triangle but there are others too, like the
if your telescope doesn’t have tracking, lovely chain of stars seen at the bottom of
because the rotation of Earth makes the this month’s sketch. To detect very dim
stars slowly drift across your eyepiece. It’s stars, turn off your red light and study
quite easy to keep your sketch centred, the starfield with averted vision. Take
though: just make sure the anchor stars your time – the longer you observe the STEP 3
in your eyepiece match the places they star field, the greater chance you have of As you begin to populate the star field with an
H pencil, notice any shapes you see. These will
occupy on your sketch. experiencing moments of better seeing.
help you determine the distance and angles
After drawing the anchor stars, add the Finally, use a graphics package to between stars. For example, one of the anchor
galaxy, as shown in Step 2. A cotton bud convert your sketch to a negative image, stars is part of a large triangle and the
is quite effective in drawing nebulous with white stars on a black background. nebula’s core is part of a double triangle.

ENDYMION
Endymion
TYPE: Lunar crater
SIZE: 78 miles (125km)
AGE: Between 3.92 and 4.55 billion years old
LOCATION: Latitude 56.5°E,
longitude 53.6°N
BEST TIME TO OBSERVE:
1, 28 and 29 November
RECOMMENDED EQUIPMENT:
4-6 inch reflector
Endymion lies close to the lunar limb, with the elusive Mare Humboldtianum just beyond
a link between areas we have always known
and those which come into view only under
favourable libration. Farther along the limb
MOONWATCH from the Mare Humboldtianum is Belkovich,

a lunar crater named after a Russian
astronomer who paid great attention to the
With Patrick Moore Moon. Crater Belkovich also has a dark
floor, but unlike Endymion does have
multiple central peaks.
“The fact that Endymion’s floor has clearly been Endymion tends to be rather neglected by
flooded shows the crater’s age. I have searched lunar observers. It is interesting to check the
for a central peak, but with no success” darkness of the floor against other dark
regions, since it seems to vary considerably.
ENDYMION IS NAMED after a young however, various small formations nearby. However, it is not easy to tell whether there
shepherd who, in Greek legend, went to The largest is Endymion J, which has low is actually any change in the darkness of the
sleep and caught the eye of Selene, goddess walls and a few features on the floor, floor, or whether the apparent variations
of the Moon. She came down to Earth and though again there is no central peak. are due entirely to the changing angle of the
kissed Endymion, who went on sleeping Between Endymion and the limb lies Sun over the crater. It’s therefore worth
– forever. Endymion the crater is fairly near the Mare Humboldtianum, named for the making careful studies of the whole region.
the Moon’s limb. It is easy to locate because German scientist. Part of the Mare lies on There seems little danger of confusing
of its size and the darkness of its floor. the hemisphere facing the Earth, but the Endymion with the Mare Humboldtianum,
It also quite a complicated crater, though far side can be carried out of view under even though they have many points in
there are no prominent features on its the least favourable libration conditions. common. However, be aware that some
actual floor. The wall is continuous and The Mare Humboldtianum is no ordinary early maps do confuse the two! One
decidedly complex. The fact that the floor sea: it is in fact the dark centre of a lunar problem is that the whole area is not well
has clearly been flooded shows the crater’s basin which is over 600km in diameter. seen for much of every lunation, so before
age. I have searched for a central peak or There are a few foreshortened craters attempting to sketch or map the region
anything that would suggest the presence between Mare Humboldtianum and it is wise to use as many photographic
of one, but with no success. There are, Endymion: it is said that the Mare forms images as you can muster up.

60
mount. However, if you don’t have such a

mount to hand, a fi xed tripod can still be
used, as long as you don’t mind a small
ASTRO amount of star trailing. A camera fitted
on a fi xed tripod needs to gather its light
PHOTOGRAPHY quickly to keep the star trails minimised,

so if this the setup you’re using choose
a high ISO setting – say 800 or possibly
With Pete Lawrence higher. Ironically, if the stars trail slightly,
their colour is better preserved because
Imaging Ceres and M35 their image on the camera’s sensor is
smeared out and less likely to be over-
exposed to white.
The path of Ceres in November is
Recommended equipment shown on page 50, which gives us a sense
DSLR camera, 200-300mm lens or telescope, equatorial mount or tripod of how large our field of view needs to be
in order to catch its motion over a period
of several days or even weeks. A field of
LOCATED IN GEMINI, the Twins, M35 the month, it should be possible to view measuring 3º by 4º is ideal. This can
is a fine example of an open cluster. As if record and show the motion of Ceres be achieved using a lens or telescope with
you needed a further excuse to go out and by registering, layering and stacking the a focal length of 200-300mm if using a
grab a shot of this beautiful object, this shots one on top of the other. typical non-full-frame DSLR.
month it has a close pass from dwarf planet Open clusters like M35 are quite easy to
Ceres. In the third week of November, the photograph as they essentially appear as a Propus points the way
two objects will be separated, centre-to- collection of bright dots, all reasonably Mag. +6.0 star Propus (Eta (η)
centre, by less than 1º. well separated. Long exposures, like those Geminorum) is a good marker here, as
M35 has a listed magnitude of +5.5, used for a faint galaxies or nebulae, may Ceres starts the November part of its
which means that it hangs just on the help to bring out fainter cluster members, journey close to where Propus is located
limit of naked eye visibility. Binoculars but can also bloat and burn out some of in the sky. Align your imaging frame so
are a better way to see it, as is a telescope the brighter stars leaving them large and Propus is in the bottom left corner of
using a low power eyepiece. It appears a devoid of colour. Shorter exposures will the image while M35 is close to the top,
little over 0.5º across, making it similar in take the strain off your mount’s tracking roughly one-third of the way across the
size to the apparent diameter of the accuracy and help to keep the colours frame from the right-hand edge.
Moon. Consequently it’s a fairly easy vivid and stars crisp. If you use a colour Your camera settings need to be
target for astrophotography using a camera such as a DSLR, it also helps to sufficient to allow you to catch many of
camera attached to a telescope or one keep the ISO down to 200-400 as this will the cluster’s stars and obviously Ceres
fitted with a normal or telephoto lens. give better tones in the star colours. itself. Fortunately, Ceres is relatively
If we are fortunate enough to have Ideally, whatever camera arrangement bright throughout November, starting
several clear nights in a row throughout you use should be on a driven equatorial out at mag. +8.0 but increasing in
How to capture a dwarf planet on camera
STEP 1 STEP 2 STEP 3

Choose a lens to give coverage over the period Set your camera to manual. If using a scope Focus carefully, using Live View if available.
ALL PICTURES: PETE LAWRENCE
you want to track Ceres. A 200-300mm lens on a driven equatorial mount, set ISO to Identify a good exposure setting from Step 2
gives enough coverage to track the dwarf 200-400. If shooting from a fixed tripod, use which shows stars down to mag. +10 or lower
planet all month. Focal reducers can shorten 800+. Exposures depend on your setup but – we’ve marked two such stars above as well
long telescopic focal lengths – speak to your experiment with 15, 30, 45, 60, 90 and 120 as the distinctive ‘Space Shuttle’ pattern. Take
telescope stockist for details. Frame your shot seconds to see which gives the best result. If numerous images. When done, cover the front
so that Propus (see page 50) is lower-left and using a camera lens open it fully, closing by of the lens or scope with a cap and take dark
M35 is close to the top of the frame, as shown. a stop or two if edge aberrations show. frames using the same settings and exposure.

brightness to mag. +7.3 by the end of the If you get several nights’
month. This, and the fact that the cluster worth of images, you can
stars are reasonably bright in their own carefully stack them to
show Ceres’s trajectory
right, typically between mag. +8.0 and
+10.0, means that both dwarf planet and
cluster should be relatively easy targets.
As ever, noise will be an issue with
digital images and so steps should be
taken to reduce its impact. The process
|of removing unwanted noise effects is
called image calibration and typically
consists of three main stages – although
there are others, too, should you want
to take the process further.
First, there’s the removal of
so-called hot pixels. These permanently
on-picture elements have the rather
sneaky characteristic of looking just like
stars, but they can be easily removed by
placing a cap on your telescope and
taking an image of blackness using the
same settings as for the main shots.
Subtract this dark frame from the main
image and voilà, the fake stars are gone.
Random thermal noise mottles the
image background and makes it hard to
pick out delicate parts of a subject. This
effect can be reduced by taking lots of
shots and averaging them together, so
smoothing out the irregular mottles
Key technique
TRACKING DWARF PLANETS
and increasing signal strength. The minor bodies of the Solar System, such as asteroids and dwarf planets, only present
Finally, uneven lighting across the themselves as faint star-like points. Finding them can be a little unexciting because they will
image frame, caused by dust or incoming look very similar to the background stars. However, with a little patience (and luck with the
light being clipped by the edge of your weather), it’s possible to confirm their presence by imaging them over several nights. Putting
lens or telescope eyepiece holder, can be the results together then shows how the body has moved relative to the stars. This month we’ll
removed by applying a type of calibration use the background object M35 to make the task of getting the right field of view even easier.
frame known as a ‘flat field’. The process
for doing this is described below.
Send your image to: hotshots@skyatnightmagazine.com
STEP 4 STEP 5 STEP 6

To take a flat field, point the lens or scope at Calibrating your image involves subtracting If you get more than one night’s results, show
an even light source and take a shot that is dark frames, dividing flat fields, and registering the movement of Ceres by layering the shots
50 to 75 per cent saturated. One way to do and averaging together the results. A quick together. Using a layer-based graphics
this is to place a taut white cloth over the lens way to do this is to get hold of a program such program such as GIMP or Photoshop, load
or scope and point at an evenly lit daytime sky. as DeepSkyStacker, a freeware package that’s each image as a separate layer and star-align
Adjust exposure to get the desired saturation available from http://deepskystacker.free.fr. each to the bottom image. Set the blend mode
– the camera’s histogram display should show You can then simply load your images into the for all layers except the bottom one to ‘Lighten’
a peak half to three-quarters of the way across. software to be processed automatically. and the motion of Ceres should be revealed.

62
ATMOSPHERIC
DISPERSION CORRECTORS
Martin Lewis introduces a nifty gadget that can help
to improve your planetary images significantly – the ADC
I
f you struggle to capture satisfying planetary object look higher in the sky than it really is. The
images then you may be pleased to hear amount of refraction is greater the lower a celestial
that there’s help at hand in the form of a object is in the sky: so at sunset, for example,
new accessory known as an atmospheric refraction can cause the Sun’s image to be raised
dispersion corrector (ADC). These clever gadgets by over 0.5°, slightly more than one solar diameter.
dramatically reduce the amount of dispersion that As well as changing dramatically with an object’s
occurs when light passes through our atmosphere, altitude, the refractive (bending) power of the
and by doing so enable you to take planetary atmosphere also varies across different wavelengths.
images that show noticeably finer detail. Put simply, this means that the amount of
ADCs are one of planetary astrophotography’s refraction is also dependent on the colour of the
best-kept secrets. In the UK they’re currently light. This phenomenon of atmospheric dispersion
only used by a handful of planetary imagers. spreads light from any point-source – like a star – into
But as well as being a great tool for imagers, an a vertical spectrum, which becomes longer the lower
ADC can also help if you’re a visual planetary the object is in the sky.
THINKSTOCK, MARTIN LEWIS X 2
observer, increasing the amount of surface A correctly adjusted ADC, placed between the
detail you’ll see through the eyepiece. camera or eyepiece and a Barlow lens, will go a long
So what is atmospheric dispersion? It happens way towards reducing this spectral spread caused by
when light entering our atmosphere from space, the atmosphere – improving image resolution as a
at an angle, is refracted. This refraction bends result. It does this by applying the opposite amount
the light to a slightly steeper angle and makes the of dispersion to that caused by the atmosphere,
062-066_Sky90_ADCs explained.indd 1 01/10/2012 12:11

ATMOSPHERIC DISPERSION CORRECTORS NOVEMBER6 3
reconverging the light of the different wavelengths Red image Green image Blue image
at the focal plane of your scope.
An ADC generally uses a double prism
arrangement to correct the dispersive effects of
our atmosphere. This allows its dispersive power
to be smoothly varied over a wide range. For
example, the Astro Systems Holland ADC uses a
matched pair of thin, circular, multicoated prisms
arranged face-on to the optical axis (see page 65).
The rotation of each prism is independently
S No ADC used on any colours
controlled using a lever. Using these levers to alter
the angle between the two prisms, you can vary
the degree of overall dispersion that the ADC
gives from zero to double that of a single prism.
The best ADC prism positions for any object
need to be found by trial and error. This is because
the prism settings that will properly reconverge
the light depend on the exact details of your setup,
such as the distance between your camera and the
ADC. Consequently, ADCs don’t have calibration S ADC used for all colours
marks on their bodies that can be set for a specific
object’s altitude. One of the best ways to calibrate
an ADC accurately is to use a colour camera for
the set-up process, as described in the ‘Step by step’
guide on page 64.
Getting started
The benefits of using an ADC depend on how
you want to use it. Currently ADCs are mainly
used by those doing planetary imaging with
monochrome cameras, but they can have a
variety of other applications, too.
Traditionally, monochrome imagers take videos
through separate red, green and blue fi lters and
then combine the three fi nal processed images into ToUcam colour webcam with ADC ToUcam colour webcam without ADC
one full-colour image. RGB imaging does actually
IS AN ADC
FOR YOU
MONOCHROME IMAGING ?
If you use separate colour filters with a monochrome
video camera, you’ll get improved planetary
resolution, especially in the blue band. As is true
in all cases where an ADC is used, the lower the
object’s altitude, the greater the benefit.
deal with some of the effects of atmospheric
dispersion without the need for an ADC. This
is because within each separate colour band the
amount of dispersion is much less than that of the
visible spectrum as a whole. So by realigning the
three separate red, green and blue images prior to
creating the final colour image, the overall amount
of atmospheric dispersion is reduced. This method
works reasonably well for the red and green bands,
especially when the planet is quite high in the
sky, but is less successful for the blue band. These
ABOVE: Mars at an
altitude of 48°, showing
the benefits in image
detail from using an ADC
with a colour camera
TOP: Jupiter in good

seeing at an altitude of
48°. Note the improved
detail in the blue band
when using an ADC
during mono imaging
COLOUR CAMERA shorter wavelengths are dispersed more, and across

If you use a colour video camera you’ll get much the bandwidth of the blue fi lter the spreading effect
improved planetary resolution at all wavelengths. is much more significant.
The advantages an ADC brings to such a setup are We’ve seen that dispersion gets worse the lower
greater than when using a monochrome camera.
an object is in the sky, and it becomes problematic
LUMINANCE IMAGING for each colour band when the amount of spreading
With a luminance filter, an ADC enables you to
exceeds the resolving power of the telescope. For
image in high resolution across the full width of
the visible spectrum. This is useful for objects with my 8.7-inch reflecting telescope (which has a
low surface brightness, such as Saturn. resolving power of about 0.4 arcseconds) an ADC
is useful, under good seeing conditions, when
VISUAL OBSERVING
In the eyepiece you’ll get better resolution of fine planets are below an altitude of 66° for the blue-
planetary detail, similar to the improvement seen fi ltered image, 42° for the green image and 33°
in luminance imaging with an ADC. for the red one. So from the UK, where planets
can never be more than about 60° high, using >

64
STEP BY STEP To get the best results, your ADC will need
to be carefully aligned and calibrated
STEP 1 INSTALLATION STEP 2 ORIENTATION

Position the ADC between a Barlow lens and the camera or eyepiece. Rotate the ADC so that the mid-point between the levers lines up with
The ADC works best at focal ratios above f/15: this configuration the horizontal direction as seen through the eyepiece. You can find the
lessens the optical demands on the ADC and so reduces image horizontal direction simply: look at the horizon through your scope’s
aberrations as a result. Centre the planet in the field of view. focuser, without an eyepiece in place.
STEP 3 COLOUR CAMERA STEP 4 DISPERSION ASSESSMENT

Focus the planet in the camera or eyepiece. Once focus has been Without adjusting the focuser, move the ADC and colour camera in
achieved, carefully remove the eyepiece or camera from the ADC and out of the Barlow until the image is in focus. Then secure them. This
and replace it with a colour camera – a cheap colour webcam will preserves the distance between the ADC and the focal plane. Increase
do here. Increase the colour saturation of the camera. gain and exposure until the planet’s disc is just slightly overexposed.
MARTIN LEWIS X 6, ILLUSTRATIONS BY STEVE MARSH
STEP 5 ADJUSTING THE ADC STEP 6 READY TO GO

The edge of the planet will be colour-tinged due to dispersion: red Replace the colour camera with your main camera or eyepiece, which
on one side, blue on the other. Adjust each lever, keeping them an should still be in focus but will now be dispersion corrected. Observe
equal distance from the mid-point, to minimise the colour differences. or image as normal. You may need to repeat this procedure later on if
You may need to re-centre the planet afterwards. the planet’s altitude changes by more than a few degrees.

ATMOSPHERIC DISPERSION CORRECTORS NOVEMBER6 5
ANATOMY OF AN ADC Prism arrangement inside an ADC

Your eyepiece or camera These levers control
is inserted into this end and the position of the
secured with a large white wedge prisms inside
thumbscrew. The ADC shown the ADC; moving
here takes a 1.25-inch barrel; them alters the size
T-mount or 2-inch designs of the correction. The
are also available. distance between
Optical axis
each lever and the
mid-point line needs
to be kept equal
so that you only
change the size of
the effect, not its
vertical alignment.
Þ With the levers together, the ADC’s prisms are

opposing and there is no dispersion correction
The yellow line

shows the mid-
point between
the levers. This
imaginary line
needs to be Optical axis
aligned with
the horizon as
seen through
the eyepiece.
This end goes into

a Barlow lens. A
Barlow keeps the
f-ratio above about
f/15 and so reduces
image aberrations.
Þ With the levers 180º apart, the prisms match

and maximum dispersion correction is applied
> an ADC should always benefit the blue image, of their imaging chips. These fi lters, known as
providing the seeing is good. With larger aperture a ‘Bayer matrix’, are inferior to the separate fi lters
telescopes, the resolution is better, and so using of used in RGB monochrome imaging, having a
an ADC is beneficial at even higher object altitudes. much broader and less well-defined wavelength
The benefits of using an ADC for monochrome window. This leads to each colour being more
imaging can be seen in the image on page 63, which affected by atmospheric dispersion. The image
shows Jupiter in good seeing at an altitude of 48°. of Mars on page 63 shows an example of the
The improved clarity of the blue channel from using significant improvement in image detail that
an ADC is noticeable, but in red and green at this can be achieved when using an ADC with a
altitude there is little benefit, just as we’d expect. colour camera.
Cameras capturing light from an object across
Colour correction the full visible spectrum will show the worst
If you’ve got a colour camera you’ll see an effects of atmospheric dispersion, i.e. monochrome
even bigger benefit from using an ADC than cameras with no colour fi lters used – producing
a monochrome imager would. Colour video a ‘white light’ or luminance image. Generally,
cameras have the colour filters formed on top dispersion effects make the quality of a >

66 ATMOSPHERIC DISPERSION CORRECTORS NOVEMBER
luminance image can then be combined with a

lower-resolution colour image made from separate
red, green and blue images, to give a fully coloured,
high-resolution image.
The image on the left shows the benefits an
ADC can bring to luminance imaging of Saturn.
L filter and no ADC L filter and ADC The planet was at a low altitude of 30°, an elevation
that does not normally yield particularly good
planetary images. In the top row we see how the
ADC transforms the level of detail seen in the
THINKSTOCK, MARTIN LEWIS
luminance image. In the lower row we see

a standard colour RGB image created in the
same imaging session (also imaged with an
ADC), and how that colour image is improved
RGB composition with ADC L(RGB) composition with ADC significantly by combining it with the more
detailed luminance image.
Þ Saturn at an altitude of only 30°. The ADC creates a more detailed luminance (L) image
that, when combined with RGB-filtered images, gives an improved full-colour image Visual benefits
The top row of this image is interesting from another
> luminance image so inferior that taking one is perspective, because the luminance view is the one
pointless unless the planet is almost overhead. that most closely matches what visual observers
This is a shame: using a luminance filter (which would see, looking at Saturn through the eyepiece
only blocks the light’s infrared and ultraviolet and sampling the full visible spectrum. So the picture
components) can give higher quality images indicates the significant benefits of using an ADC
thanks to the much higher light throughput. for visual observers wanting the best planetary views.
For example, when capturing a luminance These benefits of using ADCs for visually
channel you can use lower gain settings, take observing the planets will help you see more
shorter exposures and use higher frame rates, surface detail on Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. And
ABOUT THE WRITER allowing more frames to be gathered in a given if you’re worried that the glass in an ADC might
Martin Lewis is an time. Creating a luminance channel image is dim the image of a planet, don’t be. With modern
engineer and amateur therefore especially useful for planets with low coatings the light loss through the device will
astronomer. He is surface brightness like Saturn, where light is be minimal – ADCs have their optical surfaces
particularly interested really at a premium (see the image above). multicoated to further reduce light loss.
in planetary imaging
Using an ADC changes all this, allowing detailed For the cost of a premium eyepiece, an ADC can
and uses an ADC with
his 8.7-inch reflector.
luminance images to be taken despite the broad take you a step further in your quest to take the best
wavelength range. The resulting higher-resolution planetary images or see the best planetary views. S
ADC AVAILABILITY
There are currently three atmospheric dispersion correctors on the market
ASTRO SYSTEMS HOLLAND PIERRE-ASTRO ARGUS OPTICS

www.astrosystems.nl www.pierro-astro.com www.argus-optics.com
+31 (0) 412 633 324 +33 (0) 467 363 416 +49 (0) 880 290 6780
€365 €369 €5,950
Designed by Herman ten Haaf, this is a Designed by Pierre Franquet, this ADC uses Designed by Martin Gutekunst, this is the
simple, easy-to-use ADC. It is multicoated 1/10 wave multi-coated quartz prisms, has a Rolls-Royce of ADCs. Each prism is made of a
with a 21.5mm clear aperture. It accepts a clear aperture of 24mm and is available with large-diameter crown-flint glass pair
1.25-inch eyepiece or camera nosepiece. 1.25-inch end fitings in a kit. to eliminate image shift.

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70
OUT OF THE
The futile hunt for a

‘light-bearing medium’
aether
was one of the most
important failures in
the history of science,
says Emily Winterburn
I
t was 125 years ago this month that
Albert Michelson and Edward Morley
carried out their famous experiment to
confirm the existence of the aether, the
substance through which light was thought to
travel. They ended up proving the exact opposite.
It has been called the most famous failed
experiment in the history of science, clearing
the way for new ideas including Einstein’s
theories of relativity. And it all began when
a young, technologically minded navy physicist
and a middle-aged schoolteacher turned
chemist met at a lecture in Ohio.
To understand the full impact of this Þ Though incorrect, the Catching the wave
experiment and its surprising results we need concept of the aether The term aether had been around since antiquity
EMILIO SEGRE VISUAL ARCHIVES/AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY, SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY
to put ourselves in the shoes of the average represented huge scientific and comes from the ancient Greek for ‘upper air’,
progress; this illustration
scientist of 1887. To the scientific world of the the air beyond our atmosphere breathed by the
from 1888 reveals how little
time, light was a mystery. Historically it had we once knew about what Gods. Aristotle famously declared that nature
been described sometimes as a wave, sometimes lies beyond our atmosphere abhors a vacuum, so it was generally agreed that
as a particle, with convincing experimental space was fi lled with this substance, the aether.
evidence to support each claim. Consensus on By the late 19th century the aether had been given
which theory was right fl ipped between the two all kinds of complex hypothetical properties
until the 20th century and experiments were
and the development of
quantum mechanics, “If the aether existed, then carried out to test them.
The property the
with its conclusion that Michelson-Morley
light was, confusingly, anything moving through it experiment was
both. In 1887 the wave designed to investigate
theory of light was
considered the most
should experience the wind” was that of the aether
wind, which is best
convincing, but it had its problems. The only understood by way of analogy. Imagine that
waves then known were mechanical waves; you are out cycling on a windless day. The faster
waves that need something to carry them – think you go, the stronger you feel a wind in your
ripples in water or sound moving through air. face. Now, if we replace the bicycle with Earth
It was therefore naturally assumed that if light and replace the air with the aether, we get a sense
was a wave, it too would need something to of what this aether wind was thought to be. It
travel in. Most agreed that the best candidate was the wind, or drag, produced as a result of a
for this was the aether. body moving through a medium. If the aether
070-073_Sky90_out of the aether.indd 1 27/09/2012 10:56

SCIENCE’S GREATEST FAILURE NOVEMBER7 1
The Michelson interferometer

never found the aether, but
was later used to test Einstein’s
THE AETHER theories of relativity
APPARATUS
The Michelson-Morley experiment was the
culmination of many years of work, particularly
by Michelson, who first attempted a version of
it back in 1881.
This experiment used a simple prototype version
of the Michelson interferometer comprising a light
source, a half-silvered mirror to split the beam, two
long arms perpendicular to one another – which
each had a mirror at the far end – and a detector.
If the aether wind existed, then the light travelling
with and against it would take longer to reach the
detector than the light travelling perpendicular.
This would result in an ‘interference pattern’ made
up of two waveforms slightly out of sync with each
other. This first experiment proved inconclusive,
so Michelson tried again.
In 1887 Michelson and Morley set up a new
experiment. They increased the number of mirrors
so that the light had to travel back and forth along
each arm several times before recombining, thereby
increasing the expected delay between the two
incoming waves at the detector. The apparatus was
set up in closed room, in a basement, on a sandstone
slab, floating in mercury – all of this was to reduce
the effects of external vibrations. This time the results
were clear: no aether.
In 1877 Michelson, then aged 25, was working

at the US Naval Academy teaching physics and
chemistry. It was not a research institution. Its
function was to teach the next generation of navy
personnel and Michelson’s job was to teach them
science. However, this did include experimental
demonstrations and it was in preparing one
of these that Michelson first came up with his
interferometer – the device he would eventually
use to try and measure the aether. Two years
later, married and with children on the way,
he moved to the Nautical Almanac Office in
Washington (part of the US Naval Observatory),
where he worked with famed Canadian-American
astronomer Simon Newcomb. Michelson
continued to develop his ideas and apparatus
with Newcomb’s encouragement, and became
interested in problems surrounding the speed of
light. In 1880, he went to Europe to study.
It was while he was at the Potsdam Astrophysical
Observatory, under the supervision of German
existed, then anything travelling through it, Þ Nobel Prize winners physicist Hermann von Helmholtz – and with
including Earth, should experience this wind Michelson and Einstein funding from telephone inventor Alexander Graham
effect. Light travelling in the same direction met in 1931, just before Bell, no less – that his interferometer really took
as the aether wind should travel faster than Michelson’s death shape. This was the key piece of apparatus that
light travelling at right angles to it, which in would make the Michelson-Morley experiment
turn should be faster than light trying to travel possible. Its first tentative outing in 1881 suggested
against it. These differences in speed were that there might be an aether wind, but experimental
thought to be very slight, so very accurate error was soon found to account for that finding
apparatus would be needed to detect them. – so Michelson kept working on it. >

72
Michelson’s interferometer design was evolved into

larger variants like this one, which was used to
measure the size of stars in the 1920s and 1930s
> After briefly returning to his old job, Michelson scale fame – they found that they shared similar
resigned from the navy and joined the staff of the scientific interests. Soon, they began working on an
new Case School of Applied Science in Cleveland, þ Michelson was the first improved version of Michelson’s 1881 experiment.
of 16 Nobel Laureates to
Ohio, as professor of physics. It was one of a new be associated with what Michelson, overcome by his workload at the school
breed of universities set up in the US (and Britain) is now Case Western and in preparing the experiment, suffered a nervous
in the second half of the 19th century to champion Reserve University breakdown around this time.
science education. Until this time universities had
predominantly provided a ‘liberal’ education, one
EMILIO SEGRE VISUAL ARCHIVES/AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY X 3
dominated by classics and mathematics. Those

with an interest in science, and experimental
science in particular, had previously had to fi nd
their education elsewhere, but by the 1880s industry
and governments had begun to see a need for
trained scientists and their research. Case – which
like many universities in America is named after
its rich benefactor – was established in 1881 as
a place in which scientific principles could be
applied and learnt. Michelson arrived in 1883.
Second wind
A year before Michelson arrived another school,
the Western Reserve College, had relocated to
Cleveland, bringing with it long-serving professor
of chemistry Edward Morley. Morley was 14 years
Michelson’s senior, but when the pair met in
1885 – at a lecture series presented by Sir William
Thomson, later Lord Kelvin of Kelvin temperature

SCIENCE’S GREATEST FAILURE NOVEMBER7 3
Michelson’s health improved with time, and by

1887 he and Morley were able to carry out a revised
experiment to measure the strength of the aether
wind. This time they made the path lengths much
greater, increasing the chances, they thought, of
THE AETHER
seeing a difference between the two beams. They
also paid great attention to minimising the effects
EXPERIMENTERS
of outside vibrations. The end result? They could Albert Michelson
find no evidence of any aether wind whatsoever. Albert Michelson, a Prussian
They published the results and waited to see what immigrant, arrived in America
the rest of the scientific community made of it all. aged two. He went to school
in San Francisco. He joined
Reactions varied. Michelson and Morley were
the US Navy, taught physics
not entirely happy with their results; Michelson and chemistry at its academy
left Cleveland for a new job at Clark University and then travelled, attending
in Massachussetts and was replaced by a young universities in Berlin, Heidelberg
physicist from Princeton University, Dayton C and Paris before returning
Miller, who began to work with Morley to repeat to the US Naval Academy.
and improve on the 1887 experiment. Still they In 1883, he became professor
of physics at a new university
could not find convincing experimental evidence in Cleveland, Ohio, the
of the aether. Case School of Applied
Meanwhile, a couple of theoretical physicists were Science. Here, he and
coming at the problem from a different angle. What Morley carried out their
if, suggested George FitzGerald in 1889 (and then famous experiment. Later, Michelson worked at the Clark University in
more fully Hendrik Lorentz in 1892), moving Massachusetts, the University of Chicago and Mount Wilson Observatory
in California, rejoining the navy during World War I. In 1907, Michelson
objects contracted in length in the direction in
was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics.
which they travelled? And what if that contraction
was related to their velocity so that the faster they
travelled the shorter they got? FitzGerald and Edward Morley
Lorentz were talking about very tiny differences in Edward Morley grew
up in Connecticut. He
length, so small as to have been as yet undetectable,
was taught at home by
but the beauty of this theory was that it tied up all his Church minister father
the unsatisfactory loose ends of the Michelson- and then at Williams
Morley experiment. The FitzGerald-Lorentz College, Massachusetts.
contraction, a hypothesis with underlying Next he went to the
equations, formed the basis of Einstein’s theory of Andover Theological
Seminary where he learned
relativity and it came about as a direct result of
Hebrew; taught in a private
Michelson and Morley’s famous failed experiment. school and became a
preacher. In 1868 he was
Einstein’s stepping stone appointed professor
The Michelson-Morley experiment came at a of chemistry at the Western
turning point in science. Professional posts, such Reserve College in Ohio,
where he stayed until his
as the ones they held in Cleveland, were beginning
retirement. Upon leaving, Morley built a house and laboratory where he
to emerge. Scientists were also benefiting from a collected and studied rocks and minerals.
burgeoning international scientific community,
teaching one another and bouncing ideas across
continents until World War I came along and shut demonstrates just how wrong they are. It’s never
down those lines of communication for a while. about right or wrong, but rather the best guess so
This combination of intellectual freedom and a far. The open-minded reception of the OPERA
wide-reaching scientific network helped Michelson Collaborations fi ndings in 2011, concerning travel
and Morley develop and test their ideas. In that faster than the speed of light, showed that process in
respect they were lucky. However, the experiment, action. The search for the Higgs boson does the
interpretation and confident broadcasting of results same. Sometimes, even the best theories turn out to
were all down to Michelson and Morley’s ambition, be wrong. That’s what gives science its drama and
hard work and clever thinking. makes it so compelling. S
A century on and this experiment has become
iconic. It helped pave the way for Einstein’s theories
of course, but just as important it shows science ABOUT THE WRITER
at its very best, prepared to say we thought we had Pick up BBC History Emily Winterburn is curator at the
Magazine’s November Museum of the History of Science,
the answer but we got it wrong. School students
issue to discover the Technology and Philosophy at Leeds
and those who never studied science beyond fascinating history of University. She is former curator at
school often complain that science is all about British astronomy the Royal Observatory, Greenwich.
facts and right or wrong answers. This experiment

THE BIG QUESTIONS NOVEMBER 75
THE BIG
In this new series, Dr Mike Evans will
tackle the enduring questions of our Universe.
Over the next three months, he looks at
QUESTIONS space – what it is, how it works, and where

it comes from. This month, we ask...
What is spacetime?
L
ike me, you’ve probably had a
pretty good grasp of what space is
since you were quite young. It’s what
I want more of in my telescope room.
It’s also something big, black and sparkly that is
usually obscured by clouds. For a few of my formative
DETLEV VAN RAVENSWAAY/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY
years, I was confused by Captain Kirk’s claim that it’s

‘the fi nal frontier’, before coming to the realisation that
outer space really is the same stuff as the space inside our
homes – just much bigger. By the time my maths teacher had
taught us about the x, y and z coordinates, my appreciation
of three-dimensional space seemed to be complete. It’s three-
dimensional because you need three coordinates to specify a
particular location (its distance up, forwards and across)... got it!
So I was perplexed and intrigued when I heard that things are The relationship between space
more complicated: my home is actually full of something called > and time can get a bit mixed up
075-078_Sky90_Big questions.indd 1 27/09/2012 10:52

76
> spacetime,which is, apparently, four- belonging to the same space from a was happening to time, having heard
dimensional. Let’s say that this fourth collection of independent measurements, about some recent experiments involving
element, time, is represented by the letter t. let’s return to Einstein’s idea that space the speed of light, carried out by a pair
I have no trouble counting up to four, or and time are really part of the same of scientists called Michelson and
with agreeing that x, y, z and t make a total four-dimensional thing. Morley (more about them in our feature
of four coordinates. But why in the name “So Albert, are you suggesting that on page 70). So in his thought experiment,
of sanity would anyone want to group two people, observing the same scene he added a make-believe, ultra-reliable
them together and call them spacetime? from different points of view, could mix clock to each of the rockets. Each clock
It would make as much sense to defi ne the up their respective measurements of the consisted of two parallel mirrors with
intensity of an odour with the letter p and position and time of something they see, a short burst of light trapped between
say that my house is full of ‘spacepong’ and so end up disagreeing about how them. The light bounces back and forth,
(with the coordinates x, y, z and p). My long it took?” Einstein: “Ja!” making the clock tick or tock each time
cooker is in the kitchen, at spacepong That is exactly what happens in it is reflected.
coordinates 1, 1, 0, 3.14159... while my Einstein’s famous ‘thought experiment’, This clock design should be super-
socks are festering under the bed at where he imagined a pair of twins getting accurate because the speed of light never
location 2, 0, 4, ∞. into two rockets and simultaneously varies. It’s always 299,792,458m/s, and
We’ve all heard the assertion of zooming off at fantastically high speeds I mean always. The peculiar experimental
everyone’s favourite wild-haired German in opposite directions. The hirsute clever- findings of Michelson and Morley showed
that the apparent difference between space clogs had an inkling that something fi shy that, no matter whether you are standing
and time is some kind of illusion, and still, or moving fast in the same direction
they’re really the same stuff. Yes, I mean þ Einstein’s theoretical clock uses two mirrors as the light, you still see it travelling at
Einstein. If you hear it enough times, to trap light; Castor’s clock appears static, so 299,792,458m/s relative to you.
you come to accept it, but is it sensible? the light appears to keep regular time This seems very strange. If I’m driving
I thought my son was seven years old and d at 30 miles per hour past a cinema and
4ft tall, but maybe he’s 10 miles old and I’m overtaken
o by an SUV doing 75 miles
a fortnight tall? Pull the other one! Time per hour
h relative to the cinema, then I see
really is altogether different from space, going past at 45 miles per hour relative
it goi
right? I’m here to say ‘yes!’ ...and ‘no’. me. This common everyday experience
to me
Here’s how it works. is at o odds with the experiment on light,
which showed that its speed is always
whi
We agree to disagree the same relative to you, no matter
th
First, we need to understand what how fast you’re going.
h
makes normal space three-dimensional. So, Einstein fits each rocket with
What distinguishes the x, y and z an utterly dependable light-clock,
coordinates of space from any other and lets the experiment unfold.
set of three unrelated measurements Come and ride with one of the
C
like the height, weight and odour ttwins – let’s call him Castor. Sitting
of my socks? comfortably in his rocket’s leather-
co
The crucial thing is that the three upholstered drawing room, you hear
uph
space coordinates can get mixed up with the frfrantic ticking of his light clock as it
each other, so that different observers can
n stands stationary (relative to you) on the
stand
disagree about their values (see ‘Space floor, keeping perfect time. Glancing
in 3D’, page 77). With that idea in mind, through the rocket’s mock-Tudor bay
throu
allowing us to distinguish coordinates window, you observe Castor’s brother
wind
ILLUSTRATIONS BY PAUL WOOTTON
Þ From Castor’s perspective, Pollux’s clock is not still; the light has to travel farther between mirrors. As a result, Pollux ages more slowly

THE BIG QUESTIONS NOVEMBER7 7
SPACE IN 3D Where something is in three-dimensional space

seems to depend on which yardstick you use
y y
15
z 10 z
x
30
20
10
10
Despite appearances,
20 only the coordinate grid
26 x has moved in each picture
Wh d
What does it really
ll mean to say that
h These
h illustrations
ll show the positions to draw your axes in a different arbitrary
normal space is three-dimensional? Three of the Sun, which is at the centre of the x, y orientation, as in the right-hand illustration.
measurements are needed to locate an object and z axes, and Neptune. All of the axes You find that the planet lies 30 AU along
in space. But it would take about a million are measured in astronomical units (AU). In your x direction, and is level with the Sun
measurements to reproduce a scale model of the left-hand illustration, Neptune is 26 AU in your y and z directions. So, according
your house. Does this mean that your house is along the x direction, 15 AU along the to your rotated coordinate system,
one-million-dimensional? Of course not. The y direction, and 0 AU (and therefore level Neptune is at 30, 0, 0.
three coordinates of a point in space are not with the Sun) in the z direction. Its coordinates We both agree that Neptune, or
separate measurements of three independent (x, y, z) are 26, 15, 0. But these three numbers any other object in space, needs three
lengths. Rather, they are three measurements depend on which arbitrary direction I chose coordinates to locate it. But different
with a special connection, and we can see to draw the coordinate axes. observers can disagree about their values,
that they are all connected by noticing that Perhaps you also decided to measure because the numbers can get mixed up
they can be mixed together. Neptune’s coordinates, but you happened with each other by rotation.
Pollux passing by at incredibly high (relative to you) and Castor’s rocket and axis, so that it gets mixed up with your x, y
speed and notice that the light trapped clock were zooming past, and therefore and z readings, is to travel very fast!
in his clock must take a zig-zagging path ticking more slowly. Pollux’s clock runs Incredible though it seems, everything
in order to keep up with the moving slower than Castor’s and Castor’s clock discussed so far – the rockets, the clocks,
rocket, as shown in the illustration at the runs slower than Pollux’s. This is Einstein’s the rotating of time into space – is not a
bottom of page 76. Pollux’s light has to famous ‘twin paradox’. metaphor: this stuff really happens.
travel farther between tick and tock than Finding a paradox usually indicates At the relatively low speeds of ordinary
the light in your static clock. Of course, that there is a mistake somewhere in our terrestrial things (even SUV drivers),
you observe the light inside Pollux’s reasoning, but not in this case. Both of our time directions are not rotated much
clock moving at 299,792,458m/s, just these confl icting statements are true. and our clocks all agree, more or less.
the same as your own clock’s light so, How long something takes to happen But astronomers have actually seen very
since it has farther to go, fast-moving things
it takes longer to cross his
clock; longer to tick-tock. “A paradox usually indicates ageing slowly. Every
day, our planet is
Pollux’s clock is running bombarded by super-
slow! His clock is made of
radiation passing through
that there’s a mistake in our fast cosmic rays, that
have a very different
space and that is more or
less the design of every
reasoning, but not in this case” point of view regarding
distance and time
atom in his body too. So everything depends on your point of view. And (see ‘Cosmic Rays’, page 78).
is running slow over there on brother remember, that’s exactly the telltale Let’s draw an analogy to show how
Pollux’s spaceship. He’s even ageing sign we were looking for – the clue that two people, in tip-top mental health,
more slowly than Castor. time is really just one coordinate of a could disagree about which of two
higher-dimensional space-type thing. things is longer. Who could be more
The paradox paradox Two observers can disagree about which rational than a surveyor? (If you have
So far, so bizarre, but here comes the thing took longer – the ticking of Castor’s ever bought a house, kindly suspend
really weird bit. If you had hitched a lift clock or of Pollux’s, depending on which disbelief). Two such professionals have
with Pollux instead of his twin, you would ‘direction’ they are looking from. So it been handsomely paid to measure two
have believed that his clock was stationary turns out that the way to ‘rotate’ your time straight roads and fi nd which is longer, >

78 THE BIG QUESTIONS NOVEMBER
> as illustrated on the right. The roads lie

side-by-side, with a common starting
point where each surveyor fi xes one end of
his tape measure. Walking to the far end of
the tarmac, they unroll their reels. As well
as measuring their own stretch, the grafters
both agree that their neighbour’s road is
equal in length. They estimate this by
looking directly sideways from the end of
their road, using a set square to accurately
align the end of the other road with the
correct point on their tape measure.
No disagreement so far. But what if
one of the roads was rotated a bit? Each
surveyor still measures their own road
accurately but, because their tape and
set square are no longer parallel to the
other road, both judge that the other
road is shorter than their own. The
second road doesn’t extend so far in the
direction of the first tape measure and
vice versa. In a similar way, returning
to the twin paradox, Castor has lived
for longer than Pollux in his own time
direction, but Pollux has lived longer
in the direction of his time.
Time waits for some men

There is an almost exact analogy between
the lengths of the surveyors’ roads and
the length of time between the twins’
clock ticks. The only difference is that,
as a road becomes rotated away from your
measuring direction, its apparent length
reduces, whereas a clock that is sent into
a different spacetime direction (by moving Þ These roads provide a real world analogy of Einstein’s twin paradox. When parallel, they are
clearly the same length, but when the perspective shifts each appears shorter than the other
fast) increases the time between its ticks.
This small difference in the ways that
time and length coordinates mix together,
within spacetime, ultimately makes
us experience time and space in
comfortingly different ways.
COSMIC RAYS
Cosmic rays are super-fast bits of smashed
So it is ludicrous, after all, to say that atoms that stream through space. When
my son is 10 miles old and a fortnight they crash into Earth’s upper atmosphere,
tall. Yet it is not ludicrous to believe in as shown on the right, they create new
time slowing down – a phenomenon that particles, like fast-moving shrapnel. Some
ROADS ILLUSTRATION BY PAUL WOOTTON, MARK GARLICK/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY
of these particles – muons – only live for a

has helped us map high-energy cosmic
couple of microseconds. We know this
rays. And it is even rational to believe in a because muons can be made in labs and
pair of twins who are each younger than they always explode after about two
the other. There is no paradox, because microseconds. The muons in the upper
spacetime is real. S atmosphere fly towards the ground at
nearly the speed of light but, even at that
pace, the 10km journey takes an enormous
NEXT MONTH
33 microseconds. That’s many lifetimes for have been used to deduce the directions
We ask... How can space be curved? the ephemeral muons. So they must die from which their parent cosmic rays
on the way and never reach the ground, emanated. In 2007, researchers at Leeds
ABOUT THE WRITER right? Wrong. They travel so fast that their University and collaborators from 17 nations
Dr Mike Evans is a body-clocks run slow, so they end their announced the first high-energy cosmic
theoretical physicist at lives smashing into terra firma. ray map, revealing that some cosmic rays
the University of Leeds, A few of the Methuselah-like muons crash probably come from active galaxies, which
Department of Applied into detectors at the Pierre Auger Cosmic are powered by black holes. This discovery
Mathematics. Follow him Ray Observatory in Argentina, where the was aided by the strange relationship
on Twitter: @PhysicsBloke patterns made by their scattered remains between space and time.

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80
STARGAZING SKILLS
Which way is up?
With Anton When you’re star hopping for the first time, the view through a
Vamplew telescope can turn your whole world upside down. Here’s why…
Through a Cassegrain
telescope, the Pleiades star
cluster appears back to front
Through an eyepiece, the

THE BASICS sky will take on a different
Why night-sky objects appear upside orientation depending on
down or back to front in a telescope which scope you use
How star diagonals can help
What an erecting eyepiece is used for
M
any amateur astronomers
get their first proper look
at the night sky through a
telescope owned by a friend
or relative. The sight is astounding and
inspiring – how said friend or relative
managed to find their target is of no
consequence at that moment. But
THINKSTOCK, PAUL WHITFIELD X 2, PETE LAWRENCE
once you’ve bought a scope of your own

– unless it’s a Go-To – moving around the
night sky becomes a much more important
consideration. And the fi rst time you
attempt this, you’ll notice that the view is something was amiss. But there’s nothing For most, this is of no consequence
not exactly as you might expect. to worry about. You just need to know that whatsoever: you just get used to how any
Star patterns may appear mirrored left each telescope design has a different scope functions. It’s not like we don’t have
to right, upside-down, or even both at the optical configuration, and that it’s these to cope with such things in everyday life:
same time. Add some tilt into the view and different systems which produce different take your reflection in the bathroom
you could be forgiven for thinking views of the skies. mirror, or the rear-view mirror of your
080-082_Sky90_Stargazing skills.indd 1 01/10/2012 10:05

STARGAZING SKILLS NOVEMBER 81
car. Our brains process these reversed When you’re trying to star hop to a
images without a second thought, and faint target under the muted glow of
a telescope is no different. a red torch, reversed images can be
Despite the fact that you can argue, trying. The best thing is to do some ACCESSORY ADVICE
quite rightly, that there is no ‘up’ in space experimenting to get an understanding STAR DIAGONALS
– what’s the right way up in the northern of what’s best for you. These accessories work by adding a mirror,
hemisphere appears upside down from angled at 45º, into the light path. This
the southern hemisphere, after all – it is It’s elementary bounces the light through 90º degrees from
still useful to know why some telescopes Telescope manufacturers are not trying to the direction it entered the scope, which has
the effect of orientating images so they are
show things one way round and others trick you with all this. The difference in
the right way up but back to front.
show them differently, and how to orientation is a consequence of how the
‘correct’ things for your comfort. For light is brought to focus by each scope
example, if you use more than one scope design. Generally, if your telescope has an
when out observing and imaging, what even number of optical elements – such as
do you need to do to make the orientation a Newtonian reflector with its two mirrors
the same, so you don’t have to learn a – your object will appear upside down. If it
completely different technique for has an odd number, like a Nasmyth-Coudé
locating objects? with its three mirrors, the image is
The main reason for any adjustment reversed left to right. A simple refractor
is to make reading star charts easier. produces an upside-down view.
THE CHANGING FACE OF THE MOON

How the orientation of the Moon changes with different equipment ERECTING
EYEPIECES
These also reflect
light through 90º
degrees, but they
use prisms. They
are sometimes
sold with scopes,
but are more
useful for daytime
observing, since
the extra glass
that they contain
can dim the view
of faint starlight.
S UPRIGHT S UPSIDE-DOWN
This is how the Moon appears to the naked The Moon appears flipped vertically
eye. You’ll also see the same thing when through a refractor or Cassegrain, or a
using binoculars – their optics don’t cause Newtonian reflector with the eyepiece
Many refractor users add a star diagonal
any changes in orientation. sitting vertically at the top of the scope.
to their setup, which gives you the image
the right way up but mirrored. You could
alternatively add a prism diagonal to
produce an image that is the right way
round and the right way up. But you
cannot easily use a star diagonal with
reflectors, due to the extra focal length
they add. Doing so pushes the eyepiece
farther away from the focus point, and
it is not possible to draw the focuser in
enough to get it back there.
However you decide to alter your
orientation, be aware that the more
equipment you stick between your eye and
S UPRIGHT BUT MIRRORED S UPSIDE-DOWN AND MIRRORED the object in question, the more degraded
the image is, even if only ever so slightly
Adding a mirrored star diagonal to a Mercifully, this awkward orientation is
refractor or Cassegrain gives this rarely achieved, unless you add certain so. You lose light, as more optics scatter
orientation, where north is at the top but types of erecting prisms to Herschelian or some away, and optical aberrations could
east and west are flipped. Nasmyth-Coudé telescopes. be introduced. S

82 STARGAZING SKILLS NOVEMBER
NE X
MONTTH
Lost in space K E IT H T
BREAK, R A K E S A
E
IN THE N TUR NING
ON A H U
EW YEA R
NT
FIR E BA L FOR
The trials and tribulations of a novice astronomer LS
With Keith Hopcroft

WHY IS ASTRONOMY like shopping? Well, directionless and fractious, liable to launch evening’s activities, a yardstick by which I
it isn’t, obviously. Hence the phrase, ‘Hate into a screaming tantrum until she gives me can measure success. Without it, I teeter on
shopping, love astronomy’, which I intend to chocolate or, better still, takes me home. the edge of another tantrum.
have tattooed on a buttock one of these days. And so it is with astronomy. Half the fun Even with meticulous forethought, things
But my wife insists that there’s one is in the preparation: scanning star charts, can still go wrong. Fairly recently, I planned
similarity: the importance of pre-planning. working out what’s well placed, plotting the a whole session around an in-depth tour of
If I don’t have a set agenda prior to hitting star hops and so on. Yes, it’s a fine line the Summer Triangle. But when I punched
the shops – a list, in other words – then I’m between ‘prepared’ and ‘pathological’ – but the first target into the Go-To gizmo, the
I’m on the right side smooth passage to viewing bliss was
of it, so long as I interrupted by my scope flashing scary ‘Slew
remember my limit’ warnings – and making horrible
medication. grating noises when I ignored them. I tried
If I omit this other targets with the same result: the
crucial pre-session Summer Triangle was clearly off-limits.
step, I’m paralysed, Rather than abandon the evening, I tried
overwhelmed by picking out some old favourites from
choice. Without my memory, but it all felt a bit token. So,
preset agenda, I have no listlessly, I reverted to the computerised,
idea where to start, go, off-the-shelf ‘Tour mode’. Ho-hum. It all
or end. And I’m seemed too passive and easy: the astronomy
incapable of improvising equivalent of a Saga package holiday.
– I’m holding a My wife – who always enjoys a bit of irony
telescope, after all, – decided to ‘cheer me up’ by taking me out
not a saxophone. for some retail therapy the following day.
I need, it seems, OK, I said, so long as it involves a telescope
that comfort shop. Or, failing that, a tattoo parlour.
blanket of structure:
a framework on Keith Hopcroft is a GP and a columnist
which to hang the for The Times
Binocular in a light-polluted area. Start by looking

south at 9pm in mid-November and finding
the Great Square of Pegasus. The top-left
quest star of this asterism is the leading star of

Andromeda, mag. +2.1 Alpheratz. From
WILL HOPCROFT, ILLUSTRATION BY JEFF PARKER, REU PROGRAM/NOAO/AURA/NSF
O/AURA/NSF
there, follow the constellation to the left to

mag. +2.1 Mirach (Beta Andromedae), then
THIS MONTH continue to mag. +2.2 Almach (Gamma
Andromedae). You may be able to do this
M34 with your eyes alone.
What: Open cluster Binoculars at the ready, you’ll notice
Apparent magnitude: +5.2 another star, very similar to the three in
Best time to see: 9pm, mid-month Andromeda we’ve already visited in terms
of brightness and distance, to the lower-left
M34 is just about visible with the naked eye,
M34 IS A star cluster in Perseus that of Almach. This is Algol (Beta Persei). Now but far easier to spot when using binoculars
contains several hundred members. With a draw an imaginary line between Almach
visual magnitude of +5.2, it is just within and Algol. You’ll find M34 just above the roundish haze created by all of the stars in
reach of the naked eye, though its large size midpoint of this line, slightly towards Algol. the cluster. This is one of those objects that
– greater than a full Moon – means its The darker your skies the better, but becomes easier to find the more times you
brightness is spread thinly. As such it’s a don’t expect to see anything bright. M34 is look for it, so try observing it over a few
slightly more challenging object if you live a fairly big object, so look for the large, nights to really appreciate its beauty.

84 EQUIPMENT Q&A NOVEMBER
SCOPE
STEVE RICHARDS
Our Scope Doctor and
all-round gear guru is a
keen amateur astronomer
doctor
and astrophotographer.
He loves nothing more than
tinkering with telescopes
and accessories.
Our resident equipment specialist Where can I get the mirror from my
12-inch Newtonian recoated?
oated?
Steve Richards cures your optical ailments STUART BAINES
I have an Olympus E520 DSLR camera The thin aluminium

coating on a modern
and want to buy a Sky-Watcher Explorer telescope mirror, right,
300PDS. What mount should I get? should last for at least 10
years, because in most
MARTIN CROWLY
amateur scopes a
on
protective overcoat of silicon
The obvious choice here would be the cost of an NEQ6 to get a mount with a dioxide (SiO2) is also applied
ed to
Sky-Watcher NEQ6 mount. In fact, the greater carrying capacity – and as the the mirror. This coating stops
mount and telescope can be bought as Sky-Watcher Explorer 300PDS weighs the oxidation process by isolating the aluminium
a package saving you some money. about 25kg, you’ll need a substantial from contact with the air; it also acts as a physical
You’d have to pay over four times the mount to support it, especially if you’re barrier to scratching. But it also reduces the
going to use it with your Olympus reflectivity of the mirror a little, which is why
E520 for deep-sky imaging. professional observatories use unprotected mirrors
The E520 camera is designed to the and recoat them more frequently.
Four Thirds specification, with a The companies below all offer a recoating service.
smaller sensor than the majority of Whoever you use, keep the mirror wrapped up and
DSLR cameras. This design has the stored safely for four to five weeks after its return,
advantage of a shorter distance of to allow the overcoat to fully stabilise.
38.67mm between the camera’s lens
mounting ring and the sensor Galvoptics: www.galvoptics.co.uk
(compared to the typical DSLR Vacuum Coatings: www.scientificmirrors.co.uk
distance of 45mm), making it a Orion Optics: www.orionoptics.co.uk
better match for Newtonian Oldham Optical UK: www.oldham-optical.co.uk
reflectors with their limited
back-focus. Coupled with
the latest 300PDS’s slightly
shortened tube, designed for
prime focus astrophotography,
this means you should also have
room for a short off-axis guider (OAG)
P
STEVE’S TOP TIg thre e stars to align
and a coma corrector. What’s the advantage of usin
You’ll need to keep the total weight a Go-To mount?
ence point in
down to reduce the demands on the Go-To mounts require at least one refer
to othe r objects with
mount, which is why you should the night sky so they can move
re they ’re loca ted in relation
some knowledge of whe
autoguide with an OAG instead of a
posi tion. Dee p-sk y astro phot ographers
to the present
guide scope that weighs more. We’d to the object that
only require a single alignment close
also suggest that you orientate the with that object for
they wish to image, as they’ll stay
tube so that the focuser is pointing at How ever, obse rver s usua lly
a long period of time.
the RA axis – this will help shift the cts during a sessi on, often in diffe rent
visit several obje its
mou nt to map
centre of gravity towards the mount. constellations, so it’s necessary for the
ence poin ts over a wide
internal star database to refer
OPTICAL VISION
achieves this.
The 300PDS is a large, 12-inch diameter area of sky. A three-star alignment
scope that needs a substantial mount,
especially with imaging equipment
Email your queries to scopedoctor@skyatnightmagazine.com

084_SKY90_Scopedoctor.indd 1 27/09/2012 11:00

REVIEWS NOVEMBER 85
HOW WE RATE
Reviews
Each category is given a mark
out of five stars according to how
well it performs. The ratings are:
★★★★★ Outstanding
★★★★★ Very good
★★★★★ Good
Bringing you the best in equipment and accessories ★★★★★ Average
each month, as reviewed by our team of astro experts ★★★★★ Poor/Avoid
86
TRIED & TESTED
A NEW KIND
OF REVIEW
94
Is the new Saxon 4
from Visionary a decent
bet for those new to
observing the night sky?
Thiss m
month’s
onth’s reviews
Tried & tested First light Books Gear

86 Sky-Watcher
SkyHawk 1145P 90 Orion
15x70 94 Visionary
Saxon 4 98 We rate
four of the 100 Including
this 15mm
PAUL WHITFIELD X 4
SynScan altaz Go-To. Astronomy Binoculars. 4.5-inch reflector latest astronomy titles. Luminos eyepiece.
Find out more about how we review equipment at www.skyatnightmagazine.com/scoring-categories
085_Sky89_reviewsintro.indd 1 01/10/2012 09:00

86
TRIED & tested

We review well-established equipment that’s stood the test of time
VITAL STATS
• Price £299
Sky-Watcher SkyHawk 1145P
• Optics Parabolic
Newtonian
• Aperture 114mm
(4.5 inches)
SynScan altaz Go-To
• Focal length 500mm
(f/5) A popular beginners’ reflector that punches above its weight
• Finderscope 6x24 WORDS: STEVE RICHARDS
finderscope
• Mount Computerised
T
he Newtonian reflector has always been an optional right ascension motor drive was soon
altaz HD Go-To
a popular choice for people starting out introduced. This compact, portable system was an
• Eyepieces 10mm and
25mm, both 1.25-
in astronomy – it offers the most aperture excellent introduction to astronomy, affording a
inch fit for your money of any optical design. reasonable 4.5-inch aperture and a practical 500mm
• Extras 2x Barlow lens, Once upon a time, many scopes in the beginner focal length. It made for a versatile and cost-effective
1.25-inch fit bracket were supplied with cheap-to-produce first buy, and it is still available in this format.
• Weight 6.3kg spherical mirrors, which didn’t give the best views But November 2008 saw the launch of the SynScan
• Supplier Optical Vision as they introduced ‘spherical aberration’. This altaz Go-To mount to accompany several of the
• www.opticalvision.co.uk means that they brought light reflected from company’s most popular small telescopes, including
• Tel 01359 244200 anywhere other than the centre of the mirror to the SkyHawk 1145P. It was an instant success that
focus at a shorter distance than the light from remains popular to this day and is the combination
SKY SAYS… the centre itself, resulting in slightly blurred views. we looked at in this test.
To correct this optical error, many starter
We can honestly
say this was one
Newtonians introduced a small relay lens, which Black beauty
also increased the effective focal length of the The attractive silver and black mount has a single-
of our most telescope and enabled extra magnification. tine fork with a Vixen-compatible saddle clamp on
enjoyable Sky-Watcher changed all this over a decade ago its inner face. Fork mounts can sometimes restrict
observing when it introduced the SkyHawk 1145P, a reflecting the ability to view objects at the zenith, but the
sessions in a telescope equipped with a parabolic primary mirror eyepiece position of a Newtonian reflector like the
long time at a competitive price. The more complex figuring SkyHawk 1145P neatly resolves this. The black and
of its mirror produced much sharper images, since metallic flake finish of the tube matches the mount
light reflected from most of the mirror’s surface is very well indeed, although the poor quality
brought to focus at the same point. finderscope was a bit of a letdown.
The
T original SkyHawk 1145P The mount’s light weight makes transporting
was
wa mounted on the diminutive it fully assembled very easy and we found that
EQ1
EQ equatorial mount with levelling it using the built-in spirit level was the
slow-motion
slo controls, although key to achieving Go-To accuracy. After entering >
OWNER’S OBSERVATIONS
Name Jason Broadley make the visual quality better, plus a red-dot
Location Alva, Clackmannanshire finder to make targeting easier. In addition,
Equipment SkyHawk 1145P SynScan I bought a 12V power pack, as I found
altaz Go-To standard AA batteries ran out quickly, and
Owner since August 2011 a laser collimator for keeping on top of the
mirror alignment.
PAUL WHITFIELD, JASON BROADLEY
I have had my SkyHawk 1145P SynScan With this being my first scope, the Go-To
altaz Go-To for over a year now. It is the feature is the main thing that has kept a tight
first telescope I have owned. grip on my astronomy interests! I sometimes
Though the scope has excellent optics use the scope freehand to challenge myself
and the tripod is very sturdy, I’ve purchased finding objects and broaden my knowledge
a few new items to improve it. I invested in of the night sky. It is a fantastic scope and
new eyepieces and a 2x Barlow lens to I really cannot fault it.
skyatnightmagazine.com
k t i ht i 2012
086-088_Sky90_Tried and tested_skyhawk.indd 1 28/09/2012 15:23

TRIED & TESTED NOVEMBER 87
VIXEN-COMPATIBLE SADDLE
The telescope is attached to the mount by a
Vixen-style dovetail bar that provides a quick
and stable coupling. This arrangement proves
to be quite a bonus – it means that you can also
install other small telescopes equipped with a
Vixen dovetail bar on the mount, provided their
combined weight doesn’t exceed about 4.5kg.
ALTAZ MOUNT
Moving in two planes, vertical
(altitude) and horizontal (azimuth),
this is the simplest type of
telescope mount. However,
coupled to computer-controlled
drive motors, this one is an
excellent observing platform for
a wide range of scopes, though
would-be astrophotographers
should note that it is only suitable HAND
for short-exposure shots of Solar CONTROLLER
System objects.
The well-established
SynScan hand controller
is the heart of the Go-To
system that controls the
movement of the mount.
With a built-in database
of over 42,900 objects
there is no shortage
of celestial objects to
find, though you’ll need
larger telescopes than
this mount can carry
to see all of them.

88 TRIED & TESTED NOVEMBER
TRIED & tested

COLLIMATION
ADJUSTMENT
One of the drawbacks to
using a Newtonian reflector,
especially for newcomers, is
SKY SAYS… that the mirrors will need to
Now add these: be collimated (aligned with
one another) fairly regularly.
1. 1.25-inch However, the generous,
lunar or planetary chunky adjustment knobs and
short tube length of the
filter set SkyHawk 1145P make this a
2. Sky-Watcher fairly simple task to carry out.
17Ah Rechargeable
Power Tank > our location, date, time, time zone and daylight
3. Dual LED saving information, star alignment was simple
and intuitive. A magnetic compass is thoughtfully
flashlight
provided to help you locate one of the eight
alignment zones (northern sky, northeastern
sky and so on) for the ‘brightest star’ alignment
method, which is ideal for beginners.
We were very pleasantly surprised at how
accurately the Go-To functioned, with each object
appearing near the centre of the 25mm eyepiece’s
field of view. Jupiter was badly placed from our
observing site, so we concentrated on the last
quarter Moon at first. The craters Ptolemaeus,
Alphonsus and Arzachel were crisp and we spent
a long time exploring the terminator, enjoying
excellent views under good seeing conditions.
Impressive results
Beginners can sometimes fi nd the small and faint
Ring Nebula in Lyra a little difficult to locate, but
the accurate Go-To system brought it straight into
view. Splitting Zeta Lyrae was straightforward and
we saw good star shapes across 75 per cent of the
field of view. Moving westwards we sought out the
globular clusters M13 and M92 in Hercules, which
were a delight – so much so that we went in search
of another globular, M15 in Pegasus, and again we
weren’t disappointed. Moving eastwards again,
the lovely contrasting colour double star Albireo
was a fine sight, and we can honestly say that
this was one of the most enjoyable observing
sessions we’ve had for a long time.
The Sky-Watcher SkyHawk 1145P SynScan altaz
TRIPOD Go-To certainly puts the fun into astronomy with
The tripod is light but more its ‘grab and go’ credentials, quick setup, accurate
than adequate for damping Go-Tos and no-nonsense optics. We would highly
out unwanted vibrations recommend this established telescope and mount
in the telescope. The
to any beginner looking to get a head start. S
extendable stainless steel
legs made it easy to choose
a comfortable viewing
height for standing or
VERDICT
seated observations and BUILD AND DESIGN ★★★★★
ALL PHOTOS: PAUL WHITFIELD
the built-in spirit level is EASE OF USE ★★★★★

very useful. It also has a
FEATURES ★★★★★
quick-release leg spreader,
which doubles as an GO-TO/TRACKING ERRORS ★★★★★
accessory tray. OPTICS ★★★★★
OVERALL ★★★★★

Sussex Astronomy Centre
Meade Advanced Product Dealer
Free Parking
Friendly personal service
for ALL your astronomy needs.
Celestron, Sky-Watcher,
Meade main stockist for Sussex
Beginners most welcome!
A large range of telescopes and accessories from the world’s leading suppliers.
Tel: 01903 247317 • 16 Mulberry Lane, Goring-by-Sea, Worthing, West Sussex
www.sussex-astronomy-centre.co.uk
90
FIRST light
Orion 15x70 Astronomy TRIPOD CLAMP
The supplied tripod clamp screws
into the front of the binoculars to
Binoculars
mount them on a tripod. Being
plastic there is some give in it, and
it took several seconds for the view
to settle each time we repositioned
the binoculars. A more rigid metal
clamp costs around £18.
Orion delivers a pair of purpose-designed, high-
magnification binoculars at an affordable price
WORDS: PAUL MONEY
T
he night sky offers many objects for us
VITAL STATS to marvel at and you don’t always have
to get your telescope out to enjoy them
• Price £79 – a great deal can be seen if you have a
• Optics Fully
multicoated objectives
decent pair of binoculars to hand.
• Aperture 70mm
The most common sizes of binoculars are
• Magnification 15x 7x50 and 10x50, where the fi rst number refers
• Prisms BaK-4 Porro to their magnification and the second to the size
• Angular field of view of the objective lens in millimetres. The larger
4.4º the objective, the more light the binoculars can
• Focusing Centre focus grasp, allowing you to see fainter deep-sky objects.
• Eye relief 18mm While there is some weighing up to be done
• Weight 1.4kg between the portability of small binoculars and
• Supplier The
the greater light gathering power of small telescopes,
Widescreen Centre
a particularly good compromise comes in the form
• www.widescreen-
centre.co.uk of Orion’s 15x70 Astronomy Binoculars.
• Tel 020 7935 2580 These binoculars come with a soft carry case,
a neck strap, caps for the objectives and a
single, wider cap for the eyepieces at the
SKY SAYS… rear. The outer casing is rubber coated,
which gives a good firm grip while also
Orion’s 15x70
protecting the binoculars from
Astronomy dampness if you are out for a long
Binoculars give session. The eyepieces have
you that little bit protective rubber eyecups
extra compared that do a good job of cutting
to 10x50 out any extraneous light;
binoculars, at a they also fold down flat so
you can enjoy the generous
very fair price 18mm eye relief if you wear
glasses. The objective barrels
have internal baffles and a matt
black coating, which helps to cut
down on internal reflections, while
the objectives themselves are fully
multicoated to improve light
transmission and contrast.
Tripod trouble
Although the binoculars are relatively light,
weighing in at just 1.4kg, prolonged handheld
use is still tiring – especially if you’re aiming >
090-092_Sky90_first light orion binos.indd 1 01/10/2012 09:34

FIRST LIGHT NOVEMBER 91
LIGHT-GRABBING OBJECTIVES
JECTIVES
To increase an optical system’s light grasp you need larger
objective lenses. Orion has managed to achieve
hieve this
without making these binoculars too heavy. The 70mm
objectives gather almost twice the light as 50mm
0mm ones,
and the fact that they are fully multicoated prevents
light from being scattered off the front and lost.
ost.
The use of BaK4 prisms, which are of higherher quality
than their cheaper BaK7 counterparts, improvesoves light
transmission through to the eyepieces. We did notice
a slight internal halo when looking at the brightest
ightest
stars and at Jupiter, but everything else was good.
The combined result is that these binoculars allow
you to view all the Messier objects, the Moonon and
bright planets, and a number of the larger and
brighter NGC and Caldwell objects.
FOCUSER AND INTERPUPILLARY ADJUSTMENT

The central focusing wheel was smooth to operate, giving good control of
focus. Though the right-hand eyepiece focus was okay, it was a little stiff. The
interpupillary adjustment between the two eyepieces had a good range and
was relatively easy to adjust to merge the two views.
EYECUPS
Stray light from street lamps and the like can reduce
contrast and degrade the view, especially where
deep-sky objects are concerned. We found that the
rubber eyecups worked well to reduce their effect to
almost nothing. The eyecups can also be folded back
so that spectacle wearers can enjoy the full view.

92 FIRST LIGHT NOVEMBER
FIRST light
MULTICOATINGS AND OPTICS

INTERNAL BAFFLING The 70mm aperture objective lenses
The two main lenses are multicoated for gave a clear view of a wide variety
greater light transmission, making deep-sky of objects, from Jupiter and its moons
objects look clearer. Along with the built-in to bright deep-sky objects. The 15x
internal baffles, they also reduce reflections magnification is enough to give
that can cause light scatter in the optics and better views than standard 10x50
degrade the view. There was some slight binoculars, without becoming too
ghosting on very bright stars, however. unmanageable when handheld.
> high up into the sky. Orion has included a plastic field. It was a veiw that included M31’s companion
clamp so that you can mount them on a tripod. This galaxies M32 and M110.
is useful and provides a reasonably stable view, but Globular clusters appeared as small but fuzzy
being plastic the clamp is a little flexible and blobs – we took in M13 and M92 in Hercules and
it took a few seconds for the view to settle down M22 in Sagittarius. We journeyed up along the
when we moved it. We’d recommend a metal ‘L’ Milky Way, soaking up the Lagoon Nebula, the Swan
tripod clamp for a more stable view – using our own Nebula, the Wild Duck Cluster and, high up, M39
made a big difference. in Cygnus. We even picked out the subtle strand that
is part of the Veil Nebula, NGC 6992, and farther
Around the night sky over, the North America Nebula, NGC 7000. We
One of the first stars we looked at was Altair in were observing late into the night as we caught the
Aquila, which was sharp across around 70 per cent Pleiades. A short while later, Jupiter rose and was
SKY SAYS… of the 4.4° field of view, trailing off with some bright, with three moons clearly visible. Finally, we
Now add these: distortion towards the edge. We were impressed caught a glimpse of the rising crescent Moon and
with the clarity of the inner 50 per cent of the field saw so many craters that we quickly lost count.
1. Horizon of view, which was pin sharp and had no colour Binoculars are a quick and convenient way to
two-way tripod fringing except on the very brightest stars. We enjoy the night sky. Orion’s latest offering gives you
examined the naked eye double of Mizar and that little bit extra compared to 10x50 binoculars. S
2. Binocular
Alcor in Ursa Major, and enjoyed a selection of
tripod clamp other stars in the view as well as splitting Mizar
3. Orion itself. The colourful double star Albireo in Cygnus VERDICT
DeepMap 600 was also lovely, with its golden yellow primary BUILD AND DESIGN ★★★★★
and pale blue secondary nicely split. EASE OF USE ★★★★★

folding star chart
Exploring the Great Bear further, we picked ★★★★★
EYE RELIEF
off several galaxies including M101 and the
FEATURES ★★★★★
interacting M81 and M82, before moving to M31.
This large galaxy had a nice central glow, with its OPTICS ★★★★★
galactic disc stretching either side across the full OVERALL ★★★★★

Galloway Astronomy Centre
NEAR THE UK’S ONLY DARK SKY PARK
MAKE THIS We provide all you need with:

YOUR YEAR TO • Telescopes up to 400mm
REDISCOVER THE • Free help and guidance
• Beginner Astronomy Courses
WONDERS OF • B&B accommodation and
THE NIGHT SKY • evening meals
IN GALLOWAY. • Skywatcher dealer
01988 500594 | enquiries@gallowayastro.com
www.gallowayastro.com
94
FIRST light
Visionary Saxon 4
4.5-inch reflector
For newcomers on a budget, this entry-level telescope is worth a look
WORDS: PAUL MONEY
I
f you’re on a budget when looking for reasonably easy to use in equatorial mode. To
VITAL STATS your first telescope, an all-singing, all- get a comfortable viewing position, we found
dancing Go-To might be out of your it useful to rotate the scope tube in the tube
• Price £209.99
reach financially. So it’s refreshing to rings so that the focuser and eyepiece were in
• Optics Newtonian
reflector see that affordable basic telescopes are still a good position for tracking objects as they
• Aperture 114mm being produced, such as the Visionary moved with the sky over the night. Adjusting
(4.5 inches) Saxon 4 Newtonian reflector. the tripod legs also helped here.
• Focal length 1,000mm The Saxon 4 is a 1,000mm focal
(f/8.8) length, 4.5-inch Newtonian reflector SKY SAYS… Seeing is believing
• Finderscope 6x30 with a basic EQ1 equatorial mount on
straight-through Although it can’t Optically, Altair in Aquila appeared
an aluminium tripod. It is supplied sharp in the central 60 per cent of the
• Mount EQ1 mount
with a 6x30mm straight-through
claim to be a view through the 25mm eyepiece, but
and tripod
finder, three eyepieces (25mm, 10mm high-resolution as you moved the star towards the
• Eyepieces 25mm,
and 4mm) plus a 1.5x erecting lens for system, the edges we did notice some distortion.
10mm and 4mm,
all 1.25-inch fit daytime use. Slow-motion controls are Saxon 4 can still Looking at Jupiter we also spotted a
• Extras star diagonal included for fine movement. Assembly provide decent small amount of colour fringing, but
and 1.5x erecting following the enclosed instructions was views at low we barely noticed it when observing
lens, both 1.25-inch fit pretty easy, if a little fiddly at times, deep-sky objects. We chose several
• Weight 7.6kg
magnification
especially when attaching the tube double stars to check out how well they
• Supplier Optical rings to the mount head. The EQ1 could be resolved and were rewarded
Hardware mount can be set for either altaz or with reasonable views of Gamma
• www.opticalhardware.
equatorial use, while there’s no polar Arietis, nicely split as two white
co.uk
alignment scope built into the mount so you have ‘headlights’ with the 10mm eyepiece. Almach in
• Tel 01226 203275
to line it up on the night sky by line of sight. Andromeda also resolved as a lovely colourful pair
The small finderscope gave quite a dim view of of orange and sky-blue stars – a smaller version of
the stars and was very fiddly to set up and align the famous Albireo in Cygnus.
with the main scope; we felt it would have been Using the 25mm eyepiece we checked out the
more useful to provide a basic red-dot finder for globular cluster M13 in Hercules and were greeted
this size of telescope. The mount itself was with a fluffy ball of cotton wool. Increasing the >
CORRECTED VISION
With a focal length of 1,000mm you into the light path, which does degrade
would expect the Saxon 4’s optical tube the image, though it also partially
to be quite long, making it a little unwieldy compensates for the colour fringing
on an EQ1 mount. Happily, this is not the and distorted star shapes towards the
case: at just 460mm long, the tube is edge of the field of view.
quite compact and lightweight. In order Overall, we found the arrangement
to achieve the long focal length in such still gave reasonable views of a wide
a short tube there is a focal extender- range of objects at low to medium
corrector lens built into the bottom of magnification and made the system
the focuser barrel. This arrangement more manageable, which is especially
isn’t perfect as it adds another lens important for younger observers.
094-096_Sky90_first light_Saxon reflector.indd 1 01/10/2012 09:35

FIRST LIGHT NOVEMBER
R 95
FINDERSCOPE
The supplied 6x30mm finderscope gives
6x optical magnification and is attached
above the focuser using two thumbscrews.
It has three plastic screws to make aligning
it with the main optical path easier, but we
found adjustment fiddly and the finderscope
a little too easy to knock out of alignment.
FOCUSER
The focuser is a basic rack-and-pinion
design that takes standard 1.25-inch
eyepieces. It has a focal extender-
corrector lens built into the bottom of
its barrel, part of the short tube design
of this particular telescope. We did
notice some play in the focuser though,
especially when changing eyepieces.
EQ1 MOUNT COLLIMATION

The EQ1 mount is the Newtonian reflectors,
most basic equatorial especially those with
mount on the market and short tubes, can suffer
is generally supplied with from collimation issues,
starter scopes such as this where the optical path
one. Although it doesn’t is not in alignment
have a polar alignment between the primary and
scope, we were able to secondary mirrors. This
line it up well enough to often happens when a
manually track the sky scope is transported, so
using the slow-motion it was pleasing to see the
controls, so we could collimation adjustment
spend longer observing screws at the base of the
any one object. mirror assembly were easy
to use and adjust.

96 FIRST LIGHT NOVEMBER
FIRST light
OPTICS
The primary mirror is
4.5 inches across, which
is regarded as the smallest
practical size for reflecting
telescopes to deliver
decent views. It did a
reasonable job of a wide
range of objects, but there
were optical aberrations
when the magnification
was pushed too far.
> magnification with the 10mm eyepiece, this

became a subtle mass of just-resolved stars, but
neighbouring M92 remained a fuzzy blob. The
Andromeda Galaxy, M31, stretched from one
side of the 25mm eyepiece view to the other and
we could just fit its two companion galaxies in
the same vista too.
To test the optics a bit more we located the faint
smudge that is the galaxy M74 in Pisces, then moved
higher up the sky to the tiny planetary nebula M57
in Lyra, a small but unmistakable smoke ring in
both the 25mm and 10mm eyepieces. The Pleiades
open cluster and the Double Cluster in Perseus were
enjoyable using the 25mm eyepiece, especially with
a few orange stars popping into view in the Double
Cluster. Pushing our luck yet further, we were
rewarded with a ghostly faint glow – part of the
Veil Nebula – using the 25mm eyepiece and averted
vision, so it is possible to seek out more than just
the brighter deep-sky objects.
When Jupiter was high enough to view, we took
in two belts on its disc and all four Galilean moons.
Later in the night, when our own satellite rose, we SKY SAYS…
enjoyed a tour of the craters along the terminator.
So, although it can’t claim to be a high-resolution
Now add these:
system, the Saxon 4 can at least provide decent 1. Visionary M1
views at low magnification. S motor drive
2. Camera
VERDICT adaptor and
ASSEMBLY ★★★★★ T2 mount
BUILD AND DESIGN ★★★★★ 3. Seven-piece

EASE OF USE ★★★★★ eyepiece filter kit
FEATURESY ★★★★★
OPTICS ★★★★★
OVERALL ★★★★★

98
Books
RATINGS
★★★★★ Outstanding
★★★★★ Good
★★★★★ Average
★★★★★ Poor
★★★★★ Avoid
You can order these books from our
New astronomy and space titles reviewed shop by calling 01803 865913
A Walk Through 2 MINUTES

WITH WIL
the Southern Sky TIRION
(Third edition) How did you become
Milton D Heifetz & Wil Tirion BO OK an uranographer?
Cambridge University Press
F TH E
O N TH My first star atlas was
MO created for my own enjoyment. That was
£21 z PB
in 1978 and I was lucky enough to get it
When I first worked in New Zealand I published. I started work on Sky Atlas
unwittingly packed 40 years of northern 2000.0 (1981) and after that other
hemisphere observational bias into my publishers started asking me to do star
mental luggage and was unprepared for the northern hemisphere, as modified and charts, so in 1983 I quit my job as a
the terra incognita of the far southern sky. abridged by Heifetz, we also encounter graphic artist and became a full-time
One of the books I used to redress this stories from Norse, Native American, uranographer. This latest book came
imbalance was, coincidentally, the second South American, Chinese, Japanese, about because I was asked to do the star
edition of A Walk Through the Southern African, Polynesian, Aboriginal charts for Milton’s A Walk Through the
Sky. Five years later, author and Australian, Maori and even Welsh Heavens and the publisher then suggested
inventor of the precession of sources. Finally, part four a similar book for southern observers.
the equinoxes planisphere, leads us into naked-eye
Milton D Heifetz, star brightness and What has been the biggest hurdle?
renews his partnership colour tests, binocular The charts and illustrations for A Walk
with illustrator and basics and lists of Through the Heavens were made on the
uranographical planetary locations drawing table, but by the time I started
aficionado Wil Tirion for the next decade. on this book I had made the switch to
for this third edition. Just one niggle: computers. I’d already created star charts
The book is divided I wondered why the in Adobe Illustrator, but now I had to
into four parts. The fi rst authors didn’t create a number of artistic illustrations
offers an introduction to embellish the well- showing the classical constellation figures.
the notion of angular size illustrated perambulations That was a new challenge.
in the sky, by using the span of part two with the intuitive
of an outstretched hand or The Moon, as seen by hand and fi nger scales so What makes the southern sky special?
fingers as a convenient tool for observers in the carefully described in part To me it’s special because I have only
southern hemisphere
estimating distances between one. For example, the text seen it a couple of times in my life. That is
the stars when navigating between for Crux gives the distance between two a great shame, because it has so many
constellations. A map of the Moon for stars to a fraction of a degree, but an more bright stars and interesting objects
binocular users is new to this edition, outstretched hand symbol would’ve than the northern sky.
followed by an overview of galactic made more sense. The same occurs when
structure, star magnitudes, stellar distances discussing Orion. Perhaps this will be What’s next for you?
and all-sky star maps for each season. addressed in edition four of this otherwise I am 69 now but I still enjoy the work.
Part two introduces us to our southern unique and useful beginner’s guide to the Over the past few years I have been
hemisphere sky walks, starting with the southern stars and constellations. involved in the production of three star
iconic Southern Cross (the constellation of ★★★★★ atlases for Cambridge University Press.
Crux) then, in part three, the authors take Right now I’m not sure if there is a need
us on a mythological odyssey through the ADE ASHFORD is an astronomy writer for any more. But who knows?
PETE LAWRENCE
stories associated with the star groups.

While these are strongly biased towards Reader price £18.99 subscriber price £17.99 WIL TIRION is a leading uranographer
the classical Greek and Roman legends of P&P £1.99 Code: S1212/3 and astronomer
098-099_Sky90_books.indd 1 28/09/2012 15:33

BOOKS NOVEMBER 99
Existence real world. Society is holding together, just,

David Brin helped along by technology-empowered
Orbit citizen activists, although a conspiracy of
£8.99 z HB disdainful aristocrats quietly plans to Stars: A
Nothing dates faster than
snatch global control.
What stability remains is threatened Very Short
the future. Back in 1990,
astrophysicist-turned-
when an alien artefact is discovered in
Earth orbit. It relays a promise of personal
Introduction
science fiction author immortality that instantly transfi xes this Andrew King
David Brin published a media-soaked world. The plot then thickens, Oxford University Press
novel about the mid-21st as another extraterrestrial item is uncovered £7.99 z PB
century called Earth, and accuses this fi rst artefact of lying.
fi lled with extravagant The seriously clever Brin has spent a lot This book opens with
predictions, many of which have since of time thinking about big questions – and a quote from French
come true. It depicted a post-Cold War devised a highly original yet plausible philosopher Auguste
world wracked by climate change, version of alien contact. Existence’s main Comte, who in
connected by a universal computer weakness is that many of its characters and 1835 asserted the
network (dubbed ‘the Net’) and clamping situations come over as dramatisations of impossibility of man
down on bankers whose secret Brin’s previous non-fiction. But his future ever knowing the
transactions risk financial ruin. world is a lively place to be and readers will composition of the stars. Although
Two decades on, Brin’s latest novel feel a certain loss as the tale departs the Comte couldn’t have known it at the time,
Existence is essentially Earth v2.0 for a planet altogether in its fi nal quarter, the key to understanding the true nature
post-internet, post-9/11, post-financial though the high concepts keep on coming. of the stars had already been discovered,
crisis readership. Brin takes us on a ★★★★★ in the form of the lines that crisscross the
dizzying tour of a strange new world of spectrum of the Sun and other stars.
truly ubiquitous computing – ‘the Mesh’. SEAN BLAIR is a science journalist Using the discovery of spectral lines as
Made of multiple internets, it incorporates its springboard, this new addition to the
dizzying levels of augmented realities to Reader price £7.99, subscriber price £7.50 P&P Very Short Introductions series takes us
improve upon a chaotic, disaster-stricken £1.99 Code: S1212/2 (regular cover edition) on a journey through the stars. Author
Andrew King, as Professor of Astrophysics
at the University of Leicester, is ideally
placed to write such a book. He
approaches the task in a clear and
The Universe Rocks! a rapid-fi re 10 most interesting facts, engaging way, eschewing equations in
Raman Prinja as well as a selection of recommended favour of logical chains of deduction
QED websites to help kids to continue their that demonstrate how we can derive
£5.99 each z PB exploration and a useful glossary.
sometimes profound conclusions about
Another great feature of the series is
these remote bodies from the simplest of
The Universe that it includes a number of hands-on
observed facts. He takes us from the
Rocks! is a series experiments that children can try for
principles of measuring the stars, through
of four books themselves, using only things that can be
their internal composition, to the later
for younger found at home. Kids can find out how a
stages of their lives and dramatic deaths,
readers rocket or radio telescope works and what
before concluding with a look at stars in
focusing happens inside a massive star as it explodes
the context of the wider Universe.
on the as a supernova – demonstrated with a
Many amateur astronomers already
planets, stars, ping-pong ball and a tennis ball. They can
grasp the basic nature of brown dwarfs,
spacecraft, make a model of Saturn using glitter, a
red giants and main sequence stars, and
galaxies and small ball and an old CD (though what
how they fit into the wider picture of
the Universe. the book doesn’t mention is that, keeping
stellar evolution. But for anyone who
Each of the strictly to scale, if Saturn’s rings were the
books strikes thickness of a CD they would still need wants to get to grips with the reasoning
the perfect to be several kilometres across). behind our present knowledge, this book
balance between stunning astrophotos, My favourite, though, is the description is the ideal place to start.
cartoon diagrams and small, easily of how to make a scale model of the solar ★★★★★
digestible chunks of text that clearly system with a roll of toilet paper.
GILES SPARROW is an astronomy
explain the wonders of the cosmos. They ★★★★★ author and editor
explain why stars are different colours,
what happens when galaxies collide, what LEWIS DARTNELL is author of Life in the Reader price £6.99, subscriber price £6.50
it’s like living aboard the International Universe: A Beginner’s Guide P&P £1.99 Code: S1212/1
Space Station and where in the Solar
System scientists think there might be Reader price £5.50 each, subscriber price
hidden oceans. Each book fi nishes off with £4.99 each, P&P £1.99
Codes: S1212/4, S1212/5, S1212/6, S1212/7
098-099_Sky90_books.indd 2 28/09/2012 15:34

100 GEAR NOVEMBER
Gear
Vincent Whiteman rounds up the la
1
latest astronomical accessories
4
1 Celestron Luminos 15mm
1.25-inch Eyepiece
Price £159 • Supplier David Hinds
01525 852696 • www.celestron.uk.com
This 1.25-inch Luminos 15mm lens has an 82°
field of view, is fully multicoated for increased
contrast and threaded to accept filters. It weighs
340g and is parfocal with the other five
eyepieces in the range.
2 Scope Nights
Price £1.49 • Supplier Egg Moon Studio
07889 929160 • www.eggmoonstudio.com
This iOS app uses weather data from locations
in the UK and USA to rate the night’s stargazing
5
potential, as well as listing sunrise and sunset
times, wind speed, temperature and humidity.
3 H-beta Filters
Price £42.99/£69.99 • Supplier Optical Vision
01724 782022 • www.opticalvision.co.uk
2 See emission nebulae in superb contrast with
this hydrogen-beta filter, which is available in
both 1.25-inch and 2-inch fittings.
4 Altair Lightwave 80mm

ED Doublet Refractor
Price £599 • Supplier Altair Astro
01263 731505 • www.altairastro.com
The f/6.25, 80mm ED Doublet is designed for
portability, weighing just 3kg. It features a
dual-speed, rack-and-pinion focuser, an
interface for attaching a DSLR or CCD camera,
and comes in a padded aluminium carry case.
5 Ariel 1 Stamp Sett

Price £5.30 • Supplier Royal
al Mail 6
08457 740740 • www.royalmail.com
yalmail.com
3 To celebrate the 50th anniversary ersary of the launch
of Britain’s first satellite, Ariel
el 1, Royal Mail has
released a set of six stamps showing high-
resolution images of the Solar ar System.
6 Orion StarShoot Deep

mera II
Space Video Camera
Price £499 • Supplier SCS Astro
01823 665510 • www.scsastro.co.uk
astro.co.uk
Suitable for both Mac and Windows users,
this colour video camera is optimised for the
brightest deep-sky objects, but
ut can capture
great solar, planetary and lunar
unar images too.
100_Sky90_gear.indd 103 27/09/2012 10:54

WHAT’S ON NOVEMBER 101
EVENTS BY REGION…
What’s on
Astronomy-themed events around the British Isles
SCOTLAND and IRELAND
TALK: WHY STARS SHINE
Mike Lulan; Moray AC SIGMA, Birnie Village Hall,
Thomshill, nr Elgin; 2 November at 7.30pm; free
for members, visitors welcome; call 01466 771371;
www.sigma-astro.co.uk
TALK: SURGERY ON TELESCOPES

AS Edinburgh, United Church, 41 George IV Bridge,
P IC K Edinburgh; 2 November at 8pm; free for all;
OF THE email secretary@astronomyedinburgh.org;
Hooray for Herschel MONTH www.astronomyedinburgh.org
University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, 14 November, 5.30pm TALK: HOW SOLAR ACTIVITY AFFECTS
OUR CLIMATE
Dr Ian Elliott; Galway AC, Westwood House Hotel,
N59 Galway-Clifden Road; 5 November at 7.30pm;
free for members, visitors €2; email
galwayastronomyclub@gmail.com;
www.galwayastronomyclub.ie
TALK: MERCURY
Pauline Macrae; Highlands AS, Smithton-Culloden
Free Church, Murray Road, Smithton; 6 November
at 7.30pm; free for members, visitors welcome;
email michaelmarettcrosby@gmail.com;
www.spacegazer.com
TALK: THOMAS DICK

Dr Dave Gavine; Clydesdale AS, The Bankhall,
Climpy Road, Forth; 12 November at 7.30pm;
email clydesdaleastro@hotmail.co.uk;
www.clydesdaleastro.org.uk
TALK: MARS SCIENCE LABORATORY

Kevin Nolan; Galway AC, Westwood House Hotel,
N59 Galway-Clifden Road; 14 November at
7.30pm; free for members, visitors €2; email
galwayastronomyclub@gmail.com;
www.galwayastronomyclub.ie
Learn all about the Herschel Space Observatory – the biggest space telescope launched to date NORTH
PLANETARIUM SHOWS
The Herschel Space Observatory is the a historical overview of far-infrared Life Science Centre, Newcastle upon Tyne; daily
largest telescope ever to be launched into astronomy from space, a discussion of the throughout November; adults £9.95, children
orbit. Over the past two years, it has challenges of assembling and launching a £6.95; email info@life.org.uk; www.life.org.uk
observed events from the early Universe major space observatory, and an in-depth
TALK: THE ORDER OF THE PLANETS
dating back as far as 10 billion years. With look at how the telescope’s instruments
Prof Jamie Gilmour; Derby and District AS; Friends’
that in mind, isn’t it about time this were built. After the seminar there’ll be an Meeting House, St Helen’s Street, Derby;
incredible engineering achievement was opportunity to put your views and questions 2 November at 7.30pm; members £1, visitors
celebrated? If you head down to Hatfield to the speakers in a chaired discussion. £3; email secretary@derbyastronomy.org;
on 14 November that’s exactly what you’ll be It kicks off at 5.30pm with a light buffet. www.derbyastronomy.org
able to do. Organised by the East of England Although the event costs nothing, you do
Engineering Science and Technology need to book ahead. TALK: MATTER BETWEEN THE STARS
– THE INTERSTELLAR MEDIUM
Association, this free event aims to provide www.eeesta.org.uk/seminars.php
Dr Paul Ruffle; Bradford AS, Eccleshill Library,
Bolton Road, Bradford; 5 November at 7.30pm;
free for members, visitors £2; email johnbards@
BEHIND THE SCENES blueyonder.co.uk; www.bradfordastronomy.co.uk
THE SKY AT NIGHT IN NOVEMBER ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
One, 4 November, around midnight Blackpool and District AS, St Kentigern’s Church
(repeated Four, 5 November, 8pm; Hall; 7 November at 7.30pm; email info@
blackpoolastronomy.org.uk;
and Two, 10 November, midday)*
www.blackpoolastronomy.org.uk
THE STORY OF STUFF
TALK: IMAGING FROM LANCASHIRE
Patrick Moore, Chris Lintott and Chris David Ratledge; Salford AS, Room 115,
North find out what our Universe is made Maxwell Building, University of Salford, The
NASA/ESA/STSCI, THINKSTOCK
of, from dark matter on the grand scale to Crescent, Salford; 7 November at 7.30pm;
subatomic particles on the small. Pete free for members, visitors welcome; email
Lawrence and Paul Abel show us how to publicity@salfordastro.org.uk;
www.salfordastro.org.uk
use a planisphere and what objects you can
tick off on ‘The Moore Winter Marathon’.
We once thought it impossible to split the atom;
*Check www.radiotimes.com as times may vary now we know there are many smaller particles TURN OVER FOR MORE EVENTS f
101-103_Sky90_whatson.indd 1 01/10/2012 12:21

102
7.30pm; free for members, visitors welcome; email

mike.whitecross@astro.org.uk; www.astro.org.uk
TYNTESFIELD ESTATE STAR PARTY TALK: WEBCAM IMAGING

Michael Morris; Bromsgrove AS, Bromsgrove Rugby
Tyntesfield, Wraxall, Bristol, one date between Club; 19 November at 7.30pm; free for members,
8-15 November (tbc) visitors welcome; call Paul on 01527 908331;
www.broms-astro.org.uk
Just 15km from Bristol is Tyntesfield Estate,
OBSERVING NIGHT
a National Trust property on the outskirts Northants AA, The Lamb, 24 Orlingbury Road, Little
of the city. As well as Victorian Gothic Harrowden; 27 November at 7.45pm; free for
architecture, the estate is also a fantastic members, visitors welcome; email janegillsmills@
place to encounter dark skies. This hasn’t yahoo.co.uk; www.naastronomy.com
gone unnoticed by the Bristol Astronomical
TALK: FASTER THAN LIGHT GALAXIES
Society, who will be holding another of Dark skies await in Bristol’s Tyntesfield Estate Prof Robert Lambourne; Heart of England AS, Old
their popular star parties in its grounds this BT Telephone Exchange, Furnace End, Shustoke;
November. With a wide range of telescopes register your interest in advance and you’ll 29 November at 8.30pm; free for members,
and binoculars provided, this star party receive an email confirming an exact date. visitors welcome; email hoeas@tiscali.co.uk;
is a great way to introduce fledgling Tickets cost £5, booking essential. Call the www.hoeas.co.uk
astronomers to the wonders of the night National Trust on 01275 461 964 or email.
sky. The event is weather dependent, so amy.underwoodthompson@nationaltrust.org.uk
EAST ANGLIA
TALK: LIGHT
Bill Violen; Clacton and District AA, Friends’ Meeting
House, Granville Road, Clacton; 1 November at
7.30pm; free for members, visitors £2; email
pugh-d@sky.com; www.clactonastronomy.co.uk
LEEDS ASTROMEET 2012 Church, Hebden Bridge; 21 November at 7.30pm;
Leeds AS, School of Music, Leeds University; free for members, visitors £3; email len.entwisle@ OBSERVING EVENING
10 November at 10am; £10; email info@ btopenworld.com; www.hbas.org.uk St Neots AA, Little Paxton Nature Reserve;
leedsastronomy.org.uk; www.leedsastronomy.org.uk 5 November at 7.30pm; free for members, visitors
MIDLANDS welcome; email nick@snaa.co.uk; www.snaa.co.uk
TALK: LOFAR – A RADIO DISH THE SIZE OF SPACE NOW EXHIBITION
WESTERN EUROPE National Space Centre, Exploration Drive, Leicester; TALK: SATURN – FROM GALILEO TO
Dr Ed Daw; Sheffield AS, Mayfield Environmental daily throughout November (not Mondays); SPACE PROBES
Centre, David Lane, Fulwood; 12 November at adults £13, concs £11; cxall 0116 261 0261; Tony Dagnall; Stour AS, Memorial Hall, Cavendish,
7.45pm; free for members, visitors £3; email info@ www.spacecentre.co.uk Suffolk; 6 November at 7.30pm; free for
sheffieldastro.org.uk; www.sheffieldastro.org.uk members, visitors £1.50; email secretary@
PUBLIC STARGAZING SESSION stourastro.org.uk; www.stourastro.org.uk
TALK: BLACK HOLES, QUASARS AND Geoff Mansfield; Heart of England AS, Kingsbury
GALAXY FORMATION Water Park; 2 November at 8pm; free for QUIZ NIGHT
Prof Clive Tadhunter; Hull and East Riding AS, members, visitors welcome; email Breckland AS, Great Ellingham Village Hall;
Wilberforce Building, University of Hull, Cottingham hoeas@tiscali.co.uk; www.hoeas.co.uk 9 November at 7.30pm; free for members, visitors
Road; 12 November at 7.30pm; free for welcome; email newsletter@brecklandastro.org.uk;
members, visitors £1.50; email mark.heras@ TALK: THE LARGE HADRON COLLIDER www.brecklandastro.org.uk
merrydowncontrolware.co.uk; www.heras.org.uk Dr David Evans; Redditch AS, St Augustine’s School,
Hunt End, Redditch; 5 November at 7pm; free for STARFEST II
TALK: WHAT’S THE MATTER WITH ANTIMATTER members, visitors welcome; email membership@ > See ‘Essex Starfest returns’, right;
Chris Parkes; West Didsbury AS, William Hulme redditch-astro.org.uk; www.redditch-astro.org.uk 10 November at 9am
Grammar School, Manchester; 12 November at
7pm; free for members, visitors welcome; email TALK: THE FERMI PARADOX TALK: WHAT IS THE UNIVERSE?
cjpj_43@yahoo.co.uk; www.wdas2.com Dr Simon Goodwin; Knowle AS, St George and St Andy Gardner; Norwich AS, Seething Observatory,
Teresa RC Church Hall, 337 Station Road, Dorridge; Toad Lane, Thwaite St Mary; 16 and 17 November
TALK: WEATHERING SOLAR STORMS 5 November at 8pm; free for members, visitors at 7.30pm; members £2, visitors £3, children
Dr Jim Wild; Leeds AS, Friends’ House, Woodhouse £3; email janet.hilton@physics.org; http://sites. £1.50; email dasilvor@rarius.co.uk; www.norwich.
Lane; 14 November at 7pm; free for members, google.com/site/knowleastro/home astronomicalsociety.org.uk
visitors welcome; email info@leedsastronomy.org.uk;
www.leedsastronomy.org.uk TALK: VOLCANISM WALES
Derek Wilby; North Staffs AS, 21st Hartshill Scout TALK: 50 GREATEST ASTRONOMICAL IMAGES
TALK: THE GODDARD SPACE CENTRE Group HQ, Mount Pleasant, Newcastle-Under-Lyme; Prof Mike Edmunds; Cardiff AS, Cardiff University
Dr Lee Sproats; Mexborough and Swinton AS, 6 November at 7pm; free for members, visitors Dept of Physics and Astronomy, 5 The Parade,
Swinton Working Men’s Club, Station Street; welcome; email secretary@northstaffsas.co.uk; Newport Rd; 1 November at 7.30pm; free for
15 November at 7.45pm; free for members, visitors www.northstaffsas.co.uk members, visitors welcome; email secretary@
welcome; call 01709 584217; http://msas.org.uk cardiff-astronomical-society.co.uk; www.cardiff-
TALK: EXPLORING THE STARS WITH THE astronomical-society.co.uk
TALK: THE VOYAGE TO NEW HORIZONS NASA KEPLER MISSION
Chris Suddick; Liverpool AS, The Quaker Meeting Dr Bill Chaplin; Coventry and Warwickshire AS, TALK: THE HUNT FOR EXOPLANETS
House, School Lane, Liverpool; 16 November at Methodist Church Hall, Earlsdon, Coventry; Robert Woodman, Preseli AG, Letterston Memorial
7pm; free for members, visitors welcome; email 9 November at 7.15pm; email cov_wark_as@ Hall, Pembrokeshire; 6 November at 7pm; £2;
ggastro@liverpool.ac.uk; www.liverpoolas.org yahoo.co.uk; www.covastro.org.uk info@pasgroup.org.uk; www.pasgroup.org.uk
TALK: THE ASTRONOMY OF THE ANCIENTS SHORT TALKS BY MEMBERS TALK: A STAR IS BORN
Wendy Parkin; Bradford AS, Eccleshill Library, Melton and District AS, Gadesby Village Hall, Melton Ciara Quinn; Cardiff AS, Cardiff University Dept of
Bolton Road, Bradford; 19 November at 7.30pm; Mowbray; 9 November at 7.45pm; free for members, Physics and Astronomy, 5 The Parade, Newport Rd;
free for members, visitors £2; email johnbards@ visitors welcome; email mas@somerbyconners.plus. 15 November at 7.30pm; free for members, visitors
NATIONAL TRUST, BBC
blueyonder.co.uk; www.bradfordastronomy.co.uk com; www.facebook.com/MeltonAS welcome; email secretary@cardiff-astronomical-

society.co.uk; www.cardiff-astronomical-society.co.uk
TALK: OUR UNIVERSE – THE PIZZA THAT CLUB NIGHT
NOBODY ORDERED Stratford-Upon-Avon AS, Alderminster Village Hall, TALK: WHAT IS DARK ENERGY?
Dr Ruth Gregory; Hebden Bridge AS, Hope Baptist New Road, Alderminster; 16 November at Martin Griffiths; Swansea AS, Swansea University;
101-103_Sky90_whatson.indd 2 01/10/2012 12:21

WHAT’S ON NOVEMBER 103
22 November at 7pm; free for members, visitors High Street, Wadhurst; 17 November at 7.30pm; TALK: ASTROMETRY FOR AMATEUR AND
welcome; email contact@swanastro.org.uk; free for members, visitors £2; geoff@rathbone007. RESEARCH-GRADE INSTRUMENTS
www.swanastro.org.uk fsnet.co.uk; www.wadhurst.info/was Iain Melville; Wiltshire AS, Pavilion Hall, Rusty
Lane, Seend; 6 November at 8pm; members £1,
STAR PARTY TALK: THE HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE’S visitors welcome; email chappie.2@tiscali.co.uk;
Swansea AS, National Botanical Garden of Wales; AMAZING IMAGES AND WHAT THEY MEAN www.wasnet.co.uk
23 November at 6.30pm; free for all; email Dr Christian Knigge; Worthing AS, Emmanuel
contact@swanastro.org.uk; www.swanastro.org.uk United Reformed Church, Heene Rd, Worthing; TALK: THE LAS CUMBRES OBSERVATORY
19 November at 7.30pm; free for members, GLOBAL TELESCOPE NETWORK
SOUTH visitors £4; email g.boots@sky.com; Dr Ed Gomez; Torbay AS, Torquay Boys’ Grammar
TALK: THE DRAPERS www.worthing-astronomical-society.com School, Shiphay Manor Drive; 8 November at
Dr Allan Chapman; Guildford AS, University of 7.30pm; free for members, visitors £2; email
Surrey, Guildford; 1 November at 7.30pm; free TALK: THE DAY THEY LAUNCHED davidloveastro@gmail.com; www.halien.net/TAS
for members, visitors £3; email secretary@ A WOODPECKER
guildfordas.org; www.guildfordas.org Jerry Stone; Bedford AS, Bedford School, Bedford; STAR PARTY
21 November at 8pm; email newsletter@ > See ‘Tyntesfield Estate Star Party’, page 102;
TALK: WAS EINSTEIN 100 PER CENT RIGHT? bedsastro.org.uk; www.bedsastro.org.uk one date between 8-15 November, tbc
Prof Malcolm MacCallum; East Sussex AS, St
Mary’s School, Wrestwood Road, Bexhill-on-Sea; TALK: 20 YEARS OF SOLAR ECLIPSE WATCHING TALK: PRO-AM LIAISON IN ASTRONOMY
1 November at 6pm; visitors welcome; email Dr David Boyd; Basingstoke AS, Cliddesden Primary Guy Hurst; Tiverton and Mid-Devon AS, Blundell’s
simon.sallen@gmail.com; www.esas.org.uk School; 22 November at 7pm; free for members, Preparatory School, Tiverton; 9 November at
visitors welcome; email john.stapleton@tesco.net; 7.30pm; free for members, visitors £2; email
TALK: EXPLORATION OF MARS www.basingstokeas.org.uk nick@tivas.org.uk; www.tivas.org.uk
Prof Andrew Coates; Hampshire AG, Clanfield
Memorial Hall, South Lane, Clanfield; 9 November AGM AND ASTROMEET TALK: RIDDLES IN COSMOLOGY
at 7.45pm; free for members, visitors £2; email Milton Keynes AS, Rectory Cottages, Bletchley; Dick Cardy; Beckington AS, Beckington Baptist
andy.wakefield@powerworks.uk.com; www. 23 November at 8pm; free for members, Church Hall, Frome Road; 16 November at
hantsastro.org.uk visitors welcome; email publicity@mkas.org.uk; 7.30pm; email chairman@beckingtonas.org;
www.mkas.org.uk www.beckingtonas.org
COMETS AND CURRY
The Observatory, Herstmonceux, East Sussex; SOUTH WEST TALK: THE SEARCH FOR NOVAE
10 November at 7pm; entry £22.95, booking TALK: THE CASSINI/HUYGENS PROJECT AND SUPERNOVAE
essential; email info@the-observatory.org or call Prof John Zarnecki; Bristol AS, Bristol Grammar Guy Hurst; Crewkerne and District AS,
01323 832731; www.the-observatory.org School, Clifton; 2 November at 7.15pm; free for St Bartholomew’s Church Hall; 21 November at
members, visitors welcome; email cplee43@ 7.30pm; free for members, visitors welcome; email
TALK: GRB AND SWIFT btinternet.com; www.bristolastrosoc.org.uk mikekholland@yahoo.co.uk; www.cadas.net
Dr Phil Evans; Abingdon AS, All Saints Methodist
Church Hall, Dorchester Crescent, Abingdon; TALK: LATEST ADVANCES IN COSMOLOGY TALK: MARS REVISITED
12 November at 8pm; free for members, visitors Dr Stephen Sergeant; Wessex AS, Allendale Centre, Jerry Workman; Andover AS, Grately Village Hall;
welcome; email chris.c.holt@ntlworld.com; Wimborne; 6 November at 7.30pm; free for 22 November at 7.45pm; free for members, visitors
www.abingdonastro.org.uk members, visitors welcome; email jefferis333@ welcome; email webmaster@andoverastronomy.org.uk;
btinternet.com; www.wessex-astro.org.uk www.andoverastronomy.org.uk
TALK: VOLCANOES OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM
Dr Paul Olver; Farnham AS, Aldershot Cricket Club,
Guildford Road, Aldershot; 13 November at
7.30pm; free for members, visitors £2; email kevin.
pretorius@btinternet.com; www.farnham-as.co.uk
ESSEX STARFEST RETURNS
TALK: DISCOVERING THE UNIVERSE Alec Hunter Humanities College, Braintree,
> See ‘Hooray for Herschel’, page 101; Essex, 10 November, £13
14 November at 5.30pm
Following the success of last year’s event,
STARGAZING: VISITING LUNA the Starfest astronomy convention is back.
Baker Street Irregular Astronomers, The Hub, With its varied line-up of expert astronomy
Regent’s Park, London; 14 November at 6.30pm speakers – including Paul Abel discussing
(confirm via website); email ralph@bakerstreetastro.
black holes, Chris North celebrating the
org.uk; www.bakerstreetastro.org.uk
Herschel Space Observatory, Ian Ridpath
TALK: SALT, THE BIGGEST ONE DOWN UNDER exploring the Moon, Robin Scagell examining
Sean Ryan; Hertford AG, Hatfield Cricket Club, comets and Dave Eagle with a talk entitled
Ascots Lane, Welwyn Garden City; 14 November ‘Hitchhiking on a Ray of Light’ – there will
at 8pm; visitors welcome; email chair@hertsastro. be something for everyone. There will also
org.uk; www.hertsastro.org.uk
be displays of astrophotography, telescopes
TALK: GLOBAL WARMING and more. The day’s activities begin at 9am. The Sky at Night reporter Paul Abel is one
Frazer Pearce; Ewell AS, Nonsuch Girls School, www.neas.me.uk/starfest of several high-profile speakers at the event
Ewell Road, Cheam; 16 November at 7.45pm;
email ewellastro@gmail.com;
www.ewellastronomicalsociety.com
ASTRONOMY EVENTS EMAIL
TALK: DIGITAL IMAGES AND IMAGING
Nik Szymanek; Reading AS, St Peter’s Church Hall, To ensure that your talks, observing evenings and star parties are publicised in
Earley, Reading; 17 November at 7pm; free for Sky at Night Magazine, please send the details to the following email address
members, visitors welcome; email info@ at least two months in advance of publication:
readingastro.org.uk; www.readingastro.org.uk
TALK: EARLY PIONEERS OF ASTRONOMY events@skyatnightmagazine.com

Jan Drodz; Wadhurst AS, Methodist Church, Lower
f For more society events, visit http://forum.skyatnightmagazine.com or http://fedastro.org.uk

101-103_Sky90_whatson.indd 3 01/10/2012 12:21

T: (+44) 01904 32 22 41
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For information on Solarscope filters Contact: Ken Huggett
07624 435572 info@solarscope.co.uk www.solarscope.co.uk

GLOSSARY NOVEMBER 105
Glossary
Asterism expansion of the Universe
A recognisable pattern formed to accelerate.
by a group of stars, which
aren’t necessarily in the same Ecliptic
constellation. One of the most The apparent path of the Sun
famous examples is the Plough. across the sky over the course
of a year, which is mapped
Asteroid onto the celestial sphere. It’s the
An irregular rocky or ‘apparent path’ because For a comprehensive astronomy dictionary
metallic body left over from the Sun moves due to our visit www.skyatnightmagazine.com
the formation of the Solar perspective changing as Earth
If you come across an astronomical term that’s not listed on this
System. Many reside in progresses in its orbit. page, you may well find it on our website. From ‘accretion disc’ to
the ‘belt’ that lies between ‘vignetting’, you’ll find over 450 entries in our online dictionary.
Mars and Jupiter. Exoplanet
A world that orbits a star
Astronomical unit outside of our Solar System. Habitable zone streaks to appear in the sky.
A measure of length, The word is a contraction of The region around a star where They’re popularly known
abbreviated to AU. One AU ‘extrasolar planet’. the temperature is not too hot as ‘shooting stars’.
is equivalent to the average or cold for a planet within it to
distance between Earth and Fireball have liquid water on its surface. Optical double star
the Sun, which is roughly An extremely bright meteor Popularly known as the A pair of stars that appear to be
150 million km. with an apparent magnitude Goldilocks Zone because its close to each other in the sky,
that is greater than Venus. temperature is ‘just right’. but are actually not related at
Averted vision These are easily visible to all. They only seem close because
A technique for observing the naked eye and often leave Libration they lie near each other along
faint objects through a a trail. They can be part of The apparent wobble of the our line of sight from Earth.
telescope. It involves regular meteor showers or Moon as it goes around the
viewing slightly to the side independent of them entirely. Earth. Libration allows us Penumbra
of the object, allowing its to see a little more than half The lighter shadow cast by an
light to fall on an area of the Focal length of the Moon’s disc. eclipsing body during a partial
eye more sensitive to light. The distance between a eclipse; also the outer region
telescope’s primary lens or Lunar occultation of a sunspot group.
Azimuth mirror and the point at which An event where the Moon
A horizontal measurement an image is brought into focus. appears to pass in front of Solar mass
used to locate the position another celestial body, hiding A unit used to measure the
of an object in the sky. Focal ratio (f/number) it from our view on Earth. mass of stars and other large
Azimuth is measured A telescope’s focal length bodies. One solar mass is equal
clockwise from north and divided by its aperture, in the Magnitude to approximately 2x1030kg.
spans 360° around you. same units. The f/number tells The brightness of an
you how ‘fast’ or ‘slow’ a scope astronomical body. The Terminator
Celestial sphere is – fast scopes (f/4 or lower) are lower the number, the The line on a planet or moon
The name given to the good for imaging faint objects, brighter the object is. that divides the sunlit side
projection of the night sky onto while slow scopes Magnitudes brighter than and the dark side.
an imaginary sphere around (f/9 or higher) are better for 0 are represented with a
the Earth. The astronomical lunar and planetary imaging. negative number. Variable star
co-ordinates of right ascension A stellar body whose brightness
and declination are mapped Foreshortening Meteor fluctuates over a period of hours,
onto this sphere. An optical effect where circular A small piece of space days, weeks or even years. The
objects such as lunar craters debris, typically the size of reasons for the fluctuations are
Dark energy appear to be elliptical in shape, a grain of sand, that enters varied, such as another star
The mysterious force that a result of the angle that we Earth’s atmosphere. Heating eclipsing it or shells of gas and
appears to be causing the view them from. causes it to glow, causing dust being ejected.
105_Sky90_glossary.indd 1 01/10/2012 14:32

106 EXPERT INTERVIEW NOVEMBER
WHAT I REALLY WANT TO KNOW IS…

How can we map the surfaces of planets?
Paul Tar reveals how new automated software will help
scientists check the lay of the land on other worlds
INTERVIEWED BY PAUL SUTHERLAND
M
any thousands of photos are flooding predict how well our technique will work on an
back from space probes orbiting image-by-image basis without knowing what the
the Moon, Mars, Mercury correct answers should be.
and the asteroids. We The estimation of errors and how they
now have high-resolution images spread is something that physicists
covering vast areas of the surfaces do all the time. We have taken
of these worlds. The problem statistical techniques that they
is that there simply aren’t use and applied them to
enough trained planetary image data. The result is that
science researchers to look even though the software
at each and every image to will still make mistakes, it
analyse them. will be intelligent enough
To make matters to see where these
worse, there is no sources of uncertainty
really trustworthy will be coming from.
automated solution Then it will be able to
to take the burden off automatically assess how
researchers. Instead, you well it did in practice.
end up relying on citizen That is important to give
science projects like Moon researchers the confidence
Zoo. That has been very to use these methods. If the
successful, though it has been software isn’t able to analyse a
limited to counting craters and very complicated scene, with a
the relative abundance of boulders whole bunch of features it’s never
on the lunar surface. seen before, it will be smart enough
A hypothetical Mars Zoo would be to say, “I’m having trouble analysing this
a whole different ball game, because there image.” Other software would simply do its
are so many different features on the Red Planet best to give a result anyway.
– such as sand dunes, and all sorts of fissures and This image from NASA’s After three years, the project is still a work in
drainage networks. It would be difficult for an Mars Reconnaissance progress, but we hope to get the first applications
untrained member of the public to categorise and Orbiter shows rivers and up and running in the next few months. One
measure what these images contain. So while Moon channels on Mars. The application will be crater-counting, because that
system developed by Paul
Zoo is great, it is difficult to apply to places that have is a very good way of identifying relative ages of
Tar and colleagues aims
more complicated ground features. to identify such features in planetary surfaces – the more craters, the older the
images automatically surface. You could apply that to planets, moons or
Totally automatic asteroids. It is a case of tailoring the software to
Automated solutions are not a new idea. Many different targets once it is fi nished.
have been proposed, particularly for such tasks as In the long term, one thing we would like to do
counting craters, and detecting fissures and channel with it is plug in the entire surface of Mars and
structures. However, none of them has been widely search for all of the river networks. Such a task
adopted because, to put it plainly, researchers don’t ABOUT PAUL TAR
would take humans a long time, but if we can map
trust them. An automated analysis tool will always Paul Tar has a background out the locations of all the drainage channels, that
make mistakes. There is no getting around that, but in teaching computing and would be very useful. These channels dried up 3-4
ESA/ DLR/ FU BERLIN (G. NEUKUM)
the image analysis software we’re developing will is currently a PhD student billion years ago. Water runs downhill, so if we
handle such errors in a fundamentally different way. at the School of Earth, find any rivers that appear to point in the wrong
When analysing something as complicated as Atmospheric and direction, that would be evidence of tectonic activity
Environmental Sciences
the surface of Mars, there is no guarantee that where areas of the surface have been uplifted.
at the University of
previous estimates for errors will apply to previously Manchester. You can find If it can achieve results like that, this planet-
unseen images. What our team at the University of his Map The Planets project mapping software could be a really valuable tool to
Manchester has done is develop a system that can on Facebook. help us better understand the Solar System. S
106_Sky90_WIRK.indd 1 27/09/2012 11:01

SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE IN NOVEMBER
With Glenn Dawes
WHEN TO USE THIS CHART > 1 November 00:00
N
O
The chart accurately matches the sky on the dates and times shown. RT
The sky is different at other times as stars crossing it set four minutes > 15 November 23:00 URIG
H
M A
E
earlier each night. We’ve drawn the chart for latitude –35° south. > 30 November 22:00 36
AS
T
M
37
NOVEMBER HIGHLIGHTS STARS AND CONSTELLATIONS β
M3
On the morning of 14 November a The large constellation of Cetus, the
5
total eclipse of the Sun will be visible Whale, is due north in November’s
from northeastern Australia. Due to ease of evening skies. It’s most obvious feature is
access, most observers will be near to where the ‘Head of Cetus’, a group of six stars 4th
δ
the centre line leaves the mainland, between arranged in a pentagon shape, to the left
Betelgeuse
GE
M
γ
Cairns and Port Douglas in Queensland. (west) of Taurus. Its brightest members are IN
I
Beginning at sunrise, with totality only an mag. +2.5 Alpha (α) Ceti, in the upper right,
hour later at 6.40am EST, the Sun will be and mag. +3.6 Gamma (γ) Ceti in the top
α
Christma
s Tree
low in the east. Totality lasts for about two centre position, with the dimmest of the six Wi
C
nte
AN
minutes. Remember, only at totality can the mag. +4.8. The remainder of Cetus is made r Tr
β
ian Rosette
gle
IS
Sun be observed with unprotected eyes. The up of mostly faint stars, extending almost to
M
MIN
78
rest of Australia will see good partial phases. the zenith from mid-latitude Australia.
ORION
OR
roc P
α
γ
yon
THE PLANETS
β
M5
Mercury’s evening apparition ends Jupiter arrives around the end of twilight
Siri
around the middle of the month as it and is well placed later in the evening and
us
EAST
disappears into the bright twilight. Also see early morning. Venus rises near the start
α
M
O
β
NO
CANIS MAJO
γ
if you can catch Mars before it sets at around of dawn at around 4am. Saturn also returns
M4
CE
7
RO
M4
9.30pm. This is also a great time to claim to the dawn sky, rising up to meet Venus at
M
S
8
41
Neptune and Uranus in the northern sky. the end of November.
δ
R
DEEP-SKY OBJECTS
This month’s targets reside in Cetus, NGC 1055 (RA 02h 41.7m, dec. +00° 26’).
PUPPIS
and the ‘head’ mentioned above is This faint 4-arcminute streak can be
a good starting point. Gamma (γ) difficult to spot, but makes a
Gu
Ceti (RA 02h 43.3m, dec. +03° distinctive equilateral triangle
m
11
14’) is a great double star for with two others stars, one
γ
small scopes, its mag. +3.6 mag. +6.9 and the other mag.
α
PYX
and mag. +6.2 components +7.6. About 0.5° southeast IS γ
β
separated by 2.8 arcseconds. lies face-on galaxy M77

(RA 02h 42.7m, dec. –00° 01’),
Shift your gaze upwards shown left. Only the central
by 3° to reach mag. +4.1 region is visible, showing a
VE
Delta (δ) Ceti. Only 0.6° east of nearly circular, 3-arcminute wide
LA
here is mag. +10.6 edge-on galaxy haze brightening to a 1-arcminute wide core.
SO
CHART KEY
UT
H EA
STAR T
S
GALAXY DIFFUSE ASTEROID BRIGHTNESS: Ge

NEBULOSITY TRACK MAG. 0
OPEN CLUSTER & BRIGHTER
DOUBLE STAR METEOR
MAG. +1
GLOBULAR RADIANT
MAG. +2
CLUSTER
NOAO/AURA/NSF
VARIABLE STAR QUASAR MAG. +3

PLANETARY
MAG. +4
NEBULA COMET TRACK PLANET & FAINTER
108-109_Sky90_Southern Hemisphere.indd 1 01/10/2012 14:01

SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE
NORTH
α
Capella
δ
Almach
α A
PERSEUS ED
M110
M
O
M34
M31 DR T
β
γ
A N ES
Al
32 HW
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lifo β NG β
rni γ
aN
TRIANGULUM S
ula
eb
δ GASU PE
Ple
3
iad
M3
α
ma hera
tz
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β Ha Alp β
1st
α β
28th ARIE
S
Jupiter γ
V
δ TAURUS tic 5th
Aldebaran Eclip 2
Pegasus of
α γ γ uarre
Great Sq
Hyades
B
r
nka
kab
Mar
l
α
Me
α
δ
γ
NGC 1055 S clet

Alrescha CE Cir
uator
δ
Celestial Eq M Uranus PIS

W
77
ο
γ
Mirror
δ
M15
of Ven CETUS
us el
β
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M
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nd W
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ORION
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Neptune
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γ
PISCIS US
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α HO
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β
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AUST
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δ β LMC β ula CAPRICORNUS

b
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Tuca
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108-109_Sky90_Southern Hemisphere.indd 2 01/10/2012 14:02

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TAKE SHARPER PLANET SHOTS: INTRODUCING THE ADC

THE BIGGEST NAME

Sky at Night IN ASTRONOMY

How your observations will help a

Out of the aether

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The bulbous, blue interior of this composite

Contained within the Large Magellanic Cloud

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Mount Sharp looms high on the horizon

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Green with envy

There are only a few people lucky enough to see

Saturn’s indigo and ochre hues are undergoing a seasonal change.

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Physicists are using data from the South

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Mars Science Laboratory limbers News in brief

stretched out orbits,

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MOON’S SHACKLETON News in brief

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CUTTING EDGE Our experts examine the hottest new research

Seeing the Milky Way’s structure

Inspired by its twists and turns, or perhaps having

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The star system, shown in this

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CUTTING EDGE Our experts examine the hottest new research

Has Earth life colonised the Solar System?

scenarios, a signiﬁcant fraction of the ejected material

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Gaia survives its deep freeze News in brief

the shredded remains of

HELICAL GAS CLOUD central black hole – now

SEEN IN OUR GALAXY says team leader Ruth

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source of stellar energy, Still in the dark

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believed, and Lowell’s picture was generally discarded

Wanted: a new Newton

whole. This is where we come up against what is so

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