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Online Content Code: ASY2112
Enter this code at: www.astronomy.com/code DECEMBER 2021
to gain access to web-exclusive content VOL. 49, NO. 12
CONTENTS 24 ON THE COVER

Saturn, our most beautiful planet,
leads a parade of discoveries
about the solar system. NASA/JPL
FEATURES
16 COVER STORY 40 48 COLUMNS
Cosmic tour of Double down on Unveiling the clouds Strange Universe 12
the planets double stars of Venus BOB BERMAN
With thousands of exotic Roughly half the sky’s stars Venusian clouds have mystified
exoplanets known, the worlds have a partner. Here are astronomers for decades. But Observing Basics 13
of our solar system may seem some of the most famous, recent attempts to explain GLENN CHAPLE
rather dull. Trust us, they’re colorful, and compelling pairs. them have led to tantalizing Secret Sky 14
not. JAKE PARKS RAYMOND SHUBINSKI prospects. WILLIAM SHEEHAN STEPHEN JAMES O’MEARA
Binocular Universe 60
24 44 54 PHIL HARRINGTON
How to swallow a star A total solar eclipse Defining time
When a star disappears down over Antarctica Even though time has existed
the throat of a black hole, the To chase down the Moon’s since the beginning of, well, 7
flash is just the start of the shadow this month, you’ll time, it was still necessary to
QUANTUM GRAVITY
show. YVETTE CENDES need to put yourself on ice. invent it. RAYMOND SHUBINSKI
Everything you need to
MICHAEL E. BAKICH
know about the universe
32 58 this month: An asteroid
Sky This Month Capture the sky with that fizzles, Perseverance
Venus shines bright. Stellarvue’s SVX 102T collects its first samples,
MARTIN RATCLIFFE AND This scope is perfect for
the Milky Way’s broken
ALISTER LING astrophotographers and visual
arm, and more!
observers alike. TONY HALLAS
34
StarDome and 62 IN EVERY ISSUE
Paths of the Planets Ask Astro
From the Editor 5
RICHARD TALCOTT; Rocket fuel.
ILLUSTRATIONS BY ROEN KELLY Astro Letters 6
New Products 61
Advertiser Index 61
Reader Gallery 64
Breakthrough 66
ONLINE
FAVORITES My Science Trips and Sky This Ask Astro Astronomy (ISSN 0091-6358, USPS 531-350)
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4 ASTRONOMY • DECEMBER 2021

FROM THE EDITOR
Editor David J. Eicher
Close look at Assistant Design Director Kelly Katlaps
EDITORIAL
Senior Editor Mark Zastrow
Production Editor Elisa R. Neckar
the planets Senior Associate Editor Alison Klesman

Associate Editor Jake Parks
Associate Editor Caitlyn Buongiorno
Editorial Assistant Hailey McLaughlin
ART
Often we look deep into Illustrator Roen Kelly
space for the latest find- Production Specialist Jodi Jeranek
ings beyond our home CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Michael E. Bakich, Bob Berman, Adam Block,
turf. But this is also a golden age of Glenn F. Chaple Jr., Martin George, Tony Hallas,
discovery and understanding of the Phil Harrington, Korey Haynes, Jeff Hester, Alister Ling,
Stephen James O’Meara, Martin Ratcliffe, Raymond Shubinski,
solar system. In this issue, we pause Richard Talcott
to consider the magnificent vault of EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD
knowledge scientists have gained in Buzz Aldrin, Marcia Bartusiak, Jim Bell, Timothy Ferris,
Alex Filippenko, Adam Frank, John S. Gallagher lll,
recent times. Associate Editor Jake Daniel W. E. Green, William K. Hartmann, Paul Hodge,
Parks summarizes this storehouse Edward Kolb, Stephen P. Maran, Brian May, S. Alan Stern,
James Trefil
of research in his “Cosmic tour of
the planets” (page 16).
Kalmbach Media
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Of course, life would never have Chief Executive Officer Dan Hickey
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planetary adventures
await. NASA/JOSHUA STEVENS about 4.6 billion years ago. What we know of the formation of our Vice President, Operations Brian J. Schmidt
Vice President, Human Resources Sarah A. Horner
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WWW. ASTRONOMY.COM 5
ASTRO LET TERS
A new light on Apollo there and not just written about Arecibo. In fact
I’ve been enjoying your 50th (though I am not a scientist), when I read the article, I
anniversary article series on the found myself crying a bit along with Daniel Altschuler’s
Apollo lunar landings these last account. A superlative and moving article! Keep up this
several years. Many of the his- excellent publication. — Robert Walty, Stephens City, VA
torical details and photographs
are new to me, and the two
essays in the July issue on Apollo Predicting the future
15 did not disappoint. The photo Very nice coverage of NASA’s current Perseverance and
of the crescent Earth rising Ingenuity missions. As it happens, I recently watched
Crew members of above the Moon’s limb, which I the 2000 movie Red Planet. The mission included a
Apollo 15 on the first had never seen before, was mesmerizing. Thank you for rover with a helicopter. The rover was more like a
lunar rover. NASA
sharing it with us! — Justin Soutar, Goshen, VA robotic panther, but the helicopter was a dead ringer
for Ingenuity. Was sci-fi predicting the future again?
We welcome
— Jay Kaknes, Stowe, VT
your comments
at Astronomy Letters, Farewell, Arecibo Arecibo Observatory
THE RISE AND FALL
In this oral history, researcher
Your article in the August

s
P.O. Box 1612,

chronicle the telescope’s
brilliant
career, its devastating collapse,
and the legacy it leaves behind.
BY MARK ZASTROW
Waukesha, WI 53187; issue on the Arecibo Corrections

or email to letters@ Observatory was excellent! Our September story “The next 20 years of solar eclipses”
astronomy.com .
I usually like the hard sci- listed the wrong information for the Dec. 4, 2021 eclipse.
Please include your
name, city, state, and
ence articles, but this one (The information provided was for the Dec. 14, 2020,
country. Letters may showed the very human side of doing astronomy in total solar eclipse.) The Dec. 4, 2021, eclipse will be total
be edited for space an observatory family. It was wonderful that the article only over Antarctica and the nearby ocean; see “A total
and clarity. was based upon the observations of the actual scientists solar eclipse over Antarctica” on page 44.
PIECE TOGETHER
THE UNIVERSE
Unlock the beauty and mystery of space with jigsaw puzzles from Astronomy
magazine! Each puzzle features stunning photography of iconic moments,
galaxies, and more.
Order now!
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P39593

QG QUANTUM GRAVITY
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE UNIVERSE THIS MONTH
SNAPSHOT
MARTIAN
STRING OF
CRATERS
ESA captures a
trio of impact
craters.
Unlike Earth, the surface of
Mars is rife with large, obvi-
ous impact craters. Estimates
point to at least a quarter
of a million such craters on
the Red Planet. And with no
plate tectonics, imperfections
on Mars stick around for a
lot longer than they do here
on Earth.
This orderly collection of
craters sits in Mars’ Lunae
Planum, known for its rough
terrain. Large lava deposits
CREDITS: ESA/ROSCOSMOS/CASSIS. BOTTOM FROM LEFT: AIP/ J. FOHLMEISTER; UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY; BOEING
fill the region, likely spewed

from the nearby Tharsis
Montes volcanic region. The
youngest volcanoes located
there were last active as
recently as a few million
years ago. Some research
even suggests the area may
just be dormant for now
and could erupt again in the
future. The triplet of craters
in this picture, taken by the
Colour and Stereo Surface
Imaging System camera on HOT STANDING CLEAR HER WATCH HAS STUCK IN PLACE
An uncrewed
the European Space Agency BYTES Research suggests
that red dwarfs’ most
ENDED
The preeminent comet- demonstration flight
and Roscosmos’ ExoMars hazardous flares erupt and asteroid-hunter of Boeing’s Starliner
Trace Gas Orbiter, even bear mostly from their poles. Carolyn Shoemaker spacecraft was
evidence of the serial lava This would mean the died Aug. 13 at age postponed after some
flows on their inner rims. flares miss exoplanets 92. Among her finds of the craft’s propellant
that orbit in the stars’ was Comet D/1993 valves became stuck
— CAITLYN BUONGIORNO
equatorial planes, F2 (Shoemaker-Levy Aug. 3. The capsule
improving those 9), which famously was pulled from the
planets’ prospects for smashed into Jupiter launch pad Aug. 13 for
hosting life. in 1994. further investigation.
QUANTUM GRAVITY
SODIUM MAY MAKE ASTEROID

PHAETHON FIZZLE Bubbly sodium could explain this
asteroid’s cometlike behavior.
SALTY BUBBLES. As Phaethon speeds closer

to the Sun, our star heats it. This causes the
sodium just under the surface to vaporize,
brightening the asteroid and leaving a trail of
loose debris in its wake, as shown in this
artist’s concept. NASA/JPL-CALTECH/IPAC
The Geminid meteor shower is comet’s dust and rock, which is usually Mercury’s orbit. At that distance, the
best known for the reliable show the debris that fuels meteor showers. Sun heats the asteroid’s surface to about
it puts on during the winter holiday But asteroids like Phaethon are made 1,390 degrees Fahrenheit (750 degrees
season. But the event is also unique of rock and metal, with little or no ice, Celsius). Any water, carbon dioxide, or
because it stems not from a comet but leaving scientists to search for a differ- carbon monoxide ices just under the
from an asteroid: 3200 Phaethon. ent explanation for Phaethon’s comet- surface would have evaporated long ago,
Phaethon’s true nature has puzzled like behavior. In a study published Aug. but sodium — an element abundant in
astronomers for more than 10 years, 16 in The Planetary Science Journal, asteroids — still could be fizzling just
ever since they discovered that it researchers reported that they may have under its surface.
brightens dramatically and expels dust finally uncovered the culprit: sodium. A steady bubbling of sodium would
when it nears the Sun. That kind of explain why Phaethon brightens as it
behavior is usually reserved for comets. A FIZZY APPROACH approaches the Sun, as the resulting gas
When a comet’s path brings it through Aptly named after the son of the Sun and dust would scatter more sunlight. It
the inner solar system, the Sun warms god in Greek mythology, Phaethon has could also explain how the fuel for the
and vaporizes the ices on its surface, a 524-day orbit that brings it within just Geminids breaks off from Phaethon.
creating a bright tail extending up to 0.14 astronomical units (AU; where 1 “Asteroids like Phaethon have very
millions of miles behind it. Escaping AU is the average distance between the weak gravity, so it doesn’t take a lot of
vapor can also dislodge some of the Earth and Sun) of our star, well within force to kick debris from the surface

QUICK
TAKES
Earth in 1969 and may have originated
from an asteroid like Phaethon — to
NON-MAGNETIC MOON
the highest temperatures Phaethon The Moon likely never hosted a long-
experiences as it approaches the Sun. lived global magnetic field, according to
After subjecting them to heat for new analysis of Apollo rock samples as
three hours — equivalent to a day on old as 3.9 billion years. With no
fast-spinning Phaethon — the research- magnetosphere to ward off incoming
ers found that while other elements charged particles, the lunar soil may
remained, the sodium in the chips had have been enriched with resources
boiled away. deposited from space, such as Helium-3.
More data are needed to cement this
as the reason for Phaethon’s cometlike HIDDEN SUPERNOVA
WINTER SPECTACULAR. Geminid meteors behavior, including repeating the test in An analysis of 40 dusty galaxies
streak across the sky above Bill Evans Lake in
New Mexico in this long-exposure photograph. a vacuum to better simulate Phaethon’s observed in infrared by the Spitzer
Since first appearing in the mid-1800s, the environment. And although the Space Telescope revealed five
Geminids have become one of the most supernovae previously undetected in
productive meteor showers. This year, 150
researchers point out that this scenario
depends a lot on the minerals present visual observations. The study’s lead
meteors per hour are expected to be visible
under very dark skies. STEPHEN DORN within a given object, they suspect author says the results suggest optical
that it could be applied to other active surveys miss up to half of all supernovae.
or dislodge rock from a fracture,” said asteroids that have close approaches to
study co-author Björn Davidsson of the Sun. This study supports a grow- LAKE OR NO LAKE?
Many scientists thought Mars’ Gale
JPL in a press release. “Our models ing body of evidence that classifying
Crater, where NASA’s Curiosity rover
suggest that very small quantities of objects as either comets or asteroids
landed, hosted an ancient lake some
sodium are all that’s needed to do this.” may be too simple. As study lead 3 billion years ago. But a University of
To determine whether sodium could author, Caltech’s Joseph Masiero, put it, Hong Kong team says chemical patterns
indeed be the cause, the team heated “The spectrum between asteroids and in the rocks Curiosity found suggest the
chipped samples from the Allende comets [is] even more complex than we crater’s sediments were driven by winds
meteorite — an object that fell to previously realized.” — C.B. or volcanic activity, not carried by water.
MAUNA KEA OF THE EAST

Chinese astronomers hope to build a
SEEING ECHOES OF LIGHT world-class observing site near the
summit of Saishiteng Mountain in the
Tibetan Plateau. A three-year study
X-RAY: NASA/CXC/U.WISC-MADISON/S. HEINZ ET AL.; OPTICAL/IR: PAN-STARRS
showed the site features remarkably dry,

stable air, as well as clear night skies
about 70 percent of the time.
SATURN’S HAZY HEART

Saturn’s core is a fuzzy region that
contains about 17 Earth masses of
sludgelike ice and rock, extending out to
some 60 percent of the planet’s radius.
The find comes from a new analysis of
the seismic waves, driven by pulsations
within the planet itself, that Cassini
observed in Saturn’s rings.
A black hole recently gobbled up material from its companion star in the binary SWEETENING THE POT
system V404 Cygni, located 7,800 light-years from Earth. As the black hole’s meal NASA awarded nearly $250,000 to
swirled around it in 2015, the matter heated up and emitted a powerful burst of X-ray a UC Berkeley team of chemists to help
light. Like the sound waves of a yodeler echoing through the Swiss Alps, the light them refine their electrochemical
waves from the black hole’s outburst are now echoing through the cosmos. This process for making sugars from carbon
composite image, centered on V404 Cygni, spans some 80 light-years and reveals
dioxide. By feeding these sugars to
these so-called light echoes. Each concentric ring is formed as X-rays from the initial
microbes, the team hopes to produce
burst scatter off clouds of cosmic dust, redirecting the light toward us. The larger the
ring, the closer the dust cloud that created it is to Earth. X-ray observations (blue) for more complex compounds, like food or
this composite image were obtained by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and Neils drugs, for use by astronauts. — J.P.
Gehrels Swift Observatory, while the background star field was imaged in optical and
infrared light by the Pan-STARRS telescope in Hawaii. — JAKE PARKS
QUANTUM GRAVITY
Perseverance prevails,
collects first sample The Milky Way has
a broken arm
Even though we call it direct distance measure-
home, the Milky Way ments from Gaia that make
remains rich with myster- the geometry of this new
ies and surprises. Case in structure so apparent,” said
point: Astronomers recently study co-author Alberto
noticed our galaxy has a Krone-Martins, an astro-
broken arm. physicist at the University
Stretching about 3,000 of California, Irvine, in a
light-years long, this splinter statement.
of stars and gas juts out Though this would be a
from the Sagittarius Arm at a rather gruesome fracture in
roughly 45° angle. While it’s flesh and bone, in cosmic
not unusual to spot sharply- terms, this area is spectacu-
SECOND TIME’S THE CHARM. The angled spurs (also called lar, filled with star-forming
borehole from Perseverance’s first feathers) in other spiral gal- vistas. The analysis shows
sample attempt (above) shows the
target rock’s poor integrity. On its
axies, it’s the first time that that four famous deep-sky
second attempt at a different rock, astronomers have noticed a objects — the Eagle Nebula
the rover successfully drilled a defect this stark in our own (M16), the Omega Nebula
sample and stored it in a titanium
tube (left). FROM TOP: ASA/JPL-CALTECH/MSSS; galaxy’s arms. (M17), the Trifid Nebula
NASA/JPL-CALTECH/ASU/MSSS From Earth’s position (M20), and the Lagoon
within the Milky Way, it’s Nebula (M8) — all lie within
SOMETIMES, THE FAULT IS NOT IN OURSELVES, difficult for scientists to this structure.
BUT IN OUR ROCKS. That’s what happened to the see the entirety of the Astronomers believe such
Perseverance rover during its first attempted sample collection galaxy. Astronomers used spurs are formed by a com-
in Jezero Crater. data obtained by the now- bination of gravity, rotation,
NASA’s newest rover is on a mission to not only explore Mars retired NASA Spitzer Space and shear. Because these
but also collect samples that can be studied on Earth. Perseverance Telescope and by the structures bear the imprint
is carrying numerous tubes to store small, drilled core samples of European Space Agency’s of those forces, finding more
rock for a later mission to retrieve. Gaia mapping mission to spurs like this one could help
But on Aug. 6, NASA announced that the rover’s first collection confirm they were seeing scientists better understand
attempt had turned up empty. The rover had successfully gone a section of the Milky Way how spiral galaxies form
through the motions — drilling into the rock and attempting to protruding from the rest of their graceful, curving arms.
place the result into a tube. But when the rover stuck a probe inside the arm. “It is only the recent, — HAILEY ROSE MCLAUGHLIN
the tube to measure the volume of the sample, it found nothing. 6,
Arm
Mission controllers were confident the rover’s drill and coring

00
8,0
m
0
Ar
ius
00
bit were in good working order. So, they concluded, it was the 4,0
io n
ittar
ligh
00
rock that had misbehaved. Called Roubion, this first target is what
Or
S ag
t-year
2 ,0
researchers refer to as a paver stone — flat, polygonal rocks they
m
m Ar
00
believe are some of the most ancient in the area. But because such rm
al a ”
Scutu
rocks are old and weathered, this one crumbled under the force of ir
Sp reak
Sun “b
Perseverance’s drill.
To find a better target, controllers next drove to a ridge called
Citadelle, with outcroppings of rocks very different from the paver
stones. And, on Sept. 2, Perseverance successfully completed its
first sample collection. This time, images from the rover showed
the rock core, a bit wider than a pencil, snug in its sample tube.
The team still hopes to sample a paver stone. Next time, though, NO CAST REQUIRED. A collection of stars and gas clouds jut
they’ll likely target a less weathered type of paver, in the hopes that awkwardly from the Milky Way’s Sagittarius Arm in this artist’s
concept. The distance and size of the break is shown in the inset.
such rocks will provide information similar to older, more fragile NASA/JPL-CALTECH
examples. — ALISON KLESMAN

JUPITER’S AURORAE TRIGGER HEAT WAVES
FOR 50 YEARS, researchers amount of energy into the atmo- And on the team’s second night
have struggled to explain one of sphere above the poles in the of observations (Jan. 25, 2017,
Jupiter’s enduring mysteries: Why process. roughly nine months after their
is its upper atmosphere so hot? While, in principle, this could first), they also found evidence
Based on the intensity of sunlight heat the entire planet, atmo- that this heat can spread else-
Jupiter receives, its highest spheric models have predicted where: A hot band appeared
reaches should be a brisk –100 that the planet’s strong winds south of the main auroral oval, GLOBAL WARMING. Waves of heat
emanate from Jupiter’s aurorae,
degrees Fahrenheit (–73 degrees trap heat at the poles and 360 F (200 C) warmer than its distributing energy from the poles
Celsius). Instead, they sizzle at prevent it from spreading to surroundings and wrapping half- toward the planet’s equator, in this
about 800 F (426 C). lower latitudes. way around the planet. The team illustration of an infrared view.
One hypothesis held that But a study published Aug. 4 argues this is a wave of heat J. O’DONOGHUE (JAXA)/HUBBLE/NASA/ESA/A. SIMON/J. SCHMIDT
Jupiter somehow generates heat in Nature suggests those models traveling from the poles toward
from below — perhaps from may be missing something. An the equator. Sagamihara, Japan, and the
storms lower in its atmosphere. international team of researchers Strengthening their case, they study’s lead author, in a press
Or, some speculated, its innards used the Keck Observatory in note that the wave occurred at release. “If we’d observed Jupiter
could still be gravitationally set- Hawaii to measure infrared emis- a time when the solar wind was on a different night, when the
tling and releasing heat. sion from hydrogen molecules in predicted to be relatively strong solar wind pressure had not
But the main suspect has Jupiter’s atmosphere, producing at Jupiter, which would have recently been high, we would
been Jupiter’s aurorae, which are a high-resolution temperature likely triggered more intense have missed it!”
produced when the planet’s map of the planet. auroral heating. The team thinks this event
powerful magnetic field traps Their analysis revealed that “It was pure luck that we shows the aurorae are likely
charged particles and funnels the polar regions directly under captured this potential heat- responsible for most of Jupiter’s
them to its poles. When those the aurorae were some 720 F shedding event,” said James excess heat — though exactly
particles smash into atmospheric (400 C) hotter than equatorial O’Donoghue, a planetary scien- how Jupiter’s atmosphere
molecules, they cause them to climes, clear evidence of the tist at the JAXA Institute of Space manages to circulate that heat
glow — and inject a tremendous aurorae’s ability to heat the poles. and Astronautical Science in remains unclear. — MARK ZASTROW
ASTRONOMY’S
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P39537
STRANGE UNIVERSE Perhaps the most famous statistical illustration of
randomness is the monkeys-and-typewriters thought
experiment. If a million monkeys typed randomly on
a million keyboards for a million years, they’d suppos-
Chances are … edly create the Encyclopaedia Britannica. True?

We figured it out on this page nearly a decade ago.
But we limited the task to creating the opening line of
Let’s dive deeper into randomness. Moby Dick: “Call me Ishmael.” Now, keyboards offer
many places to push — manual typewriters have 58
Nearly keys. So, to create Moby Dick’s 16 opening characters
nine years (including spaces and punctuation), how many random
ago, this tries are needed?
page explored ran- Given 58 keys, it would be 58 x 58 x 58 x 58…
domness and its 16 times over, or 16.4 trillion quadrillion attempts. But
apparent ability to remember we have a million monkeys working; let’s
generate the say they faultlessly type 45 words a minute so the com-
universe around us bined keystrokes in each attempt take just four seconds.
(see my January How much time before there’s a 50-50 chance that one
2013 column, “It’s monkey finally types “Call me Ishmael”? The answer
random”). Since is 2,100 trillion years. That’s 153,000 times the age of
then, science arti- the universe.
cles have continued So, the monkeys/typewriters thing is bogus. Even a
to cite chance — million simians typing furiously would never even
such as a planet reproduce one book’s short opening line.
happening to sit a My cautionary point nine years ago and again today
specific distance is to avoid overly crediting the power of random causa-
from its parent star tion, whether through monkeys or molecular motion.
— as the presumed We may observe complex earthly phenomena such as
mechanism for life brain architecture, marvel at the exquisitely life-
The chances that the on exoplanets. friendly values of dozens of physical constants such as
Orion Nebula (M42) It’s tempting to attribute natural phenomena to the strong force, or even someday find alien life and
looks exactly as it
does are 100 percent chance because we already see it operating widely. For ponder how it arose. But we shouldn’t lazily assume
— if you’re calculating example, it’s how evolution works. The problem is that their explanation is randomness operating over a long
them today, after it
has already formed.
few people seem to understand the limits of chance. I period of time. In most cases, this supposition is simply
NASA, ESA, M. ROBBERTO (SPACE think it’s time to give this subject a deeper look. not useful. It seldom advances our knowledge because,
TELESCOPE SCIENCE INSTITUTE/
Let’s expand on some of my previous examples: as we’ve seen, we assign it far more potency than it
ESA) AND THE HUBBLE SPACE
TELESCOPE ORION TREASURY Consider putting eight books on a shelf. How actually possesses.
PROJECT TEAM likely is it that their titles will appear in Chance is a valid causality method, and a
alphabetical order? You’ll find the odds by It’s tempting powerful one. But we need to recognize its
multiplying 8 x 7 x 6 x 5 x 4 x 3 x 2 x 1 — to attribute inadequacy when excessive complexity is
pronounced “eight factorial” and written as 8! involved and more fundamentally guard
— which equals 40,320. That’s how many ways natural against applying it after the fact.
eight books can be arranged. But only one of phenomena Where does this leave us? At some point
those ways puts them in alphabetical order. to chance. in our lives, we’ve all wondered about the
This will surprise most of us. Who would causality of big issues. Astronomy is peerless
expect such long odds? After hastily putting at provoking such torment. If chance is
up eight volumes and noticing they’re perfectly alpha- grossly overused but we also want to avoid religious
betical, it might seem more plausible that we’d witnessed explanations, what’s left?
a 1-in-50 curiosity than a 1-in-40,000 miracle. Count me among the many who, when contemplat-
More important than such statistical surprises is ing this astounding universe, perceive Nature as exhib-
whether we apply randomness correctly. Scientists iting some sort of underlying intelligence. We seem
occasionally argue an event should be studied because immersed within a mysterious, genius architectural
BY BOB BERMAN it’s so unusual by committing the statistical felony of substrate so deep we haven’t yet begun to poke it with
Bob’s recent book, calculating its likelihood after it has happened. We our clumsy fingers. Alas, even if true, this hypothesis
Earth-Shattering might say the Orion Nebula’s gull-wing pattern is a may be no more helpful to scientific progress than
(Little, Brown and
1-in-a-million phenomenon. But those odds are valid simply leaving everything … to chance.
Company, 2019),
explores the greatest only if we calculated them before the nebula’s creation.
cataclysms that have Once M42 exists, its chances of looking as it does BROWSE THE “STRANGE UNIVERSE” ARCHIVE
shaken the universe. become 100 percent! It’s no longer unlikely in the least. AT www.Astronomy.com/Berman

shy, and withdrawn. Yet I was that 7th-grade science
OBSERVING BASICS teacher who once did an Elvis Presley impersonation at
the middle school talent show. Still, I have to admit that
when I wasn’t singing “All Shook Up” in front of 500
preteens, running a marathon with hundreds of others,
Psychology of or competing in a bass-fishing tournament, I really

preferred my alone time. An evening under the stars
with just my telescope was a soul-refreshing occasion
stargazing — although the same could be said for reading a good

book or binging the latest Netflix show.
Curiosity! That has to be a personality trait that all
What motivates backyard astronomers? amateur astronomers share. I’ve always maintained that
the best scientists are 4-year-olds who wonder why the
sky is blue, what clouds are made of, and what causes the
wind. Amateur astronomers (dare I say all astronomers,
professionals included) never lost that childhood curios-
ity. As adults, we now ask more advanced questions:
What causes the ruddy appearance of Jupiter’s Red Spot?
What is the composition of a typical emission nebula?
What is the driving force behind the solar wind? But
even these questions stem from the same curiosity that
kids have to understand the world around them.
Patience is also a virtue, especially for the backyard
astronomer. It took plenty of patience for humanity to
become familiar with the basic stars and constellations,
and we’re still learning how to best build and utilize
telescopes to explore the wonders the night sky has to
offer. The inspiring images that appear at the back of
this magazine were taken by amateur astronomers who
dedicated many hours to learning and perfecting their
Star trails circle Polaris craft. And an impatient person would never be able to
above the Liberty
Schoolhouse, an old,
This month, we’re going to step away from our handle a telescope-making project.
single-room building usual observing content and instead take a Let’s get back now to the psychology of skygazing.
on the Alberta prairie. look at the psychology of skygazing. In short, Perhaps backyard astronomers are largely outdoor-
It’s illuminated by an
eight-day-old waxing we’ll ruminate on what makes us backyard astronomers loving, introverted, curiosity-driven, and patient. But
Moon in this long tick. Why do we prefer reading Astronomy to, say, Field why are some of us primarily visual observers, while
exposure, and aurorae & Stream, Better Homes and Gardens, or Popular others engage in astroimaging? Why do some feel the
are also visible
dancing above the Mechanics? What compels us go outside on a clear starlit urge to devote an entire evening to a Messier or Double
northern horizon. evening and gaze heavenward while our neighbors are Star Marathon while others are content spending a
ALAN DYER
indoors watching TV or playing games? relaxed hour or two hopping between a
I used to think a proclivity for backyard handful of celestial targets? Why do some
astronomy had to do with a love of the out- Patience is focus on deep-sky objects while others prefer
doors. That might be because my three to observe the Moon and planets? I could go
favorite activities are stargazing, fishing,
also a virtue, on and on, but this is Astronomy and not
and recreational running. All involve being especially for Psychology Today.
out in open air, away from the confines of the backyard Perhaps we should just leave the psycho-
home or workplace. But nowadays, there’s a astronomer. analysis to the psychologists. Whether we
growing cadre of indoor astronomers who use a laptop to remotely image a distant
explore the night sky via a computer linked galaxy, go to a workshop to grind a mirror
to a remotely placed telescope. To me, that proves that for a telescope, venture outside to target double stars, or
a passion for amateur astronomy has to do with more simply lie back in a hammock and contemplate the
than just satiating an urge to be outdoors. enormity of the universe, we’re all the same. We share a
Perhaps personality type plays a role? Years ago, I took common passion for one of the oldest and noblest of
a Myers-Briggs personality test at the middle school human activities — astronomy!
BY GLENN CHAPLE where I taught. I won’t get into a discussion of the verac- Questions, comments, or suggestions? Email me at
Glenn has been an
ity of Myers-Briggs (it’s discredited by a majority of gchaple@hotmail.com. Next month: I’ll take a quick
avid observer since
a friend showed clinical psychologists), and I don’t recall my ultimate break before kicking off my farewell tour. Clear skies!
him Saturn through four-letter personality type, but I do remember that I
a small backyard was categorized as an introvert. At the time, I imagined BROWSE THE “OBSERVING BASICS” ARCHIVE
scope in 1963. an introvert to be a stereotypical wallflower — quiet, AT www.Astronomy.com/Chaple
SECRET SK Y
‘Violettomania’ in the stars

The simultaneous rise of the color violet in both astronomical observations and art is no coincidence.
French artist Henri-Edmond Cross’ Landscape With Stars

British astronomer Admiral William Henry (circa 1905–1908) is a poetic depiction of a star-streaked sky,
reminiscent in its impressionistic forms of a Japanese painting.
Smyth may have been a pioneer in applying ROBERT LEHMAN COLLECTION, 1975/THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART
color science to astronomy. His 1844 Cycle of
Celestial Objects is filled with colorful descriptions of
double and multiple stars — including smalt blue, 140,000 works of art to see how many incorporated the
flushed white, orpiment yellow, dusky orange, and color violet. As he wrote in a June 23 article for Psyche,
cherry red. While most of the star colors he perceived Tager found very few paintings using violet before the
(sans adjectives) were among those considered most 1860s, when the French Impressionists adopted the
distinct to visual astronomers (blue, yellow, orange, and color in earnest.
red), Smyth also saw among the stars his share of violet To investigate further, Tager teamed up with color
— a color beyond the blue end of the spectrum. But the scientists Eric Kirchner of the paints company
reason he saw them may be more than just simple AkzoNobel and Elena Fedorovskaya at the Rochester
BY STEPHEN physics. Institute of Technology. They used computer algo-
JAMES O’MEARA Violet is a color hard to find not only in nature but rithms to analyze more than 4,000 digitized works of
Stephen is a globe-
also, historically, in art. That’s the conclusion reached art. In a paper published March 13 in the journal Color
trotting observer who
is always looking by Russian American artist and cognitive scientist Research & Application, they reported that prior to the
for the next great Allen Tager, who, over the course of 20 years, visited mid-19th century, violet appeared in fewer than 4 per-
celestial event. 193 museums in 42 countries and examined nearly cent of paintings. But this rate quickly rose to 37 percent

in the second half of the 19th colors, which he published in his LEFT: William Henry
century and spiked to 48 percent 1810 work Theory of Colors. Smyth presented this
color scheme for
in the 20th century. Smyth then goes on to say, double stars in his
The researchers also discov- “Many of the observed tints of Sidereal Chromatics.
ered discrepancies over what stellar companions would of “Where the mental
impression is not
constitutes the color violet. For course turn out to be merely quite adequately
instance, the color beyond blue complementary [colors] and represented by these
tints,” he said, “it can
on the spectrum is called purple caused by the law of simultane- be modified by an
in the U.S., but violet in the U.K.; ous contrast.” This concept, expressive adjective.”
alternatively, reddish-purple is introduced by French chemist The shades from
white to pale yellow
sometimes called violet in the Michel Eugène Chevreul (and were so numerous, he
U.S., but hardly ever so in the inspired by Goethe) in his 1839 excluded them from
U.K. This led Tager and his col- The Principles of Harmony and the chart. Violet and
lilac would be
leagues to create the first working Contrast of Colours, blossomed registered under
definition for the color violet: “all around the time that Smyth was “purple.” COURTESY OF
mixtures of red and blue for making his color observations, STEPHEN JAMES O’MEARA
which blue dominates.” some 25 years before he pub- BELOW: The double
lished Sidereal Chromatics. star Albireo’s primary
has a spectral type of
Introducing violet Chevreul’s law stated that K2, emitting an
In his 1864 book Sidereal when two adjacent colors are yellowish-orange
Chromatics (On the Colours of observed, their perceived colors glow; the secondary
is B8 — nearly pure
Multiple Stars), Smyth recognizes an evolution not just shift toward the complementary color of the adjacent white. But due to
in art but also in the color perception of skywatchers. color. For a binary star that contains a bright, slightly complementary
“The ancients recognised no blue stars,” he says. “They orange-yellow star next to a white star, Chevreul’s law colors, the secondary
often takes on a
only spoke of white or red ones.” Blue stars, he notes, predicts that the human eye will see the color of that brilliant blue hue.
were not introduced into the astronomical lexicon until white star shifted toward violet. That’s because violet KFIR SIMON
French physicist Edme Mariotte first men- is the complementary color to yellow, as
tioned them in 1686. Smyth also notes that they are opposing hues on a color
“although single red stars are frequently met wheel. These inferences suggest
with, there is not an instance of a solitary Smyth that science theory had begun
green, purple, blue, or violet-coloured one appears to to make its mark on visual
being found.” be the first telescopic observations by
However, Smyth did note the appearance the mid-19th century.
of violet in double stars. In fact, he appears
telescopic And it was this type of
to be the first telescopic observer to use the observer to optical effect (simultane-
color violet in his descriptions of stars. For use the color ous contrast for colors) that
instance, as early as the 1830s, he recorded violet in his the Impressionists sought
numerous double stars with white or yellow descriptions to capture and exploit in
primaries and a violet secondary. To my their works. This allowed them
knowledge, all observers before him stuck to of stars. to create even stronger color
the traditional color schemes in their contrasts — a canvas bristling with
descriptions of double stars. Observers fol- scientific proof that what the eye perceived
lowing Smyth, however, began incorporating violet into and the brain understood were two different things.
their double star vocabulary, albeit sparingly. “Impressionist painters used the colour violet so prolifi-
cally,” Tager wrote for Psyche, “that critics accused
Inspired by science them of violettomania.”
In their March 2021 paper, Tager and his colleagues While the range of colors of stars are limited to hues
describe how contemporary developments in color that vary from reddish orange to pale blue, what our
theory and their adoption by Impressionist painters eye-brain system sees depends on many factors. These
may naturally have led to an increase in the use of violet include atmospheric clarity, the telescope used, con-
from 1863 onwards. trast, and bias (from knowledge of a star’s spectral class
Interestingly, in the early years of the Impressionist and color temperature), among others. But don’t let that
movement, we see Smyth promoting in his Sidereal stop you from recording what you see rather than what
Chromatics “the laws of harmonious alliance and con- you are expected to see.
trast of colour — that yellow is of all hues the nearest And as always, report what you see or don’t see to
related to light, and its complementary violet or purple sjomeara31@gmail.com.
to darkness.” The above quote seems to indicate that
Smyth was familiar with Goethe’s analysis of the sen- BROWSE THE “SECRET SKY” ARCHIVE AT
sory and psychological effects induced by different www.Astronomy.com/OMeara
Cosmic tour of the
Our planet, despite all the challenges we world (even if there’s still plenty left to discover). So, instead of
EARTH face living on it, is an unparalleled abode looking inward, let’s look out. Let’s take a quick tour of the
for life. Located in the Sun’s so-called other planets our solar system has to offer. Along the way,
Goldilocks zone, the energy we receive from our host star is we’ll brush up on what we already know — as well as what we
just right. It keeps Earth warm enough that liquid water can may soon find out.
happily exist on the surface, but it’s also weak enough that our
oceans don’t boil away. Then there’s our atmosphere — what a
BOTTOM LEFT: Multiple large hurricanes are seen brewing in the Atlantic
blessing! This thick (but not oppressive) gaseous envelope not Ocean in this composite assembled from images taken by a NASA/NOAA
only provides us with the oxygen we need to breathe, but also weather satellite on Sept. 6, 2017. NASA/JOSHUA STEVENS
protects us from all but the most formidable stray space rocks. BOTTOM RIGHT: The Expedition 7 crew aboard the International Space Station
And let’s not forget our planet’s magnetic field. Generated captured this stunning view of the Sun setting over the Pacific Ocean in 2003.
NASA
deep within Earth’s liquid outer core, which surrounds a solid
inner core, this magnetic shield defends us from the constant
onslaught of high-energy particles spewed out by the Sun as
solar wind.
But impressive as Earth is, life has existed here for billions
of years. And we already know quite a lot about our home
STATS
Mass: 10.3 septillion pounds
(5.97x1024 kilograms)
Diameter (equator):
7,930 miles (12,760 kilometers)
Average surface temperature:
59 degrees Fahrenheit
(15 degrees Celsius)
Rotation period (day):
23 hours 56 minutes 4 seconds
Orbital period (year):
365.26 days
Moons: The Moon
planets
With thousands of exotic exoplanets
known, the worlds of our solar system
may seem rather dull. Trust us, they’re not.
BY JAKE PARKS
Mercury, and creating a dimly

MERCURY which glowing tail.
is the Thanks to its thin atmo-
smallest and innermost sphere, Mercury is also
planet, is constantly cooked prone to impacts. This
by sunlight. Despite its prox- has left it with a rather
imity to our star, it’s not the pockmarked appear-
hottest world in our solar ance. And to make
system; still, Mercury expe- matters worse, it’s
riences wild temperature wrinkled with
swings unlike those found on age. The world
any other planet. On the day- has steep, clifflike
side, the Sun penetrates the north-south ridges
planet’s thin, fleeting atmo- that stretch all
sphere and bakes the surface. over its surface.
But because there isn’t much Researchers think they
air to distribute that heat, the might have formed as
temperature on the planet’s Mercury cooled after its
nightside plunges to hundreds
of degrees below zero.
The Sun also helps give STATS birth,
Mercury another peculiar causing the
trait: The world has a faint Mass: 0.055 Earth masses planet to shrink and its
The heavily cratered surface of
cometlike tail. Mercury’s Diameter: 3,030 miles crust to slightly crumple. Mercury’s southern hemisphere is
feeble atmosphere contains (4,876 km) Mercury has so far been on full display in this mosaic of
sodium, which glows when visited by only two space- images taken by NASA’s Mariner 10
Surface temperature: spacecraft, which was the first
excited by sunlight. Plus, the 805 F (430 C) during the day craft: Mariner 10 (launched mission to fly by and closely
diminutive world doesn’t in 1973) and MESSENGER scrutinize our solar system’s
–290 F (–180 C) at night innermost world. NASA/JPL-CALTECH
have much gravity — only Rotation period (day): (launched in 2004). The for-
about twice the gravity of mer was a flyby mission that
58.8 Earth days
the Moon. This means pres- only revealed a partial view about what Mercury has to
sure from sunlight striking
Orbital period (year): of the tiny planet. However, offer, you need not wait long.
Mercury can liberate sodium 88 Earth days the latter was an orbiter, The European and Japanese
molecules, forcing them Moons: None which not only mapped the space agencies have teamed
“downwind” of the planet vast majority of Mercury’s up and sent BepiColumbo to
surface, but also discovered orbit Earth’s smallest sibling
that the planet’s permanently — and Bepi just made its first
shadowed polar craters likely brief pass by the oft-forgotten
hold abundant water ice. planet this October. Stay
If you’d like to learn more tuned for more!
Mercury’s surface is covered in wrinklelike ridges. This unnamed example of

such a ridge is located in the planet’s northern volcanic plains and was imaged
by NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft. The feature spans some 87 miles (140 km)
and, like the world’s other wrinkles, is believed to have formed when Mercury’s
core shrank as it cooled, which forced the surface to follow suit. NASA/JHUAPL/CARNEGIE
INSTITUTION OF WASHINGTON
Despite Venus’ surface, usually shrouded by
VENUS being the planet’s dense atmosphere,

bursts into view in this simulated-
the most color radar mosaic assembled
brilliant planet in our sky, using data from the Magellan
spacecraft’s first mapping
Venus offers little visual campaign. Data from the Pioneer
oomph when observed from Venus Orbiter were used to fill in
the gaps. NASA/JPL-CALTECH
afar. (See “Unveiling Venus”
on page 48.) That’s because its
surface is shrouded by thick, Atmosphere Venus Investigation
omnipresent clouds. These poi- of Noble gases, Chemistry, and
sonous puffs trap heat that would Imaging) and VERITAS (Venus
otherwise escape into space, making Emissivity, Radio Science, InSAR,
it the most sweltering planet in the solar Topography & Spectroscopy). The for-
system — hot enough to melt lead on its mer will dive through Venus’ atmosphere,
surface. But don’t worry about burning snapping pics of the environment and
up: If you were to stand there, the atmo- sampling the world’s acidic clouds before
sphere (made mostly of carbon dioxide STATS slamming into its surface. That bold plan
laced with sulfuric acid) is so dense that will allow scientists to stitch together a
the pressure would collapse your lungs Mass: 0.815 Earth masses layer-by-layer profile of Venus’ atmo-
and kill you instantly. Diameter: 7,520 miles (12,100 km) sphere — and perhaps even confirm the
Despite its hellish environment, Venus Surface temperature: 867 F (464 C) floating phosphine detected there last
holds many fascinating mysteries. For Rotation period (day): 243 Earth days year, which tantalized many because it
one, it’s strikingly similar to Earth in size (retrograde) is often produced by microbial life on
and composition. And yet, the worlds Orbital period (year): 225 Earth days Earth. Meanwhile, VERITAS will orbit
have clearly led two very different lives, Moons: None Venus, using radar and imaging equip-
with Venus experiencing a runaway ment to investigate whether the world is
greenhouse effect in its past. Unlike actively experiencing volcanic activity
Mercury, whose bulky iron core accounts a five-year mission that, among other and, if so, learn what might be driving it.
for some 75 percent of the planet’s mass, things, used cloud-penetrating radar to And don’t forget EnVision, the
the core of Venus is thought to be rela- map some 98 percent of the world’s European Space Agency’s contribution.
tively earthlike: differentiated into a solid cloaked surface. As incredible as This orbiting craft will use a sounder to
inner core and a molten outer core. Magellan’s work was, however, a trio study Venus’ underground layering, radar
However, Venus does not internally gen- of new spacecraft recently selected to to map its surface, spectrometers to ana-
erate a discernible magnetic field like explore Venus in the next decade are lyze trace atmospheric gases, and a radio
Earth does, which might be because it sure to raise the bar even higher. experiment to probe the planet’s internal
rotates (backward) so slowly that a venu- On June 2, NASA announced not one, structure and gravitational field. With
sian day is longer than a venusian year. but two complementary missions to such an impressive trio preparing to ven-
Steadily, though, Venus is revealing Venus: DAVINCI (short for Deep ture to Venus, it’s safe to say we’ll unlock
some of its secrets. The veil created by its some surprising secrets about our sister
clouds was finally lifted in 1994, when the world over the next decade or so.
Magellan spacecraft completed
Ancient lava flows and fractured

plains in the foreground extend
back more than 100 miles (200 km)
to Maat Mons along the southern
horizon in this computer-generated
3D view of the surface of Venus.
Maat Mons, an ancient and massive
shield volcano, is the second-tallest
mountain on Venus, peaking
some 3 miles (5 km) above its
surroundings. NASA/JPL-CALTECH
LEFT: NASA’s Curiosity rover
As the poses for a selfie in front of
MARS most a 20-foot-tall (6 m) rock
formation named Mont
explored
Mercou. This panorama was
world in the solar system stitched together from a total
(save Earth), Mars has enjoyed of 71 images taken by two
cameras mounted on the
the lion’s share of planetary rover’s arm and head.
research funding for several NASA/JPL-CALTECH/MSSS
decades. We’ve come a long

way since Italian astronomer BELOW: The Hubble Space
Giovanni Schiaparelli first Telescope’s Wide Field and
Planetary Camera 2 snapped
mapped his martian canali the four images used to create
(“channels,” which was mis- this nearly global, full-color
map of Mars. STEVE LEE (UNIVERSITY OF
translated to “canals”) in COLORADO)/JIM BELL (CORNELL UNIVERSITY)/
1877. Nearly a century later, MIKE WOLFF (SPACE SCIENCE INSTITUTE)
in 1965, NASA accomplished

the first up-close and personal
flyby of Mars with Mariner 4. STATS
In the decades since, dozens Mass: 0.11 Earth masses
more spacecraft have incre- Diameter: 4,220 miles
mentally advanced our under-
(6,790 km)
standing of the Red Planet.
Orbiters have thoroughly
Surface temperature:
mapped Mars’ surface. 68 F (20 C) to –243 F (–153 C)
Landers have probed the Rotation period (day):
planet’s internal structure and 24 hours 37 minutes
monitored the local weather. Orbital period (year):
Rovers have trundled across 687 Earth days largely why NASA’s latest
the desertscape to collect and Moons: Phobos and Deimos rover, Perseverance, is cur-
analyze rock samples. And rently searching for signs of
one small NASA helicopter ancient martian life. But
named Ingenuity recently as many could have only the possibility of past
zipped through the martian formed in the presence of life isn’t the world’s
atmosphere more than a copious liquid water. only appeal.
dozen times — no small feat Although rovers tend to get Compared to
considering Mars’ air is just most of the credit, orbiters Mercury, Venus,
1 percent as dense as Earth’s. have contributed just as much and the giant
This opens the door to future to our understanding of Mars’ planets, Mars
fleets of flying scouts that past. For instance, a 2018 could offer a
could explore broad swaths study published in Geology somewhat
of the planet at an incredible based on high-resolution pho- suitable
pace. tos taken by NASA’s Mars place for
Thanks to humanity’s Reconnaissance Orbiter ana- humanity to
legion of robotic martian sur- lyzed dozens of martian outlet eventually
veyors, we now know the canyons carved out by flowing set up shop
rusty world was not always as water that snaked from — if, of
arid and inhospitable as it is ancient lakes. The researchers course, we
today. Because Mars is cov- found that the topography of can harvest
ered in networks of valleys the many outlet canyons and make what
and deltas that once carried matches what they’d expect if we need there.
rivers and fed long-lost lakes, they had all rapidly formed
scientists are confident liquid during a massive and cata- The Viking Orbiter provided
water once flowed freely strophic flooding event some the images used to create
this global color map of Mars’
across its surface. Rock and 3.5 billion years ago. scarred and ice-capped surface,
soil samples plucked right off Such evidence for vast which is seen at a resolution of
about 0.6 mile (1 km) per pixel.
the ground and analyzed on amounts of liquid water hav- NASA/JPL-CALTECH/USGS
the spot back up that history, ing once flowed on Mars is
Like Mars, Jupiter has received a lot of atten- Jupiter’s swirling bands are created by differences in the thickness, height, and
JUPITER tion during the era of space exploration. composition of its icy clouds. The colorful bands flow in opposite directions at
various latitudes; the lighter bands hold thicker clouds and stretch higher than
That began with Pioneer 10, which flew by the darker bands. This image of the gas giant was captured by Hubble in June
the gas giant in 1973. It was rapidly followed by Pioneer 11 2019. NASA/ESA/A. SIMON (GSFC)/M.H. WONG (UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY
(1974), Voyager 1 (1979), and Voyager 2 (1979). Each of these
missions had their own scientific objectives, but collec- worlds, first recognized as moons by Galileo Galilei him-
tively, they revealed a world of confounding com- self in March 1610, the more intriguing they get. Io is
plexity. The Pioneer probes took the first close-up the most volcanically active world in the solar
shots of the behemoth’s storm-strewn atmo- system, thanks to Jupiter’s immense gravity cre-
sphere, as well as studied its super-charged ating tides in Io’s solid surface that reach some
radiation belts and powerful magnetic field 300 feet (100 m) tall. Europa’s surface, on the
(the strongest of any planet in our solar sys- other hand, is mostly water ice and might even
tem). The Voyagers provided improved views hide an underground global ocean of slushy
of the king of planets, tracking Jupiter’s alter- water. Ganymede, which is wider than Mercury
nating bands of bright white zones and darker and the largest moon in the solar system, gener-
brown belts. This new perspective revealed strange ates its own internal magnetic field. Callisto, mean-
atmospheric behavior that models did not predict, while, shows little evidence of recent resurfacing, which
including eddies churning in the clouds and a pair of colliding means its heavily cratered face likely preserves a record of
oval storms that ejected streamers upon merging. Such unex- stray detritus streaming through the early solar system.
pected sights left the imaging team “happily bewildered.” These intriguing features are just some of the reasons the
In the decades since, NASA has continued slinging space- European Space Agency (with NASA as a partner) plans to
craft at Jupiter. The Galileo mission included an orbiter and launch the JUICE (JUpiter ICy moons Explorer) mission in
the first-ever probe to dive into the atmosphere of one of the 2022, which will see an orbiter reach the jovian system in
outer planets. As the Galileo probe plunged into Jupiter’s 2029. Once there, JUICE will spend several years closely scru-
swirling bands of multicolored clouds, it transmitted back tinizing Ganymede,
data for nearly 58 minutes before finally succumbing to face- Callisto, and
melting temperatures of almost 25,000 degrees Fahrenheit Europa — while
(14,000 degrees Celsius). Still, Jupiter’s beautifully chaotic also evaluating the STATS
atmosphere — including its famous Great Red Spot, a storm potential of these Mass: 318 Earth masses
the size of Earth that’s been brewing for centuries — isn’t the watery worlds Equatorial diameter: 88,850 miles
only intriguing aspect of the jovian system. to harbor (143,000 km)
Jove’s natural satellites total nearly four score and run the life. Average temperature: –162 F (–108 C)
gamut in size, ranging from tens to thousands of miles wide. Rotation period (day):
But of these moons, four truly stand above the rest. These are
9 hours 56 minutes
Jupiter’s Galilean moons: Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto.
The more we learn about these surprisingly complicated
Orbital period (year): 11.9 Earth years
Moons: At least 79 moons
NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft, seen here in this artist’s concept, is expected
to launch to Jupiter aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket in October 2024.
Once in orbit, it will conduct a series of flybys of Europa, using a suite of science
instruments to study the moon’s surface and composition, measure the
thickness of its icy crust, and even investigate whether the world’s subsurface
ocean sports conditions that are suitable for life. NASA/JPL-CALTECH
The surreal je ne sais
SATURN quoi of Saturn has
captivated observ-
ers for centuries. That’s largely because
the world’s stunning rings span some
170,000 miles (274,000 kilometers), or
about 2.5 times the width of the planet
itself. But get this: They might be as
little as 30 feet (10 meters) thick in some
places. So, when the planet is tilted just
so to our line of sight, presenting its ring
The massive moon
system side-on, those rings all but vanish Titan stands before
from our view. Saturn and the
The world’s glimmering rings are planet’s rings in this
natural-color view
made of countless pieces of dirty water ice captured by NASA’s
that range in size from dust grains to Cassini spacecraft.
NASA/JPL-CALTECH/SPACE
mountains. Although it’s unclear exactly SCIENCE INSTITUTE
how or when the rings formed, Cassini
data indicate they are the result of a moon
(or moons) being torn asunder 10 million On July 19, 2013, Saturn
eclipsed the Sun from
to 100 million years ago. Considering the Cassini’s vantage point.
planets are some 4.5 billion years old and This majestic mosaic of
scientists expect the rings to last just 141 images is only
slightly enhanced and
another couple of hundred million years, hides a surprise. Can
you spot our blue home
planet just beneath
Saturn’s rings at lower
right? NASA/JPL-CALTECH/SSI
STATS
Mass: 95 Earth masses
Equatorial diameter: 74,900 miles we’re quite fortunate to bear witness to seasonal changes, analyzed its icy rings,
(120,500 km) this relatively brief celestial show. and studied its raging storms, including
Average temperature: –218 F (–139 C) Launched in 1997, the Cassini space- the massive hexagonal hurricane that
Rotation period (day): craft spent some 13 years exploring all churns around the world’s north pole.
Saturn has to offer (despite mission plan- As part of Cassini’s Grand Finale in 2017,
10 hours 39 minutes
ners initially banking on only four years the spacecraft even skirted past the inner
Orbital period (year): 29.5 Earth years
of scientific study there). During that edge of Saturn’s rings before plunging
Moons: At least 82 moons time, the craft returned thousands of into the gas giant’s multilayered,
awe-inspiring images, tracked Saturn’s ammonia-laced clouds. During its final
orbits, Cassini not only sampled ring
particles that are magnetically drawn
into Saturn’s atmosphere, but also created
highly detailed maps of the world’s gravi-
tational and magnetic fields.
While exploring the Saturn system,
Cassini also dropped off an ESA-built
lander named Huygens near the intrigu-
ing moon Titan. Despite all odds, the
craft managed to survive its descent
through the moon’s dense clouds, reveal-
ing one of the most surprisingly Earth-
like worlds yet found in our solar system.
Cassini carried with it the ESA’s ambitious Huygens

lander, which floated through Titan’s atmosphere
and landed (after bouncing) on the surface in
January 2005. This mosaic shows Huygens’ view
of Titan’s complex terrain from an altitude of about
6 miles (10 km). ESA/NASA/JPL-CALTECH/UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA
Unlike the gas giants axis tilted nearly 100° to the plane of the
URANUS Jupiter and Saturn, the STATS solar system, making it orbit the Sun not
solar system’s more like a spinning top, but more like a roll-
distant ice giants have largely received Mass: 14.5 Earth masses ing ball? No matter the cause (the leading
the cold shoulder from robotic space- Equatorial diameter: 31,760 miles theory is an ancient planetary collision),
craft. But thanks to a fortunate planetary (51,120 km) we do know that this unique orientation
alignment that occurs only once every Average temperature: –323 F (–197 C) gives Uranus the most extreme seasons in
175 years, NASA’s ambitious Voyager 2 Rotation period (day): the solar system. One pole is bathed in
mission flew by the solar system’s sev- 17 hours 15 minutes (retrograde) constant sunlight while the other is veiled
enth planet, Uranus, in 1986. Orbital period (year): 84 Earth years in darkness for some 21 years at a time.
Like both its bloated inner siblings, Moons: At least 27 moons Uranus’ magnetic field is also lopsided,
Uranus hosts a ring system, though it is tilted some 60° relative to its spin axis, so
much fainter than that of Saturn. The the planet’s rotation twists its magnetic
rings around Uranus were initially dis- in unprecedented detail. The mission field lines into a bizarre corkscrew shape.
covered in 1977 by astronomers aboard also uncovered 10 new moons and Another unresolved mystery about
the Kuiper Airborne Observatory, an clocked the planet’s atmosphere zipping Uranus is its structure. The blue-green
airplane equipped with an infrared around the world at speeds approaching hue of its swirling atmosphere (primar-
telescope. But Voyager 2 studied them 450 mph (725 km/h). Before continuing ily made of hydrogen and helium) is the
on to Neptune, Voyager 2 also captured result of trace methane gas, which more
informative images of some of the ice readily absorbs red light. But as you ven-
giant’s largest moons: Titania, ture deeper beneath the planet’s cloud
Miranda, Umbriel, Oberon, tops, things get murkier. Scientists think
and Ariel. that about 80 percent of the planet exists
But no other craft has in the form of hot and dense mantle lay-
visited Uranus since. ers composed of super-pressurized
That’s disappointing, water, ammonia, and methane fluids,
considering all the which surround a small core of icy rock.
mysteries the The jury’s still out on that, however.
planet still Maybe another mission to Uranus is
holds. Not in order?
least of
which: Why BELOW: Thanks to adaptive optics, the Keck
is Uranus’ Telescope obtained these infrared views of the two
hemispheres of Uranus and its faint ring system in
rotation 2004. The ice giant’s south pole is facing left in both
images. W.W. KECK OBSERVATORY/LAWRENCE SROMOVSKY (UNIVERSITY OF
WISCONSIN-MADISON)
Voyager 2 arrived
at Uranus in 1986,
returning views of a
celeste orb with very
subtle features. Still,
the spacecraft’s
instruments shed light
on myriad mysteries.
NASA/JPL-CALTECH

Taken by Voyager 2 at a distance of
Honorable mention: NEPTUNE some 4.4 million miles (7.1 million

km), this view of Neptune features
PLUTO a temporary great dark spot at

center (and a companion bright
smudge below that). First seen in
1989, this spot had disappeared by
the time Hubble observed the
Pluto, despite what the world in 1994, though it did see a
International Astronomical similar feature in the ice giant’s
Union says, is still a planet northern hemisphere. NASA/JPL-CALTECH
in the minds of many. And
whether it’s a planet or icy remnants from the early
dwarf planet, nearly all agree solar system, orbiting
Pluto is a fascinating world. beyond Neptune. But no
Covered in plains of nitro- matter its origin, Triton is
gen ice and textured with a surprisingly active world.
mountain ranges of frozen Thanks to Voyager 2, we
water, this demoted world You’d expect the solar sys- know this frosty wonder-
was closely studied less than tem’s most distant planet, land is home to a variety
seven years ago by NASA’s which is some 30 times STATS of intriguing features: Its
New Horizon spacecraft. farther from the Sun than Mass: 17.15 Earth masses frozen nitrogen crust is
Earth, to be pretty chill. Equatorial diameter: adorned with rounded
BELOW: The western lobe of Pluto’s
But although aquamarine 30,800 miles (49,500 km) mounds created by icy
“heart,” Sputnik Planitia, was imaged Neptune is absolutely cold, Average temperature: lava flows, as well as vast,
by New Horizons during its flyby in it’s definitely not calm. smooth volcanic plains. It’s
2015. Thanks to the spacecraft,
–330 F (–201 C)
astronomers now know the area is Neptune sports the Rotation period (day): also speckled by fewer cra-
a craterless region rich in slowly strongest winds in the 16 hours 7 minutes ters than expected for an
shifting nitrogen, methane, and
solar system, which can object its age, suggesting
carbon monoxide ices. NASA/JHU-APL/SWRI Orbital period (year):
whip across the gaseous its surface is being rejuve-
165 Earth years
planet at speeds up to nated. Voyager even found
1,200 mph (2,000 km/h). Moons: At least 14 moons that Triton hosts active ice
STATS
That’s about 1.5 times the volcanoes that spew frozen
Mass: 0.002 Earth masses speed of sound! Plus, about nitrogen as high as 5 miles
Diameter: 1,480 miles half the time, the world unlike Jupiter’s seemingly (8 km) above the moon’s
(2,380 km) hosts at least one giant anti- immortal Great Red Spot, south pole.
Surface temperature: cyclonic storm called a Neptune’s fierce storms I’ll leave you with one
–387 F (–233 C) great dark spot, which are usually pop up and disap- final thought: In the
Rotation period (day): thought to take on a shad- pear within just a few years. decades since Voyager 2
About 6.4 Earth days owy appearance because Let’s not forget Triton, carried out the only mission
(retrograde) their strong winds tear a Neptune’s largest satellite, to the ice giants, scientists
hole in Neptune’s methane- either. It’s the only large have uncovered thousands
Orbital period (year):
laced cloud deck. However, moon in the solar system of exoplanets outside our
248 Earth years
that orbits in the opposite solar system. And despite
Moons: Charon, Hydra, Styx, Voyager 2 observed the surface of direction of its host planet’s planetary formation models
Kerberos, Nix Neptune’s moon Triton, which is spin. Scientists think Triton suggesting ice giants should
composed mainly of nitrogen ice,
as it flew by the world in 1989. might have this so-called be relatively rare, exoplan-
This contrast-enhanced map retrograde orbit because etary evidence suggests they
approximates Triton’s true colors
and has a resolution of 1,970 feet it was captured from the are surprisingly common.
(600 m) per pixel. NASA/JPL-CALTECH/LPI Kuiper Belt, a vast disk of So, although our ice giants
may seem too alien to mat-
ter, exploring them might
help us better understand
what it took to set the stage
for life here on Earth — or
even beyond.
Jake Parks is associate

editor of Astronomy.
How to
SWALLOW
A doomed star makes a
close approach to a black
hole in this artist’s concept.
The extreme tidal forces
exerted by the black hole’s
gravity are tearing the star
apart. MARK A. GARLICK
I
wake up to a chime
from my smartphone.
Bleary-eyed, I check it
— and jolt awake upon
seeing an automated
email from the
MeerKAT radio tele-
scope in South Africa.
The subject line reads:
“AT 2018xxx 2hr has been
completed.” The message
tells me that while I was
sleeping, MeerKAT
observed a target for two
hours and, after some ini-
tial image processing, the
observation is now ready
for me in the archives. All
that remains for me, half a
world away in Cambridge,
Massachusetts, to do is go
online and download it.
The lure of potential dis-
covery wakes me up more
than a pot of coffee ever
could. This could be it! A
modern radio astronomer
does not have to travel to
faraway lands to collect the
data herself — arguably less
romantic. But the thrill of
anticipation and discovery
stays the same, no matter
where on Earth you are.
I drum my fingers while
waiting for my laptop to
load the image, excitement
A STAR
mounting as I wonder what
I’m about to see. There are
a lot of stars and galaxies
in this patch of sky, but
that’s just window dressing.
The real excitement would
be overlooked by the
untrained eye: a tiny collec-
tion of unobtrusive pixels
When a star disappears down in the middle of the image.
It is light from a star’s final
gasp as a supermassive
the throat of a black hole, the flash black hole at the center of a
galaxy gets violent, pulling
is just the start of the show. the star apart and cannibal-
izing it. A tidal disruption
BY YVETTE CENDES event (TDE), as these
occurrences are called, is
one of the most energetic
The 64-dish array of
the MeerKAT radio
telescope lies in
South Africa’s Karoo
and luminous events in the uni- actually suck material in any more they have seen the innermost star,
region, in the verse. But few are easy to find, and than the Sun sucks in the planets S2, complete one full orbit, which
Northern Cape even fewer emit the radio waves that orbit it. For example, if the takes 16 years. After establishing
province. SOUTH AFRICAN
RADIO ASTRONOMY crucial to understanding them. Sun were to suddenly compress S2’s orbital parameters, researchers
OBSERVATORY (SARAO) Each new discovery is precious. into a black hole, it would shrink applied Kepler’s third law of plan-
And in just a few more minutes, to just 4 miles (6 kilometers) etary motion to calculate the mass
I will be the only person on Earth across, yet the planets would con- of Sgr A*, which clocks in at a
to know whether, for this source, a tinue to orbit as they currently do whopping 4 million solar masses.
radio signal exists. I drum my fin- because its mass wouldn’t change. While the final calculation was
gers faster.
The star deforms from its usual sphere
Torn apart
The story of a TDE begins at the into an oval, and then into a long,
heart of a galaxy, near the edge of
a supermassive black hole millions
thin stream. This process is called
or billions of times the mass of the spaghettification.
Sun. Astronomers now think that
practically every large galaxy has The gravity of a black hole simple, the work to get the data
one such black hole at its center. works the same way. When astron- over so many years was not — in
These gravitational monstrosities omers look to the center of our fact, it won astronomers Andrea
play a key role in the formation of own Milky Way Galaxy, we see Ghez and Reinhard Genzel the
their host galaxies and wield huge over a dozen stars orbiting a com- 2020 Nobel Prize in physics.
influence on their surroundings. mon point where our galaxy’s S2 looks like it’s on a stable
Black holes are famously so supermassive black hole, called orbit for now, but researchers esti-
dense that even light cannot Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), resides. mate that thousands of stars,
escape their gravity. But despite In fact, astronomers have been including stellar remnants like
popular conceptions, they don’t observing Sgr A* for so long that neutron stars and white dwarfs,

also orbit Sgr A*. When two of exhausted. To distinguish TDEs
these objects have a close encoun- from supernovae, astronomers
ter, their gravity perturbs each keep an eye out for two things.
other’s orbits and they head out on First, they look for a bright flare at
new, altered trajectories. Most of the center of a galaxy whose super-
these orbits remain stable, or per- massive black hole was previously
haps fling the star outward from dormant. Then, they break down
the center of the galaxy. But on the light by wavelength and study
rare occasions, a star’s new orbit its spectrum to see what elements
sends it inward on a collision it contains. Unlike in a supernova,
course with disaster. the elements observed in a TDE
As the doomed star approaches flare are similar to those in main
the supermassive black hole, it sequence stars that are still burn-
begins to experience tidal forces: ing strong. If your flare fits both
Because gravity is stronger closer criteria, you have a potential TDE
to an object, the black hole pulls on your hands!
more strongly on the star’s near Astronomers spotted the first
side than its far side. Eventually, TDE candidates in the 1990s. In
when the star reaches a certain recent years, finding them has
distance from the black hole — gotten easier thanks to automatic
the tidal radius — the difference sky surveys that scan the night
in force from one side to the other sky for transient objects — signals
becomes greater than the star’s that change in the sky over time
self-gravity holding it together. instead of remaining constant.
When this happens, “the star Still, to date, we have only
gets stretched along its direction
of motion,” explains Enrico ABOVE: The tidal
Ramirez-Ruiz, an astrophysicist at forces that act upon
a star near a black
the University of California, Santa hole rip it apart in a
Cruz, who specializes in TDE the- process called
ory. The star deforms from its spaghettification,
depicted in this
usual sphere into an oval, and simulation. As
then into a long, thin stream. This matter is pulled off
the star, it forms
process is called spaghettification. dramatic tidal tails
As it occurs, the star’s density and, eventually, an
decreases and fusion at its core accretion disk (at
bottom left).
stops altogether. Though a star J. GUILLOCHON AND E.
may take millions of years to form RAMIREZ-RUIZ
and shine for billions more, this LEFT: This

final unraveling takes just a few simulated view
shows the density
hours. in the accretion
disk, with denser
The hunt for TDEs regions in red and
less-dense regions
What happens next? “Half the in blue. J. LAW-SMITH AND
star’s material falls in and forms E. RAMIREZ-RUIZ
an accretion disk around the star,”

explains Ramirez-Ruiz, “and half
gets ejected.” The material in the
disk falls onto the black hole and
feeds it, powering a luminous flare
that can be seen at vast distances observed about 100 TDEs. An incredible picture
before slipping past the black hole’s That’s because TDEs are rare. Arguably the most famous
event horizon (where light can no Astronomers estimate that a gal- TDE to date occurred in 2011,
longer escape). axy like the Milky Way has a TDE when NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift
At first glance, these dazzling no more than once every 100,000 Observatory detected a strange
events can resemble a supernova years. Supernovae, on the other burst of radiation from the center
— a massive star that explodes at hand, occur in a galaxy our size of a galaxy 3.8 billion light-years
the end of its life when its fuel is roughly once a century. away. Swift was launched in 2004
previously dormant black hole
and, as part of this process, the
TDE had somehow launched a jet
of material traveling at near light-
speed, so fast that the laws of rela-
tivity must be considered. This
relativistic jet was aimed directly
at Earth — and astronomers were
staring directly into the beam. “It
was one of my only times as an
astronomer where I had an ‘ah-ha!’
moment, and all the little pieces
started coming together in my
head,” recalls Bloom. “We didn’t
have all the details yet, but obser-
vationally and theoretically it
seemed to click.”
In X-ray wavelengths, astrono-
mers noticed a consistent rising
Relativistic jets and falling pattern in the TDE’s
shoot out from the brightness. They realized these
supermassive black
hole at the heart of to study gamma-ray bursts — Soon, telescopes spanning the were flare-ups from shredded
the galaxy immensely energetic bursts of entire electromagnetic spectrum material falling into the black hole,
Centaurus A in this radiation that occur during a were pointed at Swift J1644+57, constantly fueling the jet. Another
photo-illustration,
plowing into supernova or a neutron star merg- as the event came to be known. key piece of information came
surrounding er. But unlike those bursts, which Different physical processes emit from radio wavelengths. By mea-
material. ESA/HUBBLE, L.
CALÇADA (ESO)
last no more than a few minutes, different kinds of radiation, and suring the signal intensity over
this radiation just kept going. “It often the key to unraveling an multiple frequencies, astronomers
was unlike anything we had seen astronomical mystery lies in could extract a range of informa-
before,” recalls Joshua Bloom, an observing as many wavelengths tion. This included the energy in
astronomer at the University of as possible. the jet, as well as the radius of the
California, Berkeley, who was a An incredible picture emerged: blast wave that created the radio
lead investigator on the signal. A TDE had occurred around a signals, and even the density of
THE DEATH OF A STAR
Star
Star
Star distorted
by tides
Black hole
1 Tidal disruption events begin with a star orbiting a supermassive black hole at
the heart of a galaxy. If it makes a close encounter with another star, it can be
thrown into a death plunge towards the black hole.
2 As the star nears the black hole, tidal forces begin to grow, distorting the star
— the process of spaghettification.

A thin stream of
material from a
tidally disrupted
star is pulled into
an accretion disk
around a black hole
in this illustration.
DESY, SCIENCE
COMMUNICATION LAB
material it was plowing through. witnessed another

Finally, optical observations con- incredible event — the jet
firmed the location of the source turning off. Normally, relativ- In this close-up view,
the remnants of the
itself: smack in the center of the istic jets from black holes last for star are visible on
host galaxy, where a supermassive thousands of years, at least. The slowly faded in energy. The the right side of the
black hole lurks. fact that this one lasted for less X-ray emission is now long gone, black hole. The ring
of light that appears
Then, after about a year and time than it takes Mars to orbit but the blast still has enough to surround the
a half of this activity, the X-ray the Sun was unprecedented, and power to send out radio waves black hole is due to
gravitational lensing
signal suddenly dropped off pre- a boon for astronomers working that the Very Large Array (VLA) — the gravity of the
cipitously, to the point where to unravel their mysteries. in New Mexico can study for black hole bending
light around it. DESY,
Swift could no longer detect it. Once the jet turned off, the 100 years. I know this because SCIENCE COMMUNICATION LAB
Astronomers realized they’d just shock wave from Swift J1644+57 I did the analysis myself.
Disrupted Relativistic jet

star
ALL ILLUSTRATIONS: ASTRONOMY: ROEN KELLY
Accretion disk
3 Eventually, the tidal forces become stronger than the star’s self-gravity,
ripping the star apart. Some of the disassembled stellar material forms an
accretion disk around the black hole, and some of it is flung into space.
4 As matter swirls around the black hole, magnetic fields focus some of the
material into a powerful jet, whose particles travel at close to the speed of
light. This creates shock waves inside the jet that produce intense beams of X-rays
and radio waves.
I began my Ph.D. in astronomy 10,000 times more energetic, surrounding environment is still
in 2011, with an aim of specializ- thanks to its relativistic jet. On an open question.
ing in transient radio astronomy. the other hand, in an “ordinary” If we are going to understand
(I wanted to be a radio astronomer TDE, material tends to flow out TDEs and how these black holes
ever since I read Contact by Carl in all directions with energy levels shape their environments, we need
Sagan as a teenager, so this was an similar to what we see in a super- to follow up on as many new
inevitable choice.) nova explosion — still awesome events — and in as many wave-
When I heard about Swift and impressive, of course, but a lengths — as possible. So far, less
J1644+57, I was impressed by how bit like comparing a conventional than half of known TDEs were
much information the radio signal explosion to a nuclear bomb. detected with radio signals.
contained. When I finished my Coincidentally, Swift did spot Alexander hopes to change
Ph.D. and the opportunity arose two more jetted TDEs in 2011, but that, and oversees a large VLA
to become a postdoctoral fellow at at much greater distances, so they observing program (in which I
Harvard with the group that had couldn’t be studied in detail. also participate) to follow up on
done the initial Swift J1644+57 Otherwise, all the TDEs we’ve all new TDEs discovered in our
analysis, I jumped at it — and got seen have fallen into the ordinary local universe. The program has
to analyze the latest data on the
TDE. Sure, I was years after the
main fireworks and it was a ton
The detail and wide field of MeerKAT
of work, but I’d nevertheless stop images make them unquestionably
every once in a while to marvel
at my luck. the prettiest I’ve seen.
The great mysteries category. At this rate, it looks like the right to “trigger” the VLA
When people hear I’m an astrono- just 1 percent of all TDEs launch a whenever a new TDE is discov-
BELOW: Every mer, they’ll often ask me what relativistic jet, and we still don’t ered by another facility at another
circled object in
this MeerKAT radio the most interesting unanswered understand what makes those wavelength — that is, interrupt
image is a question in the universe is. The TDEs so special. Perhaps the star the schedule for time-pressing
supermassive
black hole newly
honest answer is that it’s fre- unbinds particularly fast, or the observations of our own to gather
discovered by the quently the thing I am working on magnetic fields around the black more data on nearby TDEs.
telescope, firing at that moment — the more you hole are extraordinarily high —
relativistic jets into
space. The image research a subject, the more you but without more events, it’s hard Fresh eyes
is a wide-field view come to appreciate its intricacies. to know for sure. However, the VLA can’t do this
spanning 1.78
square degrees. So here is the mystery about Another mystery about TDEs work alone. From its location in
TDEs in general, and Swift that keeps me wondering is that New Mexico, it cannot see about a
BELOW RIGHT: J1644+57 in particular, that keeps while we know a lot of the mate- third of the southern sky. In fact,
Two bright radio
galaxies launch me wondering: While it is the rial falls into the black hole, lots of until the past few years, all but the
relativistic jets in best-studied TDE on record, Swift it doesn’t. “We know supermassive brightest TDEs were unobserv-
this MeerKAT radio
image. The top J1644+57 was not predicted and is black holes are messy eaters,” my able in the southern skies because
galaxy is roughly not at all like other TDEs we’ve collaborator Kate Alexander, an there was no facility as sensitive as
240 million light-
years away; the
seen. It was a thousand times astronomer at Northwestern the VLA with the right view.
bottom galaxy is more luminous in radio waves University, likes to joke. How the Fortunately, this situation is
about 130 million than other TDEs and over leftover material interacts with the changing rapidly, thanks to new
light-years distant.
BOTH: VETTE CENDES/SARAO

The region
surrounding the
Milky Way Galaxy’s
center has two
enormous bubbles
of hot gas being
blown (upward and
downward) in this
MeerKAT image —
evidence of the
supermassive
black hole’s
influence on its
environment. Hot,
thin magnetic
filaments are also
visible, where
strands of the
black hole’s
powerful magnetic
field have heated
and energized gas.
SOUTH AFRICAN RADIO
ASTRONOMY OBSERVATORY
(SARAO)
telescopes like MeerKAT. I’ve been lucky enough in my Finally, the MeerKAT image
Consisting of 64 antennas in South career to use a dozen different loads on my laptop. I pause to
Africa’s Karoo region, it’s just as radio telescopes, but it was clear take in the whole thing — it feels
sensitive as the VLA. Eventually, from the beginning that MeerKAT like floating in space, if just for
it will become part of the Square is different. I’m used to sources a moment — before zooming in
Kilometer Array, which will be the appearing as featureless blobs, to the center. And … there! A
most powerful radio telescope on but the detail and wide field of smudge of light at the center —
Earth once completed in 2030, and MeerKAT images make them the flare from a dying star whose
comprise dishes scattered across unquestionably the prettiest I’ve remnants are being swallowed by
South Africa and Australia. seen — a large swath of sky with a black hole, suspended alone in
MeerKAT saw first light in 2016 dozens of tiny galaxies floating in the middle of the cosmic ocean.
and, when the first call went out space. It is not unlike the Hubble I smile and start planning the
for non-South Africans to propose Deep Field, but instead of the vis- next steps of my analysis. The end
observations with MeerKAT, I ible starlight Hubble sees, the gal- of this star’s journey means the
jumped at the chance. My targets? axies in MeerKAT’s radio images beginning of my attempt to
A half-dozen TDEs, most of which are powered by the supermassive unravel its story, and there’s a lot
had never been observed at radio black holes dwelling in their cen- of work to do.
wavelengths. ters interacting with stray gas and
And that’s how I found myself dust. These encounters are steady, Yvette Cendes is a postdoctoral
waking up one morning to a cell- low-energy events that fuel most fellow at the Center for Astrophysics
phone chime triggered by a radio of the black holes in the universe. | Harvard & Smithsonian. Follow her
telescope half a world away. Still, they’re not what I’m after. on Twitter @whereisyvette.
SKY THIS MONTH
Visible to the naked eye
Visible with binoculars
Visible with a telescope
THE SOLAR SYSTEM’S CHANGING LANDSCAPE AS IT APPEARS IN EARTH’S SKY.

BY MARTIN RATCLIFFE AND ALISTER LING
Venus reaches greatest brilliancy
DECEMBER 2021
early this month as an evening star.
The planet reached the same
magnitude in this 2018 shot as
a morning star. ALAN DYER
Venus shines bright

December’s early- compositions of the broad Venus Dec. 6, standing less interloper, Comet C/2021 A1
evening sky offers a Milky Way. than 3° away. As Venus slowly (Leonard), might be visible
slew of planetary views, begin- A waxing crescent Moon, approaches the Capricornus nearby if it reaches binocular
ning with Venus, Saturn, and complete with earthshine, joins border in mid-December, an brightness or better (magnitude
Jupiter — all on show soon 5). Observations of the comet
after sunset. Capture the top Dec. 15 and 16 — after it
Family portrait
features of the solar system in appears in the evening sky —
one evening by spotting the AQUAR I US will give a good indication
changing phase of Venus; the whether or not it will be easily
Jupiter Altair
spectacular rings of Saturn; visible.
and the remarkably dynamic On Dec. 17, Leonard stands
jovian atmosphere, its Great AQU I L A
Fomalhaut 5° below Venus. Scan the region
Red Spot, and Jupiter’s four PISCIS Saturn with binoculars for the fuzzy
bright moons. AU ST RI N US glow of the comet’s coma. If the
CAPRIC ORNUS
The first planet to appear comet is brighter than predic-
after sunset is Venus, hanging Venus tions, it may just reach visibility
low in the southwest. It reaches Mercury to the unaided eye and even
greatest brilliancy Dec. 4, when 10° sport a short tail. The comet
it shines at magnitude –4.9, remains low in altitude for the
easily piercing the bright next week, and like all comets,
twilight. This unmistakable Dec. 28, 30 minutes after sunset it will be best recorded in
Looking southwest
brilliant jewel lies in eastern photographs.
Sagittarius, featuring in By the end of December, four planets are readily visible in the evening sky: The next day, Venus halts its
all evening photographic Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn. ALL ILLUSTRATIONS: ASTRONOMY: ROEN KELLY easterly trek against the starry

RISING MOON I Nested craters
IT’S EASY TO FIND twin craters side by side
Boussingault
or small circles inside much bigger ones —
OBSERVING they’re everywhere — but a Goldilocks bowl

that’s just right, nestled inside its parent crater?
HIGHLIGHT Boussingault in the far southeastern area of the
VENUS will sit 5° above Comet Moon is the best fit. It is visible from the 7th
C/2021 A1 (Leonard) on Dec. 17. through the 21st, as the Moon morphs from a fat
The comet may just reach crescent to a couple of nights past Full.
naked-eye brightness.
At first glance, you might think that this is a
terraced feature, where the sides have slumped
inward after the impact excavated a large hole.
K
But after a few seconds, you will notice it defi-
nitely has a different appearance: Terraces N
A
don’t have raised rims like the inner
background just short of the
Boussingault A. Thanks to its far south- Boussingault E
Capricornus border and sinks
ern latitude, shadows hang around for
back into twilight. Track Venus The crater Boussingault, named for a
many days, keeping the double nature
with a telescope to view its French botanist who lived in the 1800s,
distinct from the hundreds of other fea- is our target this month. CONSOLIDATED LUNAR
changing form. On Dec. 1, it tures in these crowded and rough lunar ATLAS/UA/LPL. INSET: NASA/GSFC/ASU
shows a 28-percent-lit crescent highlands. There is no central peak here —
spanning 39". The disk grows to the original one was wiped out by the second view, the 3D appearance might give you a sense
61" by Dec. 31, but shrinks to a impact, then lava pooled up from below to sub- of sitting in low lunar orbit.
mere 2 percent lit. This fast merge it all. Compared to our view this month, the pic-
transformation occurs when Boussingault K, a younger, sharp-edged ture above shows us a bit beyond the limb. The
Venus approaches inferior small crater, adorns the northern rim, clinching slight nodding up and down of the Moon’s face
conjunction, which occurs early the positive identification of your target. An results from its orbit taking the Moon slightly
in 2022. even smaller crater chips the southern flank. As above and below the imaginary level field of
As Venus gets lower late in much as the turbulence in our atmosphere per- Earth’s orbit around the Sun (the ecliptic). This
December, Mercury appears out mits, crank up the magnification and settle in for particular image was taken with the Moon above
of the Sun’s glare. Try spotting a while. Thanks to the shadows and our slanted the ecliptic, revealing more of its underside.
the innermost planet Dec. 26,
when it stands less than 6°
below Venus. They appear
closest on Dec. 28 — 4° apart METEOR WATCH I One out of two
— with Mercury shining at
magnitude –0.8. By New Year’s
Eve, Mercury stands 1° higher Geminid meteor shower TWO MAJOR METEOR SHOWERS
than Venus. Check them out occur in December each year: the
Pollux Castor
45 minutes after local sunset. Geminids (Dec. 4–17, peaking on the
Radiant
Saturn joins Venus in the 14th), and the Ursids (Dec. 17–26,
evening sky, shining a much Procyon peaking on the 22nd).
CA N IS GEM INI AURIGA A waxing gibbous Moon lies in
fainter magnitude 0.6. They’re MI NOR Capella
18° apart on Dec. 1, and are Pisces for the Geminids’ peak, result-
ing in moonlight interfering until our
closest (14° apart) on Dec. 16. Betelgeuse
PERSEUS
satellite sets around 3 A.M. local time,
Saturn remains in Capricornus Aldebaran
Sirius ORION offering a couple of hours of dark
all month.
skies. The Geminids are one of the
Grab your last telescopic CA N IS Pleiades most favorable shower of the year,
view of Saturn and its rings for MAJOR
with close to 150 meteors per hour
the year. The ringed planet is TAURUS
when Gemini is near the zenith.
best during the first half of the 10° Although the Moon will affect this
month, when it remains rate heavily, patient skywatchers can
above about 20° altitude for wait for the occasional bright event,
up to an hour after twilight
GEMINID METEORS Dec. 14, 4 A.M.
Looking west which are usually spectacular.
ends. In late December, Active dates: Dec. 4–17
The Ursids’ peak is strongly
Peak: Dec. 14
Saturn is too low for good Moon at peak: Waxing gibbous affected by the Moon all night and
Your best bet to catch the most Geminid
views in a dark sky. Maximum rate at peak: meteors is first waiting for the Moon to set this year the prospects are very poor
— Continued on page 38 150 meteors/hour on the morning the shower peaks. for this shower.
N
STAR DOME ` URS

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HOW TO USE THIS MAP ` a

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STAR COLORS NGC 253

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receptors, so they appear white unless you
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BEGINNERS: WATCH A VIDEO ABOUT HOW TO READ A STAR CHART AT
www.Astronomy.com/starchart.
DECEMBER 2021
SUN. MON. TUES. WED. THURS. FRI. SAT.
O
AC
` 1 2 3 4
W
DR i
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5 6 7 8 9 10 11
ga `
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ILLUSTRATIONS BY ASTRONOMY: ROEN KELLY

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19 20 21 22 23 24 25
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26 27 28 29 30 31
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Note: Moon phases in the calendar vary in size due to the distance
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SAGIT
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
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AQUIL A
1 Neptune is stationary, 5 P.M. EST

Altair
DELPHINUS
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2 The Moon passes 0.7° north of Mars, 7 P.M. EST

d
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4 New Moon occurs at 2:43 A.M. EST; total solar eclipse

+
M15
The Moon is at perigee (221,702 miles from Earth), 5:04 A.M. EST
SUS
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Venus is at greatest brilliancy (magnitude –4.9), 9 A.M. EST

PEGA
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Enif
6 The Moon passes 1.9° south of Venus, 8 P.M. EST

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7 The Moon passes 4° south of Saturn, 9 P.M. EST

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9 The Moon passes 4° south of Jupiter, 1 A.M. EST

NU
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10 The Moon passes 0.5° north of asteroid Pallas, 8 A.M. EST

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Asteroid Nysa is at opposition, 9 A.M. EST
PR
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The Moon passes 4° south of Neptune, 8 P.M. EST

First Quarter Moon occurs at 8:36 P.M. EST
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U 15 The Moon passes 1.5° south of Uranus, 1 A.M. EST
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ut A
lha 18 Venus is stationary, 6 A.M. EST
a
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_ Full Moon occurs at 11:35 P.M. EST
SW
21 Winter solstice occurs at 10:59 A.M. EST

26 Mars passes 5° north of Antares, 1 P.M. EST
Last Quarter Moon occurs at 9:24 P.M. EST
28 Mercury passes 4° south of Venus, 8 P.M. EST
31 The Moon passes 0.9° south of Mars, 3 P.M. EST
PATHS OF THE PLANETS
DR A
UM a
LY N
HER C Vn
LMi PER
LYR BOÖ G EM AUR

Comet 67P/C-G
CrB C OM
LE O
Path
Massalia Ceres
on Iris Uranus
e Mo C NC Asteroid Nysa reaches
h
OPH
A 1 SER of t opposition December 10
SE R 21 th
2 0 Pa Celestial equator
C/ ORI
e t rd) VI R SEX
m a MON
Co e on LI B
(L
ER I
C RT
Mars HYA
CRV CMa
Sun
L EP
A total solar eclipse occurs across F OR
PYX C OL
parts of Antarctica on December 3/4 A NT
SCO PU P CAE
CE N
TEL VEL
Dawn Midnight
Moon phases
To locate the Moon in the sky, draw a line from the phase shown
for the day straight up to the curved blue line.
6 5 4 3 2 1
31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15
THE PLANETS Uranus

IN THEIR ORBITS Venus
Arrows show the inner
planets’ monthly motions
and dots depict the Jupiter
Neptune
outer planets’ positions
Saturn
at midmonth from high
above their orbits.
Mercury
Earth Pluto
Winter solstice is
December 21
Ceres
PLANETS MERCURY VENUS

Venus
Date Dec. 31 Dec. 15
Magnitude –0.8 –4.9
Mercury
Angular size 5.8" 48.7"
Mars
Jupiter Illumination 80% 16%
Distance (AU) from Earth 1.163 0.342
Distance (AU) from Sun 0.369 0.721
Right ascension (2000.0) 19h55.4m 19h52.0m
Declination (2000.0) –22°44' –22°02'

JULY
This map unfolds the entire night sky from sunset (at right) until sunrise (at left). Arrows
and colored dots show motions and locations of solar system objects during the month. DECEMBER 2021
C AS 1 Io
DR A
Callisto 2
AND L AC
C YG H ER
3
TRI LYR
Europa
VU L
4 Europa
ARI
PEG
PS C Io
of th S GE 5
e Sun
(e Venus shines brightest in the
clip evening sky in early December OPH ) Jupiter
tic) 6
a rd
on Ganymede
Neptune e
QR 1 (L 7
2 1A
0
Jupiter C /2
CET
Pallas Saturn m et JUPITER’S 8 Callisto
Co
Pluto Sun MOONS
S CL PsA C AP Dots display 9
positions of
Comet 19P/Borrelly Mercury
Galilean satellites 10
M IC
PHE SG R CrA SCO at 9 P.M. EST on
G RU TE L the date shown. 11 Ganymede
Early evening South is at the
top to match the 12
view through a
telescope.
13
14
14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4
15
16
S
THE PLANETS IN THE SKY 17
These illustrations show the size, phase,
Jupiter and orientation of each planet and the two
W E 18
brightest dwarf planets at 0h UT for the dates
N
in the data table at bottom. South is at the top
to match the view through a telescope. 19
20
10"
Saturn
21
22
Mars Uranus Neptune Pluto
Ceres
23
24
MARS CERES JUPITER SATURN URANUS NEPTUNE PLUTO 25

Dec. 15 Dec. 15 Dec. 15 Dec. 15 Dec. 15 Dec. 15 Dec. 15
26
1.6 7.4 –2.2 0.6 5.7 7.8 15.2
3.9" 0.7" 36.9" 15.7" 3.7" 2.3" 0.1" 27
99% 100% 99% 100% 100% 100% 100%

28
2.425 1.796 5.345 10.569 18.982 29.952 35.251
1.558 2.752 4.996 9.923 19.725 29.921 34.422 29
15h54.7m 3h57.6m 21h59.0m 20h50.2m 2h34.9m 23h25.6m 19h49.6m

30
–20°16' 17°07' –13°25' –18°34' 14°44' –4°57' –22°47'
31
WHEN TO
SKY THIS MONTH — Continued from page 33 VIEW THE
Reappearing act
PLANETS
shines at magnitude –2.3, but
quickly dims 0.1 magnitude and EVENING SKY
S Mercury (southwest)
then crosses into Aquarius
Callisto Dec. 14. The waxing Moon Venus (southwest)
stands below Jupiter on Dec. 8, Jupiter (south)
Europa Saturn (southwest)
W Io
while Jupiter stands 10° west of Uranus (east)
the Moon on Dec. 9. Neptune (south)
30" Jupiter’s 37"-diameter disk
looks great through a telescope MIDNIGHT
— your best views will be as Uranus (west)
Dec. 26, 8:24 P.M. EST Ganymede
twilight descends and for the MORNING SKY
At 8:24 P.M. EST on the 26th, Europa is poised to emerge from Jupiter’s large, first hour or so after dark. By Mars (southeast)
dark shadow. Callisto, meanwhile, is closing in and will begin transiting the the end of December, Jupiter
disk at 8:53 P.M. EST.
dips below 20° around 7 P.M.
local time and sets by 9 P.M.
Saturn’s disk spans 16"; the long 7 P.M. local time on Dec. 31, so Check the configuration occur close together. First,
axis of its rings span 35" and be sure to catch it early. of its four Galilean moons — Callisto reappears from behind
tilts 19° to our line of sight. Jupiter starts December in their relative positions change Jupiter at 9:13 P.M. EST, followed
The easiest of Saturn’s the eastern part of Capricornus, nightly. On Dec. 1, an occulta- by Europa exiting Jupiter’s
moons to spot is Titan, shining about 16.5° east of Saturn. It tion and eclipse reappearance shadow at 11:15 P.M. EST.
at magnitude 8. The fainter Watch Io disappear behind
moons become more difficult to Jupiter Dec. 4 at 9:35 P.M. EST.
find in poor seeing conditions Comet C/2021 A1 (Leonard) skims within The following night, both Io
when the planet is at low alti- and its shadow travel across
tude. Saturn sets shortly after 2.6 million miles of Venus on Dec. 18. the face of Jupiter shortly after
COMET SEARCH I Best comet since NEOWISE

TAKE EVERY CHANCE you get to observe the brief appearance of Comet C/2021 A1 (Leonard)
Comet C/2021 A1 (Leonard). Visible to the unaided eye by the second
week of December, it will rapidly fade to 8th magnitude by month’s
N C A N ES V ENAT ICI
end. But what a show: An emerald blade shoots out on the 9th as its
fan swishes in front of us! k c Dec.
+ e 1
The gas part of a comet’s tail flows straight out, away from the ` M3
b ¡
Sun. Almost certainly it will be green, but blue — like C/2020 F3 H E RCU LES a 5
Alphecca Arcturus
(NEOWISE) — is possible. The dust component spreads out into a `
relatively flat fan, which becomes edge-on to our line of sight when g d
Earth passes through the comet’s orbital plane. The lightsaber Rasalhague Rasalgethi B O ÖT E S
`
likeness should be present for one night on either side of Dec. 9. E
b Path of
It’s not to be missed and worth a drive to darker skies. 10 _ Comet Leonard
Cebalrai ¡ SERPENS CAPU T
Immediately after, the dust begins to blaze, peaking on the 14th.
OPH IU CH U S Marfik
Dust forward-scatters light really well — best when the particles lie M5
M14 M12 b c
between us and the Sun — then fades night to night as the angles 12 +
M10 VI RG O
change. Don’t be misled by thinking Gregory Leonard’s comet will
LIBR A
be best when it comes closest to the Sun (perihelion) in early ` 5°
January. More important is the increasing Earth-comet separation.
Brightness drops by the square of the distance between two objects, Early this month, Comet Leonard swipes past globular cluster M3 —
meaning Leonard will fade to binocular brightness by the time we compare their appearance! After midmonth, you’ll want to switch from
hit New Moon. morning to evening viewing. Our friends south of the equator see only the
second half of the performance.
Beware of the confusing information on when to view Leonard.
Technically, it is visible both after sunset and before sunrise in Note that our illustration shows the comet’s progress only through
different parts of the sky. In a nutshell, here’s when it’s best: Up to Dec. 12. Visit www.Astronomy.com/skythisweek later this month for
Dec. 12, look southeast as dawn is breaking. From the 12th onward, charts and viewing tips through the latter half of December.
switch to early evening and look low in the southwest. Find observing Other visible comets this month include, in order of brightness,
spots with as low a horizon and as minimal light pollution as possible. 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, 9P/Borrelly, and C/2019 L3 (ATLAS).

LOCATING ASTEROIDS I
Red-letter day
Ceres from the city
WHILE DWARF PLANET 1 CERES quickly crossed the star-
studded face of Taurus the Bull last month, it now begins a stroll
Marfik into the populated Milky Way. The space rock is perfect for
Zubenelgenubi
binoculars from the suburbs, having just peaked at magnitude 7
LIBR A on Nov. 29 during opposition.
As bright as Ceres is, it can almost hide in the crowd. Scan the
OPHI UC HUS
chart below or print out a larger-scale copy to mark when you
saw it. Use the 6th-magnitude stars as your pattern anchor to
Moon positively identify the right dot.
It was back in 1801 that Giuseppe Piazzi was comparing tele-
Mars
Antares scope fields with star charts and picked out this undiscovered
10°
SC ORPI US planet. Like him, wait a night or two to confirm its motion against
the background. At month’s end, Ceres has faded a whole magni-
tude, but is easier to spot in the sparser starfield.
Earth now pulls ahead on its inside track, lapping Ceres in 2023.
Dec. 31, 1 hour before sunrise The paths are not round, however, which will bring the main-belt
Looking southeast asteroid slightly closer to Earth than it’s been since 2005. These
brighter oppositions come in cycles of nine and 14 years.
Mars and the Moon give 2021 a grand send-off in Scorpius, where they hang
near the famously red-hued star Antares.
Lost in the crowd
darkness falls. Io’s transit ends Uranus stands high in the N
at 9:14 P.M. EST, followed by its sky against the backdrop of t
NGC 1554/5
shadow 75 minutes later. Two Aries the Ram every evening
days later, Ganymede, Jupiter’s and sets in the early morning
¡
largest moon, transits on Dec. 7 hours. It lies about 11° south- TAU RUS
b3
beginning at 9:03 P.M. EST. The east of Hamal, the brightest Path of Ceres
event continues for more than E b1
star in Aries. Uranus shines at b 2 30
3 hours. magnitude 5.7, an easy object Hyades 15 20 25
Aldebaran 10
Dec. 1 5
Neptune is a binocular for binoculars once you find
object shining at magnitude 7.8 the right field of view. The ice e a
most of the month and located giant stands about 3° northeast l /
in Aquarius the Water-bearer. It of the gibbous Moon on
stands high in the southern sky Dec. 14. 1°
Dec. 1 and remains visible all December is a great time to
evening until it drops very low view Uranus with a telescope, To track Ceres through this crowded region, choose several stars as
after 11 P.M. local time. The dis- given its high altitude after anchor points to catch the bright spot that moves.
tant planet lies 3° northeast of dark. Uranus spans 4" with a
the 4th-magnitude star Phi (ϕ) distinctive greenish-blue hue.
Aquarii on Dec. 1. That night, At a distance of 1.7 billion miles begins. On the last morning the largest of the South Orkney
Neptune is at its stationary (19 AU), it’s a wonder to behold. of the year, a waning crescent Islands. The eclipse path then
point; it barely moves all month. Mars reappears in the morn- Moon stands within 4° of Mars crosses the Weddell Sea and
Neptune stands 4.5° north of a ing sky in Libra and crosses and Antares — a beautiful sight makes landfall again on the
First Quarter Moon on Dec. 10. into Scorpius midmonth, then in the predawn sky. Ronne Ice Shelf and Berkner
At the ice giant’s huge dis- moves into Ophiuchus Dec. 25. The winter solstice occurs Island. A small partial eclipse
tance of nearly 30 astronomical That morning, it shines at Dec. 21 at 11 A.M. EST. of the Sun will be visible across
units (where 1 astronomical magnitude 1.6 less than 5° A total solar eclipse takes southern Africa, Tasmania, and
unit or AU is the average Earth- north of its noted rival, place Dec. 4 across Earth’s southern Australia.
Sun distance) from us, its disk Antares, which is the brighter southern pole. The longest
spans only 2" through a tele- of the two (magnitude 1.1). duration of totality is 1 minute Martin Ratcliffe is a
scope. Use high magnification Mars rises nearly two hours 54 seconds. A number of planetarium professional with
on a steady night of seeing to before the Sun, so look for it cruises are slated to travel to Evans & Sutherland and enjoys
reveal its bluish-green disk. low in the southeast as twilight locations along the eclipse observing from Wichita, Kansas.
track. The eclipse begins at sun- Alister Ling, who lives in
GET DAILY UPDATES ON YOUR NIGHT SKY AT rise in the South Atlantic Ocean Edmonton, Alberta, is a longtime
www.Astronomy.com/skythisweek. and crosses Coronation Island, watcher of the skies.
Mizar and Alcor
ABOVE: The Big Dipper in Ursa

Major houses a famous double
star that ancient Arabic texts
Double down on
refer to as a visual test. Just at
the kink in the Dipper’s handle
is bright Mizar, with dimmer
Alcor 12' to its east-northeast
DOUBLE
(upper left in this image).
ALAN DYER
LEFT: This meticulously hand-

drawn diagram from Edward
Crossley’s A Handbook of
Double Stars shows the orbits
of Castor A and B. RAYMOND SHUBINSKI
STARS
Roughly half the sky’s
stars have a partner.
Here are some of the
most famous, colorful, VIEWING DOUBLE STARS is a popular activity at star parties. The
and compelling pairs. presenter will usually point out Mizar and its dimmer companion, Alcor, in
the bend of the Big Dipper’s handle; or, in summer, telescopes are often turned
BY RAYMOND SHUBINSKI to Albireo in Cygnus, to everyone’s delight.
But double stars are often neglected by today’s serious amateur observers,
who are more interested in deep-sky objects. It’s a shame, because not only are
double stars beautiful, but they are also a challenge by which to measure the
skill of the observer and the quality of their telescope. Double stars were once
the focus of both professional and amateur observers alike, and they have
played an important role in our understanding of gravity and of the galaxy
in which we live.
Seeing double
Mizar and Alcor have long been a test
Gamma Virginis (Porrima)
for good eyesight. Called the horse and A sketch made with a 6-inch f/8 Newtonian
rider, these stars (and hence the ability to scope resolves the two stars that make up
Porrima in Virgo the Maiden. JEREMY PEREZ
separate them) are even referred to early
Arabic texts as “the test.” But skywatchers
had no idea that they were seeing just a
chance alignment. Mizar and Alcor now Giuseppe Piazzi showed, based on
appear to be part of a group of stars mov- repeated observations, that 61 Cygni
ing together through the galaxy, but they was moving noticeably against the back-
are not a true binary system bound by ground of the other stars in the Swan.
gravity. They are instead called a com- Because of its high proper motion, he
mon proper motion pair. PERFECT christened it the Flying Star. Three
Less than 10 years after Galileo EYESIGHT NOT decades later, Friedrich Bessel reasoned
turned his telescope to the sky, his friend that 61 Cygni must be relatively close to
Benedetto Castelli discovered that Mizar
REQUIRED Earth. After years of observations, he
Presenters at star parties often say that
has a nearby companion — Mizar B — in ancient times, the ability to see both was able to make the first measurement
of almost equal brightness. Mizar is easy Mizar and Alcor would qualify you for of stellar parallax, using the double star’s
to split in a small telescope. Castelli also the Roman army. I have searched motion against the more distant, station-
noted the nearby companion of Beta (β) Roman literature by Cicero, Pliny the ary background to determine it is only
Elder, Seneca, and, most importantly,
Scorpii, another favorite for small tele- 10.4 light-years away. Modern observa-
De Re Militari by Vegetius. There is no
scopes. In the mid-17th century, the mention of any such test of eyesight tions place it just 1 light-year farther.
English scientist Robert Hooke split either for foot soldiers or archers. Early Next, let’s move on to Virgo. The
Gamma (γ) Arietis in the Ram. Yet none Arabic literature does mention Alcor as Maiden looks like a giant letter Y.
of these observers could determine a test for visual acuity, but as far as the Gamma Virginis, also known as
Romans were concerned, if you could
whether the stars were physically related. Porrima, is the star at the joint of this
pick up a sword and shield, they signed
In 1849, Sir John Herschel wrote in you up for active duty. — R.S. Y. On a spring night, turn a tele-
his book Outlines of Astronomy, “Many scope on Gamma; the
of the stars, when examined with a two stars of this
telescope, are found to be double. … system are almost
This might be attributed to accidental Follow the stars equally bright at
proximity, did it occur only in a few Let’s start in the constellation Cygnus. magnitude 3.65
instances.” He goes on to write that “the The Swan is full of wonderful objects, and 3.56. They
frequency of this companionship [and] including two fascinating double stars. look like two
the extreme closeness,” means many One is 61 Cygni, an easy target for a
must be physically related. small telescope. To find it, draw a line
Anyone who has swept a star-filled from the tail of the Swan, Deneb, to
Castor
sky with binoculars or a small telescope the tip of its right wing, Zeta (ζ) Cygni.
has seen the profusion of what appear 61 Cygni lies about halfway between Castor is Gemini’s alpha
to be closely related stars. But the true these two stars. You will need a dark star and garnered the
attention of both William and John
relationship of double stars is more sky to see the primary, at magnitude Herschel. This sketch shows the
complex than Herschel’s straightfor- 5.2, with the unaided eye. A good pair system’s two brightest stars through an
8-inch f/6 Newtonian at 240x. JEREMY PEREZ
ward statement. If you have a modest of binoculars will split the two widely
backyard telescope, you can follow the separated stars. The companion shines
trail that led to our understanding of at about 6th magnitude.
the true nature of double stars. In 1804, the astronomer priest tiny headlights in space.
This particular double star helped
confirm the universal nature of Newton’s
theory of gravity. Early 19th-century
astronomers, including Herschel, spent
Alcor years refining their observations of
Mizar A & B
this fascinating star system. The two
stars have an orbital period of almost
169 years. At their greatest angular sepa-
ration, they are nearly 6" apart. At their
closest, they become difficult to split in a
Mizar (right) is itself a binary star, with its two components 14" apart. Alcor, visible at left, is not in a system large-aperture telescope. This disappear-
with Mizar, although the two share the same proper motion. GIUSEPPE DONATIELLO ing act occurred in 1836, and by charting
61 Cygni
61 Cygni is known as the Flying Star for its rapid
motion against the background stars. These
images, taken eight years apart, show the pair’s
displacement over time. INDIVIDUSOBSERVANIS/WIKIMEDIA
COMMONS
certainly affects the way we see color in

stars through a telescope.
1' 1' Gleaming yellow and amber in the
head of Cygnus is the constellation’s other
famous pair: Albireo, the crown jewel of
the stars’ motions, astronomers proved Castor and its companion, Herschel was double stars. Turn a small telescope on
they were orbiting each other according convinced the pair was a true binary star this star and it will resolve into a golden
to Newton’s law of gravity. This, in turn, system and not a chance alignment. primary (Albireo A) and a brilliant sap-
showed gravity not only works in our This was later confirmed by John phire blue companion (Albireo B). Some
solar system with the Sun, the Moon, the Herschel, William’s son. John continued observers see a hint of green in the fainter
planets, and other small bodies, but also his father’s studies of Castor, and gath- star. This may be an effect of the contrast
in the depths of interstellar space! ered observations taken by between the two stars, whose
The stars again came closest in 2005. other astronomers over the amazing colors arise from
Currently, they are approaching 3" in previous 100 years. their physical properties.
separation, making them fairly easy to These allowed him to Albireo A is a giant
split with a small telescope. As a bonus produce detailed more than 14 times the
for observers, Porrima lies less than 3° elements of the mass of the Sun, pro-
above the ecliptic and is occasionally stars’ orbits, mak- ducing light in the
occulted by the Moon. ing this the first yellow-orange part
The winter sky gleams with bright confirmed binary. of the spectrum.
jewels, and one of the best is Castor in We now know that Its companion is
Gemini the Twins. At magnitude 1.9, Castor is even more younger and only
Castor is the 25th-brightest star in the complex than the
sky. It is also a fascinating multiple-star Herschels could have
imagined, with a total of Epsilon Boötis (Izar)
six stars locked in mutual
Albireo orbits. Izar in Boötes shows off its colorful
components in this 2012 sketch made through
a 6-inch 6/8 Newtonian scope. JEREMY PEREZ
One of the sky’s most
stunning double stars
Color vision
is Albireo, whose The night sky is punctuated with stars
components are that present both vivid and subtle hues.
brilliant sapphire
and yellow. ALAN DYER It’s easier to see these incredible col-
ors on display in double stars because
their proximity makes them easy to
system. Through compare. During the 19th century, avid
a modest-sized double-star observers reported an amaz-
telescope, Castor ing range of colors among paired stars.
is relatively easy to Astronomer Joel Dorman Steele wrote,
split into two stars, “Every tint that blooms in the flowers of
with the companion summer, flames out in the stars at night.”
shining at magnitude 2.97 Bear in mind, though, that humans
about 5" from the primary. see the full range of color best in bright
Sir William Herschel was the first sunlight. The ability
Gamma Delphini
astronomer to systematically study dou- decreases as the light
ble stars. When he started his work in level drops. In the ABOVE: Although this wide-field view of
1800, he “resolved to examine every star dark, we are Delphinus doesn’t split Gamma (upper
left), the star does appear slightly
in the heavens with the utmost atten- more sensitive greenish. ALAN DYER
tion” — a monumental challenge for any to blues and
observer. After several years observing greens. This LEFT: This sketch, made with a
6-inch f/8 Newtonian telescope at
240x magnification, splits Gamma
Delphini into two stars. JEREMY PEREZ
at the root of the Scorpion’s
uppermost claw is yet another
SEEING CLEARLY colored double star. With a sepa-
Throughout the 19th century and well
into the 20th, both professional and
ration of more than 13", this system
amateur astronomers preferred resolves into two stars at relatively
refracting telescopes. Refractors offer a low power. Beta appears truly white,
clear aperture free of the distortion and while the second star has been called
diffraction caused by the secondary Antares lilac or green. The discrepancy may be
mirror in reflecting telescopes. But two
drawbacks of early refractors were their This highly magnified shot shows Antares’ due to contrast between the two stars.
long focal length and their chromatic much smaller close companion, Antares B. Like Porrima, Acrab lies on the ecliptic
GIUSEPPE DONATIELLO
aberration, which cause poor images and is occasionally occulted by the
and color distortion, respectively. The Moon.
development of achromatic and Our final destination is the left foot
apochromatic lens systems has
eliminated these issues. I currently
Nineteenth-century observer Admiral of the Princess Andromeda, which holds
observe double stars with both a 6-inch William Henry Smyth called it a “beau- the delightful double star Almach
Celestron refractor and an 8-inch tiful double star” and said the two stars (Gamma Andromedae). First
Celestron NexStar Evolution HD reflector. appear yellow and light emerald. Others split in the late 18th cen-
Both scopes provide excellent images, as have said they’re orange and lime. What tury, the two stars
will many others. Even a good pair of
binoculars can provide enjoyable
do you see? have been described
viewing of wide double stars. — R.S. One of the most glorious stars in the as orange and
sky is Antares, the heart of the Scorpion. emerald green
The name means “rival of Mars.” And (like Gamma
anyone who has scanned the summer Delphini).
about four times the mass of our Sun; it sky knows that Antares has a distinct Others have
shines with intensely blue-white light. red hue. At a distance of 550 light-years, seen gold and
Astronomers long wondered whether this star is a nearby red supergiant. indigo blue. This
these two stars were physically related. In 1844, Scottish astronomer James
In the last few years, the European Space W. Grant observed a companion star
Agency’s Gaia spacecraft has provided near Antares. The secondary star was Gamma Andromedae
data suggesting this is an optical double, seen again in 1846 by American astrono- (Almach)
also known as a line-of-sight double. mer Ormsby M. Mitchel. The two stars
Regardless, the close visual effect is are separated by 2.5" and their Almach, located in the foot of Andromeda, has
spectacular and Albireo is colors have been described a small companion that may appear either
green or blue, depending on your color
always a favorite object for as fiery red and green perception. NVN271/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
viewing. or blue. The prolific
But perhaps aiming English astronomer
to take Albireo’s spot is the Rev. Thomas
Izar (Epsilon [ε] W. Webb said that contrasting pair provides yet another
Boötis), also known as the companion challenge for color perception.
Pulcherrima, Latin for appeared “yellow,
“the most beautiful.” with flashes of deep See for yourself
That name was crimson alternating Observing double stars is a rewarding
bestowed by Friedrich experience. They give us the opportunity
Georg Wilhelm von Struve, to challenge our equipment, our sky con-
who split the star into two col- Beta Scorpii (Acrab) ditions, and, most of all, our own observ-
orful companions using the Great ing skills. If you have the patience to
Dorpat Refractor in Estonia. He said the This sketch of Beta Scorpii, made with an watch stars like 61 Cygni over the course
8-inch f/5.9 Newtonian telescope, shows the
primary was gold and the secondary an white primary accompanied by a secondary of many years, you’ll see that the sky isn’t
appealing blue. Other observers claim that appeared blue to the observer. JEREMY PEREZ static, but dynamic and alive. And ulti-
the stars look yellow and green, respec- mately, the challenge of visually observ-
tively. Epsilon can be difficult to separate ing double stars gives a sense of connec-
with a small telescope but is well worth with a less proportion of fine green.” tion with the cosmos that no photograph
the effort. Antares is so bright that the fainter star can possibly convey.
Yet another crown jewel of the sky, can be overwhelmed by its glare, making
Gamma Delphini is located in the con- this delightful double star a challenge to Raymond Shubinski has observed all of
stellation Delphinus’ Job’s Coffin aster- split, depending on the telescope and sky these double stars and more. He also enjoys
ism. An easy double to split, observers conditions. comparing his observations with those of
describe it as having unusual colors. Also in Scorpius, Acrab (Beta Scorpii) bygone astronomers.
A TOTAL SOLAR
ECLIPSE OVER
ANTARCTICA To chase down the Moon’s shadow this month,
you’ll need to put yourself on ice. BY MICHAEL E. BAKICH
LEFT: A total solar eclipse is a not-to-be-missed event that will leave you breathless. This processed image is a single frame
from an HD video shot through a 106mm refractor at f/5.8 during the Nov. 14, 2012, eclipse over Lakeland Downs, Queensland,
Australia. RIGHT: These brightly colored clam tents serve as guests’ Antarctic home away from home at Union Glacier Camp.
ALAN DYER; CHRISTIAN IVERSEN STYVE/ALE
ON DEC. 4, a three-way celestial a total lunar eclipse (although the number is a quarter of our planet’s, so its shadow
tango will once again occur as the Sun and of observed solar eclipses has been rising in barely reaches Earth’s surface to create solar
the Moon line up with Earth to produce the recent years). The reason for the disparity eclipses. If you’re beneath the lighter, outer
greatest of nature’s spectacles: a total solar is simple. During a lunar eclipse, anyone on region of that shadow — called the
eclipse. And while many eclipses occur in the nightside of our planet under a clear sky penumbra — you’ll see a partial solar
faraway places, this one takes the cake. The can see the Moon passing through Earth’s eclipse. As long as you’re wearing your
darkest part of the Moon’s shadow during shadow. Even at the Moon’s distance of eclipse glasses, a partial is nothing to scoff
December’s eclipse will touch only the con- about 238,000 miles (383,000 kilometers), at, but there won’t really be any noticeable
tinent of Antarctica. So, pack your camera, that shadow is much larger than Luna. If dimming of the Sun’s brilliance. The lucky
your eclipse glasses, and your winter sur- the Moon passes through the center of our individuals under the dark inner shadow
vival gear if you’re going to chase this event. planet’s shadow, totality can last as long — the umbra — will witness the daytime
as 106 minutes — though it’s usually less twilight of a total solar eclipse. Making that
What’s going on because the Moon passes either above or event even more dramatic is the fact that it
Total solar eclipses occur more often than below the shadow’s center. doesn’t last long. Solar totality lasts a maxi-
total lunar ones, but more people have seen On the other hand, the Moon’s diameter mum of 7 minutes 29 seconds.

Two travelers observe the
early-morning Sun as it
hangs over the mountains
near Antarctic Logistics &
Expeditions’ Union Glacier
Camp. This site will receive
47 seconds of totality on
Dec. 4. CHRISTOPHER MICHEL/ALE
Unfortunately, an eclipse sporting that 28 seconds, until 3:06:29 A.M. EST. Finally, an eclipse’s magnitude. The magnitude
duration won’t occur until July 16, 2186. it vanishes 280 miles (450 km) north of the of this eclipse is 1.0367. Put another way,
This December, the maximum duration Antarctic coast at longitude 138°43'44" the Moon will appear 3.67 percent larger
of totality is 1 minute 54 seconds. West and latitude 67°04'07" South. than the Sun. Greatest eclipse occurs at
The total path length is 3,708 miles 2:33:23 A.M. EST at longitude 46°12'
The path (5,968 km), which is relatively short. By West and latitude 76°47' South, a point
The Moon’s penumbra first touches Earth comparison, the upcoming 2024 total in the Weddell Sea just off the coast of
at 12:29:11 A.M. EST (5h29m11s UT) and solar eclipse that passes through the U.S. Antarctica.
leaves its surface at 4:37:24 A.M. EST. will sport a path length of 9,190 miles
The total phase of the eclipse begins at (14,790 km). The sky during the eclipse
2:00:01 A.M. EST some 217 miles (350 km) For this month’s eclipse, the Both the Sun and Moon will lie in
east of the Falkland Islands, at longitude Moon’s diameter will be 33'29", while the southern part of the constellation
51°10'46" West and latitude 53°06'32" South. the Sun’s apparent span will be 32'27". Ophiuchus the Serpent-bearer. The
The umbra remains in contact with Astronomers call the ratio of the Sun is in front of its stars from Nov. 29
Earth’s surface for 1 hour 6 minutes diameters of the Moon and the Sun through Dec. 17. At the moment of
TOTAL SOLAR
ECLIPSE OF
DEC. 4, 2021
ANTARCTICA
ABOVE: Antarctica is a stunningly beautiful

S
destination that should absolutely be on your bucket
E ND T
list. What better time to visit this remote region than SE SE
during a total solar eclipse? LANDON NOLL L IP SUN
EC AT
07
:58
RIGHT: Several bright stars will be visible during
UT
totality. Additionally, Mercury will shine at
C
magnitude –1.1 and Mars at magnitude 1.6. Due 1m
to its location 40° east of the Sun, Venus will sit 0s
1m
15
low in the southeast and may not be visible. 1m
s
ASTRONOMY: ROEN KELLY 15s
1m
1m
30
0s
s
1m
greatest eclipse, the Sun’s right 35
s
08
ascension will be 16h43m32s and
08
:10
:06
its declination will be –22°16'29".
UT
UT
C
During the eclipse, the planet
C
nearest to the Sun will be Mercury.
08
:14
The innermost planet, shining at mag-
UT
nitude –1.1, will lie 3° east-southeast of
C
our daytime star. Sharp-eyed observers
may spot it just outside the solar corona
without optical aid. If you use binocu- should be nighttime hours at Union
lars during totality, they’ll guarantee Glacier. But less than three weeks from
that you’ll see Mercury. (Remember 57 seconds and will increase to 1 minute the December solstice at the camp’s lati-
to use filters on your binoculars at any 7 seconds at its eastern coastline. tude of 79° South, daylight stretches
time other than totality.) From there, the path treks southward 24 hours. Be careful to set up where the
Venus, normally easy to spot during more than 750 miles (1,200 km) to the mountains surrounding your campsite
totality of any solar eclipse, may be northern coast of Antarctica. Just 44 miles won’t block your view.
invisible from its location 40° east of the (70 km) before it gets there, maximum
Sun. That’s because the Sun’s maximum eclipse occurs. Satellite and climate data Cruising to Antarctica
altitude during the eclipse is only 17°. show prospects for seeing the event Getting to the southernmost con-
improve the closer one gets to Antarctica, tinent can provide as much drama
The shadow’s journey as December cloud cover is predicted at as the eclipse itself. Fortunately, the
The South Orkney Islands, which lie nearly 100 percent over the ocean path. best months to travel to Antarctica
in the Southern Ocean some 375 miles By far the best weather will be for are from November to March — the
(600 km) northeast of the Antarctic those who can position themselves on milder summer months in the Southern
Peninsula, are where the Moon’s umbra the ice cap itself. Unfortunately, there is Hemisphere. Eclipse watchers head-
first touches land. This small group is only one seasonal viewing site for ing there in early December will still
claimed by both Argentina and Great explorers to use. Operated by Antarctic see huge icebergs and pristine glaciers.
Britain but administered under the Logistics & Expeditions, this site is at Conditions are also optimal for viewing
Antarctic Treaty System. Union Glacier, about 15 miles (25 km) penguins, whales, and seals.
The western limit of the umbral path inside the zone of totality. At the camp, Most travelers start in Buenos Aires.
cuts through Coronation Island, the larg- the eclipsed Sun will be about 14° high From there, Aerolíneas Argentinas flies
est of the group, creating a partial eclipse and totality will last only 47 seconds, to Ushuaia, an Argentinian settlement
for the western one-third of that small but weather prospects are better there on South America’s southern tip, where
landmass. Laurie Island, which lies far- than at any other easily approachable most cruises depart. Travelers could
thest east, fares better. The duration site along the path. arrive a day or two before their ship sails
of totality on its western edge will be The eclipse comes during what to stay at Arakur Ushuaia Resort & Spa

ECLIPSE BEGINS
AT SUNRISE
06:58
UTC
SOUTHERN
1m15s
OCEAN
0s
South
1m3
1m15s
07:10
Shetland Islands
1m0s
UTC
1m0s
Coronation
s
LA
1m35
07 :02
Peter Island U Island South
Orkney
IS
Laurie Islands
07:14
UTC
NN
Island
BELLINGSHAUSEN
9 4%
PE
SEA
UTC
s
40
1m
TIC
WEDDELL
07:18
SEA
07 :06
ARC
UT
s
C
07 :2
96% 45
%
UTC
1m
NT
98
2 UT
07:2
A
C
6 UT
07:3
07 :
98% %
C
54
07 :3
0U
96
07 :
07 :3
UT
TC
07 :
07 :
4U
50
C
8U
42
46
TC
UT
Union
UTC
UTC
TC
C
Glacier %
Camp 94
1m50s 92
%
1m40 1m45s
s
WE %
88
08
ST
:02
ANT
ARCTI
UT
CA
C
December’s total solar eclipse will first touch land

— the world’s most southern luxury Hobart, the capital of Tasmania, as well at the South Orkney Islands before traveling across
lodge — and join a day trip to the as Invercargill and Bluff, which lie on Antarctica’s northern coast. This map shows the
duration of the eclipse throughout the path.
nearby Tierra del Fuego National Park. the southern coast of New Zealand’s MICHAEL ZEILER/GREATAMERICANECLIPSE.COM
Some Antarctic expeditions depart from South Island. This route is for the
eclipse watcher with a bit more time,
as the journey takes seven days. darkness as the Moon’s shadow passes
Boats take two days to cross the Drake over a vast expanse of ice and snow.
Passage and stop in the South Shetland Instead of cruising across potentially
Islands to explore the Antarctic Peninsula rough waters, guests will embark on a
from the Weddell Sea to Gerlache Strait. privately chartered flight to TravelQuest’s
One thing to keep in mind, particularly private, fully equipped camp deep in the
for those who suffer from seasickness, is Antarctic interior. There, travelers will
that the Drake Passage (Mar de Hoces), spend six nights and enjoy not only orga-
which lies between Cape Horn and the nized daily activities tailored to the
South Shetland Islands, is one of the weather and their interests, but a special
world’s roughest stretches of sea. Ships viewing of the eclipse from a site near
use it, however, because it’s the shortest camp. For more information, visit
crossing between Antarctica and any travelquesttours.com.
other landmass. Those of you heading to Antarctica for
the eclipse will create a memory that will
Astronomy’s tour last a lifetime. And you won’t have another
For this eclipse, Astronomy magazine is opportunity like this for a while: The next
once again working with TravelQuest total solar eclipse to touch the frozen con-
International. In partnership with tinent occurs Dec. 15, 2039.
Antarctic Logistics & Expeditions,
Visitors to Coronation Island may spot species
such as Adélie penguins and Antarctic fur seals. TravelQuest has created a unique expe- Michael E. Bakich is a contributing editor
LIAM QUINN dition culminating in 44 seconds of of Astronomy.
VEnUS
the clouds of
Venusian clouds have mystified astronomers

for decades. But recent attempts to explain
them have led to tantalizing prospects.
BY WILLIAM SHEEHAN
AS BRILLIANT AND SPLENDID AS VENUS IS The dense clouds of Venus are on full display
in this ultraviolet image taken by the Pioneer
to the naked eye, the world often ranks as one of astronomy’s Venus Orbiter on Feb. 5, 1979. Venus’ clouds
have long been known to absorb ultraviolet
great telescopic disappointments. Apart from its evolving radiation, but exactly how and why remains
a mystery. NASA
phase and its dazzling, ubiquitous cloud deck, the casual
observer can see very little detail.
The famed English amateur astron- as true today as when Denning wrote it sunrise or sunset), when careful study
omer William F. Denning wrote in in the late 19th century. However, with begins to reveal a few of the planet’s
Telescopic Work for Starlight Evenings diligent courtship, and by observing definite features. These include the
(1891): “When the telescope is directed with good instruments under the most bright cusp caps and bordering dark
to Venus it must be admitted that the favorable conditions, the so-called collars, first seen in 1813 by the keen-
result hardly justifies the anticipation. planet of love gradually becomes more sighted Bavarian astronomer Franz
Observers are led to believe, from the forthcoming. von Paula Gruithuisen with only a
beauty of her aspect as viewed with the To view Venus against the backdrop 2-inch refractor. Indeed, astronomers
unaided eye, that instrumental power of a dark sky is an exercise in futility. now know the caps and collars indicate
will greatly enhance the picture. … But Instead, serious students observe it polar cloud swirls — gigantic storm
the hope is illusive.” This assessment is during daytime (or, at least, around systems like hurricanes on Earth.

Venus certainly has no spots or belts circular in form and hugging the termi- The Atlantic Monthly. Lowell wrote that
of bold outline like those visible on nator. None, however, were well-defined the so-called spokes were “surprisingly
Jupiter and Mars. But most patient enough to enable them to estimate a rota- distinct; in the matter of contrast, as
observers will make out a few diffuse, tion period for the planet, which we accentuated, in good seeing, as the mark-
nebulous shadings. They are rarely know now spins backwards once about ings on the Moon … in the matter of
defined well enough to render in draw- every 243 Earth days. contour, perfectly defined throughout.”
ings, and hardly seem deserving of close He regarded them as surface features seen
attention. But remarkably, even in the A strange interlude through the transparent veil of Venus’
spacecraft era, their nature remains For over a century, vague markings on atmosphere and believed their motion
unexplained. In fact, they pose some of Venus such as those Bianchini spotted unequivocally supported a 224.7-day
the most tantalizing questions our solar were generally regarded to capture the rotation period for our sister world.
system has to offer, including, some have essential appearance of the planet. But at Lowell’s observations and the conclu-
argued, the possibility that life may have the end of the 19th century, the American sions he reached from them were, as
once originated on the now inhospitable astronomer Percival Lowell triggered a French astronomer and author Camille
surface of Venus, long ago evolving to firestorm — not with his measurement Flammarion noted, “entirely at variance
survive exclusively in the clouds. of the planet’s rotation period, but with with all that has gone before.” A few
the way he perceived the features. of Lowell’s assistants at Flagstaff —
An unheralded Using the 24-inch Clark refractor, especially his secretary, Wrexie Louise
18th-century pioneer which he set up first at Flagstaff and then Leonard — drew the markings much like
The first noteworthy study of Venus’ at Tacubaya near the national observa- he did. But the rest of the astronomical
cloud features was made by the Rev. tory of Mexico in Mexico City, he per- world was unanimous in its criticism.
Francesco Bianchini, whose service to his ceived the markings of Venus to resemble The response was unusually harsh
church included the role of papal cham- the spokes of a wheel. He described these (though perhaps deserved) and
berlain to Pope Alexander VIII. Bianchini features in a flurry of articles, some with
was a man of wide interest, a percep- maps, which he published in scientific
tive astronomer engaged in calendrical journals, as well as popular magazines,
reform. And in 1726, he conducted a newspapers, and even literary outlets like
study of Venus as an “evening star.”
To investigate Venus, Bianchini, aided
by a workman, set up telescopes at vari-
ous sites around Rome, including on
Palatine Hill near the palace of the
Caesars. His best views were obtained
using telescopes made by the Roman
instrument-maker Giuseppe Campani,
which likely had apertures around
2.4 inches and magnifications of 112x.
Starting about half an hour after sunset
and continuing for as long as he could,
Bianchini discovered a series of dusky
spots on Venus comparable in appearance
to the seas of the Moon as seen with the
naked eye, though less distinct. Adding
further observations during the next
morning and evening, he went on to cre-
ate pieces (gores) for a globe. He named
the observed spots for Catholic explorers,
such as Columbus, Vespucci, and Galileo, CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE: Francesco
and monarchs, such as the Portuguese Bianchini adjusts the eyepiece of a small aerial
telescope while observing Venus. PIER LEONE GHEZZI
prince Henry the Navigator and his
patron the Portuguese King John V. The Hubble Space Telescope captured this
ultraviolet shot of Venus from 70.6 million miles
Although Bianchini’s comparison of (113.6 million km) away on Jan. 24, 1995. NASA/
the features to lunar seas and his deduced ESA/L. ESPOSITO
rotation period of 24.3 days proved spuri- These sketches of Venus’ clouds are based on
ous, it seems his spots were genuine. In observations Bianchini made from Italy during
fact, a number of 19th-century astrono- the evening elongation of Venus in February
1726. FRANCESCO BIANCHINI IN HESPERI ET PHOSPHORI NOVA
mers saw similar spots on Venus, roughly PHAENOMENA (1728)
CLOCKWISE FROM RIGHT: E.E. Barnard drew this sketch of
Venus in 1889 using Lick Observatory’s 12-inch refractor. He
described it as his best view of Venus ever. ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL
The globe of Venus photographed here is located in Oxford’s

Christ Church Library, and based on the map published by
Bianchini in Hesperi et Phosphori nova phaenomena. WILLIAM SHEEHAN
The Clark Telescope is seen mounted beneath a canvas-covered

dome in Tacubaya, Mexico, in this shot from 1896. It remained at
the site for several months. LOWELL OBSERVATORY ARCHIVES
terrestrial aerial photography to penetrate

haze. Unfortunately, even the infrared
shots proved equally bland and feature-
less. But Ross did obtain stunning results
using a just-released Eastman Kodak
Wratten 18A UV (ultraviolet) filter. They
revealed a plethora of details, showing
contributed to Lowell’s nervous break- Photos to the rescue dark markings generally in the form of
down when he came back from Mexico. At first, photography of Venus yielded bands running parallel to the planet’s
Nonetheless, he held forth on the reality no more insight than visual observa- presumed equator and joining up at
of his markings after he returned to tions. It seems that French astronomer roughly right angles to the terminator.
Flagstaff in 1901. His first order of busi- Ferdinand Quénisset made the maiden Ross’s interpretation of this new class
ness was acquiring a Brashear spectro- attempt at venusian photography in 1911 of features was necessarily tentative. In a
graph and placing it in the hands of his at Camille Flammarion Observatory in 1927 paper in the Astrophysical Journal,
assistant, Vesto Melvin Slipher, so that he Juvisy-sur-Orge, France, imaging the he suggested they might represent “varia-
might confirm the longer rotation period planet in visible light. The new view, tions in structure of a thin layer of cirrus
and buttress the original Flagstaff obser- however, showed very little. The real clouds which overlie the dense yellow
vations. Lowell never disavowed the breakthrough came when Frank Elmore lower atmosphere, due undoubtedly to
spokelike markings, and he and his assis- Ross of the Yerkes Observatory photo- violent disturbances originating far
tants continued to draw the linear fea- graphed Mars and Venus using colored below, perhaps near the surface of the
tures when sketching Venus, though the filters during a sabbatical year at Mount planet itself.” Based on his best estimate
later marks were not as regular as those Wilson in 1926/27. Before coming to from his data, he suggested the planet’s
initially reported. In general, as with Yerkes, Ross had spent nearly a decade rotation period was 30 days.
his observations of the canals of Mars, at Eastman Kodak investigating photo-
Lowell’s work cast considerable doubt on graphic emulsions and filters, so he was Boyer’s day
the worth of visual studies of the planets. well informed on the latest technology. For whatever reason, nobody imme-
According to famed English amateur During Venus’ exceptionally favorable diately followed up on Ross’ discovery
astronomer Sir Patrick Moore, whose elongation in June 1927, Ross imaged the of UV markings on Venus. Earl Carl
book The Planet Venus (Macmillan, world with Mount Wilson’s 60- and Slipher, Vesto Slipher’s brother, did
1958) was the bible of Venus studies dur- 100-inch reflectors over 25 nights, in as begin photographing the world in UV
ing that era: “Visual observations made at nearly unbroken a series as practicable. the following year. He kept at the series
the eye-end of a telescope are of little use The visible light images were featureless. until 1948 but did not publish his work
to us here, so we must turn instead to But Ross held out hope for his infrared until 1964. A series of UV photographs
photographic results.” ones, since such filters had been used in taken by Robert S. Richardson at Mount

Wilson in 1954 also brought nothing Mariner 10 carried out UV imaging of What we do know is that whatever is
new. It was 30 years before anyone added the clouds during a flyby en route to doing the absorbing resides in the thick
anything significant to Ross’ insights Mercury. sulfuric acid droplet cloud layer that
— and it came not from a professional By then, astronomers using radar had spans from 30 miles (48 kilometers) to
astronomer, but an amateur. discovered that the rotation of the solid 43.5 miles (70 km) in altitude. At the
Born in Toulouse, France, in 1911, body of the planet was slow and retro- lower end of the range, the temperature is
Charles Boyer spent many years in equa- grade, with a period of 243 days. This some 230 degrees Fahrenheit (110 degrees
torial Africa in the French judicial service. meant that Venus’s atmosphere experi- Celsius) and the pressure is about twice
A ham radio enthusiast, he made contact enced “super-rotation,” spinning some that of Earth at sea level. At the upper
with fellow enthusiast Henri Camichel, an 60 times faster than its surface. But how end of the range, the temperature is 113 F
astronomer at the famed Pic du Midi could Venus’ atmosphere overcome sur- (45 C) and the pressure is just 4 percent
Observatory in the French Pyrenees. face friction and acquire so much angu- that of Earth at sea level. Scientists have
Camichel encouraged Boyer’s fledgling lar momentum that it could spin so identified some compounds in the
interest in the planets. At quickly? For a long time, this clouds’ higher reaches, of which the
Boyer’s site (4° south of the was a complete mystery. But sulfur-bearing species disulfur oxide
equator), the planets were So, what is recent spacecraft observa- (S2O) and disulfur dioxide (S2O2) give the
often high in the sky.
Realizing the opportunity for
responsible tions suggest that thermal
tides generated by the Sun’s
best fit to the absorption spectrum. But
this work still has a long way to go to
first-rate observations, Boyer for the dark periodic heating of Venus’ unequivocally identify the UV absorber
built his own 10-inch atmosphere may be the (or absorbers) on Venus. As V.A.
Newtonian reflector around markings source of the excess angular Krasnopolsky of the Catholic University
a mirror fashioned by the
renowned French optician
that rapidly momentum.
Another mystery, which
of America and Moscow Institute of
Physics and Technology, the first person
Jean Texereau. Although his circle that remains unsolved, is the to construct a photochemical model for
scope was set up on a rather identity of the UV absorbers the atmosphere of Venus above the cloud
primitive alt-azimuth mount, other world? responsible for the dark layer, concludes in a 2021 paper in Icarus,
Boyer devised a way (using bands found in photographs “there is no general agreement on the
parts from a Meccano set) to move the and corresponding to the nebulous shad- nature of the UV absorber in Venus, and
camera across the focal plane of his tele- ings sometimes seen by visual observers. thus this remains as one of the most
scope to properly track the sky. He asked intriguing open questions in planetary
Camichel to suggest an observing project. UV absorber enigma: atmospheres.” Furthermore, whatever
And Camichel, who was just then photo- Life in the clouds? UV absorbers lie in the atmosphere’s
graphing Venus in UV from Pic du Midi, So, what is responsible for the dark mark- lower layers, beyond our observations,
suggested Boyer also give it a try. ings that rapidly circle that other world? remain even more elusive.
In August and September 1957, Boyer Surprisingly, we still don’t know. The There’s also another, more exotic
set to work. Lacking a proper UV filter, nature of the UV absorbers remains, possibility: microbes of some kind, living
he made do with a blue-violet Wratten 34 almost a century after Ross’s photos, and floating in the clouds of Venus. As
filter. The images were small and aes- one of the great enigmas of Venus. far back as 1967, when the Soviets’
thetically unappealing, but they recorded
what seemed to be a dusky region in
Venus’ atmosphere that returned to the
Wrexie Louise Leonard, Percival Lowell’s
terminator at roughly four-day intervals. secretary, sketched the “spoke system” of Venus
Camichel checked his images against on Oct. 29, 1896 (left), and Feb. 23, 1897 (right),
using the 24-inch Clark refractor at Tacubaya,
Boyer’s, finding further evidence in sup- Mexico. LOWELL OBSERVATORY ARCHIVES
port of this period. The observing cam-
paign continued until 1960, at which
point the two men concluded that a
four-day rotation of the upper atmo-
sphere was “completely uncontestable.”
However, the result was still greeted
with skepticism — not least by Carl
Sagan. As the then-editor of the plan-
etary science journal Icarus, Sagan
rejected an early paper that Boyer and
Camichel submitted. It wasn’t until 1974
that the four-day rotation of Venus’
upper atmosphere was confirmed when
Venera 4 spacecraft probed Venus’ atmo- particles of elemental sulfur and sulfuric the hot springs of Yellowstone or near
sphere for the first time, Carl Sagan and acid, Bruce Hapke and Robert Nelson at deep-ocean hydrothermal vents.
Howard Morowitz put forth the idea of the University of Pittsburgh concluded in However, there are a number of diffi-
cloud-dwelling venusian microorgan- a 1975 paper in Journal of Atmospheric culties surrounding the theories of micro-
isms. They knew, of course, that life on Sciences, “We cannot resist pointing out organisms living in the clouds of Venus
the surface seemed impossible. The that many examples of anaerobic, terres- that have yet to be overcome. For such life
surface pressure of Venus’ nearly pure trial organisms are known in which the to have developed on Venus, there must
carbon dioxide atmosphere is some reduction or oxidation of various forms have once been oceans on the world, or at
90 times that of Earth, comparable to the of sulfur are important sources of energy least surface lakes and puddles. But over
pressure at a depth of nearly in their metabolisms.” the past few hundred million years, the
3,000 feet (900 meters) in And nearly three entire surface of Venus has been re-formed
Earth’s ocean. Plus, driven There is decades after finishing his by simultaneous volcanic eruptions of
by a runaway greenhouse
effect, the surface tempera-
another, work on the rotation of
Venus’ upper clouds, in 1986,
large igneous provinces, obliterating the
early surface. Thus, studying its history is
ture is a scorching 878 F more exotic Boyer proposed in the quite difficult.
(470 C). Not even thermo- French popular astronomy Although the surface of Venus is now
philic (heat-loving) microor- possibility: journal L’Astronomie that the a Dantean inferno, let’s suppose that
ganisms on Earth could
survive such conditions.
microbes of clouds’ dark markings might
consist of vast sheets of pho-
microbial life did form on the world at
some point in its past. Could that life have
Though some thermophiles some kind. tosynthesizing organisms. then hitched a ride on a thermal stream, as
can thrive at temperatures as These sheets would behave microorganisms do on Earth, and evolved
high as 235 F (113 C) — higher than the much like the algal blooms in our oceans, to survive at extreme heights? There are no
boiling point of water — when tempera- growing in size until the available nutri- Earth analogues that do this; although
tures climb higher, the biomolecules that ents are depleted and then dying out, all floating microorganisms on Earth can
make up the organisms break apart over a matter of a few Earth days. A cou- remain in the atmosphere for days, they
within seconds. Therefore, based on our ple of years later, American planetary must come down to reproduce. But
current understanding of life, Venus’ scientist David Grinspoon speculated
surface must be utterly sterile. that a photosynthetic pigment might be
But suppose that at some point in the the unknown ultraviolet absorber. In the
distant past, microbes that originated on early 2000s, Dirk Schulze-Makuch and
the once-habitable surface escaped into Patrick Irwin made the obvious (if con-
the cooler clouds, making them their troversial) suggestion that such venusian
home. There has always been a small organisms could be heat-resistant sulfur-
number of scientists willing to entertain based archaea like those discovered in
this rather speculative idea. In 1975, after
showing that the decrease in reflectivity
of Venus’ clouds in near-UV light could
be explained if the clouds contained
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP RIGHT: Earl C. Slipher

made these sketches of Venus between
December 1907 and January 1908. In addition
to being a world-renowned photographer of
the planets, Slipher was an assiduous visual
observer. He also observed canals on Mars,
recording them much as his employer, Percival
Lowell, saw them. LOWELL OBSERVATORY ARCHIVES
Venus appears bland and featureless in

infrared images like this, as it does in visible
wavelengths. This shot was captured by
William Leatherbarrow of Sheffield, England,
using a 12-inch Maksutov-Cassegrain
telescope with a 742nm pass filter.
WILLIAM LEATHERBARROW
Frank E. Ross took these ultraviolet images of

Venus in June 1927 with the 60-inch and 100-
inch reflectors at Mount Wilson Observatory.
ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL (1928)

RIGHT: Planned for launch in 2029, NASA’s
DAVINCI spacecraft will descend through
Venus’ atmosphere, as seen in this artist’s
perhaps microorganisms on Venus concept, while taking measurements of
the clouds’ composition. The data from the
evolved along with the changing condi- ambitious mission will help scientists
tions in the atmosphere. As Ian Malcom better understand how Venus formed and
evolved. NASA
says in Jurassic Park: “Life finds a way.”
The extreme acidity of Venus’ atmo- BELOW: Japan’s Akatsuki spacecraft,
sphere is another problem for life, despite which has been orbiting Venus since 2015,
shot this image of the planet and its thick
the fact there are some archaea that sur- clouds in ultraviolet light. Astronomers
vive in extreme environments on Earth recently found evidence that ample
phosphine — a chemical largely produced
where the pH is around 1, which is com- by life here on Earth — is prevalent in the
parable to the acidity of Venus’ upper atmosphere of Venus. Although the
clouds. If Venus microbes do exist, they results are controversial,
they raise questions
likely would have had to evolve some sort about life on our
of protective membrane to survive in the sister world.
ISAS/JAXA/
harsh, high-acidity environment. AKATSUKI/MELI
Maybe Venus’ clouds are sown with THEV
airborne microbes resembling sulfur-

reducing autotrophs on Earth, which are
able to reduce elemental sulfur to hydro-
gen sulfide, and therefore thrive in the in Venus’
absence of oxygen. Or perhaps they clouds, it is
resemble some types of photosynthesiz- necessary between 2028 and
ing organisms, whose peak absorption is for it to be 2030. Notably,
of blue-violet or ultraviolet light instead replenished DAVINCI will
of the blue, yellow, and red light that ter- somehow. But gather profiles on the
restrial analogues like algae and plants exactly how has trace molecules present
optimally absorb. As discussed in a paper yet to be deter- in the venusian atmo-
by Sanjay Limaye of the University of mined. A recent anal- sphere — including possible
Wisconsin-Madison and his colleagues ysis (published in March in UV absorbers — as it descends
in 2018, there are many compounds that Geophysical Research Letters) of data through the clouds toward the surface.
absorb the same wavelengths of light obtained for Venus’ middle cloud layers Additionally, the Russian space agency
found in the absorption bands of Venus’ by the Pioneer Venus mission in 1978 Roscosmos is planning to launch (with
spectrum. These include iron-containing supports the potential existence of phos- NASA collaboration) Venera-D in 2028
proteins like heme (a precursor to hemo- phine, as well as traces of several other or 2029. This would be followed by three
globin), iron sulfide (the most common compounds consistent with the presence more missions in the 2030s, culminat-
sulfide mineral in the Earth’s crust, of a reducing atmosphere, which venu- ing with a surface sample returned from
which is found in hydrothermal deposits sian microorganisms could use to sup- Venus. Meanwhile, the European Space
like those at Yellowstone), and photosyn- port metabolic processes. On the other Agency has approved EnVision, a mis-
thetic pigments like chlorophylls. Indeed, hand, some researchers dispute this, sion similar to VERITAS in that it will
the absorption spectrum of Thiobacillus arguing that volcanic eruptions on the map the planet’s surface topography and
ferrosxidans, a highly acidophilic (pH 1.5 surface or lightning strikes in the clouds composition. Long neglected compared
to 2.0) bacterium that obtains its energy could explain the phosphine surplus. to Earth’s other neighbor, Venus is about
through the oxidation of ferrous iron or to become a rather busy place.
reduced inorganic sulfur compounds, Searching for It seems likely that — at long last —
is markedly similar to the spectrum of an answer these missions will allow unequivocal
Venus’ clouds. At the moment, we simply don’t know identification of the mysterious UV
There are also the recent claims of the exactly what’s going on in Venus’ clouds. absorbers residing in the clouds of Venus.
detection of phosphine in Venus’ clouds, But in any case, their potential habit- Whatever they prove to be, organic or
which has spurred significant debate in ability is no longer a fringe idea. Indeed, inorganic, by identifying them we will
the scientific community. That’s because it was among the considerations that reach the end of a trail that began with
microorganisms produce the gas on led NASA planners to recently approve Bianchini, Ross, Boyer, and others. But
Earth, and phosphine production two spacecraft to Earth’s sister planet. even then, the strange features will surely
requires a reducing atmosphere — one Known as VERITAS (Venus Emissivity, summon imagers and visual observers of
that removes oxygen. Reducing com- Radio Science, InSAR, Topography and Venus to the telescope for years to come.
pounds such as methane, ammonia, Spectroscopy) and DAVINCI (Deep
amino acids, and the like are not stable Atmosphere Venus Investigation of William Sheehan has written 20 books
in an oxidized atmosphere because they Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging), on astronomy, including Venus with Sanjay
oxidize. So for a gas like phosphine to be the missions are scheduled for launch Limaye (Reaktion Books, 2021).
Defining
TIME
Even though time has existed since the beginning
of, well, time, it was still necessary to invent it.
BY RAYMOND SHUBINSKI
TIME AND ASTRONOMY ARE INSEPARABLE. Humans have

been using the motions of the stars, Sun, and Moon for thousands of years
to regulate their hunting, crops, religion, and lives in every way. And as
astronomy developed, so did the need for more precise timekeeping.
There are many ways to oldest is lunar in nature. It cosmic mashup that is diffi-
ask, “What is the time?” might seem more logical for cult to untangle. Most ancient
Astronomers can use solar the Sun to have been the first cultures heralded the begin-
standard time, mean solar timekeeper, but archaeologists ning of the month when the
time, sidereal time, Universal have found bones of mam- thin crescent or “New Moon”
Time, or Julian Date and its moths and other animals could be seen after sunset.
many modified forms. dating over 20,000 years old There are 354 and a fraction
Astronomers describe three that appear to have carvings days in a lunar year with 12
different types of twilight, the recording phases of the Moon. lunar months. Earth, how-
equation of time, 24 time During that period of human ever, revolves around the Sun
zones, and an astronomical history, hunters tracking every 365.242 days. While
day. Understanding these dif- game needed to know how this was not a problem in a
ferent “times” gives us a better long they had been gone from purely ceremonial or religious
idea of our relationship with their camp, making the Moon calendar, trying to mesh these
the sky above, and the spin- the obvious choice to track two calendars was impossible.
ning Earth on which we live. the passage of time. The solution to this issue
It would be millennia was proposed by Sosigenes of
before the Sun replaced the Alexandria, Cleopatra’s court
Moon in our modern calen- astronomer and arguably the
Early civilizations developed dar. This is because Earth and most influential astronomer
two types of calendars. The the Moon are involved in a in all of history. Julius Caesar

The Samrat Yantra (above) is the largest purpose-built sundial in the world, with its gnomon — or tower — standing
73 feet (27 m) high. Built in the early 18th century, the massive instrument is part of the Jantar Mantar observatory in
Jaipur, India. The gnomon (left) casts a shadow onto the flanking quadrant arcs, which can indicate the time to an
accuracy of two seconds. ABOVE: JORGE LÁSCAR, CC BY 2.0. LEFT: JAKUB HAŁUN CC BY-SA 4.0 Of course, there were limita-
tions to these methods. Water
BURNED PARCHMENT: ALEKLEKS/DREAMSTIME. CLOCK COGS: DVMSIMAGES/DREAMSTIME
froze in the winter, hourglass-

employed Sosigenes to fix the This Julian calendar also except when divisible by 400. es needed to be turned over,
old Roman lunar calendar. By implemented leap years, add- So while 1900 was not a leap and sundials were of no use
Caesar’s time, the lunar calen- ing one extra day every four year, 2000 was. Two thousand after sunset.
dar had become so out of sync years. But this was not quite a years later, the whole world Around the year a.d. 1000,
with the seasons that it perfect fix, as the last fraction still uses the modified calen- mechanical devices that could
required a decree from the of a day in a year is slightly dar of Sosigenes. ring bells to tell time began to
emperor to remedy the situa- less than one-quarter of a day. appear in western Europe. In
tion. At Sosigenes’ suggestion, By the 16th century, the Julian fact, some think the word
the old lunar calendar was calendar was also out of step Cultures the world over devel- “clock” derives from the
replaced with one which used with the seasons. This led oped methods for tracking French, cloche, meaning bell.
only the Sun to delineate the Pope Gregory XIII to imple- the hours using water clocks, These early mechanisms had
year. The Moon was left to ment updates in 1582 that hourglasses, and sundials, no dials and only rang bells.
drift through the 12 months dictated leap years be skipped often for the purpose of Within a few hundred years,
of Caesar’s new calendar. on years divisible by 100 scheduling religious rituals. dials were added to visually
know if Earth’s rotation was For every 15° of longitude
isochronical. In short, did either west or east of a desig-
Earth spin on its axis at a nated meridian, the local solar
constant rate? With the new time decreases or increases by
clocks, Flamsteed showed that one hour. That means for
the spinning of our planet was each degree of longitude, time
in fact constant. This provided changes by four minutes. If
the first link in the efforts to there is a sundial that shows
solve the longitude problem. noon at Greenwich, it would
By the 18th century, navi- be 11:40 a.m. by a sundial in
gators were using portable Oxford. Across Great Britain,
clocks driven by wound there is a 30-minute differ-
springs that could accurately ence in time. This was hard
maintain Greenwich time. By enough for railroads in a
comparing them to their small country where every
observed local solar time, they town adjusted its clocks to
could determine their longi- the local sundial. It was worse
tude hundreds of miles from in North America, where
land-based observatories. time zones spanned three
and a half hours! Each town
used local sundials to set
their clocks, while each rail-
One of the most famous
astronomical clocks (below) can road had a different standard-
be found down a side street in the ized time for their published
old city of Prague. Built in 1410, it
has been operating for more than timetables. This made it
600 years. The beautiful dial (left)
looks like the front of an astrolabe
and still provides complex
astronomical information.
BELOW: DAVID J. EICHER. LEFT: STEVE COLLIS
show the hour. By the 13th justify both an hour and min-
century, astronomer monks ute hand, but a second hand
were creating complex move- as well.
ments with dials that had an
hour hand and displayed
Moon phases, the solstices,
and equinoxes, and more. Science, technology, and com-
In the Middle Ages, know- merce often complement each
ing the hour was sufficient for other. In the 17th century, the
everyday activity. Words like three came together to tackle
moment meant the passage of the difficult challenge of
15 minutes rather than a determining a ship’s longitude
blink of an eye. As astronomy at sea.
advanced, however, more pre- In 1676, at the newly built almost impossible to have rail
cision was needed. This came Greenwich Observatory As the 19th century neared, schedules that made any sense
courtesy of the regular located outside of London, clocks and pocket watches at all.
motion of swinging pendu- two unique clocks with had become common and To solve this, astronomers
lums, which Galileo studied 13-foot-long (4 meters) pen- fashionable. But how did you divided the globe into 24 time
at the beginning of the 17th dulums were installed. These set them? With the garden zones. The starting point for
century. In 1657, the Dutch clocks were accurate to within sundial! When travel was by these time zones was based
astronomer Christiaan 10 seconds over the course of foot or horse, differences in on the meridian defined by
Huygens applied for a patent a day or better, dramatically “local” times were negligible specific observatories that
for a clock using the regular increasing astronomers’ abil- and did not present a prob- made noon day observations.
oscillation of a swinging pen- ity to make accurate lem. But with the arrival of In England, it was the
dulum to regulate the passage observations. trains, all of this changed, and Greenwich Observatory,
of time. Clocks were now The first astronomer royal, astronomy came to the rescue France used the observatory
accurate enough to not only Sir John Flamsteed, wanted to once more. in Paris, and the U.S. used the

Naval Observatory in
Washington, D.C.
LEFT: Greenwich Observatory
As telegraphs encircled the stands on a hill overlooking the
globe, it became possible to River Thames, which allowed
transmit time signals. In 1833, nearby ships to set their clocks to
the time ball on its roof. Time balls
the Greenwich Observatory grew in popularity through the late
installed a bright red “time 19th century and inspired the
annual New Year’s midnight ball
ball” mounted to a mast on drop in New York City’s Times
the observatory roof. The ball Square. DAVID J. EICHER
dropped at precisely 1 p.m. BELOW: In March 1911, English
every day, allowing ships on newspapers took pleasure in
the River Thames to set their reporting that Gallic clocks were
being turned back to Greenwich
chronometers in reference to time, as evidenced by this
the observatory clock. By illustration in the Illustrated London
News. COURTESY RAYMOND SHUBINSKI
1850, Astronomer Royal Sir
George Airy was interested in
“electrifying” time. Airy felt it
was a national duty to provide relegated to gardens and adapted Scaliger’s idea
Greenwich time to the nation. church cemeteries. for astronomical use
Daily time signals were being The meridian of the in 1849, he chose
sent across England by the Greenwich Observatory noon as the zero hour
1870s. was chosen as the zero for the current Julian
In America, astronomers point for the world’s time Period, thus avoiding
also began to distribute time. zones. The decision was a date change during
The U.S. Naval Observatory made in part because of nighttime observa-
sent occasional time signals as Greenwich’s historical tions. Julian Date
early as 1865. By 1869, the association with time- is then simply the
Allegheny Observatory near keeping, and the fact that number of days that
Pittsburgh began a time ser- the United Kingdom still have passed since
vice for an area spanning New dominated maritime noon on Jan. 1,
York, Chicago, and beyond. commerce. Not all of the 4713 b.c.
The signal was sent to rail- 35 delegates were happy. In 1957, the
roads and jewelry stores. In particular, the French Smithsonian
Jewelers placed connected insisted the prime merid- Astrophysical
clocks in their windows where ian not be tied to any one Observatory created a
customers could set their nation and should be Modified Julian Date,
watches. Allegheny and other neutral. French clocks which begins
observatories charged fees to continued to use time at midnight GMT,
distribute these time services, issued from the Paris Joseph Justus Scaliger and Nov. 17, 1858. This made the
allowing them to fund impor- Observatory. They remained begins on Jan. 1, 4713 b.c. day count considerably
tant astronomical research. 9 minutes and 21 seconds This date is one where several smaller and more manage-
Time really was money. ahead of Greenwich Mean cycles coincide: the 28-year able for early computers.
By the late 19th century, Time (GMT) until March 10, solar cycle in the Julian calen- Time and astronomy are
the situation had taken on 1911. Apparently, even time dar, after which the days of rooted in the way we order
international dimensions. In can be political. the year fall on the same days our lives. Ancient sky watch-
October 1884, delegates from of the week; the 19-year ers looked to the sky to bring
around the world gathered Metonic cycle, when lunar order to their world, and we
in Washington, D.C., at phases recur on the same days still use astronomical cycles
the International Meridian Astronomers thrive on pre- of the year; and the 15-year to set the very patterns of our
Conference. The goal was to cision, and calendar dates indiction cycle, the tax cycle lives. Astronomers have given
determine “a common zero of can often be cumbersome of the Roman Empire, which these patterns order and pre-
longitude.” Each of the 24 and confusing. To be more was another method for cision in an effort to answer
world time zones would be precise, observations and recording dates. that age-old question: “What
reckoned from one prime events are often recorded by When John Herschel time is it?”
meridian and standardized to their Julian Date. The Julian
mean solar time. Thus, period was the brain- Raymond Shubinski is a contributing editor of Astronomy. He
the beloved sun- child of the 16th loves winding his clocks and keeping time with the cosmos under
dial was century historian the clear skies of the Great Southwest.
Capture the sky with
TONY HALLAS
Stellarvue’s
SVX 102T
T
he 4-inch refractor has been Since its founding in 1998, Stellarvue
a favorite of astronomy has refined its telescopes into some of
enthusiasts for countless This scope is perfect for the best instruments available today.
years, thanks to the com- Stellarvue’s opticians quickly gained a
bination of portability and astrophotographers and reputation in the business as dedicated
resolving power. While these scopes are craftspeople, and the SVX 102T bears all
not the largest light buckets around, visual observers alike. the marks of their work, boasting an
they lend themselves well to wide-field air-spaced triplet objective with high-
BY TONY HALLAS
observing. quality glass and broadband coatings.
Recently, I revisited this classic for- Stellarvue claims it constructs each lens
mat. After acquiring a new full-frame to a standard of 0.99 Strehl or higher,
camera (the QHY 128C Pro), I needed focuser attached, and the dew shield meaning 99 percent of incoming light is
to find a wide-field telescope to go with adds an additional 5.5 inches (14 cm). directed exactly where it’s supposed to
it. Careful research led to my selection: It weighs 9.8 pounds (4.4 kilograms) go. (A theoretical measurement of 1.00
Stellarvue’s SVX 102T refractor. with both the 2-inch and 1¼-inch ring is considered perfect.)
adapters. The refractor comes with the They even manufacture their own
The nitty gritty rings and a Losmandy-style base plate field flatteners, which reduce distortions
The SVX 102T has a length of as well as a heavy-duty, reinforced nylon and curvatures, ensuring pointlike stars
23.5 inches (59.7 centimeters) with the refractor case. throughout the entire field of view. Each

telescope Stellarvue manufactures
comes with its own color interferometric
test report taken at full aperture in the
Stellarvue shop. This document con-
firms the accuracy of your individual
objective.
All of these features taken together
ensure a flat field, no false color, and
pinpoint stars — all crucial for a
demanding astrophotographer like
myself. But having great optics means
nothing if the telescope itself is not of
the same quality. And while every SVX-
designated telescope from Stellarvue has
this level of performance, the 102T has
some features that make it really shine.
First are numerous well-placed baffles
inside the tube and along the focuser to
The Horsehead Nebula (center) is a dark nebula in
help stop unwanted light from reaching the Orion constellation. To take this image, astro-
the eyepiece. These and the rest of the photographer Alex Roberts used the SVX 102T PRODUCT INFORMATION
interior are sprayed scope with his QHYCCD 268C camera. ALEX ROBERTS
with a matte non-
Stellarvue’s SVX 102T
reflecting black paint, Aperture: 4 inches (101.5 mm)
ensuring a telescope
Focal length: 714mm
with extremely high
Focal ratio: f/7
contrast, both visually
Length: 23.5 inches (59.7 centimeters)
and photographically.
with focuser
This becomes impor-
Weight: 9.8 pounds (4.4 kilograms) with
tant when trying to
adapters
tease out faint details
Price: $2,995 with Stellarvue focuser;
famous in some of
$3,495 with Feather Touch focuser;
the sky’s best targets.
$5,399 with Moonlight Computerized
To further enhance
NiteCrawler focuser
this scope, Stellarvue
Contact: Stellarvue
also offers two field
11802 Kemper Road
flatteners. For
Auburn, CA 95603, USA
“straight through” On the border between Monoceros and Canis Major
constellations lies the Seagull Nebula (IC 2177). 530.823.7796
flattening, there is the SFFX-1, which Using the SVX 102T scope, Roberts took this image
converts the scope to a 714mm f/7 astro- with a ZWO ASI1600MM Pro camera. ALEX ROBERTS
phograph/telephoto and allows you to
capture perfect stars from corner to cor- The flip side of a small refractor is of viewing, can you still see in your
ner. Alternatively, for those wishing to that you need really high-power eye- mind what you looked at the previous
compress the telescope to a shorter focal pieces to explore the other end of its per- night? With the 102T, my head was full
length and faster speed, there is the formance. One good example is viewing of my previous night’s observing.
SFFR.74 reducer/flattener that gives a the famous Double Double in Lyra, com- While it doesn’t show diffuse objects
focal length of 535mm at f/5.25. prising two pairs of double stars. I love as well as a large Dobsonian, double
these stars for testing because the two stars, open clusters, the Moon, and the
Putting it to the test pairs are aligned 90° to each other, mak- planets are a joy to behold in this scope.
After using this scope for a few hours, ing them nature’s test for astigmatism. And, after seeing what the 102T can do,
you can easily see why views through And the 102T proved itself astigmatism I’m eager to see how other scopes in
a well-made refractor are addicting. free. The stars split into perfect dots Stellarvue’s lineup perform. In fact, the
The optics are virtually perfect. With with identical inside and outside perfor- highest praise I can give the 102T is that
this scope, stars are not just pinpoints mance. A smaller scope already has an I’ve already ordered its bigger sibling,
— they are microscopic. Open clus- advantage in poor seeing conditions. the SVX 140T — a 140mm refractor at
ters become brilliant jewels hung in a And with the 102T, the stars jumped f/6.7 — to add to my collection.
canopy of black. The crescent Moon is around instead of smearing out.
another treat as the color correction and For me, the best performance test for Tony Hallas is one of the world’s top
the contrast are simply off the charts. any scope is your memory. After a night astroimagers.
BINOCULAR UNIVERSE
Revisit the Giraffe Fourteen stars make up Kemble’s Cascade. Most are
between 7th and 9th magnitude, save for a
5th-magnitude bluish sun midway along the stream. I
Make sure to explore all this constellation has to offer. liken it to a rock protruding out of a torrent of roaring
rapids. But, despite appearances, the stars of Kemble’s
Cascade have no physical relation to each other in space.
They are simply a chance line-of-sight alignment
formed by unrelated stars, known as an asterism.
As you ride the rapids along Kemble’s Cascade flow-
ing southwestward, you will see that they end near a
small, hazy patch. Kemble compared the view to a
waterfall, with NGC 1502 creating the cloud of water
vapor at the base of the falls.
William Herschel discovered this open cluster in
November 1787. NGC 1502 is made up of 45 stars, most
of which are fainter than 10th magnitude — below the
threshold for most binoculars. Despite their individual
faintness, the stars combine their resources to create a
6th-magnitude object for us to enjoy. Look carefully
and you might notice two or three faint points standing
out from the cluster’s glow. The brightest two shine at
Like flowing rapids, 7th magnitude and are dead center in the cluster. They
the stars of Kemble’s Back in the March issue, we visited the eastern form a tight pair separated by 16". That’s too close to
Cascade fall into portion of one of the sky’s most challenging resolve through my 10x50 binoculars, but I can just
NGC 1502 (bottom
left). MICHAEL ISRAEL constellations, Camelopardalis the Giraffe. I detect their duality through my 16x70s. How many stars
promised then that we would return later in the year to can you resolve in NGC 1502?
call on some hidden deep-sky gems in the western part Our final stop on this visit to Camelopardalis is
of the constellation. And here we are. another object that went largely unknown until an
Like the eastern half, western Camelopardalis lacks amateur spotted it and began to spread the word. John
any noteworthy naked-eye stars. So, finding our way Pazmino accidentally stumbled upon this open cluster
around will take some effort. Fortunately, there is a while observing with a small refractor in the late 1970s.
neighbor who can help. Although cataloged as Stock 23, many know
Cassiopeia borders Camelopardalis to the it by its nickname: Pazmino’s Cluster. To spot
west. The full span of the Queen’s familiar W it, find the 4th-magnitude star HD 21291
pattern measures about 13° from tip to tip. It’s fun to about one binocular field southwest of
Draw an imaginary line across the Cassiopeia scan the sky NGC 1502. Stock 23 is just 1.6° farther west
W, from Caph (Beta [β] Cassiopeiae) to Segin through of this star. Viewing through my 10x50s, I
(Epsilon [ε] Cassiopeiae), and extend it the
binoculars can make out about a half-dozen of its 25
same distance east into the emptiness of stars. The four brightest form a trapezoid
Camelopardalis. Look for a surprisingly to see what reminiscent of Draco the Dragon’s head.
straight stream of faint stars spanning 2.5° surprises Despite its late addition to the sky,
and flowing from northwest to southeast. await. Camelopardalis hosts quite a few hidden
Canadian amateur astronomer and gems for amateurs to unearth. And it’s fun
Franciscan monk Lucian Kemble first to scan the sky through binoculars to see
noticed this unusual grouping in 1980, while what surprises await, especially in barren
he was scanning Camelopardalis with 7x35 binoculars. spaces like Camelopardalis. You never know what you
Curious about this alignment, he contacted Walter might come across.
Scott Houston to see if he was familiar with it. Houston Have you ever bumped into an interesting grouping
— having written the Deep-Sky Wonders column in of stars that no one else knows about? I’d love the spread
Sky & Telescope for more than four decades — was the the word. Drop me a line through my website,
BY PHIL
preeminent deep-sky authority during the latter half philharrington.net. Until next month, remember that
HARRINGTON
Phil is a longtime of the 20th century. Despite this expertise, he was also two eyes are better than one.
contributor to previously unaware of Kemble’s find. Houston alerted
Astronomy and the readers to this unusual sight, christening it Kemble’s BROWSE THE “BINOCULAR UNIVERSE” ARCHIVE AT
author of many books. Cascade. www.Astronomy.com/Harrington

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ASK ASTRO Astronomy’s experts from around the globe answer your cosmic questions.
of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. Hydrogen has

the lowest molecular weight of any known substance,
ABOVE: The twin making it ideal for keeping the weight of a rocket rela-
Voyager spacecrafts tively small. When combined with liquid oxygen,
launched in 1977 are hydrogen creates the most efficient thrust of any rocket
the most distant
human-made objects.
To help propel them
on their journey, the
crafts took advantage
Rocket fuel propellant.
But depending on the weight of the rocket, an extra
boost may be needed to get off Earth. In these cases,
of our solar system’s solid propellent, usually aluminum, is combined with
largest planets. NASA/
JPL-CALTECH
ABOVE RIGHT: A
QI WHAT KIND OF FUEL DO
SPACECRAFT USE TO EXPLORE
THE OUTER SOLAR SYSTEM AND
an explosive, such as ammonium perchlorate, to propel
the rocket all the way into space.
But that’s just the start of the journey for a spacecraft.
SpaceX Falcon 9 For minor course corrections, small thrusters attached
rocket lifts off from BEYOND?
the Kennedy Space Larry Owen to the craft fire off small puffs of gas, such as
Center in Florida. NASA/ Jamul, California hydrogen peroxide. Scientists can also plan for
KEVIN O’CONNELL & KENNY ALLEN
gravitational assists from nearby planets
AI Sir Isaac Newton’s first law of motion states

that an object at rest stays at rest and an object
in motion stays in motion with the same speed unless
for an extra boost as the craft travels to
the far reaches of our solar system.
Spacecrafts also need a reliable
acted upon by an outside force. And in space, the only supply of electricity to report back
thing to slow down a spacecraft is gravity. their findings. Crafts operating
Before a spacecraft is even launched, scientists work
out precisely where planets and other bodies will be to
determine how the gravity of these objects will affect Mercury’s Caloris Basin appears
on the upper right of the planet in
the trajectory of the craft. This allows them to calculate this false-color image assembled
where to aim the craft, when to launch it, and how fast using images taken by NASA’s
it needs to be traveling to reach its destination. MESSENGER mission. NASA/JOHNS
HOPKINS UNIVERSITY APPLIED PHYSICS
NASA then uses a two-pronged approach to fuel the LABORATORY/CARNEGIE INSTITUTION OF
launch. The rocket’s main engines use a combination WASHINGTON

close to the Sun can reliably use solar panels. But as a
probe moves further out in the solar system, the Sun’s
rays become too weak. In that case, it can use
radioisotope thermoelectric generators, which is a
fancy way to say nuclear batteries. As radioactive mate-
rial decays, it releases heat that can be converted into
electricity for the craft.
Caitlyn Buongiorno
Associate Editor
Japanese amateur
QI WHAT HAPPENED TO THE DEBRIS

FROM THE COLLISION THAT
FORMED THE CALORIS BASIN ON
orbit around a body, that satellite needs to be within the
Hill sphere. In our solar system, a planet’s Hill sphere
astronomer Akira
Fujii captured this
close-up shot of the
sky’s brightest star.
is dictated by its orbit (more specifically, its orbit’s
The Sirius star
MERCURY? WHY DIDN’T IT FORM A semi-major axis — the long semidiameter of an oval), system contains two
MOON? its mass, and the Sun’s mass. In Mercury’s case, its Hill stars, but so far no
Fabian Marson sphere is so small that any debris flung up from the identified planets.
AKIRA FUJII
Wyndham Vale, Australia
impact that created the Caloris Basin either careened
out of the Hill sphere and into the Sun, or crashed back
AI Mercury’s Caloris Basin is about 950 miles

(1,525 kilometers) across. For comparison, the
state of Texas is 773 miles (1,244 km) wide. The Moon
into the planet, rather than lucking into a stable orbit
and forming a moon.
Caitlyn Buongiorno
has a similarly sized impact crater, Mare Orientale. Associate Editor
Researchers estimate that the collision that created
the Caloris Basin occurred some 3.8 billion years ago,
when a small body about 93 miles (150 km) across
crashed into the planet. The impact sent seismic waves
QI IS SIRIUS PART OF THE MILKY
WAY? DOES IT HAVE ANY KNOWN
PLANETS?
rumbling around the planet and even through its core. Thomas Steiner
These tremors disrupted the surface on the opposite Greendale, Wisconsin
side of Mercury, jumbling it into what researchers call
“weird” terrain.
As to why the impactor didn’t create a debris disk
that eventually coalesced into a moon like Earth’s, the
AI Sirius is the brightest star in the Northern
Hemisphere. In order to see a pointlike star
with your naked eye, it must be relatively close to us;
simple answer is that Mercury is too close to the Sun this means that all the stars you can see in the night sky
and its mass is too small. Every object has a region are within the Milky Way Galaxy. Resolving individual
around it in which its gravity dominates, known as the stars in other nearby galaxies, such as Andromeda
Hill sphere. In order for a satellite in the Northern Hemisphere or the Large and Small
(natural or human-made) Magellanic Clouds in the Southern Hemisphere,
to stay in a stable requires professional equipment like the Hubble Space
Telescope.
Sirius is about 8.6 light-years from Earth. There are
two identified stars in the Sirius star system, a main SEND US YOUR
sequence spectral type A star and a faint white dwarf,
designated Sirius A and B, respectively. No planets have
QUESTIONS
Send your
been identified in the system so far. Combining Hubble
astronomy questions
observations with historical measurements dating back via email to askastro@
to the 19th century, researchers have ruled out the pos- astronomy.com, or
sibility of any brown dwarfs or any exoplanets larger write to Ask Astro,
than 15 times the mass of Jupiter. However, looking at P.O. Box 1612,
our own solar system’s plethora of smaller planets, it’s Waukesha, WI 53187.
not a stretch to imagine that there could be a consider- Be sure to tell us
your full name and
able number of exoplanets evading detection in this where you live.
system. Unfortunately, we
Caitlyn Buongiorno cannot answer all
Associate Editor questions submitted.
READER GALLERY
Cosmic portraits
1. GATEWAY TO THE GALAXY

The natural limestone arch of
Durdle Door on England’s
Jurassic Coast lies at the end of
the Milky Way in this composite
image. The photographer used
two cameras to capture this
scene: 15 one-minute exposures
with a 24mm lens at f/2.8 and ISO
1600 on a tracking mount to
image the sky, and 15 fifteen-
second exposures with a 14mm
lens at f/2.8 and ISO 3200 for the
foreground. • Emil Andronic
2. APPARENT NEIGHBORS
The edge-on spiral NGC 4217
glows from 60 million light-years
away, appearing next to a colorful
array of foreground stars in Canes
Venatici. NGC 4217 may be a
gravitational companion to M106,
which lies roughly ½° east-
northeast (outside the frame). The
image was made with one hour,
45 minutes of exposure and a
5-inch scope. • Kasra Karimi

3. GANDALF THE GREEN
The Wizard Nebula is a cloud
of gas and dust that
surrounds the young open
cluster NGC 7380, some
10,000 light-years away in
Cepheus. The soft viridescent
hues are thanks to a creative
HαSOO combination of filter
data, with Hα used for the
luminance channel, SII
mapped to red, and OIII
mapped to both green and
blue. The image represents
13 hours of total exposure
with an 8-inch scope.
• Chad Leader
4. RED VS. BLUE

The dark clouds Barnard
30/31/32 in Orion cast their
shadows across the red glow
of an emission nebula at
upper left, just next to the
3 blue reflection nebula at
upper left. Another diffuse
reflection nebula occupies
the lower right. This LRGB
image was made with a
4.2-inch scope over nearly
10.5 hours of observations.
• César Blanco González
5. FLY ME TO THE MOON

As the photographer
was taking shots of the
92.1-percent illuminated
Moon in Kolkata, India, on
July 21, 2021, an airliner
happened to photobomb
the camera’s view and
transit the Moon’s disk.
• Soumyadeep Mukherjee
6. PERSEID PLETHORA
4 5 Seventeen Perseid meteors
streak across the skies over
Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in this
composite image from
Aug. 14, 2021. Each meteor
streak is a separate
20-second exposure at a
focal length of 16mm, f/2.8,
and ISO 400. • Gregg Alliss
SEND YOUR IMAGES TO:

Astronomy Reader Gallery,
P.O. Box 1612, Waukesha,
WI 53187. Please include
the date and location of the
image and complete photo
data: telescope, camera,
filters, and exposures.
Submit images by email to
readergallery@
astronomy.com.
6 WWW. ASTRONOMY.COM 65
BREAKTHROUGH
TWO STARS FORGE A DIAMOND NECKLACE

The aptly named Necklace Nebula dazzles from 15,000 light-years away. This planetary nebula started developing some
10,000 years ago from two closely orbiting stars. As the more massive component neared the end of its life, it expanded and
quickly enveloped its companion. The smaller sun didn’t flinch, however, and began to transfer its orbital angular momentum
to the swollen star’s rotation. When the giant’s gravity could no longer hold on to its fast-moving outer layers, they spun off.
The densest clumps of ejected debris created the necklace’s sparkling “diamonds.” Just a few million miles now separate the
dying star’s core from the companion sun — too close for even the Hubble Space Telescope to split them. ESA/HUBBLE & NASA/K. NOLL

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Pul SPE
Astronomy’s l-ou CI
t se AL
ctio
Guide to
2022 the Night Sky
VENUS shines at dusk on the first few evenings of
n
LUNAR PHASES 2022. After vanishing in the Sun’s glare, it returns

to view before sunrise in mid-January. The inner
planet then remains a morning object until
September. Venus reaches greatest elongation
from the Sun in March, when it stands some
New First Quarter Full Last Quarter 10° high in the southeast an hour before sunrise
and gleams at magnitude –4.5. NASA/JPL-CALTECH
Jan. 2 Jan. 9 Jan. 17 Jan. 25
Feb. 1 Feb. 8 Feb. 16 Feb. 23 MARS appears obvious before dawn in

early 2022, but it grows more prominent
March 2 March 10 March 18 March 25
each month as it brightens and climbs
April 1 April 9 April 16 April 23 higher. The Red Planet reaches
opposition in early December, when
April 30 May 8 May 16 May 22 it shines at magnitude –1.9 and
shows a disk 17" across when viewed
May 30 June 7 June 14 June 20
through a telescope. It then lies high
June 28 July 6 July 13 July 20 around midnight among the background
stars of Taurus. NASA/ESA/STSCI
July 28 Aug. 5 Aug. 11 Aug. 19
Aug. 27 Sept. 3 Sept. 10 Sept. 17 JUPITER always looks dramatic through a telescope.
Even small instruments show the planet’s four big
Sept. 25 Oct. 2 Oct. 9 Oct. 17 moons and resolve its dynamic atmosphere
Oct. 25 Nov. 1 Nov. 8 Nov. 16 into an alternating series of bright zones and
darker belts. Jupiter appears best around
Nov. 23 Nov. 30 Dec. 7 Dec. 16 opposition in late September, when it shines
brightest (magnitude –2.9) and looms
Dec. 23 Dec. 29 largest (50" across), though it’s a fine sight
from April through the end of the year. NASA/ESA/
All dates are for the Eastern time zone. A Full Moon rises at sunset
A. SIMON (GSFC)/M. H. WONG (UC, BERKELEY)/THE OPAL TEAM
and remains visible all night; a New Moon crosses the sky with the
Sun and can’t be seen.
SATURN provides a stunning attraction for
telescope owners from March through year’s
end. The ringed planet reaches its peak
THE MOON is Earth’s nearest in mid-August. It then shines at
neighbor and the only celestial magnitude 0.2 and its disk
object humans have visited. measures 19" across, while
Because of its changing position the rings span 43" and tilt
relative to the Sun and Earth, the Moon 14° to our line of sight. NASA/
appears to go through phases, from a ESA/THE HUBBLE HERITAGE TEAM (STSCI/AURA)
slender crescent to Full Moon and back. The
best times to observe our satellite through a
telescope come a few days on either side of its
two Quarter phases. For the best detail, look
along the terminator — the line separating the
sunlit and dark parts. NASA/GSFC/ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY
Subscribe today! 1-877-246-4835
A supplement to Astronomy magazine Visit our website at www.Astronomy.com
WINTER N
The sky US
HE
Winter boasts the brightest stars of any AC
DR CE
P Jan. 3
O
season. Orion the Hunter dominates the Quadrantid
evening sky this time of year. Its seven most MINOR meteor
A
M A I
shower peaks
ED
URSA
prominent stars form a distinctive hourglass iza PE O
M
r
Polaris SI
pattern. The blue star marking Orion’s left
RO
S
CA
M5
D
foot is Rigel, and the ruddy gem at his right Jan. 7
N
1
31
M R
69
A
M
A SA
U
C8 4 Mercury is
JO
shoulder is Betelgeuse. The three stars of N G C 88
US
R
NG at greatest
BE MA
the Hunter’s Belt point down to Sirius, the
S
CO
S
GA
RE
EU
brightest star in the night sky, and up to S eastern
PE
ER
NI
P
elongation
a
ell
Aldebaran, the eye of Taurus the Bull. To
M33
p
ES
Ca
S
PISCE
Pleiades
Orion’s upper left lies the constellation Gemini.
Denebola
ES
Casto
AU R I G A
March 20
ARI
M37
Pollux
Deep-sky highlights
CANCER
E W
LEO
Venus is at
r
M44
The Pleiades (M45) is the brightest star greatest
5
C
ECLIPTI
M3
cluster in the sky. It looks like a small western
US
ra -
GE
ba lde
n
Reg
CET
S
dipper, but it is not the Little Dipper. MI elongation
RU
NI
Pr
ulu
a
oc
The Orion Nebula (M42), a region of active
TA U
Mir
Betelgeuse N
yo
s
O
RI April 29
n
star formation, is a showpiece through NGC 2237-9 O
telescopes of all sizes. M4 2 el Mercury is
Rig
H
at greatest
Y
The Rosette Nebula (NGC 2237–9/46), CANIS Sirius S
D
PU
R
MAJOR LE eastern
A
located 10° east of Betelgeuse, presents an U
S
N elongation
impressive cluster of stars and a nebula. A
A ID
M35 in Gemini the Twins is a beautiful open OLU
MB ER
C
cluster best viewed with a telescope. April 30
Castor (Alpha [α] Geminorum) is easy to split PUPPIS Venus passes
into two components with a small telescope, 0.2° south of
but the system actually consists of six stars. Jupiter
S
May 6
SPRING Eta Aquariid
meteor
The sky shower peaks
The Big Dipper, the most conspicuous part N
of the constellation Ursa Major the Great May 15/16
Bear, now rides high in the sky. Poke a hole Total lunar
in the bottom of the dipper’s bowl, and the eclipse
CEPHEUS
water would fall on the back of Leo the Lion.
The two stars at the end of the bowl, called July 19
Ve
DR la
Polar
is el A
Pluto is at
ga
LY
AC
the Pointer Stars, lead you directly to Polaris, p G
O Ca
RI
R
MINOR
opposition
A
the North Star: From the bowl’s top, simply go

AU
URSA
HE
OR
five times the distance between the Pointers. AJ A
RC
M82 M S
Spring is the best time of year to observe UR Aug. 12
U
5
LE
M81 Perseid
M3
M1
a multitude of galaxies. Many of these far- M

S
iza
Pol Casto
3 C
meteor
ORION
B
r
flung island universes, containing hundreds
O
lux
OR
GEMINI
shower peaks
M
REA A
of billions of stars, congregate in northern

51
ON
BOÖTE
C
LIS
Virgo and Coma Berenices. B OM

M44
Betelgeuse
E
E R A W Aug. 14
SERPENS
CAPUT
E
N
Deep-sky highlights Saturn is at
CER
IC
S
OR
E
MIN S
S O
Arc
opposition
I
The Beehive Cluster (M44) was used to LE

CAN
CAN
M5
Dene
yon
turu
forecast weather in antiquity. It is a naked- bola

lus
c
gu
s
Aug. 22
Pro
eye object under a clear, dark sky, but it V Re

IR
disappears under less optimal conditions. G
O
Asteroid
M5, a conspicuous globular cluster, lies C R AT E R Vesta is at
ECLIPTIC Spi C O R V
ca US opposition
between the figures of Virgo the Maiden A
DR
and Serpens Caput the Serpent’s Head. HY
The Whirlpool Galaxy (M51) is a vast

spiral about 30 million light-years away.
M81 and M82 in Ursa Major form a pair
of galaxies that you can spot through a CEN
TA U LA
RU S VE
telescope at low power.
S
STAR MAPS BY ASTRONOMY: ROEN KELLY
N SUMMER
The sky
Sept. 16 RS
PE
High in the sky, the three bright stars known
EU
Neptune is at S as the Summer Triangle are easy to spot.
opposition These luminaries — Vega in Lyra, Deneb in
R
CA
Polaris JO Cygnus, and Altair in Aquila — lie near the
M
SS A SA
Sept. 26 IO
31
IA
PE PH
CE
MIN
OR M R
U starry path of the Milky Way. Following the
Jupiter is at EU URSA
S Milky Way south from Aquila, you’ll find the
opposition r center of our galaxy in the constellation
iza
P
O
Sagittarius the Archer. Here lie countless star
EG
AC
LA
M
la
DR
1
M5
Oct. 8
C
ebo
AS
De
clusters and glowing gas clouds. Just west of
ER
COMA ICES
U
n
Mercury is
Den
TA
eb
S
LEO
LE Sagittarius is Scorpius the Scorpion, which
CY
U
ES
at greatest RC
N
HE contains the red supergiant star Antares as
BERE
GN
ÖT
Ve
western
ga
U
BO
well as M6 and M7, two brilliant clusters that
M13
S M
elongation E W
LY R A
look marvelous at low power.
Enif
5 7
Arcturus
GO
Oct. 21 Deep-sky highlights
A lt
VIR
air
T S
Orionid SE The Hercules Cluster (M13) contains nearly
PU N
AQ
CA RPE
A PE
meteor UD NS a million stars and is the finest globular
R
UA
SE
A
AQ
ica
M1
RI
shower peaks cluster in the northern sky.
C
1
U
Sp
US
US
IL
SC H The Ring Nebula (M57) looks like a puff of

A
UT
UC TI C
CA
Oct. 25 UM I L IP
M16 PH EC smoke through a medium-sized telescope.
PR
M1 7 O A
Partial solar BR
IC
The Omega Nebula (M17) looks like the

LI
O
eclipse
RN
Antares
Greek letter of its name (Ω) through a
SA
U
GI S
S
TT
AR M6 PU telescope at low power. This object also is
Nov. 8 IU M7 LU
S called the Swan Nebula.
Total lunar The Wild Duck Cluster (M11) is a glorious
eclipse US
SCORPI open star cluster. On a moonless night, a
small scope will show you some 50 stars.
Nov. 9 S
Uranus is at
opposition
AUTUMN
Nov. 17 The sky
Leonid N The Big Dipper swings low this season, and
meteor from parts of the southern United States,
shower peaks MA it even sets. With the coming of cooler
J O
U R OR
SA RA
C
D
nights, Pegasus the Winged Horse rides
Dec. 8 MI NO R high in the sky as the rich summer Milky
S
Mars is at
LE
UR SA
Way descends in the west. Fomalhaut, a
U
13
C
opposition
ER
Polaris
solitary bright star, lies low in the south. The
H
Ca
pe
magnificent Andromeda Galaxy reaches its
M3
lla CEPH EUS

AU
Dec. 14 peak nearly overhead on autumn evenings,

5
I R
ga
Geminid
GA
88
as does the famous Double Cluster. Both
Ve
4
PE
meteor
b
86
of these objects appear as fuzzy patches to
ne
R
RA
GN
9
SE
De
shower peaks C AS S
LY
CY
the naked eye under a dark sky.

US
IOP E
Alg
IA
OR IO N
M3
ol
Deep-sky highlights
1
SAGITTA
Dec. 21
`
Mercury is E W The Andromeda Galaxy (M31) is the brightest

Aldebaran
PEG ASU S
LA
TAU RU S
AR
naked-eye object outside our galaxy visible in

M3 3
at greatest
S
AQ U I
IES
INU
M15
eastern the northern sky.

r
Altai
PI
LPH
SC
elongation The Double Cluster (NGC 869 and NGC 884)

ES
if
DE
En
EC in Perseus consists of twin open star clusters.

IUS
ER
L IP
TIC AR
CE QU It’s a great sight through binoculars.
I DA
TU A
Mi
S
ra
NU
M15 in Pegasus is a globular cluster

S
containing hundreds of thousands of stars,

US many of which can be glimpsed through a
N
C OR medium-sized telescope.
P RI
Fomalhaut Albireo (Beta [β] Cygni), the most beautiful
Open cluster CA
IS
PISC RINUS double star in the sky, is made up of suns
T
Globular cluster PH O EN IX AU S
colored sapphire and gold.
S
Diffuse nebula G RU
Planetary nebula S
Galaxy
5 P.M. 6 P.M. 7 P.M. 8 P.M. 9 P.M. 10 P.M. 11 P.M. Midnight 1 A.M. 2 A.M. 3 A.M. 4 A.M. 5 A.M. 6 A.M. 7 A.M.
Jan. 1
s
rcu
ry
nsit
Jan. 16 Me sets tra
ts
se s
nu
rn
a
s
Ur ts
tu
et
se es
Sa
rs
Jan. 31 e ris
ite
un s
t sit
Mercury
p p
Ju
Ne tra
n
Feb. 15 s
iriu
S
ts
se
us
es
March 2
an
Ur
Venus ris
RISE & SET
SU N
s s
March 17 sit nsit
n
tra tra
SET
This illustration presents

a es
E
ic ar
RIS
Sp t the night sky for 2022,
April 1 Me An
SU N
r showing the best times to
setcur y
s observe the planets from
April 16 Mercury to Neptune. For each
e s
ris planet, the times when it rises
rn
May 1 atu and sets are shown throughout
S
the year. For Mercury and Venus,
which never stray too far from the
May 16
Sun, these times appear as loops
coming up from the sunset horizon
es
May 31 (on the left) or the sunrise horizon (on
ris
ry
the right). For Mars, Jupiter, Saturn,
rcu
Me
June 15 Uranus, and Neptune, the times when
they transit — appear highest in
the sky and provide the best view
June 30 s
nsit through a telescope — also are
tra shown. All the planets lie near the
b
Me set
es ne
July 15 ris e ecliptic, so you can use this chart in
rcu s
D
ne
ry
p tu conjunction with the maps on the

Ne s sit
s previous pages to find a planet’s
July 30 e n
r ris tra approximate location. The chart
te r n
pi tu
Ju Sa also includes the transit times of
Aug. 14
e s four bright seasonal stars: Sirius,
s ris Spica, Antares, and Deneb. This
u
Aug. 29 ran map shows local times for an
U its
ns observer at 40° north latitude.
r tra
te Although exact times will
Sept. 13
sit
s pi
n Ju s
tra nsit vary depending on your
ne tra longitude and latitude (and
tu s
Sept. 28 p nu
Ne a don’t forget to add an hour
ts Ur
se for daylight saving time),
rn
tu
es
Oct. 13 a the relative times and

ris
S
rs
a ts M approximate positions
M se er
Oct. 28 e cu will stay the same.
tun ry
p ris ASTRONOMY: ROEN KELLY
Ne sit
s es
n
Nov. 12 s tra
riu
Si
Nov. 27
ts
Me set
e
ss
rcu s
u
its s an
ns
ry
t Ur
Venets
Dec. 12 tra se
s
rs r ts
te se
us
Ma pi rs
Ju Ma
Dec. 27
5 P.M. 6 P.M. 7 P.M. 8 P.M. 9 P.M. 10 P.M. 11 P.M. Midnight 1 A.M. 2 A.M. 3 A.M. 4 A.M. 5 A.M. 6 A.M. 7 A.M.
SOUTHERN SKY BY MARTIN GEORGE
February 2022
A parade of predawn planets
Early February offers a views of Venus all month. At provide an excellent oppor- prominent on northern sum-
final chance to glimpse the beginning of February, tunity to observe Mercury mer evenings. For us in the
Jupiter in evening twilight. Earth’s neighbor spans 49" and through a telescope. The best Southern Hemisphere, of
On the 1st, the giant world appears just 15 percent lit. The views come early in the month course, that triangle lies in the
stands only 7° high in the west disk is large enough that good when the planet shows a large winter sky and isn’t impressive
45 minutes after sunset. The binoculars can reveal the plan- crescent. On the 1st, its disk because only Altair climbs high.
planet shines brightly at magni- et’s delightful crescent. As spans 9.4" and appears 20 per- So let’s focus instead on the
tude –2.1, however, so it shows Venus moves away from us cent lit. On the morning of its Southern Hemisphere’s Summer
up easily if you have an unob- during the month, its apparent greatest elongation, Mercury Triangle. February evenings are
structed horizon. Jupiter disap- size shrinks as its phase waxes. measures 6.9" across and the the perfect time to appreciate
pears in the Sun’s glow by But even by February 28, its Sun illuminates 60 percent of the geometric shape formed by
mid-February and will be lost disk measures 32" across and its Earth-facing hemisphere. Betelgeuse, Procyon, and Sirius,
from view until it returns on appears 37 percent illuminated. As if these three terrestrial all three of which rank among
mornings in late March. Although Venus appears well planets weren’t enough, a gas the night sky’s 10 brightest stars.
Once Jupiter sets, skygazers clear of the horizon by the time giant world adds to the spec- I find our Summer Triangle
have a long wait before the next dawn starts to break, many tacle. Although Saturn passes more aesthetically pleasing
bright planet emerges. The observers find it a more tempt- behind the Sun from our view- because it creates a nearly per-
action picks up starting around ing subject during twilight point February 4, it reappears fect equilateral triangle. The
3 a.m. local time (4 a.m. day- because the background light in morning twilight during the angular distance from ruddy
light time), when Mars pokes cuts the planet’s glare. month’s final 10 days. To find it Betelgeuse to Procyon is 26.0°,
above the eastern horizon. The The morning sky grows on the 18th, simply draw a line from Procyon to brilliant Sirius
Red Planet remains rather dim more crowded about an hour from Mars to Mercury and is 25.7°, and from Sirius back to
this month, brightening slightly after Venus rises. February extend it an equal distance Betelgeuse is 27.1°. Compare
from magnitude 1.4 to 1.3 finds Mercury putting on its toward the horizon. By the that with the Northern
against the backdrop of finest predawn show of 2022. 28th, Saturn stands 4° directly Hemisphere’s far less symmet-
Sagittarius the Archer. Despite The innermost planet begins below Mercury. The gas giant ric Summer Triangle: The lon-
this constellation’s fame, its the month 17° west of the Sun shines at magnitude 0.7 and gest side of the triangle runs
luminary — magnitude 1.8 and rising some 70 minutes appears half as bright as its from Deneb to Altair and spans
Epsilon (ε) Sagittarii — appears before sunup. Glowing at mag- neighbor. Unfortunately, the 38.0°, Altair to Vega spans
noticeably fainter than Mars. A nitude 1.1, Mercury stands out ringed planet won’t look like 34.2°, and Vega back to Deneb
telescope shows the planet as a low in the east-southeast as much through a telescope until covers just 23.8°.
featureless disk spanning 5". twilight starts to brighten. it climbs higher next month. Of course, any three celes-
Not long after Mars clears The inner world grows more Be sure to watch the waning tial objects can form a triangle.
the horizon, Venus joins the prominent as it climbs higher crescent Moon slide past these One of my favorites appears
scene. Although the inner and grows brighter during the planets on the final two morn- late on February evenings and
planet always shines brightly, it next two weeks. At greatest ings of February (and the first provides a convenient way to
appears especially stunning this western elongation February 16, of March). To capture a great locate the sky’s brightest globu-
month. Venus peaks at magni- the magnitude 0.1 planet rises photo, shoot during twilight lar cluster, Omega (ω) Centauri
tude –4.9 when it hits greatest two hours before the Sun and with a striking terrestrial scene (NGC 5139), with just your
brilliancy February 12. That appears 12° high an hour later. in the foreground. naked eye. Omega forms the
makes it not only 300 times Although Mercury sinks closer northern vertex of a nearly
brighter than Mars but also 25 to the Sun as February winds The starry sky equilateral triangle with the
times brighter than Sirius, the down, it remains conspicuous Northern Hemisphere observers bright stars Beta (β) Cen and
night sky’s most dazzling star. through month’s end. wax poetic about the Summer Gamma (γ) Crucis. The tri-
Telescopic observers will be As you might expect, Triangle: the bright stars Altair, angle’s three sides measure
rewarded with spectacular February mornings also Deneb, and Vega that appear so 12.4°, 12.8°, and 14.0°.
STAR DOME
S
RALE
AU S T UM
NGUL
T R IA
HOW TO USE THIS MAP RU

G
TU
This map portrays the sky as seen S
NA
CA O C TA N S
APU
S
near 30° south latitude. Located
inside the border are the cardinal
SW
NG C A
directions and their intermediate 104 SC
MU
points. To find stars, hold the map SCP
overhead and orient it so one of
H Y SMC
PH
the labels matches the direction DR C HA M A E L E ON
O
US
you’re facing. The stars above
EN
Ac A
the map’s horizon now match 72 I N
I
he MENSA
X
rn 33 C A R
what’s in the sky. α ar HO RE
RO TIC
LO UL NGC 207
UM LMC 0
The all-sky map shows UM
GI
SC
how the sky looks at: S
VOL A
N
NG C
LPU DO
10 P.M. February 1
RA
SGP
61
T
DO
253
PIC C 25
9 P.M. February 15
OR
TOR NG
β
8 P.M. February 28
A
EL
FO
R α
Planets are shown Canop
NA
us γ
at midmonth
X
C
O
CA
S
CETUS
LU
ζ
PI
E
M P
LU
BA PU
IS
M
77
MAP SYMBOLS
C 24
E R I DA N U S
NG
W
ε
Open cluster
LEP
Globular cluster
US
IS
M41 N R
A JO
Diffuse nebula C A
β
Mira
PISCE
47
M
M
ο
Planetary nebula Sirius α

Ri
ge
ROS
S
OCE
α
Galaxy
β
l
MON
M4
2
α
STAR n
MAGNITUDES cyo α
Pro
Ur
α R
β NO
an
MI
Betelge
Sirius TA OR use S
us
IO NI
Pat
h
U
R N CA
0.0 3.0 of t U
he S S α
un (
`
1.0 4.0 e cl i p γ
AR
tic) Ald
eb ζ
IE
ara
α
2.0 5.0 M1
S
n
Pl
NI
ei
ad M35 GEMI β
β lux
es Pol
STAR COLORS α
A star’s color depends M 36 M37 or
N
on its surface temperature. Cast

W
Alg
β ol
•• The hottest stars shine blue
Slightly cooler stars appear white
PE
RS
EU
S
M3 8
• Intermediate stars (like the Sun) glow yellow

AU R
IGA
• Lower-temperature stars appear orange

α β
• The coolest stars glow red

Cape
lla
• Fainter stars can’t excite our eyes’ color

receptors, so they appear white unless you
use optical aid to gather more light
N
BEGINNERS: WATCH A VIDEO ABOUT HOW TO READ A STAR CHART AT
www.Astronomy.com/starchart.
FEBRUARY 2022
SUN. MON. TUES. WED. THURS. FRI. SAT.
US
IN C
IR C
α 1 2 3 4 5
S U
UR
TA N
β CE 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
5
75 SE
4 39
GC 51
ILLUSTRATIONS BY ASTRONOMY: ROEN KELLY

N C
NG 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
8 2
α β
51
83
C
NG
γ
M
δ RU X
C
20 21 22 23 24 25 26
NG
27 28
S
Note: Moon phases in the calendar vary in size due to the distance
VU
from Earth and are shown at 0h Universal Time.

COR
A
TLI
M104
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
AN
1 New Moon occurs at 5h46m UT

HYDRA
C R AT E R
2 The Moon passes 4° south of Jupiter, 21h UT

PY
3 The Moon passes 4° south of Neptune, 21h UT

E
Mercury is stationary, 22h UT

4 Saturn is in conjunction with the Sun, 19h UT
S
TA N
5
ard
Asteroid Massalia is at opposition, 8h UT

SEX
Alph
α
7 The Moon passes 1.2° south of Uranus, 20h UT

8 First Quarter Moon occurs at 13h50m UT
9 The Moon passes 0.03° north of dwarf planet Ceres, 11h UT
lus
11 The Moon is at apogee (404,897 kilometers from Earth), 2h37m UT

5
gu
M66
M6
α Re
12 Venus is at greatest brilliancy (magnitude –4.9), 18h UT

13 Venus passes 7° north of Mars, 1h UT
16
γ
Full Moon occurs at 16h56m UT

4 ER
M4 N C
O
LE
A C
Mercury is at greatest western elongation (26°), 21h UT
23 Last Quarter Moon occurs at 22h32m UT
26 The Moon is at perigee (367,789 kilometers from Earth), 22h25m UT
R
O
IN
27 The Moon passes 9° south of Venus, 6h UT

M
E
N
O
LE
The Moon passes 4° south of Mars, 9h UT
NX
28 The Moon passes 4° south of Mercury, 20h UT
LY

Astronomy, Vol. 49.12 (December 2021)

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Astronomy, Vol. 49.12 (December 2021)

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Miniature Inner Planet Orrery

This orrery shows the correct motions of Mercury,

The best $299

Follow us on M16 Eagle Nebula

HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE

CONTENTS 24 ON THE COVER

4 ASTRONOMY • DECEMBER 2021

Editor David J. Eicher

Close look at Assistant Design Director Kelly Katlaps

the planets Senior Associate Editor Alison Klesman

ings beyond our home CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Your article in the August

P.O. Box 1612,

Waukesha, WI 53187; issue on the Arecibo Corrections

6 ASTRONOMY • DECEMBER 2021

fill the region, likely spewed

SODIUM MAY MAKE ASTEROID

SALTY BUBBLES. As Phaethon speeds closer

8 ASTRONOMY • DECEMBER 2021

MAUNA KEA OF THE EAST

showed the site features remarkably dry,

SATURN’S HAZY HEART

Mission controllers were confident the rover’s drill and coring

examples. — ALISON KLESMAN

10 ASTRONOMY • DECEMBER 2021

THIS CALENDAR INCLUDES:

Chances are … edly create the Encyclopaedia Britannica. True?

12 ASTRONOMY • DECEMBER 2021

Psychology of or competing in a bass-fishing tournament, I really

stargazing — although the same could be said for reading a good

‘Violettomania’ in the stars

French artist Henri-Edmond Cross’ Landscape With Stars

14 ASTRONOMY • DECEMBER 2021

Mercury, and creating a dimly

Mercury’s surface is covered in wrinklelike ridges. This unnamed example of

VENUS being the planet’s dense atmosphere,

Ancient lava flows and fractured

decades. We’ve come a long

1877. Nearly a century later, MIKE WOLFF (SPACE SCIENCE INSTITUTE)

in 1965, NASA accomplished

Cassini carried with it the ESA’s ambitious Huygens

22 ASTRONOMY • DECEMBER 2021

Honorable mention: NEPTUNE some 4.4 million miles (7.1 million

PLUTO a temporary great dark spot at

Jake Parks is associate

26 ASTRONOMY • DECEMBER 2021

may take millions of years to form RAMIREZ-RUIZ

and shine for billions more, this LEFT: This

an accretion disk around the star,”

THE DEATH OF A STAR

28 ASTRONOMY • DECEMBER 2021

material it was plowing through. witnessed another

Disrupted Relativistic jet

ALL ILLUSTRATIONS: ASTRONOMY: ROEN KELLY

30 ASTRONOMY • DECEMBER 2021

THE SOLAR SYSTEM’S CHANGING LANDSCAPE AS IT APPEARS IN EARTH’S SKY.

Venus reaches greatest brilliancy

Venus shines bright

32 ASTRONOMY • DECEMBER 2021