Astronomy - May 2021

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MAY 2021
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ON THE COVER
The Breakthrough Starshot project
aims to send tiny robotic craft
to nearby star Proxima Centauri.
RON MILLER FOR ASTRONOMY
COLUMNS
Strange Universe 13
FEATURES BOB BERMAN
Secret Sky 14
16 COVER STORY 34 48 STEPHEN JAMES O’MEARA
Breakthrough Starshot: Star Dome and Explore the extreme
Binocular Universe 56
A voyage to the stars Paths of the Planets southern sky PHIL HARRINGTON
Using laser-propelled lightsails, RICHARD TALCOTT; Don’t miss out on these
tiny spacecraft could venture ILLUSTRATIONS BY ROEN KELLY Southern Hemisphere Observing Basics 58
to the Sun’s nearest neighbor in clusters, nebulae, and galaxies. GLENN CHAPLE
just a few decades. JAKE PARKS 40 MICHAEL E. BAKICH
Apollo 14 in 3D
24 Relive the 50th anniversary 54 7
Apollo 14: Bouncing of Alan Shepard’s lunar We test Celestron’s QUANTUM GRAVITY
back from disaster adventures with stereo StarSense Explorer Everything you need to
After the ill-fated Apollo 13 images that transport Guided by your smartphone, know about the universe
mission, NASA returned to the you to the Moon. these scopes are easy to use this month: Perseverance
lunar surface with Apollo 14 — DAVID J. EICHER AND and on target every time. reaches Mars, finding
overcoming gremlins along the BRIAN MAY PHIL HARRINGTON the youngest magnetar,
way. MARK ZASTROW Hope begins its martian
46 60 mission, and more.
32 The Moon turns red Ask Astro
Sky This Month Our only natural satellite The hunt for solar siblings.
The morning Moon turns red. submerges itself in Earth’s IN EVERY ISSUE
MARTIN RATCLIFFE AND shadow this month. From the Editor 5
ALISTER LING MICHAEL E. BAKICH Astro Letters 6
Advertiser Index 57
New Products 59
Reader Gallery 62
Breakthrough 66
ONLINE
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4 ASTRONOMY • MAY 2021

FROM THE EDITOR
Can we travel
Editor David J. Eicher
Design Director LuAnn Williams Belter
EDITORIAL
Senior Editor Mark Zastrow
to the stars?
Production Editor Elisa R. Neckar
Senior Associate Editor Alison Klesman
Associate Editor Jake Parks
Associate Editor Caitlyn Buongiorno
Editorial Assistant Hailey McLaughlin
ART
As long as our ancestors have looked skyward, Contributing Design Director Kelly Katlaps
Illustrator Roen Kelly
humans have dreamed about traveling to the Production Specialist Jodi Jeranek
stars. For hundreds of years, as the notion of CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
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Richard Talcott
penned From the Earth to the Moon; some 30 years
EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD
later, the French filmmaker Georges Méliès created the Buzz Aldrin, Marcia Bartusiak, Jim Bell, Timothy Ferris,
wonderful short A Trip to the Moon, in which poor Mr. Alex Filippenko, Adam Frank, John S. Gallagher lll,
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ASTRO LET TERS
Cover to cover
I just finished reading the January 2021 issue of
Splash down Astronomy cover to cover. What a fantastic idea to do a
stamp complete issue on cosmology! The articles, written by
Katrin Raynor-Evans’ scientists active in the field and contributing editors,
November 2020 surveyed the topic very nicely. Although ambitious,
article, “Collect the I think it would be great to do other surveys in the
cosmos in stamps,” future. — Richard Brady, Brick, NJ
reminded me of
something I found a
few years ago while The importance of Roen Kelly
cleaning out my I would like to propose a frightening question: What
father’s garage. I took if all of Roen Kelly’s illustrations in the January issue
home a toolchest and disappeared? I counted 32 of them! I have taught high
The 1962 Project
was looking through school science for 44 years, and though we embrace
Mercury postal stamp.
SMITHSONIAN NATIONAL it when I found an envelope. The stamp on the enve- Astronomy magazine’s well-written articles and salivate
POSTAL MUSEUM
lope cost $0.04 and was made for the Project Mercury over the gorgeous photographs, it takes an illustrator to
program going on at that time. Of interest is the post- help us make sense of a multitude of concepts. I praise
mark canceling the stamp: The postmark is for the Roen for helping us visualize what the writers are talk-
Cape Canaveral post office, but Canaveral didn’t have ing about. They are integral to the magazine’s high
a post office at that time. This is a special postmark standard of quality. — James McLeod, Charlotte, NC
issued by the United States Postal Service to mark the
successful splash landing. My father says he has no idea We welcome your comments at Astronomy Letters,
how he ended up with this envelope and thinks it might P.O. Box 1612, Waukesha, WI 53187; or email to
have been in the toolchest when he got it from a friend. letters@astronomy.com . Please include your name, city,
— Dan “Santa” Stone, Belen, NM state, and country. Letters may be edited for space and clarity.
NEAF April 10th

QUANTUM GRAVITY EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE
SNAPSHOT
A. ADAMO ET AL.; ESA/HUBBLE & NASA, A. ADAMO ET AL.; NASA, ESA, THE HUBBLE HERITAGE TEAM (STSCI/AURA)-ESA/HUBBLE COLLABORATION AND A. EVANS (UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA, CHARLOTTESVILLE/NRAO/STONY BROOK UNIVERSITY). BOTTOM FROM LEFT: NASA/JPL-CALTECH; NASA; ESO/M KORNMESSER
WHEN WORLDS
TOP, CLOCKWISE FROM UPPER LEFT: ESA/HUBBLE, NASA; NASA, ESA, THE HUBBLE HERITAGE TEAM (STSCI/AURA)-ESA/HUBBLE COLLABORATION AND A. EVANS (UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA, CHARLOTTESVILLE/NRAO/STONY BROOK UNIVERSITY); ESA/HUBBLE & NASA, A. ADAMO; ESA/HUBBLE & NASA,
COLLIDE
To understand bursts of
star formation, astronomers
target galaxy mergers.
The universe is a sea of seemingly empty space. Yet,
despite its vastness, galaxies still frequently slam
into each other in gravitational death dances.
The Hubble Space Telescope captured six such
merging systems in these images. But galactic colli-
sions don’t just make for pretty pictures; researchers
also use them to understand the evolution of
galaxies throughout the universe.
When galaxies combine, their shapes are
distorted and their contents rearranged. This
forges a new generation of stars in an event called
a starburst. And the star clusters created in these
mash-ups become long-lasting witnesses to their
galaxies’ dramatic transformations. Researchers
used Hubble to study the ages, masses, and amount
of dust within these galaxies’ new star clusters as
part of a survey called the Hubble imaging Probe
of Extreme Environments and Clusters. The survey
collects ultraviolet, visible,
and near-infrared light to
help scientists determine how
mergers impact the rate of
star formation in galaxies.
One day, our own Milky
Way Galaxy will merge with
our neighbor, the Andromeda
Galaxy. The collision won’t
occur for another 4.5 billion HOT PLANETARY
SEPTUPLETS
PRESIDENTIAL
PAPERWEIGHT
QUICK-FORMING
QUASAR
years, but by studying distant BYTES The TRAPPIST-1 system’s A rock chipped off a A newly discovered
mergers, astronomers can
seven rocky exoplanets boulder on the Moon galaxy houses the
better understand what will are all roughly the by Apollo 17 astronauts oldest known quasar,
happen to our home far in the same density — about is now on display in the which is an actively
future. — HAILEY ROSE MCLAUGHLIN 8 percent less dense Oval Office of the White feeding supermassive
than our own planet House. NASA supplied black hole. J0313–1806
— suggesting their the lunar sample at the contains a central
compositions are Biden administration’s black hole 1.6 billion
similar to each other request. times the mass of the
but notably different Sun that formed just
from Earth’s. 670 million years after
the Big Bang.
QUANTUM GRAVITY
SUCCESS! NASA safely lands

Perseverance on Mars
The most sophisticated martian rover ever
built is ready to explore the Red Planet.
CAUGHT ON CAMERA. Perseverance’s descent cameras captured its thrilling landing

sequence: its parachutes opening, its heat shield falling away, and finally, it hovering
over the ground and being winched to the surface — prompting celebrations at NASA’s
Jet Propulsion Laboratory. BOTTOM RIGHT: NASA/BILL INGALLS. ALL OTHERS NASA/JPL-CALTECH
NASA’s Perseverance rover is safe get two plans. One plan is the one we heat shield. But because Mars’ atmo-
and sound on Mars. want to do. And then there’s that second sphere is only about 1 percent as dense
At approximately 3:55 p.m. EST plan, which is right here — that’s the as Earth’s, its ability to slow incoming
on Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021, mission contingency plan.” spacecraft is limited.
control at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab in Zurbuchen then stood up, lifted a That’s why Perseverance was
Pasadena, California, erupted in jubila- thin stack of lightly leafed-through equipped with a massive supersonic
tion upon receiving confirmation that papers into the air, and triumphantly parachute, which it deployed while still
their latest interplanetary rover made tore them apart while calling out, traveling at twice the speed of sound.
it to the martian surface unscathed, “Here’s for the contingency plan!” This further slowed the craft’s descent,
completing a seven-month, 293-million- allowing the vehicle to use its brand-
mile (471 million kilometers) journey. NAILING THE LANDING new Terrain Relative Navigation system,
NASA couldn’t have asked for a Perseverance began its landing ordeal which compared real-time images to a
better landing. In a post-landing press — the so-called “seven minutes of pre-stored map of the landing area to
conference, Thomas Zurbuchen, head terror” — by entering the Red Planet’s help the rover avoid hazardous terrain.
of NASA’s science missions, said, “Every atmosphere at a blistering 12,000 mph After jettisoning its parachute
time we do a launch or do a landing, we (19,300 km/h), protected by a robust roughly 1 mile (1.6 km) above the

QUICK
TAKES
surface, the craft was still traveling at
some 160 mph (250 km/h). That’s when
EVER-CLEAR SKIES
the rocket-powered descent vehicle took Hubble Space Telescope
over, firing its multiple thrusters to observations of the hot Jupiter
further slow Perseverance’s descent and WASP-62b revealed that it has no
direct it to a safe landing site. observable clouds or haze in its
Finally, the craft carried out its atmosphere. It’s the second known
famed Skycrane maneuver, first used by exoplanet with completely
NASA’s Curiosity rover in 2012. While clear skies.
hovering at about 70 feet (21 meters)
above the surface, a winch gently GALACTIC GEYSER
lowered Perseverance via tethers to the Astronomers have found that the
floor of Jezero Crater. core of galaxy ESO 253–3 regularly
The entire maneuver was captured by erupts in a flare about every 114
a set of off-the-shelf cameras mounted days. This reliable nature allowed
to the rover and its descent stage, scientists to plan ahead and
resulting in spectacular footage — the observe several flares in 2020
first ever of a spacecraft landing on with multiple telescopes,
another planet. Perseverance is also including NASA’s Neil Gehrels
Swift Observatory.
fitted with a microphone that captured
the sound of a gust of martian wind
in the first true audio recording from
UNEXPECTED LIGHT
The New Horizons probe, currently
another planet.
exploring the Kuiper Belt, has found
DRAMATIC ENTRANCE. Using a maneuver first that empty space is not as dark as
PERCY’S NEXT JOURNEY tested with Curiosity, Perseverance touches expected. The extra light could
With a safe touchdown marked off the down on Mars in this illustration. NASA/JPL-CALTECH
mean there are more faint galaxies
rover’s to-do list, Perseverance will next than theory predicts, creating
perform a number of tests to ensure to a safe viewing distance while the a brighter background glow.
everything is working properly before rotorcraft carries out a series of tests.
kicking off its mission in earnest. From there, Perseverance will continue FALSE-PHINE?
Within the next few months, with its primary mission — investigat- The debate over a claimed detection
Perseverance is expected to drop off ing areas of interest throughout Jezero of phosphine in Venus’ atmosphere
its tag-along experimental helicopter Crater, a fascinating ancient lakebed that — a potential indicator of microbial
drone, Ingenuity, before rolling away may have once served as an abode for life — continues as a new study
martian life. There, the rover will attempt suggests the signal can instead
to characterize the site’s past geology and be explained by sulfur dioxide.
search for signs of ancient martian life.
If Perseverance finds a particularly SNUFFED OUT
intriguing target, it will use its coring Astronomers found a distant galaxy
drill to collect and store a sample from that’s ejecting nearly half its
the site. Periodically, it will deposit its available star-forming gas —
roughly 10,000 Suns’ worth per
samples at designated cache depots
year. They think the gas leak
for a future sample-return mission to
was triggered by a recent collision
retrieve and return to Earth.
with another galaxy.
As NASA’s head of planetary science,
NEW DIGS. This color version of the first image Lori Glaze, put it, “Now that we’re on
sent back from NASA’s Perseverance rover upon LUNAR HERITAGE
safely landing on Mars was taken by one of the the ground … the fun really starts.” On Dec. 31, 2020, the U.S. enacted
rover’s Hazard Avoidance Cameras. NASA/JPL-CALTECH — JAKE PARKS
legislation to protect ”lunar
heritage sites,” such as the Apollo
landing sites. The One Small Step
The red-and-white markings on Perseverance’s parachutes carried
to Protect Human Heritage in
two hidden messages written in binary code: the Jet Propulsion Space Act now requires NASA and
Laboratory’s unofficial motto, “Dare mighty things,” and the any organization it partners with to
latitude and longitude coordinates for JPL’s Pasadena campus. avoid disturbing these areas.
— MARK ZASTROW, J.P.
9
QUANTUM GRAVITY
4
The distance,
in inches
(10 cm), that Mars
wobbles around
STRANGE STAR. its spin axis every
Magnetars are highly
magnetic neutron 207 days, making
stars, which, in turn, it the solar
are the dense cores system’s second
of stars left behind
by supernovae. This known body,
illustration depicts the after Earth, with a
strong magnetic field
lines surrounding Chandler wobble.
these stars. CARL KNOX,
OZGRAV/SWINBURNE UNIVERSITY
OF TECHNOLOGY
Astronomers find the youngest,

fastest-spinning magnetar yet
Fresh observations are shedding 1.4 seconds, also making it the fastest- and magnetar-like radio pulses. But,
more light on the newest member spinning magnetar yet found. Their over the course of 15 days, it eventually
of the bizarre class of stars called findings were published November 2020 stabilized into a magnetar-like state.
magnetars — and astronomers are run- in The Astrophysics Journal Letters. “This bizarre behavior has never been
ning out of superlatives to describe it. And J1818 wasn’t done surprising seen before in any other radio-loud
Neutron stars are ultradense objects astronomers. While magnetars typi- magnetar,” said study lead author,
— second only to black holes — that cally emit lots of X-rays and gamma Marcus Lower of Swinburne University
compress more than a Sun’s worth of rays, J1818 was also observed giving of Technology, in a press release.
mass into a sphere only about as wide off regular radio pulses. Only five Further observations seem to indicate
as Manhattan. And magnetars are a magnetars, including J1818, have that J1818 has permanently settled into
rare subset of neutron stars that sport been seen exhibiting such radio-loud releasing magnetar-like pulses.
the universe’s most powerful magnetic behavior, which resembles that of This study also discovered that
fields — roughly 1 million billion times pulsars — fast-spinning neutron stars J1818’s magnetic poles appear mis-
stronger than that of Earth. that emit powerful beams of radio aligned, compared to suggestions from
However, astronomers have only waves from their poles. Curiously, a theoretical model. Instead of aligning
identified 31 magnetars out of the J1818 initially appeared more pulsarlike with its spin axis, the magnetar’s
3,000 or so known neutron stars. After than the four other known radio-loud magnetic poles appear to be just below
the discovery of the newest member, magnetars. Those objects emit pulses its equator. J1818 is the first known
Swift J1818.0-1607 (J1818 for short), by that are consistently bright across the magnetar to show such behavior.
NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory radio-wave spectrum, whereas a typical “What’s amazing about [magnetars]
in March of last year, researchers were pulsar — and J1818 — is brighter at is they’re quite diverse as a popula-
eager to observe it further. So, later longer wavelengths. tion,” said Victoria Kaspi, director of
that year, they turned NASA’s Chandra However, in a second paper, published the McGill Space Institute at McGill
X-ray Observatory its way. March 2021 in Monthly Notices of the University in Montreal, Canada. “Each
They found that J1818 is even more Royal Astronomical Society, astronomers time you find one, it’s telling you a
special than previously thought. With revealed the young magnetar under- different story. They’re very strange
an estimated age of merely 500 years, went an identity crisis. While being and very rare, and I don’t think we’ve
J1818 is the youngest known magnetar. observed between June and July, J1818 seen the full range of possibilities.”
The baby star whirls around once every flickered between emitting pulsarlike — CAITLYN BUONGIORNO

SOLAR SYSTEM
SIZES Pulsars hint at background
THE SUN IS KING. Among the
planets, Jupiter and Saturn win sea of gravitational waves
the prize for size, dwarfing Astronomers have found the strongest
their fellow worlds. But the Sun evidence yet for a predicted class of
is the true ruler of the solar gravitational waves created by super-
system. Here’s how the planets massive black holes in the cores of
stack up in size (diameter), galaxies.
Since the Laser Interferometer
compared with our central
Gravitational-wave Observatory and
star. — ALISON KLESMAN Virgo collaborations announced the first
detection of gravitational waves in 2015,
MERCURY scientists have identified a total of 50
gravitational wave events. These detec-
tions, which each send ripples through
the fabric of the cosmos, have been
VENUS SEA OF TIME. A network of pulsars that
traced back to the collisions of neutron
THE SUN stars or stellar-mass black holes.
spans the galaxy can help astronomers detect
gravitational waves generated by binary
But gravitational waves aren’t only supermassive black holes as they stretch and
compress space-time, which should alter the
EARTH created by short-lived events such as timing of arriving radio signals. DAVID CHAMPION
collisions. Pairs of supermassive black
holes lurking in the centers of some gal- stretched or compressed, the pulsar
axies also etch long-wavelength gravi- signals should arrive slightly early or
MARS
tational waves into space-time as they late. In that case, any timing variations
slowly spiral toward each other. Each should be correlated in a pattern char-
of these rumbles may take decades to acteristic of gravitational waves, not
wash over us, rather than the seconds- simply random.
long “chirps” produced by shorter events. In their new paper, the team reports
JUPITER General relativity predicts Earth is con- seeing such varying delays on the order
stantly awash in gravitational waves like of hundreds of nanoseconds, but they
these, bobbing like a buoy at sea riding don’t yet have enough data to claim to
swells from distant sources of energy. see the correlations that would mark a
In a paper published December 2020 clear detection of gravitational waves.
in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, a However, they have been able to elimi-
team reported the strongest evidence nate alternative explanations for the
SATURN yet for this background sea of gravi- variations, like uncertainty in the solar
tational waves. The researchers are system’s center of mass and interfer-
part of the North American Nanohertz ence from interstellar dust.
Observatory for Gravitational Waves It’s “a mic-drop moment,” says Kelly
(NANOGrav), a project that uses data Holley-Bockelmann, an astronomer
from the Green Bank Telescope and at Vanderbilt University, who wasn’t
URANUS the now-defunct Arecibo Observatory. involved in the work. “I wouldn’t bet my
Since 2004, these massive radio house that it’s gravitational waves, but I
telescopes have observed 47 pulsars would bet a very nice bottle of wine.”
— highly magnetic, spinning compact NANOGrav has two more years of
stars that emit beams of radio waves at data stored away that team members
NEPTUNE
incredibly consistent intervals as they think will improve their signal enough
rotate hundreds of times per second. to reveal a clear detection. Astronomers
Together, this array of pulsars forms hope the gravitational wave background
FAST FACT a galaxy-sized gravitational wave detec- will clarify the physics of how super-
Although the Sun is only 10 times tor. If the space-time around Earth is massive black holes evolve. — M.Z.
wider than Jupiter, you could fit
ASTRONOMY: ROEN KELLY
1,000
more than 900 Jupiters inside
the volume of our star. The estimated depth, in feet (305 m), of
Titan’s largest sea, Kraken Mare, a body of liquid
methane that scientists hope to explore with a robotic submarine.
QUANTUM GRAVITY
Busy 2021 at Mars
NASA, ESA, STSCI, AND J. BANOVETZ AND D. MILISAVLJEVIC (PURDUE UNIVERSITY)

kicks off with Hope
HOPE ARRIVES. The first image of Mars returned
by Hope after it entered martian orbit shows the
three massive shield volcanoes of Tharsis Montes:
Ascraeus Mons, Pavonis Mons, and Arsia Mons.
To their right is the sprawling canyon system
Valles Marineris; to their left, lying partly in
shadow, is Olympus Mons, the largest volcano in
the solar system. MBRSC/UAE SPACE AGENCY/CU-LASP/EMM-EXI
impacts on our science community

in general.”
Hope will diligently observe the Red
Planet’s atmosphere, recording character-
istics such as temperature, humidity, and HUBBLE
Last July, a trio of Mars-bound missions
left Earth. On Feb. 9, the first craft
dust levels for an entire martian year (687
Earth days). Researchers hope to track RECONSTRUCTS
reached its destination. The arrival
A SUPERNOVA
how molecules escape Mars’ atmosphere
of the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) into space — a process which, over billions
orbiter — dubbed al-Amal, or Hope — of years, has transformed Mars from
coincides with the 50th anniversary of a wet, warm environment into a cold, Thousands of years ago,
the country’s independence, as well as dry, and dusty planet. The UAE has also light from a dying star
marking the first interplanetary mission announced it will freely share the Hope in the Small Magellanic
undertaken by an Arab nation. mission data with hundreds of institutions
Cloud reached Earth.
“The launch of Mars Hope comes at around the world, cementing its place as
the end of a six-year journey of develop- part of the larger science community. No records of the event
ment by the team,” said Omran Sharaf, With NASA’s Perseverance rover safely exist, but it left behind a
the Emirates Mars Mission lead, in a on the surface, all eyes are now on China’s tangle of expanding gas
press release. “The mission has truly Tianwen-1 mission, which entered martian and dust still visible today.
transformed The Emirates’ capability in orbit on Feb. 10, 2021, carrying China’s Astronomers recently
space systems engineering, science, and first Mars rover. It is expected to attempt used the Hubble Space
research, and had enormous positive to land on the planet in May. — A.K.
Telescope to reconstruct
the blast and accurately
Moon golf shot determine its age: 1,700

years. Researchers
measured Ball 2
Ball 1
rewound the clock by
tracking 22 knots of
In the annals of golf history, Alan material inside the super-
Shepard’s shots from the lunar sand nova remnant, watching
may be the most famous swings ever
Shot 1 Divot these clumps spread
taken. Fifty years later, image analysis Shot 1 Divot
has finally determined how far his (Obscured) outward by comparing
longest shot went. Image specialist two images taken with
Andy Saunders analyzed photos taken the same camera 10 years
by the astronauts and video from the lunar ascent module as it lifted off from the apart. Based on the knots’
surface. He managed to identify the golf balls, plus Shepard’s footprints from his stance motions, the team traced
and his divot. By comparing the photos to more recent images from NASA’s Lunar them to their point of
Reconnaissance Orbiter, he measured the distance of Shepard’s second shot, which the
origin — the site of the
astronaut had estimated at 200 yards (183 meters). The actual distance? A rather tame
40 yards (37 m). Still, that’s not bad for a one-handed bunker shot in a bulky space suit.
original supernova explo-
For the full story of Shepard’s lunar golfing experience, see page 40. — M.Z. sion — and determined
how long the knots had
been moving to reveal
the age of the blast. — A.K.
Charles Wood, in his preface to 21st Century Atlas of the
STRANGE UNIVERSE Moon (West Virginia University Press, 2013), insists the
IAU “went crazy” and “introduced confusion and
chaos,” and refuses to label the beloved Serpentine Ridge
Duck sauce
with its new official designation of Dorsa Smirnov.
It got worse. Craters honoring famous people were
also latinized. The crater Ptolemy is now Ptolemaeus.
on eyepieces
Chains of craters are now catena. Faults are rupes. Most
of us have gotten used to it. But doughnut fragments still
litter the landscape.
Sometimes the food fight is personal. Most astrono-
Food fights are messy, but their metaphorical counterparts mers admired Halton Arp’s cranky stubbornness as he
are part of the scientific process. endlessly tried to show that high redshifts are not neces-
sarily indicators of high recession speed and thus greater
Our story begins with distance from Earth. His pet “proof ” — Stephan’s
food fights. Many readers Quintet in Pegasus, where a seemingly attached-to-the-
will surely recall that others galaxy has a disparate redshift — drew heated
beloved tradition, one largely exchanges for years until the Hubble Space Telescope’s
incompatible with astronomy. The ability to see individual stars in the outlier, NGC 7320,
practice has been strangely over- proved Arp was mistaken. NGC 7320 is not part of the
looked by eyepiece companies, group at all, but actually a foreground galaxy that lies
which fail to caution against it in much closer to Earth than the others.
their manuals on proper care of Mistaken or not, determined astrophysicists doing
optics. As evidence that this maga- the Don Quixote thing actually are part of science’s
zine provides critical astronomy tips precious process. Long after the martian canals contro-
not found elsewhere, we’ll get versy and the Great Debate over whether “spiral
straight to the point: Avoid getting nebulae” like Andromeda were merely objects within
tartar sauce — or even ordinary the Milky Way, popular books sometimes offered
barbecue sauce — on coated lenses. wacky ideas that found support with a few astrophysi-
Formerly known as But food fights can be metaphors cists, to the consternation of the majority. In 1950,
the Serpentine Ridge,
the feature marked for messy disagreements, too, and these are instructive Immanuel Velikovsky’s Worlds in Collision claimed
with the arrow on this because they gave us the state of astronomy today. Venus is a newborn planet, ejected by Jupiter as a clump
lunar image is now So, what are the top astrophysical food fights? of material that initially roamed the solar system as a
known as Dorsa
Smirnov, thanks to an Most would immediately cite the 2006 International comet. He also claimed biblical events could be
IAU ruling. CONSOLIDATED Astronomical Union (IAU) decision to demote Pluto explained by this pre-Venus comet. According to him,
LUNAR ATLAS/UA/LPL
from planethood. This ruling pitted astronomers against the “manna from heaven” that purportedly fed the flee-
each other, often based on sentimentality, ing Israelites was actually bits of edible
tradition, and nostalgia for a planet that comet fragments falling from the sky. It
shares a name with a certain cartoon dog. Food fights can made sense since comets, he insisted, con-
The consensus seems to be that Pluto was be metaphors tain carbohydrates.
misclassified when it was first discovered for messy For years, the idea had adherents. Finally,
— after all, many other similarly sized bod-
disagreements. astronomers had had enough. Not only did
ies that are not planets would have to Velikovsky’s theory dismiss well-understood
become planets if Pluto were reinstated. celestial mechanics, they said, but in sug-
And, anyway, no one has the stomach for going back into gesting people could munch on comet material,
battle over it. Velikovsky was obviously mixing up carbohydrates with
But this controversy wasn’t the first time the IAU got hydrocarbons. Actually, Venus’ atmosphere had been
egg on its face. found to contain neither. Still, the nutriment legacy lingers
Another big-time IAU food fight happened in the when we say that comets come here from the “ort cloud.”
1970s, when they decided to rename many of the Moon’s These days, the food fights continue. We have one
features and give them Latin titles. For centuries, camp arguing for dark matter and the other thinking
Moon-watchers using small telescopes took delight in that gravity behaving oddly at low levels can better
seeing the low Sun highlight the many wrinkle ridges explain the observations of galaxies’ rotation. And we
BY BOB BERMAN that cross the smooth, solidified lava seas. The largest, have one camp believing we can do more solar system
Bob’s newest book, running north to south across the Sea of Serenity, was science with automated probes, while another pushes for
Earth-Shattering the Serpentine Ridge. crewed visits to other planets.
(Little, Brown and
“We don’t care if that’s been its name for 200 years,” It never ends. And hopefully, it never will.
Company, 2019),
explores the greatest said the IAU (in effect). “From now on, such ridges will
cataclysms that have be called dorsa.” Lunar researchers quickly grabbed BROWSE THE “STRANGE UNIVERSE” ARCHIVE
shaken the universe. doughnuts for ammo. Even today, planetary scientist AT www.Astronomy.com/Berman
SECRET SK Y
Unveiling
Veronica’s Veil
For centuries, a lost asterism has been hiding in plain sight.
Smyth tells us Veronica’s Veil is between the celestial

equator and the zodiac, on or near the spot of NGC
3166. This description places the asterism roughly 10˚
south of Regulus, in the constellation Sextans. No
apparent size or orientation is offered, leaving much
room for speculation. The search, then, has long been
When George F. for a binocular or telescopic asterism in Sextans.
Chambers revised
William Henry Smyth’s
In 1643, Antonius Maria Schyrleus de Rheita, But we were horribly wrong. It turns out that Zahn’s
A Cycle of Celestial an astronomer and friar of the Catholic figure does not fit de Rheita’s description and is most
Objects in 1881, he Church’s Capuchin Order, detected through likely — as George F. Chambers’s caption reads for
called this figure “a
pious fraud.” STEPHEN
his binocular telescope a stellar grouping resembling the Zahn’s illustration in his 1881 revision of Smyth’s work
JAMES O’MEARA sacred Sudarium Veronicae, or the Veil of St. Veronica. — “a pious fraud.”
According to the Christian Stations of the
Cross, when Veronica used this cloth to wipe A stellar unveiling
the face of Jesus on his way to Calvary, it took The Veil is a In a 2017 article in the Journal for the History
on the impression of his face. But the knowl- naked-eye of Astronomy, artificial intelligence
edge of which stars formed this asterism has researcher, Latin scholar, and astronomy
been lost to time. Since de Rheita’s original
asterism author Michael A. Covington of the
observation, there have been no other with a splash University of Georgia proposed an outstand-
recorded sightings — until, perhaps, now. of telescopic ing solution to the long-standing mystery.
stars within. The key was his translation and interpre-
A problematic portrait tation of the discovery letter de Rheita wrote
Before we share the solution, let’s look first to his friend, Juan Caramuel, on April 24,
at the problem. To search for the Veil, many observers 1643. In it, we learn of critical facts not presented by
(myself included) relied on an illustration by Joannes Smyth — namely, that the asterism is visible to the
Zahn, first published in 1685. It was then reproduced naked eye as well as through a Galilean telescope.
BY STEPHEN in Admiral William Henry Smyth’s classic 1844 book, Furthermore, de Rheita tells us that the four corner
JAMES O’MEARA A Cycle of Celestial Objects. stars of the Veil are bright.
Stephen is a globe-
Smyth writes that de Rheita saw the figure “most In other words, the Veil is a naked-eye asterism with a
trotting observer who
is always looking clearly, by means of his binocular telescope.” This splash of telescopic stars within. And when Covington
for the next great description suggests binoculars or a small telescope are searched for four naked-eye corner stars that “look like
celestial event. required to see the star pattern. But where do we look? an unfolded veil or handkerchief,” he found “a rectangular

ABOVE: Here are
various views of the
rectangles fit de Rheita’s description. “Whether the candidate starfield
interior stars resemble a face is not obvious,” Covington discovered by
says, “but there are definitely several naked‐eye stars Michael A. Covington
that represents the
present, and the main rectangle contains approximately Sudarium Veronicae,
200 stars down to magnitude 9, which is a reasonable imagined by Antonius
limit for a 17th‐century telescope.” Maria Schyrleus de
Rheita, including, in
the middle frame,
Seeing is believing the depiction created
After reading Covington’s article and going out to hunt by Joannes Zahn.
Note that in 1643,
down his proposed Veil, I did a double take. It was Iota Hydrae, Alpha
remarkably obvious, even under bright moonlight. I Sextantis, and Beta
Sextantis were all
mentally congratulated him for finally discovering a north of the celestial
near-indisputable candidate for this lingering celestial equator. STEPHEN JAMES
mystery. O’MEARA
I found the larger version of Covington’s Veil candi- LEFT: The Face
date to be the more compelling solution for the cloth (as of Christ on St.
drawn by Zahn), though I could only imagine a face in Veronica’s Veil is
rendered in this 1735
the smaller rectangular section to the west. That view French engraving.
also matches what de Rheita told Caramuel: that the HARRIS BRISBANE DICK FUND, 1917/
“very bright small stars [are] densely crowded in the METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART
middle, like a swarm of bees.”

Once seen, the large version of the Veil was hard to
erase from view. Perhaps, as de Rheita wrote to Caramuel,
“so quickly impressed this likeness intuitively on the
mind and eyes, that looking at it a hundred times over
pattern of stars in that area, covering nearly the whole and over, it would not be possible to attach to it any image
space between the equator and the ecliptic.” The stars were more similar to it than the Veil of Veronica.” Go out and
Rho (ρ) and Omicron (ο) Leonis to the north, and Beta (β) try to track down Covington’s fascinating discovery and
Sextantis and Iota (ι) Hydrae to the south. let me know your thoughts at sjomeara31@gmail.com.
He also found a smaller rectangle whose corners are
marked by 31 and Omicron Leonis to the north, and BROWSE THE “SECRET SKY” ARCHIVE AT
Alpha (α) Sextantis and Iota Hydrae to the south. Both www.Astronomy.com/OMeara
Breakthrough
A voyage to
the stars
Using laser-propelled lightsails, tiny spacecraft
could venture to the Sun’s nearest neighbor
in just a few decades. BY JAKE PARKS
O
n Nov. 6, 2018, as millions of telescope at Haleakalā Observatory in
Americans cast their votes in a Hawaii. But it wasn’t until he began explor-
hotly contested midterm elec- ing what he himself describes in his book
tion, astrophysicist Avi Loeb as “an exotic hypothesis, without question”
sat in his office surrounded that he began to take it seriously — if only
by four television crews. Loeb, as a thought experiment.
chair of Harvard University’s Department He drew his ‘Oumuamua hypothesis
of Astronomy and author of the new from what was fresh in his mind. At that
book Extraterrestrial (Houghton Mifflin point, Loeb had spent the previous few years
Harcourt, 2021), was not being targeted working with some of the world’s brightest
for his political insight. and most ambitious people
Instead, the media atten- to develop an audacious
“A tantalizing, probing inquiry
into the possibilities of alien
life.”
— Kirkus Reviews
tion was due to his recent interstellar mission that

extraterrestrial
eye-catching paper would use lightsails to

exploring whether the venture to a nearby star.
interstellar space rock The moonshot project,
‘Oumuamua was really a fittingly called
piece of alien technology Breakthrough Starshot,
that’s sailing on sunlight. aims to create a tiny
COURTESY OF HOUGHTON MIFFLIN HARCOURT/AVI LOEB
Loeb first pondered spacecraft equipped with

the possibility that the extt rSignaoftInteelligerrnteLifesBeytrondia l a sail that will catch a
solar system’s first known brief burst of powerful
Earth
AVI LOEB
The Firs
interstellar interloper was laser light, propelling it

an extraterrestrial craft to some 20 percent the
back in late 2017, shortly speed of light. At that A tiny nanocraft
Pick up your copy of attached to a large
after astronomers discov- Extraterrestrial at rate, such a craft would lightsail might be
ered the object (formally www.MyScienceShop.com/ arrive at the nearby star humanity’s best bet for
reaching another star
known as 1I/2017 U1) product/book/81564 Proxima Centauri within within a generation.
using the Pan-STARRS about 20 years of launch. BREAKTHROUGH INITIATIVES

How to speed to a nearby star
Sailing on light
One fundamental property of electromagnetic radiation, or light, is that it has
momentum. This means that despite having no mass, particles of light can transfer
their momentum to macroscopic objects. And one way to harness that momentum
is to mimic how sailboats harness the momentum of rushing air molecules.
Enter the lightsail: an ultra-thin, incredibly reflective sheet of material. As light
hits a lightsail, it bounces backward, imparting its forward momentum to the sail
itself. This can propel a spacecraft through space. But unlike water slowing
ships in the ocean, there isn’t much material in space that a sailing craft
must push through. So, a cosmic vessel will continue accelerating as
long as it’s being pushed by light. That means lightsail-equipped
spacecraft (deployed by a mothership and targeted by
lasers) could theoretically reach a significant fraction
of the speed of light in just a few minutes.
Propelled by lasers
Interstellar cruises powered by light will not only require
sails, but also many lasers that are perfectly phased together.
Furthermore, those lasers would draw an incredible amount
of power — even if just for a few minutes a day. According to
Loeb, propelling a lightsail-equipped nanocraft, or StarChip,
would require hundreds of individual lasers spanning roughly
250 acres (1 square kilometer). The array would also need
access to enough energy to fire a coherent 100-gigawatt
laser beam for several minutes during each and every launch.
That’s about 100 times more power than the Back to the
Future movies’ DeLorean used to go back in time, or roughly
the amount of power generated by all the nuclear power
plants in the U.S. in a given year.
HELIOSPHERE
ends at 123 AU
ASTEROID KUIPER
B E LT 10 AU B E LT
1.0 AU 2–5 AU 30–50 AU
100 AU
Mercury Venus Earth Mars

0.4 AU Uranus Neptune Voyager 1
0.7 AU 1.0 AU 1.5 AU
Jupiter Saturn 19 AU 30 AU 152 AU
5.2 AU 9.5 AU
Taking a closer look
When a StarChip (or a fleet of them) finally reaches Proxima Centauri, its
navigation system will likely orient the craft using four built-in photon thrust-
ers, each capable of firing a roughly 1-watt diode laser. This would allow the
StarChip’s various onboard devices — such as cameras or magnetometers —
to gather scientific data on specific targets as they unstoppably zip by.
Whether from observing Proxima Centauri, its exoplanets, or intriguing
asteroids and comets that are circling the red dwarf, the data would then
be beamed back to Earth via a transmitter. (The Breakthrough Starshot team
is also considering using the lightsail itself as a primary reflector for the
transmitter.) Four years later, scientists would finally receive and analyze the
StarChips’ data — that is, assuming they have built the roughly 30-meter-
diameter receiving telescope needed to pick up the signal on Earth.
Proxima
Centauri Alpha
Centauri A
Proxima
Centauri Alpha
Centauri B
Exoplanet
Small and swift

A necessary requirement for the Breakthrough Starshot mission is keeping the mass
Lightsail of each sail-equipped StarChip to just a few tenths of an ounce. But thanks to dramatic
decreases in the size of microelectronics over the years, the mission team is confident
their gram-scale craft will be able to include an onboard power supply (likely an
atomic battery powered by radioactive decay), navigation and communication equip-
ment, and even tiny thrusters to adjust its orientation as it approaches its target.
13 feet
(4 m) Likewise, the solar sail itself, which is expected to span up to around 13 feet (4 meters),
will need to weigh in at less than about 0.035 ounce (1 gram). It will also need to be
extremely thin, as otherwise the sail would absorb far too much heat and be vaporized
StarChip
1 inch by the barrage of laser light. Fortunately, rapid advances in microfabrication are lead-
(25 mm) ing to increasingly lightweight and ultrathin materials that could potentially fit the bill,
including graphene. — J.P.
ASTRONOMY: ROEN KELLY
Alpha Centauri A
O O R T CLO U D
1,000–100,000 AU Proxima
Centauri
1,000 AU 10,000 AU 100,000 AU 268,000 AU
Logarithmic scale; planet and star sizes are not to scale Alpha
Astronomical unit (AU) = 92,955,807 miles (149,597,871 km) Centauri B
An array of lasers, seen in an artist’s concept,
would create a roughly 100-gigawatt beam to
Visiting Proxima Centauri precipice of literally reaching out and

propel each StarChip to 20 percent the speed
of light in just minutes. BREAKTHROUGH INITIATIVES
Exploring the world and universe touching the stars.
around us is one of humanity’s most It’s not going to be easy, though. The lightsail-equipped nanocraft (named
instinctual traits. And although this closest star to Earth after the Sun is StarChip), give it a powerful push, and let
exploration is often difficult and dan- Proxima Centauri — a red dwarf with it zip off to Proxima Centauri at more
gerous, the potential rewards tend to just over one-tenth the mass of our star than 130 million mph (216 million km/h).
justify the risks. Humans are willing to located some 4.24 light-years away in the Oh, and while we’re at it, we might as well
sacrifice a lot to learn what lies beyond Alpha Centauri system. Given our Milky send a fleet of hundreds or thousands of
the horizon. And now, for the first time Way is some 100,000 light-years across, StarChips to ensure at least some succeed.
in history, humanity seems to be on the 4.2 light-years might seem like a stone’s Simple, right? In theory, yes. In reality,
throw. But it’s not. At that distance, it’s going to take a huge amount of work,
which is equivalent to about 25 trillion many technological breakthroughs, and,
miles (40 trillion kilometers), it would of course, a ton of money. But what better
take our swiftest modern spacecraft time than the present to start such a
about 100,000 years to reach our nearest humanity-defining mission?
neighbor. After all, it takes light — the
Usain Bolt of the universe — more than Setting sail in space
four years to run the same race. To quickly travel to another star, it’s
The reason? Mass. Mass is the bane of clear a spacecraft must be small. But it
accelerating objects to great speeds. To also needs a strong push to get started.
significantly increase the velocity of a One possible way to do that is borrow a
heavy object takes a tremendous amount tool pirates used to help them plunder
of energy. So, if the goal is to reach a dis- the seven seas: sails. However, instead
tant star in a reasonable amount of time, of catching wind, StarChip’s sails would
say, within a generation, a spacecraft catch powerful beams of laser light.
must be extremely tiny and, therefore, Loeb, chair of Breakthrough Starshot’s
robotic. Plus, it still requires an insanely advisor board, is quick to note that the
energetic boost to get up to speed. first mention of cruising through the
Each lightsail would be limited to about That’s the basic premise of cosmos on celestial winds dates back
one-thirtieth of an ounce (less than 1 gram) Breakthrough Starshot: Design a to a 1610 letter from astronomer
while still being incredibly reflective. KEVIN GILL

Johannes Kepler to his friend Galileo 46-foot-wide (14 m) sail, which was just at least soon would be if technology con-
Galilei. In it, Kepler writes, “With ships 0.0003 inch (7.5 micrometers) thick — or tinued to sprint forward. He officially
or sails built for heavenly winds, some about one-third the width of a human kicked off the Breakthrough Starshot
will venture into that great vastness.” hair. Within a month, JAXA reported project by contributing $100 million of
However, the true potential of using sun- photons from the Sun were indeed accel- his own money to fund proof-of-concept
light to sail through space wasn’t fully erating IKAROS as planned, boosting its research and development not just for
recognized until the work of Soviet speed by a relatively modest 890 mph lightsails, but also for the other advanced
rocket pioneers Friedrich Sander and (1,430 km/h). And by utilizing adjustable technology required to send a craft to
Konstantin Tsiolkovsky in 1924. Then, LCD panels embedded near the edges another star within a generation. Ever
in the 1960s, Hungarian astrophysicist of its sail, the spacecraft was even able since, dedicated scientists and engineers
György Marx pushed the idea further by to adjust the force pushing against it, have been tirelessly working to make this
pondering whether a directed beam of changing its orientation at will. ambitious dream a reality, taking advan-
energy, rather than sunlight, could be With the technology behind lightsails tage of additional funding from multiple
used to propel such a spacecraft. finally proven to work in space, Russian NASA grants.
American physicist and science-fiction billionaire Yuri Milner picked up the ball
writer Robert Forward took the lead in a few years later. In May 2015, Loeb says, Starshot progress so far
the 1970s, further developing the light- Milner nonchalantly asked him to look It’s important to remember that
sail concept. By 1984, Forward’s work led into the idea of interstellar spacecraft that Breakthrough Starshot is still in its
him to publish a paper in the Journal of could sail on light. The task took the eter- early infancy. The initiative has made
Spacecraft and Rockets titled “Roundtrip nally inquisitive Loeb and his team some some impressive strides, but there’s
Interstellar Travel Using Laser-Pushed six months to exhaustively research. still a long way to go. For instance, if
Lightsails.” In it, he outlined how the By early 2016, Milner was convinced Breakthrough Starshot is really going to
laws of physics did not forbid using an interstellar mission was feasible — or accelerate a spacecraft to 20 percent the
speed of light, that craft will need to be
roughly 1/1,000 the mass of IKAROS,
“With ships or sails built for heavenly winds, some will which weighed in at about 4.4 pounds
venture into that great vastness.” —Johannes Kepler, 1610 (2.2 kilograms). That means Starshot will
lightsails to venture to other stars.

However, Forward also noted that
“whether it can be engineered and is
financially or politically feasible is left
for future generations to determine.”
Despite the daunting, multipronged
challenge of interstellar travel, in 1985,
Forward created actual plans for an
ultra-light interstellar probe powered by
microwave lasers, or masers. He called it
Starwisp and, in the 1990s, NASA Glenn
Research Center scientist Geoffrey
Landis jumped into the fray to elaborate
on Forward’s basic design. But Starwisp
never took flight. In 2005, the Planetary
Society launched its own solar sail,
Cosmos-1, but it failed to reach orbit.
Finally, in 2010, nearly a century
after the notion of sailing on sunlight
was first outlined in detail, the Japan
Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)
successfully launched a solar sail named
IKAROS, seen in this artist’s concept, proved
Interplanetary Kite-craft Accelerated solar sails work in space by harnessing
by Radiation of the Sun (IKAROS), sunlight to boost its speed by 890 mph
(1,430 km/h). ANDRZEJ MIRECKI/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
which hitched a ride to Venus with
the climate orbiter Akatsuki. Once in This real image of IKAROS was taken after
it deployed its sails on June 14, 2010. The
position, IKAROS cleverly spun at some proof-of-concept mission tagged along to
25 revolutions per minute to unfurl its Venus with JAXA’s climate orbiter Akatsuki. JAXA
Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, astronomers detected evidence of a dust belt
around the nearby red dwarf Proxima Centauri, seen here in an artist’s concept. ESO/M. KORNMESSER
have to pack everything it needs for a

four-year interstellar trip into a suitcase
no heavier than a few paperclips.
Fortunately, thanks to Moore’s law
— which predicts a biennial doubling in
the number of transistors that can fit on
a microchip, enabling smaller, more pow-
erful devices — that challenge is quickly
becoming less of an issue. Tiny electron-
ics already exist that are capable of some
pretty amazing things. For instance,
engineers have developed affordable
cameras that weigh around a gram and
are able to capture resolutions of at least
200 by 200 pixels. That’s not much by
today’s smartphone standards, but it’s The star Proxima Centauri is orbited by at least two exoplanets: Proxima Centauri b (seen in the
still sharp enough that one mounted to a foreground of this artist’s concept) and Proxima Centauri c (not pictured). The red dwarf star is also
part of the Alpha Centauri triple-star system. ESO/M. KORNMESSER
StarChip could resolve exoplanetary con-
tinents and oceans as it zips by. And the
Breakthrough Starshot team has their 100 gigawatts of laser light, a sail must each weighing about 0.14 ounce (4 grams),
bar set even higher: They are counting only absorb (rather than reflect) about 1 into low Earth orbit. Dubbed Sprites,
on technological improvements in out of every 100,000 photons that strike these chips included solar panels, comput-
upcoming years that will allow for it. From a material standpoint, that’s a ers, sensors, and communication equip-
ultralight cameras capable of snapping major challenge. Loeb says the team is ment on a square frame just 1.4 inches
roughly 20-megapixel pics. looking into building such a sail out of (3.5 cm) wide. And though the research-
The sail itself also needs to be graphene, but so far, they haven’t yet ers never established communication with
extremely light. Fortunately, the cost of been able to create an ideal prototype. most of the Sprites, they did get a signal
manufacturing high-quality, nanoscale However, the Starshot team has suc- from at least one, proving such miniatur-
materials is constantly dropping. cessfully launched other prototype craft ized communication and power systems
Unfortunately, weight isn’t the only issue in recent years, testing various aspects of can function in space.
when it comes to lightsails. According their design and technology. For instance, Then in 2019, the initiative sent
to Loeb, to avoid being vaporized by in 2017, researchers sent six tiny craft, another tiny prototype some 100,000 feet

Proxima Centauri b is an
Earth-sized exoplanet
around the nearest star
after the Sun. Even a
quick flyby by a fleet of
StarChips could reveal
a lot about its surface,
which is seen here in
an artist’s impression.
RON MILLER
In the likely best-case scenario, of pressing events that have unfolded

Breakthrough Starshot might begin launching StarChips on Earth so far this decade. But as
award-winning Cosmos writer and pro-
to Proxima Centauri by the mid-2030s. ducer Ann Druyan, a member of the
Breakthrough Starshot advisory board,
(30,500 m) above Earth to snap pictures hundred thousand dollars. That’s still a said during a 2016 press conference
of our planet’s surface. The test captured lot of money, but obtaining up-close views announcing the initiative: “Science
some 4,000 shots during its flight, spawn- of our nearest exoplanetary neighbors thinks in timescales of billions of years.
ing much discussion about what equiva- borders on invaluable. And yet, we live in a society that only
lent images of the two known exoplanets In the likely best-case scenario, thinks in terms of, generally, the balance
around Proxima Centauri might look like. Breakthrough Starshot might begin sheet of the next quarter or the next elec-
launching StarChips to Proxima tion. … So, this kind of thinking that
A long way to go Centauri by the mid-2030s. Factoring in looks at a horizon that’s 35 years away
With more than $100 million in funding 20 years of travel time and four more — possibly 20, possibly 50 — is exactly
so far, Breakthrough Starshot is already years of waiting for the data to make it what’s called for now, because it’s this
off to a strong start, but it will inevitably back to Earth, researchers wouldn’t get kind of multigenerational enterprise that
cost billions to become a reality. However, the first up-close and personal views of a nets us such great results.”
according to Loeb, that puts it right in star and planets beyond our solar system Loeb shares that same sentiment but
line with some of the world’s other most until at least 2060. And Milner said in a puts it more succinctly by quoting Oscar
ambitious (and expensive) science proj- 2016 interview that it will likely take Wilde: “We are all in the gutter, but some
ects, such as the Large Hadron Collider closer to a generation (perhaps 25 to of us are looking at the stars.”
and the upcoming James Webb Space 35 years) before the first trip is underway.
Telescope, which cost about $5 billion Supporting and funding a project that, Jake Parks, associate editor at Astronomy,
and $10 billion, respectively. Fortunately, optimistically, doesn’t launch until 2060 calculated it would take him approximately
as technology matures, the team expects might seem like a frivolous venture to 190 billion years to reach Proxima Centauri
the cost of each launch to fall to a few some — especially considering the slew when traveling at his fastest sprint speed.
After the ill-fated
Apollo 13 mission,
NASA returned to
the lunar surface
with Apollo 14
— overcoming
gremlins
along the way.
BY MARK ZASTROW
Apollo 14 lifts off from

Launch Complex 39A
at the Kennedy Space
Center at 4:03 P.M. EST
on Jan. 31, 1971.
ALL PHOTOS BY NASA UNLESS
OTHERWISE NOTED

IF AT FIRST YOU DON’T
SUCCEED, FLY, FLY AGAIN.
That could have been the mantra for
Apollo 14 — a mission that marked a
triumphant comeback for NASA after
the near-catastrophe of Apollo 13.
Apollo 14 was originally slated to land
at Littrow Crater in October 1970. But
after Apollo 13 was forced to abort its
mission when an oxygen tank exploded
en route to the Moon, NASA decided to
take another shot at 13’s original landing
site in the Fra Mauro highlands. The
stakes were high for the entire Apollo ABOVE: Apollo 14 astronauts Alan Shepard, Stuart
Roosa, and Edgar Mitchell (left to right) pose in
program: Two planned Apollo missions front of a Command Module mockup used for
had already been canceled due to budget water egress training in the Gulf of Mexico.
cuts. Another failed mission could end
RIGHT: The Saturn V rocket bursts through the
the program. cloud tops, as seen from an aircraft.
The scientific highlight of the landing
site was the 1,000-foot-wide (305 meters)
Cone Crater; geologists hoped the astro- Though none of the crew are still
nauts could find around its rim scattered alive, transcripts and recordings can still
rocks and boulders that had been blasted bring the mission back to life. Here’s the
out by the impactor. Such samples, exca- story of Apollo 14 in their words.
vated from the Moon’s depths, could pro- * * *
vide vital insight into the early history of Apollo 14 became the first (and only)
the solar system. Apollo mission to have its launch delayed
Apollo 14 also marked a return to by weather, as an afternoon rain shower
flight for its commander, Alan Shepard. on Jan. 31, 1971, pushed back the sched-
The first American to fly in space, uled liftoff by about 40 minutes. But once
Shepard had been grounded two years the Saturn V rocket engines finally ignited
after his historic 1961 flight by intense just before 4:03 P.M. EST, the launch and
bouts of vertigo due to Ménière’s disease, ascent were textbook-perfect.
a condition caused by excess fluid in the ROOSA: Liftoff. Clock start. * * *
inner ear. After a successful 1969 surgery SHEPARD: The clock start? Everything remained good as they lit the
to drain the fluid, Shepard was cleared to ROOSA: Beautiful! final Saturn V stage, breaking free of Earth
fly again and added to the Apollo roster. RONALD EVANS, LAUNCH CONTROL orbit and setting off for the Moon. But
Alongside him were two rookies: Lunar CENTER: Clear the tower! the mission’s first critical issue appeared
Module Pilot Edgar Mitchell and SHEPARD: Tower clear. Roll and pitch three hours after liftoff, when Roosa
Command Module Pilot Stuart Roosa. start. Oh! Look at that — attempted to dock the Command Module
Though Apollo 14 was a success, it GORDON FULLERTON, CAPSULE (CM), named Kitty Hawk, with the Lunar
wasn’t without some intense trouble- COMMUNICATOR (CAPCOM), MISSION Module (LM), named Antares, and extract
shooting of its own. Multiple times, the CONTROL: Roger, you have good thrust it from inside the final booster stage.
crew faced technical gremlins that could in all five engines. ROOSA: Let’s set a record, shall we?
have forced an abort, only to be saved by SHEPARD: Beautiful. SHEPARD: OK.
the ingenuity of controllers and engi- ROOSA: Go, baby, go! ROOSA: All right.
neers on the ground — and their own MITCHELL: She’s going, she’s going. MITCHELL: Slow and easy.
flawless execution. Everything’s good. ROOSA: OK. And we’re going to start.
CAPTURING THE LUNAR MODULE
LUNAR
MODULE
Probe latches Probe retracts
Drogue
Docking ring
latches
Probe (extended)
Docking
COMMAND ring (12 latches)
MODULE
To join the Command Module (CM) with the Lunar Module (LM), a probe was mounted to the front of the CM. When the probe was extended, the LM drogue
— mounted inside the access tunnel — would guide it to a hole where its latches would grasp it. Then the astronauts would command the probe to retract,
pulling the LM and its tunnel against the docking ring attached to the CM. ASTRONOMY: ROEN KELLY
SHEPARD: OK [garbled]. probe, Roosa readied for a fourth try. This diagonal-striped “barber pole” status
ROOSA: Sweaty-palm time. time, Houston suggested holding forward indicator meant an action was in prog-
MITCHELL: OK. At 59:50, CMS MODE, thrust after contact for three seconds to ress.] We got a hard dock.
AUTO. try and secure the probe latches. MITCHELL: We got some [latches],
ROOSA: Sweaty-palm time. ROOSA: And here we come in again. Houston.
MITCHELL: Oh, no, just do it slow and FULLERTON: Roger. FULLERTON: Roger.
easy. ROOSA: 1, 2, 3, 4 — son of a b----, ROOSA: I believe we got a hard dock,
ROOSA: Oh, no. I just keep mumbling nothing! OK, Houston. I hit it pretty Houston.
that. good and held [forward thrust for] FULLERTON: Outstanding.
MITCHELL AND ROOSA: OK. four seconds on contact, and we did ROOSA: We got it.
The maneuver seemed to come off as not latch. * * *
planned. But when the CM docking probe FULLERTON: Roger. We’re seeing it all After the LM was successfully extracted,
made contact with the drogue mounted to on TV here. the rest of the outbound journey was
the LM, the probe’s spring-loaded latches ROOSA: [Sigh.] S---. [Garbled] one more uneventful, and Apollo 14 slipped into
failed to snap into place. Roosa applied time. lunar orbit early on the morning of Feb. 4.
forward thrust and made contact a second After a fifth try failed, Houston suggested Late that night, Antares undocked from
time, but it still didn’t latch. that Roosa make contact with the drogue, Kitty Hawk to begin its descent to the
ROOSA: OK, Houston. We’ve hit it twice, continue to thrust forward, and, even if the surface.
and sure looks like we’re closing fast probe didn’t achieve a “soft dock,” retract But Mission Control noticed something
enough. I’m going to back out here the probe in the hopes that some of the strange: Their telemetry showed the LM’s
and try it again. 12 tunnel latches would snap into place. “abort” button had been activated — even
FULLERTON: Roger. MITCHELL: About 6 feet out. [Pause.] though none of the astronauts reported
Roosa’s third attempt also failed to latch. About — 2 feet. pushing it.
ROOSA: Well, there goes the record. ROOSA: About a foot. Here we go. OK, FRED HAISE (CAPCOM): Ed, could you
MITCHELL: Don’t worry about it. Let’s RETRACT. tap on the panel around the abort
get him picked up. SHEPARD: Nothing happened. pushbutton and see if we can shake
ROOSA: OK. Man, we’d better back ROOSA: Nothing? something loose? [Long pause.]
off here and think about this one, SHEPARD: I don’t know. MITCHELL: Yeah, Houston, it just
Houston. Suddenly, the latches engaged in a series changed while I was tapping there.
After checking some circuit breakers to of loud snaps. HAISE: You sure tap nicely.
ensure electrical power was reaching the SHEPARD: I got — got a barber pole. [A MITCHELL: I’m pretty good at that.

ABOVE: This image of Earth rising over the Moon’s limb was taken shortly
before Shepard and Mitchell began their lunar descent.
RIGHT: Roosa took this oblique view of the Fra Mauro highlands from lunar orbit.
HAISE: OK. Antares, we’d like to kind guidance computer and disable the disable [the abort programs] P70, P71.
of sit here a minute and watch it. abort button. Haise radioed the instruc- OK, the next entry: VERB 21 NOUN
Evidently, the switch was contaminated tions up to the crew. 01 ENTER; 10 10 ENTER; 77 ENTER.
— a small chunk of metal was floating HAISE: OK. [At four minutes before the […] This gets us [back] into P63 […]
around inside it, intermittently short- descent burn], Ed, we need a VERB 21 which gets us right for landing radar.
ing the circuit and triggering the abort NOUN 01 ENTER; 10 10 ENTER; 107 The last command would ensure that the
button. This was a potentially mission- ENTER. guidance computer was prepared to accept
ending problem — if it happened during This modified a flag in the computer’s input from the landing radar, which pro-
the descent, the computer would cancel memory that tracked which program vided crucial altitude information in the
the landing, jettison the descent stage, fire the computer was running, changing it latter stages of the landing.
the ascent engine, and lift Shepard and from P63 — the descent program — to With less than 15 minutes before the
Mitchell back to lunar orbit. P70/71, the abort programs. This fooled descent was set to begin, the astronauts
With the mission hanging in the bal- the computer into thinking an abort was were still sorting out the complex sequence
ance and just three and a half hours already in progress — preventing it from with Houston and each other.
before the landing was set to begin, MIT actually starting an abort if the button MITCHELL: OK, let me read this [back].
software engineer Don Eyles devised a was triggered. However, it also disabled At four minutes [before the burn],
way for the astronauts to hack the several descent routines the computer was that goes in. [And then at] ignition
supposed to run. Shepard would have to plus 26 [seconds], MANUAL
fly the LM manually while Mitchell per- THROTTLE [up].
formed the rest of the fix: disabling the SHEPARD: Rog.
computer’s abort-checking, restoring the MITCHELL: And [then] I’ll put these
descent guidance routines, and resetting other calls in just as quick as I can
the flag to the descent program. get them in.
HAISE: OK. After ignition at plus 26 SHEPARD: Yes. One right after the other.
seconds on page 6, we need MANUAL After 10 final minutes of preparations, the
THROTTLE UP. [This instructed astronauts were ready to begin.
Shepard to manually zoom the throttle SHEPARD: And Antares is standing by
to maximum.] […] After we get by for a [Powered Descent Initiation] go.
THROTTLE UP, it’s VERB 25 NOUN [Pause.]
07 ENTER; 101 ENTER; 200 ENTER; HAISE: And Antares, Houston. You’re go
01 ENTER. And this will enable guid- for Fra Mauro.
ance and give you steering at that MITCHELL: Good show, Freddo. Thank
The Apollo Guidance Computer used a “verb” and time. […] OK, the next entry: VERB you.
“noun” syntax in its interface that allowed astronauts
to input commands and alter values stored in its 25 NOUN 07 ENTER; 105 ENTER; SHEPARD: Thank you. You troops do a
memory. 400 ENTER; 0 ENTER. […] This’ll nice job down there.
ABOVE: On Shepard and Mitchell’s first moonwalk, they deployed the Apollo
Lunar Surface Experiments Package (ALSEP). The device in focus in the
foreground is a mortar that would fire four rocket-propelled projectiles,
generating seismic waves for the package to measure.
RIGHT: Shepard shields his eyes from the Sun in this image taken by Mitchell
from inside the LM. Note the red stripes on Shepard’s suit, which were added to
the commander’s suit after public affairs officials at NASA realized how difficult
it was to tell Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin apart in the photographs returned
by Apollo 11. Apollo 13 commander Jim Lovell was the first to use this convention,
but 14 was the first to return photographs from the lunar surface that showed an
astronaut sporting the “commander stripes.”
MITCHELL: That was beautiful. SHEPARD: I’ll bet they know that. SHEPARD: There’s Cone Crater. Right on
Remarkably, the hack went off just Finally, Houston radioed with a potential the money.
as planned, and Antares looked back solution. MITCHELL: And there it is!
on track. But the drama wasn’t over: HAISE: Antares, Houston. We’d like you SHEPARD: Right on the money!
Unbeknownst to all, the landing radar to cycle the landing radar breaker. MITCHELL: Hot damn. Right on the
was stuck in a short-range mode and not MITCHELL: Cycle the landing radar money!
feeding any data to the guidance com- breaker. But as they approached the surface, the
puter. If it didn’t work by the time the SHEPARD: OK, been cycled. [Long pause.] astronauts realized that the computer’s
LM descended to 10,000 feet (3,050 m), MITCHELL: Come on in! [Long pause.] target was actually slightly off — it was
mission rules called for an abort. As the Then, the radar finally responded. aiming just short of a smaller crater,
descent ran into its fifth minute, Mitchell MITCHELL: OK! named Triplet. Shepard decided to take
noticed something was awry. SHEPARD: Velocity light [is out]. VERB manual control and fly the LM past
MITCHELL: Down to 32,000 [feet alti- 57, ENTER. [This triggered the option Triplet to the designated landing site.
tude]. We should be getting landing for the computer to accept the radar MITCHELL: OK, you can move on for-
radar in very soon. […] Come on data to inform its guidance.] How’s it ward. You’re barely crossing North
radar, get the lock on. [Pause.] Come look, Houston? [Pause.] Triplet. Barely crossing North Triplet.
on, radar! […] [Garbled] can’t get the MITCHELL: Can we accept? Six percent fuel. OK, 150 feet. There’s
radar in. […] HAISE: OK. We’d like to accept the radar. Descent Quantity light [a low fuel
HAISE: OK, six [minutes] plus 40 [sec- SHEPARD: OK, pro[ceeding]. Converging, indicator].
onds] is throttle down, Antares. pro. SHEPARD: Starting down, starting down.
MITCHELL: Roger, Houston. We still have MITCHELL: Great. Great. Whew! That MITCHELL: OK. It says 90 feet, 4 feet per
ALTITUDE/VELOCITY lights. [This was close. second, 5 feet per second down. […]
meant the landing radar was still not At eight minutes and 40 seconds into the Looking great.
returning any data.] powered descent burn, the LM rotated SHEPARD: OK.
HAISE: Roger. to a more upright position, allowing the HAISE: Sixty seconds [of fuel available].
SHEPARD [TO MITCHELL]: I’ll bet they astronauts to see their landing site, located SHEPARD: We’re in good shape.
know that. just over a mile (1.6 km) west-southwest MITCHELL: OK. Fifty feet down, 50 feet.
MITCHELL: What? of Cone Crater, for the first time. SHEPARD: We’re in good shape, troop.

Mitchell studies the
MITCHELL: Three feet per second. Forty traverse map to figure
feet. Three feet per second. Thirty. out where he and
Shepard are as they
Three feet per second, looking great. trek toward Cone
Twenty feet. Ten … Three feet per Crater.
second — contact, Al!
SHEPARD: Great, PRO, AUTO, AUTO.
MITCHELL: We’re on the surface!
SHEPARD: OK, we made a good landing!
HAISE: Roger, Antares.
MITCHELL: 413, plus 10,000. [This stored
the craft’s landing attitude in the abort
guidance computer in case an emer-
gency departure was needed.] That was
a beautiful one.
SHEPARD: OK, we’re slightly off. We
landed on a slope, but other than that,
we’re in great shape — right on the
landing site.
Shepard and Mitchell had managed the
most accurate lunar landing thus far —
just 87 feet (27 m) from the target. Still, as
they surveyed the surrounding craters and
ridges, they struggled to get their bearings.
MITCHELL: OK Houston, the undulations
are far too complex for me to try to
describe them right now. […] Suffice
it to say that I think there is more ter-
rain, more relief here, than we antici-
pated from looking at the maps.
SHEPARD: There’s a hell of a lot of relief
inside the cabin, I’ll tell you that. On their second day on the Moon, boulder field that shows in the photo-
* * * Shepard and Mitchell set out to reach the graph — it’s right up ahead of us. […]
On the first of their two planned excur- rim of Cone Crater — more than a mile HAISE: OK, Al and Ed. They’d like you
sions — or extravehicular activities (1.6 kilometers) away and 300 feet (90 m) to take another stop here.
(EVAs) — Shepard and Mitchell stayed higher than their landing site. A boulder MITCHELL: OK. [Heavy breathing.] We’re
within about 700 feet (213 m) of the LM field identified from satellite photos directly really going up a pretty steep slope here.
and deployed a package of instruments along the south crater rim was expected to HAISE: Yeah, we kind of figured that
that included seismic experiments, solar contain the deepest — and therefore the from listening to you.
wind monitors, and a magnetometer. oldest — ejecta from the crater. But navi- With time ticking away and more sample
gation wasn’t easy. The undulations that collections scheduled on the return
Mitchell had described gave him the sense trip, Shepard suggested abandoning the
of being lost in a field of sand dunes, even attempt to scale Cone Crater and settling
as the slope got steeper. for sampling some of the nearby boulders,
SHEPARD: Well, we haven’t reached the but Mitchell lobbied to press on.
rim yet. SHEPARD: And what I’m proposing is
MITCHELL: Oh boy, we got fooled on that perhaps we use that [boulder field] as
one. I’m not sure that was Flank the turnaround point. It seems to me
[Crater] we were at a minute ago, that we spend a lot more time in tra-
either. [Heavy breathing.] Wait a min- verse if we don’t, and we don’t get
ute — yes, it is. The rim’s right here. very many samples. […] I think,
That’s the uh, that’s the east [ridge], uh Freddo […] the best thing for us to
… [Heavy breathing.] … Little shoul- do is to get up here and document
der running down from the Cone. samples of what I feel pretty sure is
Cone Crater is by far the tallest feature near Apollo That’s Flank over there. [Heavy breath- Cone ejecta. […]
14’s landing site, but it didn’t necessarily appear
dramatic from the ground. In this image, it’s the ing.] We’re going to hit it on the south HAISE: Roger, Al.
gently sloping feature on the right. Though the side. We’ll have to move on around of SHEPARD: [referring to two nearby boul-
crater is off in the distance, the lack of atmospheric
haze on the Moon makes it blend in with much it. This looks like easy going right ders] Well, let’s head for these two
closer, gentler undulations. here. [Heavy breathing.] See, there’s the babies up here. [Long pause.]
ASTRONOMY: ROEN KELLY, AFTER THOMAS SCHWAGMEIER AND ERIC JONES. BASEMAP IMAGE: NASA/GSFC/ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY
ALMOST THERE CONE
AND BACK AGAIN Station C
Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell made two extravehicular activities
(EVAs) on the Moon lasting a total of more than nine hours and
covering 2.2 miles (3.5 km). Although they fell just short of the rim of
Cone Crater, the pair trekked roughly the distance from the Lincoln
Memorial in Washington, D.C., to a point more than halfway up the FLANK
Washington Memorial.
Station Station Dg
Station B1 B2
Station B
DOUBLET Station A
ALSEP WEIRD North
EVA 1
EVA 2
Lunar 0 600 feet
Module NORTH 300
0 100 200 meters

G r ou n
TRIPLET as it apd track of the
proach Lunar M
ed the la o
nding sdule
ite
100 Station C
Elevation (meters)
80
Station Dg
60
40 Station B2
20 Station B Station B1
Station A
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1,000 1,100 1,200 1,300
Distance (meters)
MITCHELL: Hey, Al? MITCHELL: [Garbled] everything if we HAISE: OK. That decision, I guess, was
SHEPARD: Yeah. don’t get there. based on Al’s estimate of another, at
MITCHELL: I’d, uh … [Pause.] No, let’s SHEPARD: I think we’ll waste an awful least, 30 minutes and, of course, we
keep going around this crater, but … lot of time traveling and not much cannot see that from here. It’s kind
[Pause.] Think that’s right here. documenting. of your judgment on that.
SHEPARD: [Sounding skeptical.] Well, MITCHELL: Well, the information we’re Mitchell had prevailed for the moment.
maybe. I thought we’d get those boul- going to find, I think, is going to be But as the slope leveled off and the edge
ders up there, Ed. They — right on top. […] Freddo, how far of the crater remained elusive, Houston
MITCHELL: [Quickly.] Yup. behind our timeline are we? finally called time on their climb.
SHEPARD: — undoubtedly came from — HAISE: OK. The best I can tell right now MITCHELL: This big boulder right here
MITCHELL: Yeah, let’s head right for that … about 25 minutes down, now. [on the map], Al, which stands out
boulder field at the top. I think we’ll MITCHELL: OK. bigger than anything else — ought to
be where we want to be. SHEPARD: We’ll be an hour down by the be — we ought to be able to see it.
SHEPARD: Right here. time we get to the top of that thing. SHEPARD: Well, I don’t know what —
MITCHELL: Pardon? You got six samples. the rim is still way up there, from the
SHEPARD: Right here. MITCHELL: Well … I think we’re going to looks of things.
MITCHELL: Yeah, right — clear on up at find what we’re looking for up there. HAISE: And, Ed and Al, we’ve already
the top, you mean. HAISE: OK, Al and Ed. In view of your eaten in our 30-minute extension and
SHEPARD: No. assay of where your location is and we’re past that now. I think we’d bet-
MITCHELL: Huh? how long it’s going to take to get to ter proceed with the sampling and
SHEPARD: I don’t think we’ll have time Cone, the word from the Backroom is continue with the EVA.
to go up there. they’d like you to consider where you MITCHELL: OK, Freddo.
MITCHELL: Oh, let’s give it a whirl! Gee are [to be] the edge of Cone Crater. SHEPARD: OK. We’ll start with a pan
whiz, we can’t stop without looking [Pause.] from here. I’ll take that.
into Cone Crater! MITCHELL: [I] think you’re finks! [Long MITCHELL: All right, I’ll start sampling.
SHEPARD: Well … pause.] In fact, Shepard and Mitchell were only

LEFT: The “big boulder” that Mitchell was trying to
find near the rim of Cone Crater was actually in
plain sight — another indication of how difficult it
was to navigate on the Moon. In this image, it’s the
bright white rock just left of the center of the frame.
It’s now known as Saddle Rock.
BELOW: Later, the astronauts went over to collect

samples from Saddle Rock. Mitchell took this
picture, leaving his hammer in the frame for scale.
ABOVE: As Antares lifts off, its ascent engine blasts pieces of gold foil off the
descent stage and leaves the U.S. flag swinging on its pole.
RIGHT: Kitty Hawk splashes down at 3:04 P.M. CST on Feb. 9, 1971, in the South
Pacific, about 880 miles (1,420 km) south of American Samoa.
about 65 feet (20 m) from the rim of Cone prepared golf club and two golf balls that (43 kilograms) of lunar samples that would
Crater. “We just didn’t realize how close,” he had brought with him to take the most shed light on the early history of the Moon.
Mitchell later said. “It was just out of sight famous bunker shot in the solar system. But on top of the invaluable science, the
across the next rise a few yards away.” (See “Apollo 14 in 3D” on page 40.) mission showed that NASA and the Apollo
* * * The Apollo 14 crew splashed down program were back in business.
Before the pair clambered back into Feb. 9 in the South Pacific and was recov-
the LM for the final time, Shepard had ered by USS New Orleans. In the end, Mark Zastrow is senior editor of
one last trick up his sleeve: a specially Shepard and Mitchell gathered 94 pounds Astronomy.
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
OBSERVING
HIGHLIGHT
MERCURY and VENUS come
within 24' of each other the
evening of May 28. The pair is
visible for an hour after sunset.
Through a telescope, Mercury's

tiny disk is 77 percent lit, span-
ning 6".
The Moon and Venus are
stunningly close after sunset
on May 12, just one day after
New Moon. Venus stands 1.1°
northwest of our satellite. Hold
your pinky finger at arm’s
length and it almost fills the
MAY 2021
gap between them. (Note:
Venus is occulted by the Moon
The morning
the morning of May 13 for
On May 26, the observers in some parts of
Moon will take on a New Zealand).
brilliant orange-red
hue during an Grab binoculars to see the
Moon turns red

early-morning lunar Hyades star cluster 4° left of the
eclipse. STEPHEN RAHN Moon. In twilight, Aldebaran
(not part of the cluster) pops out
first, followed by the dimmer
stars in the Hyades. The region
Planetary action is below the Pleiades (M45) star

picking up again, cluster. Mercury is easy to find, Twilight trio
with three rocky planets — shining at magnitude –1.2. The
Pollux Castor
Mercury, Venus, and Mars — same day, Venus is just over 5°
easily visible in the evening sky. directly below Mercury and, Mars
Jupiter and Saturn feature in although brighter, is a tricky
the predawn sky. And the west- target in bright twilight. See if Procyon G EM I NI Capella
ern half of the U.S. enjoys a fine you can spot Venus 30 minutes AUR IGA
total lunar eclipse on May 26. after sunset — it stands 2° high C A N IS
MI NOR
We begin our tour of the and shines at magnitude –3.9.
spring skies with Mercury and The planet quickly sets, so you’ll
Venus, both in Taurus the Bull. need a clear western horizon to Mercury Venus
They are visible soon after see it. ORION
TAURU S
sunset. With the addition of During the first week of
Betelgeuse
Mars higher above the horizon May, both planets’ visibility
10°
in Gemini, the trio offers a improves dramatically. On
range of observational treats. May 2, Mercury lies 3° south of May 28, 30 minutes after sunset
Mercury puts on its best the Pleiades — a gorgeous sight Looking west
evening show of the year this in 7x50 binoculars. Its faster
Mercury and Venus spend May together in Taurus the Bull. They sit closest
month. It appears soon after pace means it is pulling away together on the 28th, while Mars stands above them in Gemini. ALL ILLUSTRATIONS:
sunset on May 1, less than 5° from Venus, now 6° lower. ASTRONOMY: ROEN KELLY

RISING MOON I Climb every mountain
A HALF MOON is a wonderfully detail-packed
Apennine Mountains
world of dramatic contrasts. Look on the 18th
to find a grand range of mountains straddling
the middle of the disk north of the equator. The
sets an hour after sunset. Find a
lunar Apennines are quite rugged compared
clear western horizon to view it.
to the smooth plains of frozen lava to the east.
The following evening, the
Their long shadows at sunrise tell us they thrust
Moon has moved up to join Apennines
upward 3 miles. Find their black sawtooth shape
Mercury — they’re 3.1° apart reaching for the nightside, then come back
and the planet has faded to every 10 minutes to watch the shadows grow
magnitude 0.1. They remain shorter and shorter. We’re seeing the effects of
above the horizon an hour lon- sunrise on our sister, Luna. Gently curving to the
ger than Venus, so the darker north and east, the spine of the Apennines turns
sky background enhances into the Caucasus. In the other direction, they
the view — particularly of continue into darkness but will be fully visible
earthshine on the Moon. on the 19th.
Mercury reaches its greatest Three decades after Galileo’s inaugural
eastern elongation on May 17, observation, lunar cartographer Johannes
N
when it stands 22° from our Hevelius published a map using names
star. It’s the steepness of the inspired by the layout of Europe’s great
mountain ranges. He named this range E
ecliptic with respect to the eve-
ning horizon that makes this for the earthly Apennines, which form
The 3-mile-high lunar Apennines take
Mercury’s best evening appari- the backbone of Italy. Of the nearly 300 their name from the earthly mountain
tion for the year. A telescope features Hevelius labeled, only 10 moun- range in Italy. CONSOLIDATED LUNAR ATLAS/UA/LPL.
will reveal an 8"-diameter disk tains and ranges remain on maps today. INSET: NASA/GSFC/ASU
that is 35 percent lit. A mere 100 years ago, it would have

boggled the minds of observers to hear that the along the shoreline to detect partially filled
Both inner planets continue
mountain chain is but a small section of a vast craters and blocks of rock collapsed away from
their race across Taurus. For
bowl 750 miles across, formed when a small the wall. Out on the smoother plains, wrinkle
most of the month, Mercury
protoplanet slammed into the young Moon. The ridges formed wherever material was squeezed
stays ahead, but its easterly trek horizontally. These gently sloping buckles are
Imbrium basin filled with lava from the Moon’s
slows dramatically in the sec- molten interior millennia later. Look closely visible only at low Sun angles.
ond half of May. On May 20,
Venus stands 7° below Mercury.
By May 23, when Mercury
reaches a location between the METEOR WATCH I Early morning springtime shower
horns of the Bull (Elnath and
Alheka), they’re 5° apart. The
two planets are closest five days Eta Aquariid meteor shower THE SPRINGTIME Eta Aquariid
later, on May 28, when they meteor shower is active from
stand 24' apart and set just over April 19 through May 28, peaking
an hour after the Sun. Mercury late on May 5. This coincides with
is much dimmer at magnitude a 24-day-old Moon, so conditions are
1.9 and best spotted using bin- Enif favorable during the early hours of
oculars in the bright twilight. May 6. The radiant in Aquarius rises
PEGASU S three hours before dawn and two
A telescope that can fit a Saturn
hours before the crescent Moon. The
Full Moon within its field of Radiant CAPRIC ORNUS 10° to 20° altitude of the radiant in the
view will comfortably capture
hour or two before dawn reduces the
both planets at once. Mercury’s AQUA R IUS Jupiter
observable number of meteors below
disk spans 11" and is 12 percent the predicted zenithal hourly rate of
lit. Venus shows an almost full 50, but the fast-moving meteors —
Moon
phase but, due to its greater dis- 10° many with persistent trains — make
tance across the solar system, it worth spending a few hours to see
spans only 10" — although perhaps a dozen good ones.
the planet is physically ETA AQUARIID METEORS May 6, 4:15 A.M. The Eta Aquariid shower is one of
much larger than Mercury. Looking east two during associated with debris
Active dates: April 19–May 28
Following their close Peak: May 5 from Comet 1P/Halley. Earth crosses
Although the Eta Aquariids peak late
conjunction, Venus Moon at peak: Waning crescent May 5, the radiant won’t rise until early Halley’s orbit in May and again in
— Continued on page 38 Maximum rate at peak: in the morning on May 6. October, when the Orionids occur.
50 meteors/hour
STAR DOME
N
CASSIO
P E IA
LA
CE
RT
A
HOW TO USE THIS MAP
This map portrays the sky as seen LIS
N
CEP DA R
E
near 35° north latitude. Located O PA
HEU
S EL
AM
inside the border are the cardinal
directions and their intermediate
points. To find stars, hold the map
De
overhead and orient it so one of
ne
Polaris
b
the labels matches the direction NCP
you’re facing. The stars above
the map’s horizon now match
CY
MINOR
what’s in the sky.
GN
URSA
M82
S U
D
The all-sky map shows RA
M2
1
CO M8
how the sky looks at:
7
midnight May 1
Ve
11 P.M. May 15
ga
VU
SAG
10 P.M. May 31 LY
RS JOR
M5 7
LPE
RA
I T TA
A
U A
Planets are shown
Mizar
UL C
at midmonth
I
HER
IC
A
T
NA
CUL
M13
M51
VE
AQUIL A
ES
MAP SYMBOLS
S
NE
C O R O NA
BOREALIS
Open cluster
CA
E
E S
A
BO
M NIC
Globular cluster O
C R E
ÖTE
BE
Diffuse nebula
P
NG
S
Planetary nebula M6
4
SE PUT
CA
Ar
RP
ctu
Galaxy
SCU
ru
6
EN
la
s
M6
OP
bo
ne
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HI
De
UC
STAR
HU
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5
MAGNITUDES
S
M16
SE
Sirius VIRGO
CA
RP A
UD
0.0 3.0
EN
M17
4
M10
S
1.0 4.0 LI Spica

BR V US
2.0 5.0 A C OR
Path of the Sun (ecliptic)
An
ta
re
s
STAR COLORS M
A star’s color depends 4
on its surface temperature. SC
••
O M83
RP
The hottest stars shine blue IU
SE
•
Slightly cooler stars appear white LU
PU
•
Intermediate stars (like the Sun) glow yellow S
•
Lower-temperature stars appear orange NGC 5128
U RU S
The coolest stars glow red C E N TA
• Fainter stars can’t excite our eyes’ color
receptors, so they appear white unless you
use optical aid to gather more light
S
BEGINNERS: WATCH A VIDEO ABOUT HOW TO READ A STAR CHART AT
www.Astronomy.com/starchart.
MAY 2021
SUN. MON. TUES. WED. THURS. FRI. SAT.
lla
pe
Ca
W
A
N
IG 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
R
U
A
9 10 11 12 13 14 15
X
N
ILLUSTRATIONS BY ASTRONOMY: ROEN KELLY

LY
rs
16 17 18 19 20 21 22
Ma
r
sto
NI
Ca
MI
23 24 25 26 27 28 29
GE
lux
Pol
30 31
Note: Moon phases in the calendar vary in size due to the distance
CANIS MINOR
from Earth and are shown at 0h Universal Time.

M4 4
R
CANCE
LEO R
O
Procyon
MIN
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
W
3 The Moon passes 4° south of Saturn, 1 P.M. EDT

s
Regulu
Last Quarter Moon occurs at 3:50 P.M. EDT

LEO
4 The Moon passes 5° south of Jupiter, 5 P.M. EDT

5 Eta Aquariid meteor shower peaks
65
6
6 The Moon passes 4° south of Neptune, 2 P.M. EDT

10 Mercury passes 8° north of Aldebaran, 11 P.M. EDT
S
11 New Moon occurs at 3:00 P.M. EDT

AN
XT
The Moon is at apogee (252,595 miles from Earth), 5:53 P.M. EDT
SE
12 The Moon passes 0.7° south of Venus, 6 P.M. EDT

E R 13 The Moon passes 2° south of Mercury, 2 P.M. EDT
R AT
C 16 The Moon passes 1.5° north of Mars, 1 A.M. EDT
17 Mercury is at greatest eastern elongation (22°), 2 A.M. EDT
RA Venus passes 6° north of Aldebaran, 7 P.M. EDT
D
HY 19 First Quarter Moon occurs at 3:13 P.M. EDT
IA
TL 23 Saturn is stationary, 4 P.M. EDT
N
A
SW
25 The Moon is at perigee (222,023 miles from Earth), 9:50 P.M. EDT
26 Full Moon occurs at 7:14 A.M. EDT; total lunar eclipse
29 Mercury passes 0.4° south of Venus, 2 A.M. EDT
Mercury is stationary, 10 P.M. EDT
30 The Moon passes 4° south of Saturn, 9 P.M. EDT
PATHS OF THE PLANETS
AND
LAC
LYR HER CVn
PER CYG
BOÖ
TRI
CrB
ARI PSC
COM
Sun PEG VUL
Uranus
SGE
EQU
SER
TAU Cer Pat PSC
es ho OPH
f th AQL
eM Celestial equator
oon
Neptune A total lunar eclipse occurs VIR
AQR Hebe
E RI
C ET
May 26 from western North America
Jupiter west to eastern Asia and Australia
Saturn LIB CRV
Pluto
F OR SCL CAP
PsA
SGR
MIC CrA
GRU LUP
SCO
Moon phases Dawn Midnight
13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To locate the Moon in the sky, draw a line from the phase
shown for the day straight up to the curved blue line.
31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 2
THE PLANETS Uranus THE PLANETS IN THE SKY

IN THEIR ORBITS These illustrations show the size, phase,
Arrows show the inner and orientation of each planet and the two
planets’ monthly motions brightest dwarf planets at 0h UT for the dates
and dots depict the Jupiter in the data table at bottom. South is at the top
Neptune to match the view through a telescope.
outer planets’ positions
Saturn
at midmonth from high
above their orbits.
Venus
Mercury Mars
Pluto Ceres
Mars
Venus Ceres PLANETS MERCURY VENUS
Date May 15 May 15
Mercury
Greatest eastern elongation Magnitude 0.2 –3.9
is May 16/17
Earth Angular size 7.6" 10.0"
Illumination 42% 97%
Distance (AU) from Earth 0.881 1.669
Jupiter Distance (AU) from Sun 0.380 0.720
Right ascension (2000.0) 4h57.3m 4h20.5m
Declination (2000.0) 25°06' 21°41'

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. MAY 2021
1
UMa 2 Callisto
Callisto
LYN AUR
3
LMi Mercury appears bright
GEM at dusk in mid-May Europa
4
CNC
LEO
c liptic) Venus Io
Vesta un (e Mars Sun 5 Europa
of the S
Path
The Moon passes 0.7° 6 Io
south of Venus on May 12
CMi Ganymede
7
SEX
MON
Jupiter
CRT CMa
JUPITER’S 8
MOONS 9
LEP Dots display
HYA ERI positions of
F OR 10
ANT PYX Galilean satellites
C OL at 5 A .M. EDT on
PUP CAE 11
the date shown.
Early evening South is at the
top to match the 12 Ganymede
view through a
telescope. 13
14
22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11
15
16
Jupiter S
17
Saturn W E
18
N
19
10" 20
21
Uranus Neptune Pluto 22
23
24
MARS CERES JUPITER SATURN URANUS NEPTUNE PLUTO 25
May 15 May 15 May 15 May 15 May 15 May 15 May 15

26
1.6 9.2 –2.3 0.5 5.9 7.8 15.1
27
4.4" 0.3" 39.0" 17.1" 3.4" 2.2" 0.1"
94% 100% 99% 100% 100% 100% 100% 28
2.130 3.799 5.052 9.723 20.738 30.391 33.800
29
1.649 2.894 5.053 9.965 19.754 29.925 34.280
6h56.2m 2h09.7m 22h08.8m 21h03.3m 2h35.6m 23h34.0m 19h55.0m 30
24°14' 6°01' –12°17' –17°27' 14°48' –4°00' –22°17'

31
WHEN TO
SKY THIS MONTH — Continued from page 33 VIEW THE
Whose shadow?
PLANETS
telescopic views. It’s been many
months since good views of EVENING SKY
S Mercury (west)
Saturn have been available, so
Ganymede’s check out the disk for any Venus (west)
shadow Callisto Mars (west)
erupting white spots indicative
Ganymede
W Jupiter of new storm systems. MORNING SKY
Saturn’s disk spans 17" at Jupiter (southeast)
Io
its equator and is 1.5" smaller Saturn (southeast)
30" from pole to pole. Its rings add Uranus (east)
May 7, 5:30 A.M. EDT Europa dramatic width, spanning Neptune (east)
roughly 40" across the long axis
On May 7, Ganymede’s shadow is already transiting when Jupiter rises.
But Callisto is closer to the planet’s eastern limb, making it seem like it’s and 11" across the minor axis.
responsible for the dark spot. Callisto begins its own transit at 5:48 A.M. EDT. The rings’ narrower span com- planet. It is south of the planet
pared with their appearance May 7 and 23, and north of the
continues to climb higher, full week of May, Saturn reaches last year means the planet’s planet May 15 and 31.
while Mercury sinks back its stationary point 0.6° shy of southern polar regions are Iapetus is at superior con-
toward the Sun for a June Theta, then begins retrograde becoming visible for the first junction with Saturn May 6, on
inferior conjunction. motion. On May 31, Saturn — time in eight years. Saturn its way to eastern elongation
Mars crosses the constella- shining at magnitude 0.4 — stands nearly 7° northeast of a and fading as it progresses. The
tion Gemini during May. It rises shortly before 1 A.M. local Last Quarter Moon on May 3 moon has a dark hemisphere
begins the month 2.3° due time. This places the ringed and 6° northwest of a waning that is turning our way, taking
north of 3rd-magnitude Mu (μ) planet 30° high at the onset of gibbous Moon on May 31. it from 11th magnitude near
Geminorum, which shares the twilight, a fine location for A few of Saturn’s many conjunction to 12th magnitude
moons are visible in amateur at greatest eastern elongation
3
scopes. Titan is the easiest May 25, when it reaches 8.3' east
Three rocky planets — Mercury, Venus, to see at magnitude 8.4. On of Saturn. Tenth-magnitude
and Mars — grace May’s evening skies. May 3, it lies 2.8' due east of the Tethys, Dione, and Rhea
northwest corner of Gemini

with Eta (η) Geminorum, just COMET SEARCH I Into the distance
2° farther west.
Mars glows at magnitude 1.6 THIS MONTH is our last chance
C/2020 R4 (ATLAS)
and spans about 5" — so small to see C/2020 R4 (ATLAS). Next
that surface details are difficult month, we’ll hit 7P/Pons-Winnecke
NGC 4490
to see visually, rendering it a at its best, while C/2017 K2 N
M94
disappointing telescopic object. (PanSTARRS) will remain in our NGC 5005
C AN E S NGC
It spends May 8 to 10 within 1° sights for the next three years. NGC VE NATIC I 4244
of 3rd-magnitude Mebsuta, And with a little luck, a newer, 5033 NGC U RS A MAJOR
NGC 4656
(Epsilon [ε] Geminorum). brighter visitor will outdo them all. 4395
May 1
When the Red Planet occulted Discovered September 12, NGC 4631
ATLAS appears similar to a cyclist 5 NGC 10
this star in April 1976, just M3 Path of
passing us while we’re on foot: 4559
three months before the famed NGC 4278 Comet ATLAS
We first rapidly turn our gaze to E
Viking landings, major tele- NGC 15
track their motion, then barely 4725 NGC NGC 4494
scopes observed the event to 20 30
adjust to watch them diminish 4565 25
study the martian atmosphere. L EO
into the distance. ATLAS exited Zosma
Mars ends the month 5° M64 60
Boötes at 3.5° per night in late C OMA BERENICES
south of Pollux, Gemini’s April and slows to a 20'-per-night
second-brightest star. By then, 4°
crawl on Leo’s back by May’s end.
the planet’s increasing distance During the first week of May, On May 5, NGC 4631 shines at 9th magnitude less than 3° west of Comet ATLAS.
from Earth has dimmed it by warm up your observing skills The edge-on galaxy NGC 4656 glows at 10th magnitude between the two. You’ll
another 0.1 magnitude. on the compact galaxy M94 in
find numerous other galaxies of scattered along the comet’s path this month.
Saturn is a bit fainter than Canes Venatici before dropping
1st magnitude and rises around 10° south to the fainter and smaller comet. You’ll likely need a 10-inch scope at 150x or more to pick up
2:30 A.M. local time on May 1. It its soft glow.
stands in Capricornus, 1° from Moonlight puts an end to visual sightings midmonth, leaving the next good look at the comet to
Theta (θ) Capricorni. In the last our descendants 1,000 years from now.

LOCATING ASTEROIDS I
Track asteroids across the Lion
JOIN ONE OF THE EASIEST asteroid hunts, already underway
Morning Moon eclipsed high in the south as darkness descends. From the suburbs, you
can pop outside with binoculars and catch main-belt asteroid
4 Vesta masquerading as a magnitude 7.5 field star just to the
right of Leo’s hindquarters.
SAGIT TARIUS
The only trick is that you’ll need more than one evening to
OPH I UC H US
positively identify the 300-mile-wide space rock. There are a
handful of stars just a little fainter and brighter here, but they
LIBR A
won’t shift night to night. Place them as dots in a logbook or on
Antares
paper, and see which one changes compared to the others. By the
SC ORPI U S
Moon third evening, you’ll catch it in just a few minutes.
Skip the nights from the 18th to the 21st, when the waxing
gibbous Moon passes by, causing glare and washing out the
10°
background sky.
May 26, 30 minutes before sunrise
If you want to see an asteroid move during one observing ses-
Looking southwest sion, try and catch 29 Amphitrite on May 13 as it gives Leo’s lumi-
nary a heart attack, almost blocking out Cor Leonis (Regulus). Use
Bright Antares sits about 7° southeast of the Moon on May 26 as a lunar eclipse a nearby 8th-magnitude field star as a reference; Amphitrite will
gets underway. The complete event is not visible from the continental U.S. be three times closer to Regulus. Visit www.asteroidoccultations.
com for a list of actual “hits,” or occultations, to watch for.
congregate near Saturn, a constantly changing display
orbiting every few days and and often produce shadow tran- Heart and tail
constantly changing relative sits, occultations, and eclipses.
positions. Enceladus — at Neptune, in northeastern Zosma N
magnitude 12 — lies near the Aquarius, rises about an hour 60
51 Algieba
edge of the rings and Saturn’s after Jupiter. It is best seen in
Path of Vesta
glare makes viewing it more late May, when it’s had time to May 1
of a challenge. rise higher by the onset of twi- Chertan 5 L EO
Denebola 15 10
Jupiter rises 45 minutes light. On May 31, it stands 5.6° NGC 20
3628 25 May 1
after Saturn and now resides in east of Phi (ϕ) Aquarii and due E 30 M105
M66 Regulus
Aquarius, where it will remain south of the Circlet of stars in M96 10 5
M65 M95 15
for most of 2021. It starts out Pisces. A telescope will show it 20
25
the month at magnitude –2.2 within 4' of a 7th-magnitude 30
Path of
and brightens to –2.4 by late field star. Shining at magnitude Amphitrite
May. The gas giant is 30° high 7.8, Neptune is within range of
at the onset of morning twilight binoculars. 2°
in the last week of May, offering Uranus reappears low on
a good chance for clear views the eastern horizon as dawn Asteroid 4 Vesta offers easy viewing in Leo’s hindquarters, while
of its cloud belts while avoiding breaks, 11° below Hamal, the 29 Amphitrite makes a close pass by the Lion’s heart.
some of the blurring effects of brightest star in Aries the Ram.
our own atmosphere. At magnitude 5.9, Uranus is
Jupiter’s disk spans 41" by tricky to spot as the sky bright- Midwest, the setting Moon partial phase ends at 5:52 A.M.
May 31. This is the start of its ens. Its observability will enters Earth’s shadow at — after the Moon has set for
main 2021 observing season. improve late next month. 4:44 A.M. CDT, with the Moon many locations.
With the bright outbreak in A total lunar eclipse occurs about 10° above the horizon, Totality lasts only 14 minutes
the Northern Temperate Belt May 26, coinciding with lunar amid the stars of Scorpius. The because the Moon cuts across
and the sudden appearance of perigee, when the Moon is clos- shadow progresses across the the northern edge of Earth’s
Clyde’s spot, among others, in est to Earth (222,022 miles). The Moon as twilight grows. shadow. The Moon’s northern
methane-band images, 2020 event is visible across western Totality begins at 6:11 A.M. CDT, limb will appear brilliant
offered lots of drama. Regular North and South America, the just as the Moon is setting or orange, compared with a dusk-
observers of Jupiter are sure to Pacific Ocean, Australasia, and shortly after it has disappeared ier southern hemisphere.
be watching closely. The gas eastern Asia. across the Midwest.
giant’s Galilean moons are on The eclipse occurs near Observers in the Mountain Martin Ratcliffe is a
show most nights: Io, Europa, moonset early on May 26 and Pacific time zones have planetarium professional and
Ganymede, and Callisto provide across much of the U.S. In the better luck. In the Pacific time enjoys observing from Wichita,
zone, the partial phase begins at Kansas. Alister Ling, who
GET DAILY UPDATES ON YOUR NIGHT SKY AT 1:47 A.M., totality lasts from lives in Edmonton, Alberta, is a
www.Astronomy.com/skythisweek. 4:11 A.M. to 4:25 A.M., and the longtime watcher of the skies.
Relive the 50th
anniversary of
Alan Shepard’s
lunar adventures
with stereo images
that transport you
to the Moon.
BY DAVID J. EICHER
AND BRIAN MAY
LO 14
APOL
IN 3D In this view, the Apollo 14
LM, Antares, reflects a
circular flare caused by
the brilliant sunlight over
the Fra Mauro highlands.
Shepard and Mitchell
said the unusual ball of
light had a jewel-like
appearance. At the
extreme left of the image
is the lower slope of
Cone Crater. NASA/JSC
IN
the wake of the
near disaster with
Apollo 13, NASA
took precautionary
plans with the fol-
lowing mission to
tighten safety regulations and procedures.
The eighth crewed mission in the Apollo
program, Apollo 14, was scheduled for a
liftoff in late Jan. 1971.
In the U.S., President Richard Nixon
was still grappling with the Vietnam
War, declaring that the combat mission
of American troops would end by the
coming summer. The administration’s
criminal activities, which would ulti-
mately result in the Watergate scandal,
were already underway, though as yet
undetected. The cultural leaders of the
rock ‘n’ roll movement, the Beatles, had
broken up, leaving a wide-open and
uncertain future for the leading edge
of pop music. The pure idealism of the
’60s seemed faded; the hippie culture had
subsided and, although no one quite knew The crew of Apollo 14 pose in front of their mission badge at the Kennedy Space Center. From left, they are
it yet, the “me decade” of self-interest was Command Module Pilot Stuart Roosa, Commander Alan Shepard, and Lunar Module Pilot Ed Mitchell. NASA
already rolling forward. In the Soviet
Union, the space program kept moving,
but the momentum for a crewed lunar class of 1966. Mitchell, age 40, was a it back. The new launch date for Apollo
program was now completely gone. Navy officer and aviator, test pilot, and 14 was scheduled for Jan. 31, 1971, and
aeronautical engineer. Born in Texas, he the mission was to aim again at the
Meet the crew was also selected in the 1966 astronaut region of Fra Mauro, the area targeted by
To lead the first Apollo mission of 1971, group, and had served in support teams the aborted Apollo 13. This region of
NASA turned to a wily veteran. Alan on previous Apollo missions before his highlands, named after the crater lying
Shepard had been the first American assignment to Apollo 14. within it, consists largely of ejecta from
in space, making his suborbital flight The mission’s backup crew consisted the immense impact that created the
May 5, 1961, just 20 days before John F. of Gene Cernan, Ronald Evans, and nearby Mare Imbrium. Studying this
Kennedy’s speech calling for a mission Joe Engle. (Later, with Harrison Schmitt hilly geological area would provide
to land on the Moon. Shepard, age 47, substituting for Engle, this crew would insights on the formation of Mare
was born in New Hampshire and had a become the primary one for the final Imbrium. Furthermore, the debris cover-
distinguished career as a naval aviator Apollo mission.) ing the ejecta was thought to consist of
and test pilot before his Mercury flight exposed older rocks from deep below.
in Freedom 7. Now he was slated to be Changes ahead Retrieving them might allow the
the commander of Apollo 14; this would Apollo 14’s Command/Service Module explorers to uncover some secrets about
make him the oldest person ever to walk was nicknamed Kitty Hawk and the the Moon’s geological history; now the
on the Moon, as well as the only Mercury Lunar Module (LM) Antares. Following Apollo missions were evolving from sim-
astronaut to accomplish this feat. Apollo 13, NASA engineers modified the ple exploration and wonder at just being
Joining Shepard would be Command electrical power system of the Service on the lunar surface to a deeper and more
Module Pilot Stuart Roosa and Lunar Module, attempting to minimize the risk organized program of scientific studies.
Module Pilot Edgar Mitchell. Shepard’s of any further malfunctions. The team
spaceflight experience would be espe- redesigned the oxygen tank in which an Bumpy beginnings
cially valuable: Both Roosa and Mitchell errant spark had caused the explosion The January launch took place right on
were rookies, having never yet flown in when Swigert switched on the stirring schedule, despite heavy cloud cover that
space. Roosa, age 37, was an aeronautical fans. They added a third tank as well. hung over Kennedy Space Center. With
engineer, Air Force pilot, and test pilot. Confidence in the new design was high. U.S. Vice President Spiro Agnew on
He was born in Colorado and achieved The launch date for Apollo 14 was hand, along with Spanish Prince Juan
an impressive military record before originally set for Oct. 1, 1970. But Carlos and his wife, Princess Sophia, the
being chosen as one of NASA’s astronaut Apollo 13 changed the timetable, pushing Saturn V jumped skyward and quickly
The Apollo 14 landing site in the highlands of Fra Mauro appears in this image made with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter on Nov. 28, 2009. The descent
stage of the LM Antares is clearly visible, as are tracks made by the small wheeled cart Shepard and Mitchell used to transport equipment and specimens.
The width of the image is about 1,138 feet (350 m). NASA/GSFC/UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA
out of sight into the clouds. The space- signaled an “abort” alert, which they Back at Mission Control, the flight
craft achieved Earth orbit, and Shepard determined was a false alarm due to a team enlisted engineers at NASA and at
separated the Command/Service Module faulty switch. But if the alarm were to MIT to work on the problem. After a short
from the Lunar Module and turned the recur after the descent engine began fir- time, engineers suggested reprogramming
former around for docking. ing, the computer would treat the false the computer onboard Antares to ignore
Then the mission had its first hint of alarm as if it were real and abort the the abort signal. Mitchell frantically
trouble. The astronauts undertook the descent. This would cause the craft’s entered the changes into the computer.
docking procedure multiple times, hav- ascent stage to ignite and separate from It worked, allowing the descent to begin.
ing trouble each time completing the the descent stage, and the LM would “It’s a beautiful day to land at Fra Mauro,”
maneuver. Finally, after more than an return to a lunar orbit. said Shepard in response to the fix.
hour and a half, Roosa tried holding
Kitty Hawk against Antares with its
thrusters while simultaneously retracting HOW TO VIEW OUR 3D IMAGES
the docking probe. The docking latches
There are two ways to view the images
took hold, accomplishing the procedure. printed in 3D. To free view the images with no
There was a sigh of relief following the mechanical assistance, let your eyes relax as
close call — an inability to connect the you view the photos as though focusing on a
Command and Lunar Modules was point behind them. At first you will see the two
images split into four; as your eyes focus at the
potentially a major problem.
correct distance, the middle two images will
On Feb. 4, Apollo 14 concluded its combine to create a single, crisp 3D image.
glide phase over the 240,000-mile The outer two images will remain on either
(386,000 kilometers) trip to the Moon. side of the 3D image and become blurry.
Entering lunar orbit, the spacecraft Alternatively, you can use a 3D viewer, such
as the Lite OWL viewer designed by Brian May
seemed fine. The following day, Shepard
and included with the Mission Moon 3-D book,
and Mitchell climbed into the LM and to view images in 3D. Only 5 by 2.5 inches (134
prepared for their descent to Fra Mauro. by 64 millimeters) and 0.1 inch (3 mm) thick, the
Roosa would stay within Kitty Hawk, Lite OWL viewer is designed for easily viewing
piloting it as it circled the Moon. 3D images in books, magazines, modern and
vintage stereocards, and even video or other VR
Soon after beginning the descent
content on your smartphone. You can purchase individual
within Antares, the astronauts encoun- Lite OWL viewers separately at www.MyScienceShop.com
tered a problem. The lander’s computer

Shepard shot this image of Mitchell, who casts a long shadow as he operates a TV camera on the cratered soil of Fra Mauro. Astronauts have reported that
shadows on the Moon can look quite alien; they are extremely dark due to the absence of an atmosphere to scatter light. NASA/JSC
But another problem cropped up. The his heavy boot, Shepard said, “And it’s transporting equipment and Moon
landing radar employed by Antares failed been a long way, but we’re here.” This was rocks. The astronauts nicknamed the
to recognize the lunar surface, so that alti- the third “first step” of a lunar explorer on cart the “lunar rickshaw.”
tude and vertical speed data would not a new mission — the first two steps those The first moonwalk lasted nearly four
show in the LM. The fix this time seemed of Neil Armstrong and Pete Conrad. hours and 48 minutes. It succeeded in all
to be cycling through the craft’s radar Unlike Apollo 12, this time, the astro- the astronauts hoped to accomplish. Some
breakers. At an altitude of about nauts successfully employed their color 13 hours after the first walk ended, the
18,000 feet (5,490 meters), the data read- television camera, which they planted on astronauts commenced their second extra-
outs came back on, allowing the astro- the surface at Fra Mauro Base, along with vehicular activity. Shepard again set foot
nauts to safely pursue the landing. The the customary U.S. flag. There would now onto the lunar surface first, followed by
spacecraft pitched over and Shepard and be broadcasts in natural color showing Mitchell some seven minutes later. During
Mitchell began to see landmarks on the the astronauts during their moonwalks the second walk, the astronauts planned
Moon. “There it is,” said Shepard upon and activities. NASA had not been satis- to walk to Cone Crater, a 1,000-foot-wide
spotting Fra Mauro as he manually landed fied with the appearance the previous (300 m) depression in Fra Mauro.
the LM. “It’s really a wild-looking place missions’ pictures, in which it was dif- As the grade angled slightly uphill,
here,” said Mitchell. The craft ultimately ficult to differentiate between astronauts. Mitchell noted that the walk was a little
came to a halt just where they had So this time, Shepard wore an Apollo suit more exerting. “We’re starting uphill
planned. In fact, Shepard’s landing came that had red stripes on the arms and legs, now,” he said. “It’s definitely uphill.”
closer to the chosen point than any of enabling easy identification of the com- Shepard and Mitchell stopped short of
the other five lunar landings. mander. NASA continued this practice the crater by about 100 feet (30 m) and
with the remaining Apollo flights and collected a substantial amount of lunar
Lunar activities into the era of the space shuttle. rock and soil samples. Mission planners
On Feb. 5, Shepard and Mitchell made As with the previous missions on the believed these would be of particular
their first of two moonwalks, which lunar surface, the astronauts deployed interest geologically because they had been
would last between four and a half and the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments blasted up from deep below the surface.
five hours each. They named the lunar Package, or ALSEP, which contained As the pair continued walking,
base at their landing position Fra Mauro experiments that would record data Shepard noticed how dusty the lunar
Base, which was subsequently added on seismology, magnetism, the solar surface was — how dust was getting
to lunar maps showing the Fra Mauro wind, heat flow, and the abundance of kicked up and adhered to the spacesuits.
region. As he descended the LM ladder ions. They also deployed the Modular “Nothing like being up to your arms in
and finally touched the lunar surface with Equipment Transporter, a pull cart for lunar dust,” he said.
Shepard stands by the Modular Equipment Transporter, a
wheeled cart made for carrying tools, cameras, and sample
cases over the lunar surface. His helmet has a vertical
stripe to identify him as the Commander. NASA/JSC
On Feb. 9, 1971, the Apollo 14 crew splashed down in

the South Pacific and were recovered by U.S. Navy
personnel dispatched from the USS New Orleans. In
this image, Mitchell steps out of the spacecraft as
Shepard and Roosa follow. NASA
— Vladimir Shatalov, Aleksei Yeliseyev,

and Nikolai Rukavishnikov — hoped to
rendezvous with Salyut 1 and board the
space station, becoming the first station
The second moonwalk lasted nearly if it were a javelin, in what could perhaps crew in space exploration history. But the
four hours and 35 minutes. Near its end, be called a Micro Lunar Olympics. docking with Salyut 1 was unsuccessful
Shepard made a surprise announcement. They concluded the second moon- and the crew had to return to Earth.
He stepped toward the color TV camera walk after collecting some 94 pounds Several months later, another crew set
and pulled out a makeshift golf club. (43 kilograms) of Moon rocks. After 33.5 off for Salyut 1. Soyuz 11, with cosmo-
“Houston, you might recognize what I hours total on the lunar surface and nine nauts Georgy Dobrovolsky, Vladislav
have in my hand as the handle for the and a half hours walking around, the pair Volkov, and Viktor Patsayev, blasted off
contingency sample return,” he blurted. prepared to blast off and return to Kitty from Baikonur, Kazakhstan, on June 6
“It just so happens to have a genuine six Hawk, with Roosa still orbiting overhead. and docked with Salyut 1 one day later.
iron on the bottom of it. In my left hand, Kitty Hawk splashed down in the The cosmonauts remained on board the
I have a little white pellet that’s familiar Pacific Ocean south of American Samoa, space station for 22 days, setting an
to millions of Americans.” and the astronauts recovered well from endurance record in space that would
Shepard plopped a golf ball onto the the ordeal. In the wake of the scare over stand for another two years.
lunar surface. He was an avid golfer and Apollo 13, the Apollo program was sol- When they entered the station, the
had planned this surprise as a test of his idly back on the right track, and the sam- crew discovered a smoky smelling atmo-
own abilities on the Moon’s surface as ples collected and science that had been sphere. On the 11th day in the station, a
well as a test of the weaker lunar gravity conducted would help the Moon pro- small fire broke out. The cosmonauts had
relative to Earth. “Unfortunately, the suit gram enormously. hoped to observe a rocket launch from the
is so stiff, I can’t do this with two hands,” station, but it was delayed. Nonetheless,
he said. “But I’m going to try a little sand Two space programs they made a TV broadcast back to Earth
trap shot here.” The Soviet Union’s ongoing space and generally enjoyed the stay.
The Apollo 14 commander took a program now essentially consisted of Tragically, when the capsule was
swing, knocking some lunar dust sky- watching the Americans run away with recovered on Earth after landing June 30,
ward. “Hey, you got more dirt than ball,” the lunar prize. The Soyuz program con- the mission recovery team opened it to
said Mitchell. Watching from back on tinued, but these flights were Earth orbital find all three crewmembers dead. The
Earth, Fred Haise — recovered from his missions. Through 1970, eight Soyuz cosmonauts had bluish patches on their
infection during Apollo 13 and acting as missions had taken place, some with faces and had hemorrhaged from their
a CapCom (capsule communicator) on rendezvous objectives and others paving mouths and noses. The official cause of
the ground — said, “That looked like a the way for coordination with the planned death was given as asphyxiation. The
slice to me, Al.” Salyut 1 space station — the world’s first original commander of the mission,
“Here we go again,” said Shepard as space station, to be deployed by the spring Alexei Leonov, had advised the crew from
he swung again. “Straight as a dime. of 1971. The launch of this very significant the ground to close valves between the
Miles and miles and miles.” Shepard later first was planned to mark the 10th anni- orbital and descent modules manually,
concluded that the golf ball traveled versary of Yuri Gagarin’s flight, but in the because he did not trust the automatic
between 200 and 400 yards (180 and end had to be delayed by several days. mechanism. The cosmonauts did not fol-
370 m). Not to be outdone, Mitchell The first mission to Salyut 1 was Soyuz low his suggestion, however, and this may
thrust a lunar scoop handle in the air as 10, launched April 22, 1971. The crew have been the cause of the fatal event.

Shepard made this image of an astronaut boot print using the Apollo Lunar Surface Closeup Camera
during the second Apollo 14 moonwalk. Thanks to its slightly cohesive properties, the lunar soil retains
the shape of the print, including the nearly vertical sides of the treads. The lunar soil’s “stickiness”
results from many factors, including particle size and electrostatic charge. NASA/JSC EXPLORE FROM HOME
Mission Moon 3-D: A New Perspective on
The Soviets did carry on with the telescope, and a cosmic ray detector. the Space Race, by David J. Eicher and
Brian May (with foreword by Charlie Duke
Lunokhod program, a meticulously Lunokhod 1 successfully landed on the and afterword by Jim Lovell), presents the
planned series of missions to place Moon in Mare Imbrium on November 17 story of the historic lunar landings and the
robotic rovers on the Moon. Russian for and operated its experiments until events that led up to them, told through
“moonwalker,” Lunokhod was intended September 1971. A second, more complex text and three-dimensional images.
to provide backup and support for later Lunokhod was developed and launched Mission Moon 3-D contains new and
unique stereoscopic images of the Apollo
Soviet crewed missions to the Moon. to the Moon in 1973. Moon landings to show what it was like to
After years of testing in secret, the first Although the Soviet program walk on the lunar surface. The triumph of
Lunokhod (designated 201 or 0) launched would not land cosmonauts on the the Apollo 11 Moon landing takes center
in 1969, but shortly after launch, the Moon, it made important contributions stage, with detailed stories and visually
rocket disintegrated. As a follow-up, to lunar science. And underneath the stunning images from the lunar missions
that followed. The book includes 150
Soviet engineers designed Lunokhod 1, veil of the space race, something else stereo photos of the Apollo mission and
which launched Nov. 10, 1970. Nearly 8 was happening. Alongside the direct space race — the largest group ever
feet (2.4 m) long, the rover was similar in competition, Soviet and American published — and presents photos never
appearance to later Mars rovers that have space explorers were forming a partner- seen before in stereo.
explored the planet. Its eight skeleton ship that would become stronger and The book delivers a comprehensive tale
of the space race. New stories appear
design wheels ferried it around, and it stronger as the months and years from the astronauts, including Jim Lovell’s
carried a suite of instruments, including passed, even as the U.S. planned its next anecdotes about the perilous return of
antennas, television cameras, soil-testing Moon mission: Apollo 13.
devices, spectrometers, an X-ray Apollo 15. Mission Moon 3-D also includes a
history of the music and special
movements of the 1960s and beyond
that transformed the world, from
Astronomy editor David J. Eicher is the author of 25 books on Vietnam and Woodstock to Live Aid.
science and history. Brian May is an astronomer and founding Don’t miss out on this unique treasure.
member and guitarist of the legendary rock band Queen.
This story is adapted from Mission Moon 3-D: A New Perspective MISSION MOON 3-D
on the Space Race, by David J. Eicher and Brian May, foreword IS AVAILABLE ONLINE AT
by Charlie Duke, afterword by Jim Lovell, © 2018 by London www.MyScienceShop.com
Stereoscopic Co. and MIT Press, Boston.
When the Moon
reaches totality during
a lunar eclipse, it often
takes on a reddish hue.
That’s why many refer
to such an eclipse as
a Blood Moon.
The
turns
Our only natural satellite submerges itself as long as the longest solar eclipse totality
possible. So, make plans now to view this
in Earth’s shadow this month. event. There’s lots of cool stuff to see.
BY MICHAEL E. BAKICH Where and when?

The entire eclipse will be visible through-
T
out Australia, New Zealand, Southeast
otal eclipses of the Moon many observers on our planet’s night Asia, Chile, Argentina, and western
are fun. During one of these side will see that happen. North America. In the U.S., those who
events, the entire Moon The most recent total lunar eclipse position themselves as far west as pos-
passes through Earth’s occurred Jan. 21, 2019. The last one sible will have the best views.
umbra, the innermost and visible in the continental U.S. happened The eclipse begins at 4:47:39 a.m. (all
darkest part of its shadow. July 27, 2018. Since then, amateur astron- times are Eastern Daylight Time), when
A total lunar eclipse generally lasts for omers have been counting the days for the Moon enters Earth’s penumbra — its
hours, requires no equipment to see, and the Sun, Earth, and the Moon (in that lighter, outer shadow. Our satellite enters
is completely safe to look at — no filter order) to line up once again. the umbra at 5:44:59 a.m., signaling the
required. There’s no blinding Sun in The only “bad” news is that totality start of the first partial phase of the
the sky; all we’re watching is Earth’s during this eclipse is brief. It lasts a scant eclipse. Totality begins at 7:11:27 a.m. and
shadow fall across Luna’s face. And on 14 minutes 31 seconds. Although that’s lasts until 7:25:58 a.m. From there, the
the morning of Wednesday, May 26, short for lunar totality, it’s almost twice event plays itself out in reverse, with the

partial phase ending at 8:52:26 a.m.
Finally, more than five hours after the
Moon first entered Earth’s outer shadow,
INTO THE SHADOWS
it fully exits the penumbra at 9:49:47 a.m., Partial eclipse begins
N
officially ending the eclipse. 5:44:59 A.M. EDT
Totality is so brief during the May 26
Greatest eclipse
eclipse because the Moon doesn’t pass 7:18:43 A.M. EDT
Partial eclipse ends
through the center of our planet’s umbra. 8:52:26 A.M. EDT
ILLUSTRATION: ASTRONOMY: ROEN KELLY AFTER F. ESPENAK (NASA/GSFC). BOTTOM OF PAGE: JAMIE COOPER
Instead, Luna’s northern edge passes just
inside the umbra’s northern limit. In
contrast, its southern edge lies a lot closer
to the shadow’s center, so the Moon’s Penumbral eclipse begins
southern half will look much darker than E
7:11:27 A.M. EDT 4:47:39 A.M. EDT
its northern half. Because the Moon 7:25:58 A.M. EDT
crosses a large range of the shadow’s
depths throughout totality, the appear-
UMBRA
ance of its face will change significantly
Penumbral eclipse ends
as the eclipse progresses. 9:49:47 A.M. EDT
How dark will it get?

PENUMBRA
The Moon looks different during the
total phase of each eclipse because it
takes different paths through Earth’s
Penumbral magnitude: 1.95 Umbral magnitude: 1.01
umbra. The more centered it is, the
Penumbral radius: 1.298° Umbral radius: 0.772°
darker it will get. During this eclipse,
therefore, the Moon will definitely
look brighter than it would if it passed
through the central part of Earth’s shad-
ow. But Luna’s appearance also depends deep red or rust colored. L=3 indicates a “Totally” safe
on our atmosphere, which contains water brick-red Moon, while Earth’s umbral The public is used to hearing the words
droplets and solid particles like dust and shadow projected on the Moon may have eclipse and warning together. While that’s
MOON COLLAGE: GOWRISHANKAR
ash, reducing the air’s transparency. a bright or yellow rim. And if L=4, the valid for solar eclipses, a lunar eclipse
In addition to darkening, the Moon Moon looks bright copper-red or orange poses no danger to your eyes. So, you
takes on color during totality as Earth’s and the shadow may have a bluish rim. won’t need a filter and you can magnify
atmosphere diverts some sunlight into the sight with binoculars or a scope.
the shadow. The atmosphere also scatters All ’round the Moon Because this event occurs early on a
shorter (bluer) wavelengths out of that During this totality, the Northern Wednesday, people with work or school
light, both reddening and darkening the Hemisphere’s summer constellations will obligations may choose not to seek it out.
Moon’s face. Lots of clouds along the surround the Moon. Throughout the The prospects of an eclipse viewing party,
limb of our planet, as seen from the eclipse, the Moon will be in the northern therefore, are slim. But consider waking
Moon, can make Luna appear even part of Scorpius the Scorpion. That pat- your family 10 minutes before totality
darker still. tern’s brightest star, 1st-magnitude starts. Within half an hour, they’ll be
One fun activity is to try to estimate Antares (Alpha [α] Scorpii), will lie 6.5° back in bed and you’ll have exposed
the darkness of a total lunar eclipse. southeast of the Moon. Antares’ red color them to some cool, easy-to-understand
Most observers use a five-point scale will complement the orange Moon, espe- science. Many astronomy clubs and sci-
developed in 1921 by French astronomer cially through binoculars. (Note: 7×50 ence centers also plan to host events.
André-Louis Danjon. You can use your binoculars have a 7° field of view.) Observing a total lunar eclipse isn’t
naked eyes, binoculars, or a telescope, as No other bright stars are close to the hard science. It takes little effort and
long as you make your estimate near the Moon during the eclipse. Spica (Alpha offers a big payback. How long you watch
middle of totality. Virginis) stands 41° to its west and Altair is up to you. You can use optics or not.
In Danjon’s system, L values stand for (Alpha Aquilae) lies 62° to the northeast. And you can observe it from the darkest
luminosity, or how bright the Saturn, at magnitude 0.5, will site on Earth or the heart of a city. But
Moon looks during totality. If stand some 70° away in however you view this eclipse, have fun!
L=0, the Moon is almost Capricornus, and Jupiter,
invisible. When L=1, blazing at magnitude Michael E. Bakich is a former senior
lunar details will be –2.4, will be about 18° editor at Astronomy magazine and rarely
difficult to distinguish. farther east in misses an opportunity to view a total lunar
For L=2, the Moon is Aquarius. eclipse.
Explore the
EXTREME
SOUTHERN
SKY
Don’t miss out on these Southern
A POPULAR OLD SAYING CLAIMS,
“Absence makes the heart grow fonder.” For me,
this describes my love of the southern sky. I’ve
spent maybe 50 nights total under it, but each one
has been filled with discovery and fascination.
For this story, I’ve chosen deep-sky objects in
Hemisphere clusters, nebulae, the far south — within 30° of the South Celestial
Pole. Once you point a telescope toward that
and galaxies. BY MICHAEL E. BAKICH region, you’ll encounter constellations you may
The southern Milky Way
arcs across the sky at
the Paranal Observatory
in Chile. The Large and
Small Magellanic
Clouds are visible below
the band of our galaxy.
ESO/Y. BELETSKY
not be familiar with: Apus, Ara, Carina, 50° south, the South Celestial Pole stands targets on this list will appear about 12°
Centaurus, Circinus, Crux, Dorado, 50° high, so the objects in this story will lower. Your best views from either loca-
Horologium, Hydrus, Indus, Mensa, never set. Instead, they’ll lie between 20° tion will come when an object stands
Musca, Octans, Pictor, Reticulum, and 80° above the horizon all night. highest above the horizon.
Triangulum Australe, Tucana, and But let’s say you’re heading to I’ve listed these objects in order of
Volans. And although Carina, Melbourne, Australia. From there, right ascension. Pick one that’s high in
Centaurus, and Crux contain the sky, and the subsequent
bright stars you can navigate by, objects will rise to their highest
luminaries in the other groups points after it. Good luck!
are few and far between.
What are the best locations The list
to view these southern won- As it happens, our first target is
ders? One is the tip of South one of the best: 47 Tucanae
America, either in Chile or (NGC 104). This globular clus-
Argentina. From a latitude of ter forms a celestial pairing
in Tucana with the Small
Magellanic Cloud — both
The Small Magellanic Cloud objects are easily visible to the
(center) and the globular cluster
47 Tucanae (lower right) make a naked eye. Among globulars,
magnificent naked-eye pairing. The only Omega Centauri (NGC
globular cluster NGC 362 is also visible
in this image, above and to the right of
5139) outshines NGC 104.
the Small Magellanic Cloud. AKIRA FUJII To the naked eye, 47 Tucanae
appears as a magnitude 3.8 fuzzy “star.” without optical aid as a magnitude 6.5, feature you’ll notice is the thick bar with
A 3-inch telescope will begin to resolve extended “star.” Its apparent diameter is a slight central bulge that orients north-
this cluster’s stars, but they really put on 12.9', more than 40 percent that of the south. Spiral arms extend eastward and
a show when you use an 8-inch or larger Full Moon. Through an 8-inch telescope, westward. The eastern bar has two sec-
scope. Through such instruments, the NGC 362 explodes with detail. Well, tions divided by a dark region. The knots
cluster is a 50'-wide ball of stars you can except for the core — you’ll need a larger you see are star-forming regions along
resolve nearly to the core. Be sure to note scope and high magnification to resolve the bar and arms.
the many streams of stars that emanate any of the stars near the cluster’s center. Most northern observers unfortu-
from its central region 6' in diameter. Our next object is a true southern nately haven’t experienced our next
Our second target, bright globular showpiece. NGC 1313 sits in the south- target: the Tarantula Nebula. This
cluster NGC 362, lies in Tucana on the west corner of Reticulum, 3.2° southwest huge (30' by 20') emission nebula lies in
northern edge of the Small Magellanic of magnitude 3.8 Beta (β) Reticuli. This the Large Magellanic Cloud, in Dorado.
Cloud. It’s not part of that galaxy, how- spiral galaxy glows at magnitude 8.9 and Even through a 4-inch scope, the
ever, and sits seven times closer to us. measures 11.0' by 7.6'. Tarantula shows loops and filaments. A
Sharp-eyed observers will see it Through an 8-inch scope, the first dense central bar runs north to south.
Open star cluster R136 is easy to spot as
a 1'-wide region of several dozen bright
stars. The longest filament begins near
the cluster’s center and extends 7' to the
south. It then extends eastward and loops
an equal distance to the north.
Our next treat carries an unusual
name. The Meathook Galaxy (NGC
2442) lies 2.3° southeast of magnitude 4.0
Delta (δ) Volantis. Through a 10-inch
scope, this magnitude 10.4 barred spiral
shows symmetrical hooks curving from a
faint, thick, 4'-long bar and a bright core.
Its distorted form, which measures 5.4'
by 2.6', hints at past interaction with
other galaxies.
After the Meathook, head into Carina,
3.3° west-southwest of magnitude 1.9
Avior (Epsilon [ε] Carinae) for NGC
2516. You’ll have no trouble spotting this
magnitude 3.8 object with your naked
The Jewel Box (NGC

4755) is filled with stellar
gems ranging in color from
pale blue to ruby red. ESO
The Coalsack Nebula

is an interstellar dust cloud
that blots out a section
of the Milky Way. Easily
visible to the naked eye,
it carries deep spiritual
meaning in Australian
Aboriginal astronomy as
the head of the Emu in
the Sky, a constellation
composed of dark nebulae.
CHIRAG UPRETI

The Running Chicken
Nebula (IC 2944) has
an evocative name —
though observers
disagree on what
exactly is in the
shape of a chicken.
Try and make heads,
tails, and wings out
of this image. ESO
eyes — it’s one of the sky’s 10 brightest Through a 4-inch telescope, you’ll Next up is the dazzling Theta
open clusters. It also spans a whopping first spot two bright stars in the cluster’s Carinae Cluster (IC 2602), which sur-
30'. area, glowing at magnitudes 6.2 and 7.3. rounds the star of the same name. It
Through a 6-inch scope, you might Have fun making patterns with the sev- shines at magnitude 1.9 and spans 50'.
count as many as 75 stars. Here, the stars eral dozen stars that surround this pair. Observers also call it the Southern
divide into two brightness ranges. The Our next object, NGC 3195, is a faint Pleiades.
upper class ranges from magnitude 5.8, (magnitude 11.6) but high-surface- Binoculars will give the best view
the cluster’s brightest star, through mag- brightness planetary nebula 1.5° west- because anything above the lowest power
nitude 8. Unless you use a magnification southwest of magnitude 4.5 Delta2 (δ2) in a telescope will magnify the area too
above 250x, all those bright stars will Chamaeleontis. A 4-inch telescope at much, really spreading the stars out. That
mask the many faint stars this cluster 100x will reveal this object as a slightly said, if you own a short-focal-length
contains. fat “star” 38" in diameter. Through a refractor and an eyepiece that will pro-
Still in Carina, get ready for a glorious 10-inch scope, crank the power beyond vide at least a 1.5° field of view, you’re in
view. Open cluster NGC 3114 lies in a 200x, and you’ll have no problem seeing for a wonderful experience.
spectacular star field 5.8° east-southeast the nebula’s extended nature. At this At low power, the Southern Pleiades
of magnitude 2.2 Aspidiske (Iota [ι] magnification, it appears slightly stretched appears like two clusters separated by a
Carinae). It glows at magnitude 4.2 and in a north-northeast to south-southwest 0.3° gulf. In the western part, you’ll see
spans 35'. orientation. Theta (θ) Carinae and a pair of stellar
arcs that originate at that star. One
curves northward and the other south-
SOUTHERN DOUBLES ward. The eastern half of IC 2602 looks
to me like a miniature version of the
If you’ve had your fill of clusters, nebulae, and galaxies, try spying these fine double stars. main part of the constellation Orion,
The widest, Gamma (γ) Volantis, will be resolved in just about any telescope and even large albeit with stars of different brightnesses.
binoculars. The closest pair, Beta (β) Muscae, will be nicely resolved in a 6-inch scope.
You’ll find our next target, the Pearl
Cluster (NGC 3766), 1.5° north of
Star R.A. Dec. Magnitudes Separation Colors Lambda (λ) Centauri — and what a sight
it is. At magnitude 5.3, you can see this
Kappa (κ) Tucanae 1h16m 68°53' 5.1/7.3 5.4" White/Yellow cluster without optical aid, but you’ll
have to work at it because of the rich star
Theta (θ) Reticuli 4h18m 63°15' 6.2/8.2 2.9" Blue/White field it’s in. Use 15x binoculars, and
you’ll see several dozen stars. But the fin-
Gamma (γ) Volantis 7h09m 70°30' 3.8/5.7 13.6" Yellow/White est view comes through a telescope that
magnifies between 75x and 100x.
Upsilon (υ) Carinae 9h47m 65°04' 3.1/6.1 5" White/White
Through a 4-inch scope, you can
count 100 stars within a 12'-wide circle,
Alpha (α) Crucis 12h27m 63°06' 1.4/1.9 4" Blue/Blue
the brightest of which shines at 7th mag-
nitude. That collection in itself provides
Beta (β) Muscae 12h46m 68°06' 3.7/4.0 1.3" Blue/Blue-white
a sweet view, but there’s more. Riding
seemingly in front of a pure-white carpet
of diamonds are two pale rubies. One lies
midway between the cluster’s center and
its eastern edge. The other lies the same
distance from the center toward the west.
For our next target, go back to
3.1-magnitude Lambda Centauri.
Beginning with that star and running
toward the southeast is the huge (65' by
40') open star cluster Collinder 249. Its
oval shape spans 1°. But this area con-
tains a lot more than a star cluster. The
Running Chicken Nebula (IC 2944),
a large glowing cloud of hydrogen, sur-
rounds Lambda. You’ll spot it through
a 4-inch scope.
The first dark nebula on our list, the
Coalsack, has the greatest impact as a
naked-eye object. The Coalsack is huge,
measuring 400' by 300'. Optics shrink the
field of view, meaning you don’t get
much of the bright Milky Way starfield
for comparison with the Coalsack.
Binoculars and telescopes also show stars
within the Coalsack, lessening its appeal.
I consider the next target, the Jewel
Box (NGC 4755), also known as the
Kappa Crucis Cluster, the sky’s finest
open cluster. It’s not the biggest (10') or
Despite appearances, the the brightest (magnitude 4.2), or even the
Spiral Planetary Nebula most populous. The reason NGC 4755
(NGC 5189) is not a galaxy
— rather, it is the result of stops me in my tracks is its colorful stars.
an aging star becoming a Almost all open clusters contain hot,
white dwarf and puffing off
its outer layers into space.
recently formed stars, which appear blue
NASA, ESA AND THE HUBBLE HERITAGE or white through a telescope. But in the
TEAM (STSCI/AURA)
Jewel Box, you’ll spot stars glowing blue,
yellow, and orange.

A 6-inch telescope and an eyepiece
that yields 50x may be the best combina-
tion with which to view NGC 4755.
Through this setup, you’ll see nearly a
dozen stars that exhibit color, plus 20
additional white stars and a faint back-
The Tarantula Nebula
drop composed of some 200 cluster is a sprawling volume of
members. ionized hydrogen breeding
an impressive amount of
Next, head to Musca for NGC 4833, stars. If it were within our
which lies 0.7° north-northwest of galaxy — and not the Large
magnitude 3.6 Delta Muscae. This Magellanic Cloud — at the
same distance as the Orion
magnitude 7.8 globular cluster is easy Nebula, its brilliance in the
to spot through binoculars or a finder night sky would cast visible
shadows. KFIR SIMON
scope, but it’s about as loosely concen-
trated as these objects get. You’ll see
The Meathook Galaxy
about 30 of its outer stars randomly (NGC 2442) gets its name
strewn across the 13.5'-wide field of view from its distinctly curved
through an 8-inch telescope at 200x. spiral arms, which were
likely warped by a near-
More stars lie in the central area, which collision with another
stretches east to west. galaxy. ESO
Almost all open clusters contain hot,

recently formed stars, which appear blue
or white through a telescope.
Also in Musca you’ll find the Spiral 40 stars between magnitudes 7 and 11
Planetary Nebula (NGC 5189), 2.7° within a circle 12' in diameter.
east-southeast of magnitude 5.7 Theta If you’re ready for something other
Muscae. It glows at magnitude 9.9 and than an open cluster, head to southern
measures 153" across. Take a close look Ara, 1.2° northeast of magnitude 4.7 Zeta
at this object. Do you think it looks like (ζ) Apodis, to find globular cluster NGC
a barred spiral galaxy? A thin, bright bar 6362. This fine sight glows at magnitude
traverses the planetary nebula and sur- 7.5 and spans 10.7'.
rounds its 13th-magnitude central star. Through a 4-inch telescope at 150x,
Through a 12-inch telescope at 300x, you’ll see a slight central concentration
you’ll see a nebulous arm wrapping to the surrounded by a grainy halo composed
north from the west end of the bar and of unresolved stars. A 12-inch scope at
curling around an 11th-magnitude star. 250x will reveal 25 individual stars. Two You’ll find our final object in Octans,
Then, it’s off to Centaurus for NGC magnitude-10 stars sit in the foreground. the constellation that surrounds the
5281. It’s a bright (magnitude 5.9) open You can spot the Great Peacock South Celestial Pole: Melotte 227.
cluster 3.3° southwest of Hadar (Beta (NGC 6752), one of the sky’s brightest Though its discoverer, British astrono-
Centauri). A 4-inch telescope at 100x globular clusters, with your naked eyes mer Philibert Jacques Melotte, deemed it
reveals three dozen stars in a 5'-wide from a dark site. Look for it 3.2° north- an open cluster in 1915, we now know it
area. The cluster’s brightest member east of magnitude 4.2 Lambda Pavonis. is only a random alignment of stars. To
glows at magnitude 6.6 and lies just This cluster appears big (20.4') and bright find it, look 4.8° southwest of magnitude
north of center. From that star, a curve (magnitude 5.5) for the reason you’d 3.7 Nu (ν) Octantis. Melotte 227 glows at
of six fainter ones arcs southwestward. think — it’s close. NGC 6752 lies only magnitude 5.3 and measures a worthy 50'
Our next object, open cluster NGC 13,000 light-years from Earth. in diameter. Use low power, and you’ll
6025, lies at the northern edge of Through any optics, this is a spec- spot 15 stars brighter than magnitude 10.
Triangulum Australe, right at that con- tacular sight. A 6-inch scope reveals hun- If you have a chance to lay eyes on
stellation’s border with Norma. You can dreds of stars orbiting a concentrated these objects, make the most of it. While
find it 3.1° north-northeast of Beta core. The brightest glows at magnitude familiar to residents of the global south,
Trianguli Australis. If you’re at a dark 7.4 and sits just 4' south-southwest of the for visitors, they are sights to be savored.
site, try spotting magnitude 5.1 NGC cluster’s center. Many starry chains radi-
6025 with your naked eyes. Through a ate in various directions from the center, Michael E. Bakich is a contributing editor
6-inch telescope, you’ll count roughly giving NGC 6752 its popular name. of Astronomy.
Celestron’s StarSense Guided by your smartphone,
WE these scopes are easy to use

and on target every time.
TEST BY PHIL HARRINGTON
CHOOSING A FIRST TELESCOPE take a series of wide-field sky images.

is a difficult task for a fledgling amateur Those images are instantly scanned for
astronomer. Frequently, newcomers bright, recognizable stars to calculate the
pick telescopes with computerized go-to coordinates of the image’s center and
controls, only to discover after a lot of determine where the telescope is pointed.
frustration — and expense — that the (This is called plate solving.) It works
telescope is too complicated to use right great. The StarSense Explorer telescopes
out of the box. Or, they go with a simple do the same thing, but instead use your
telescope that requires finding objects smartphone’s GPS and camera aimed at
manually using a finder scope. But in a precisely tilted, factory-set mirror.
today’s light-polluted world, that can To be clear, none of the StarSense
be a tall order — sometimes just seeing Explorer models are motorized go-to The Celestron StarSense Explorer DX 130AZ is a
basic constellations is impossible. telescopes. Instead, they are “push-to.” 5.1-inch (130 mm) f/5 Newtonian reflector ideal for
beginning observers. It comes complete with a
Celestron has tackled head-on the The observer is the motor. After select- preassembled mount and tripod, two eyepieces,
challenge of choosing equipment as a ing a target with the free Celestron and several other goodies. ALL IMAGES: CELESTRON
beginning observer with their StarSense StarSense app, the observer follows the
Explorer telescopes. This entry-level line arrows on the phone’s screen, manually Although StarSense Explorers do not
combines computerized aiming with the moving the telescope until the bull’s-eye track the sky automatically like go-tos,
familiarity of what you probably have turns green. The target is then ready to they are far simpler for beginners to use
within arms’ reach: your smartphone. view in the eyepiece. and enjoy. But are they as accurate for
The StarSense app is available for iOS finding targets? To answer that question,
Meet the StarSense and Android devices but has minimum I put the DX 130AZ to the test.
Explorers phone requirements. The iOS version
The line of StarSense Explorer telescopes works with the iPhone 6 and newer, Testing the DX 130AZ
has four models. In order of increasing while the Android version requires The scope arrived securely packaged in a
aperture, there are two refractors — the phones manufactured in 2016 or later, double-walled box. Inside was the scope
3.1-inch (80 mm) f/11 LT 80AZ and running at least Android 7.1.2, with a itself, a preassembled mount and tripod,
4-inch (102 mm) f/6.5 DX 102AZ — and built-in camera, gyro, and accelerometer. and a box of goodies: the smartphone
two reflectors — the 4.5-inch (114 mm) While the dock is flexible enough to hold dock, a pair of flexible slow-motion arms,
f/9 LT 114AZ and 5.1-inch (130 mm) larger phones like the iPhone 11 Pro Max, a red-dot finder for aiming the scope by
f/5 DX 130AZ. The LT models share a it will not secure iPad Minis or similarly eye alone, an eyepiece/accessory tray,
common altitude-azimuth mount, sized tablets. You’ll find a complete 25mm and 10mm eyepieces, and clearly
with a cellphone cradle attached list of compatible devices at written instructions.
to the telescope tube. Each DX http://celestron.com/SSE. The telescope tube attached to the
scope rides on its mount side- mount easily via a dovetail plate that locks
saddle, with your smartphone it securely into the mating side-mounted
sitting directly across the altitude base. The spring-loaded smartphone
axis from the telescope. Other scopes
dock locked into the altitude axis’ mating
Some readers may recall that we in the StarSense bayonet with a discernible click.
tested Celestron’s StarSense AutoAlign Explorer line include The dock held my iPhone
another reflector and
add-on accessory in the July 2014 issue. two refractors. securely no matter which
After it’s attached to a Celestron GoTo Shown here is the direction the mount was
3.1-inch (80 mm)
telescope, the StarSense AutoAlign tech- f/11 LT 80AZ
aimed, from horizon to
nology uses a built-in digital camera to refracting model. zenith. That’s important

Explorer The StarSense
Explorer scopes
are “push-to” mounts
that the user moves under
PRODUCT INFORMATION the direction of the Celestron
StarSense app running on a
Celestron StarSense Explorer smartphone. Snap your phone
into the secure dock, complete
DX 130AZ the on-screen instructions to
Type: Newtonian reflector align it, and you’re ready to go.
Aperture: 5.1 inches (130 millimeters)
Focal length: 650mm
Focal ratio: f/5
Focuser: single-speed rack-and-pinion Along the bottom of the screen are sev- One night, high clouds began to filter
Length: 25 inches (63.5 centimeters) eral options. Pressing the pulsating star in and thicken. Although I could still see
Weight: 18 pounds (8.2 kilograms) fully icon brings up a list of suggested targets, stars through holes in the clouds, the
assembled divided into “Tonight’s Suggested StarSense lost its ability to effectively
Price: $399.95 Objects” and “Tonight’s Challenge plate solve the scope’s aim. It returned to
Contact: Celestron Objects.” Each gives a little capsule full functionality without hesitation
2835 Columbia St. summary, including whether it is “City whenever breaks in the clouds allowed.
Torrance, CA 90503 Viewable” or “Dark Sky Viewable.” The Whenever the app is opened, it gives
310.328.9560 list is limited to the Messier catalog and the option to either start immediately,
www.celestron.com other relatively bright deep-sky objects, assuming the phone and dock are still
as well as prominent stars, double and aligned from the previous session, or to
binary star systems, asterisms, and, of realign the pair. I found it best to do the
because the phone’s aim is critical. The course, the Moon and planets. The latter each time. Typically, when I
dock’s secure locking system prevents it choices are designed to match realistic removed the phone, the cradle slipped a
from shifting during use, but the phone’s expectations for the scope’s aperture. little, since there is no way of locking the
aim toward the dock’s tilted mirror needs I put aiming accuracy to the test right dock itself in position.
to be calibrated after initial set-up. The away by swinging from the Moon, far to
StarSense app offers easy-to-follow the south at the time, toward Albireo, the An impressive package
instructions to do this quickly by turning beautiful bicolored double star halfway Optically, the 130AZ Newtonian scope
the dock’s fine-thread adjustment screws. across the sky in Cygnus. After I selected produced very good results. Images were
The on-screen instructions recom- it from “Tonight’s Suggested Objects,” clear and sharp, allowing me to spot
mend doing the alignment during the directional arrows appeared, showing the every target I tried — even the “challenge
day on a distant terrestrial target, but way. Grabbing the mirror-end of the objects” — from my suburban backyard.
I opted for the Moon instead. First, I tube, I pivoted the scope’s aim. Sure The tube assembly was accurately col-
attached the red-dot finder to its mount- enough, after the bull’s-eye on the screen limated out of the box, a saving grace
ing shoe and then swung the telescope changed from red to green, signaling for first timers. Both the center-spotted
the Moon’s way. As luck would have it, acquisition, I peered into the 25mm primary and secondary mirrors can be
the finder and the scope were in align- eyepiece and saw Albireo perfectly cen- collimated by the user, if needed.
ment from the factory. Continuing tered. I was impressed. Pausing for a I came away really impressed with the
through the app’s instructions, I zoomed moment, I selected the “Celestron Audio” StarSense Explorer 130AZ. Images were
in on the Moon’s image on my phone’s feature and listened to a short description very good and the push-to accuracy was
screen and turned the dock’s adjustment of what I had in view. The screen also always spot on. I had expected it would
screws until the image was centered. displayed information about Albireo, get the scope close to a target but require
The Moon was nicely displayed in including hints on how to best observe it. some hunting to actually center it in view.
both eyepieces and would surely impress Each successive target was also within But no — of the dozens of objects I exam-
first-time observers. As you grow more the 25mm’s field of view. Be aware the ined, each was within the low-power field
seasoned, however, I would recommend StarSense may need a moment to catch up every time. That leads me to wonder if
new eyepieces. The 130’s focuser accepts if you move the telescope too quickly. A Celestron might offer a StarSense dock
2-inch barrels, but high-quality 1.25-inch pop-up note will appear at the top of the that could be retrofitted onto existing
Plössls would be ideal. app’s screen advising you that it needs to scopes. I’d certainly buy one.
With the scope and phone aligned, I resync its aim. So, pause and wait for the
was ready to explore with the Explorer. crosshairs to turn either yellow, meaning Phil Harrington is a contributing editor
The app shows the sky, complete with that you’re close to the selected object, or of Astronomy with extensive observing
constellation names and line drawings. green, which means you’re there. experience using telescopes and binoculars.
BINOCULAR UNIVERSE
Getting a equally spaced line of four that slides southeastward

towards our next target. Tuck Mizar into the northwest
handle on it
corner of the field. Then, without shifting your binocu-
lars’ aim, let your eyes zig from Mizar along that line,
then zag 1.5° east of its last star. That should put you
almost square on the Pinwheel Galaxy (M101).
Tour the sky around Ursa Major. Images of M101 show a grand design face-on spiral,
with magnificent arms wrapped around a brilliant
nucleus. Remember those images as you strain to see
even the faintest hint of its existence. The contrast
between M101 and the surrounding sky is so slight that
distinguishing its feeble glow is challenging. Even
Charles Messier described it as “very obscure and pretty
large.” You’ll stand the best chance by bracing your
binoculars against a steady support. If you are convinced
your aim is correct but still do not see it even with
averted vision, try jiggling the binoculars ever so slightly.
This technique often reveals an uncooperative object.
If M101 is a little too challenging, try your luck with
the Whirlpool Galaxy (M51). To find it, shift your view
to Alkaid (Eta [η] Ursae Majoris) at the end of the
Dipper’s handle. I find M51 by placing Alkaid along the
northeastern edge of the field and then glancing from
it to 4th-magnitude 24 Canum Venaticorum, 2° to its
west. From there, I shift my gaze an equal distance to
the latter star’s southwest, to a rectangle of fainter stars.
The Pinwheel Galaxy M51 is inside that rectangle, next to the star at the
(M101) has Undoubtedly, one of the first patterns in the northeastern corner.
magnificent spiral
arms and about
sky that you and I learned as we got into My 10x50 binoculars show M51 as a round, dim glow.
twice the number stargazing was the Big Dipper. Its seven stars But don’t just grab a quick glance and move on. Again,
of stars as the Milky form a distinctive shape that catches the eye of anyone brace your binoculars on a tripod or some other support
Way. JARED BOWENS
living in the Northern Hemisphere. and make a long, slow study of the galaxy. Can you see
May brings the Dipper high in our early evening sky, that M51 is a little lopsided, with a lump protruding on
so let’s take this opportunity to become acquainted with its north side? If so, you’ve just seen something through
some binocular treasures that lie nearby. your binoculars that Charles Messier himself
We’ll begin with the middle star in the missed. That’s M51’s companion galaxy, NGC
Dipper’s handle, Mizar (Zeta [ζ] Ursae Majoris). May brings 5195. It glows weakly at about 10th magnitude.
Shining at 2nd magnitude, Mizar is a white-hot Finally, for double-star fans, let’s swing 5°,
spectral type A star lying about 83 light-years
the Big or about one binocular field, northeast of
away. Dipper Alkaid, across the border to Boötes. There,
Even without binoculars, you might be able high in our you will find a triangle of stars formed by
to see that it has a friend: a 4th-magnitude point early Kappa (κ), Iota (ι) and Theta (θ) Boötis. Iota,
to its northeast. That’s Alcor (80 Ursae evening the southernmost of the three, pairs a
Majoris), also a type A star. They appear 5th-magnitude spectral type A white main
separated by about 12', within range of naked-
sky. sequence star with an 8th-magnitude type K
eye resolution if light pollution permits. Modest orange companion lying 38" to the northeast.
pocket binoculars will show them easily. That’s tight, but still resolvable through 7x
Alcor and Mizar may well have been your first double binoculars. Higher magnifications will have little
star; they were mine. Though there’s still some debate trouble cleaving the pair.
on whether these two stars constitute a real binary or Questions, comments, suggestions? Contact me
BY PHIL
simply a visual binary, you can certainly enjoy the view through my website, philharrington.net. Until next
HARRINGTON
Phil is a longtime either through binoculars or, if you’re lucky enough, time, remember that two eyes are better than one.
contributor to with your eyes.
Astronomy and the Notice the 6th-magnitude star 1.5° east of Mizar; this BROWSE THE “BINOCULAR UNIVERSE” ARCHIVE AT
author of many books. star, along with three other similar stars, forms an www.Astronomy.com/Harrington

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OBSERVING BASICS
Observing from my little scope in place, and aim it towards the Moon or
a bright planet.
your backyard
As primitive as it was, this makeshift observatory
worked for me. I might not have been able to spot the
Moon’s Straight Wall, festoons in Jupiter’s cloud belts, or
the Cassini division in Saturn’s rings, but I was able to
Equipment is important. Easy access is key. behold the Moon’s cratered surface, watch the night-by-
night dance of Jupiter’s four Galilean moons, and admire
If you’re an avid backyard Saturn’s fabled rings. As basic as they were, these
astronomer and own a enthralling sights still managed to launch my lifelong
scope, I have a question for interest in astronomy.
you: What’s your home setup like? A majority of amateur astronomers are in a situation
Let’s say that you’re fortunate where a permanent observatory isn’t practical or neces-
enough to live where 6th- or 7th- sary. My observatories are select locations on our prop-
magnitude stars are visible on a clear, erty, whether on the lawn or the driveway. In any case,
moonless night, and your horizon is your chosen site needs to afford an open view of the sky,
wide open in all directions. You own be isolated from nearby lights, and avoid overlooking the
a large, fancy, computer-controlled heated roof of a neighbor’s house, which makes the air
telescope, as well as all the necessary above it more turbulent. I’ve always preferred setting up
accessories to capture astroimages my telescopes on the lawn instead of the driveway, as I
worthy of Astronomy’s Reader feel driveways radiate heat much like neighboring roof-
Gallery section. For you, having tops. However, a number of my astronomer friends com-
some kind of permanent structure is monly observe from their driveways. It works, they say,
a necessity — unless you don’t mind if you wait long enough after sunset for the pavement to
wasting precious time lugging your cool down.
Sometimes the best telescope and equipment outside Wintertime in northerly latitudes poses another prob-
observing site is right
in your backyard. each clear evening. It’s impossible to provide detailed lem for backyard astronomers attempting to set up
Here, the author’s instructions for constructing your own backyard obser- impromptu observing sites — snow! It’s hard to move a
scope is set up in the vatory in a single column, but if your gear is that sophis- telescope from place to place when it means trudging
center of a network
of paths shoveled in ticated, it’s worth browsing the internet for a few through a foot or two of snow. In my younger days, I’d
the snow. This makes observatory ideas that suit your personal needs. select several key spots that would allow me to view as
it exceptionally easy What about the rest of us, though — much of the sky as possible. At each, I would
to both access stored
equipment and take yours truly included? We have observatories, shovel a 6- to 8-foot square, and then inter-
quick breaks to warm too; they’re just not as sophisticated as “An open connect the individual sites with a number
up in the house.
GLENN CHAPLE
custom-built structures. In the most basic window for an of paths. Two more shoveled corridors
sense, an observatory is nothing more than allowed access to both the back door of my
where you place your scope for an evening
observatory?!” house and the shed where I store my scope.
of skygazing, whether it’s a clear space in purists will Nowadays, an aging back means I can only
your yard or a spot near an open window. shriek. select one or two primo squares to carve out.
“An open window for an observatory?!” The big advantage to having some kind
purists will shriek. In the Edmund Scientific of observatory on your property — whether
publication All About Telescopes (I can picture you old- mobile or established — is convenience. It’s much easier
timers smiling with fond memories of that 1960s classic), to take a short walk to your telescope than it is to pack
author Sam Brown noted that window-gazing is some- everything in your car and drive off to a remote observ-
thing to avoid. For the most part, he was right. Not only ing site (especially if you discover that you left your
will you have to deal with turbulence caused by different eyepieces at home). But what happens when conditions
indoor and outdoor air temperatures, but you’ll also be where you live — overwhelming light pollution, a totally
limited to a small area of sky. obstructed horizon, or unfortunate latitudinal location
That said, during my earliest telescopic adventures, I — make backyard skygazing impractical? Stay tuned!
BY GLENN CHAPLE eschewed this advice. While in high school, I bought a Questions, comments, or suggestions? Email me at
Glenn has been an
second-hand telescope: a 40mm tabletop refractor with gchaple@hotmail.com. Next month: Choosing a remote
avid observer since
a friend showed magnifications varying from 15-60x. It was essentially observing site. Clear skies!
him Saturn through junk by any standard. But on summer nights, when
a small backyard indoor and outdoor temperatures had equalized, I would BROWSE THE “OBSERVING BASICS” ARCHIVE
scope in 1963. slide an end table up to my open bedroom window, put AT www.Astronomy.com/Chaple

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ASK ASTRO Astronomy’s experts from around the globe answer your cosmic questions.
AI Star clusters are held together by a combination

of their own gravity and the gravity of the gas
out of which they form. At the end of the star-formation
process, the gas is dispersed and the gravity of the stars
alone usually isn’t enough to hold the cluster together
any longer. So, only a small minority of clusters manage
to survive the dispersal of their parent gas cloud. Some
of these are later pulled apart by the tidal forces exerted
by other nearby clouds. For others, over a very long
time, individual stars are cast out from the cluster due
to random close encounters between the stars. And all
of these processes are a one-way street: Once stars leave
a cluster, they are moving too fast to be recaptured.
Every kind of star cluster experiences these processes
to some degree, but not equally. Globular clusters, for
example, are massive old clusters that form differently
than smaller, younger open clusters. In globular clus-
ters, random encounters between stars have removed
only a tiny fraction of their population over age of the
universe. Small open clusters, like the Sun’s parent
cluster, are much more vulnerable.
We still can’t say exactly which process was respon-
sible for dissolving the Sun’s parent cluster, or even
exactly where in the galaxy the cluster formed. The Sun
is 4.6 billion years old. Over that time, the galactic disk
has completed more than 20 rotations, so the Sun and
the stars with which it was born have had lots of time
to wander around and disperse. However, astronomers
are hunting for siblings of our star by looking for chemi-
cal compositions that match our Sun — almost like a
stellar fingerprint. They made the first discovery of a
solar sibling, HD 162826, in 2014 and a likely second
sibling, HD 186302, in 2018. There’s likely to be a few
thousand more siblings hidden throughout the
Milky Way — it’s just a matter of tracking them down.
Mark Krumholz
Astrophysicist, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
The hunt for QI

At the core of NGC
6357 sits the open IF YOU WERE ON VENUS AND
cluster Pismis 24. Our LOOKING AT EARTH, WHAT
own Sun was born
within such a cluster FEATURES WOULD YOU BE ABLE TO SEE
solar siblings
4.6 billion years ago.
Since then, it and its
WITH OUR MODERN-DAY TELESCOPES
stellar siblings have (PROFESSIONAL AND AMATEUR)?
dispersed throughout Jeff Hemperly
the galaxy, but Massillon, Ohio
QI AI
astronomers are keen
to hunt those siblings WHAT HAPPENED TO THE SUN’S The best time for a venusian astronomer to look
down. NASA, ESA AND JESÚS ORIGINAL STAR CLUSTER? IS at Earth would be when our planet is opposite
IT POSSIBLE FOR NEW CLUSTERS TO
MAÍZ APELLÁNIZ (INSTITUTO DE
ASTROFÍSICA DE ANDALUCÍA,
the Sun as seen from Venus, which last occurred in June
SPAIN). ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:
FORM FROM RANDOM STARS BEING 2020. This is called opposition. Amateur astronomers
DAVIDE DE MARTIN (ESA/HUBBLE)
GRAVITATIONALLY ATTRACTED TO may remember the nice views we had of Mars’ surface
features in October 2020, when the Red Planet was at
EACH OTHER?
Cristine Mincheff opposition. For any hypothetical observers on Venus,
Ames, Iowa Earth at opposition would appear almost three times

CELESTIAL
TIDAL BULGES
as large as Mars did from Earth, creating even better
Low tide
views. From Venus, even small amateur telescopes
would have been able to easily distinguish continents,
oceans, polar ice caps, and shapes of large land masses
Direction of
like Greenland and Australia. Larger telescopes could Moon’s motion
see even more detail.
Of course, that’s assuming that these telescopes aren’t High tide Earth High tide Moon
enveloped in Venus’ thick atmosphere. Not only would
it block their view of the sky, its crushing pressure would
also destroy any telescopes. So instead of being on the
surface of Venus, let’s say that the telescopes are in orbit. Direction of
Earth’s rotation
If the Hubble Space Telescope was orbiting Venus, venu-
Low tide
sian astronomers would be able to distinguish the
Big Island of Hawaii very easily.
Now let’s say there are amateur space telescopes
above the atmosphere at Venus. A 4-inch space tele-
scope would only distinguish features on Earth much
larger than Hawaii, and even an 8-inch space telescope
would not quite make out the Big Island. A 24-inch
space telescope, on the other hand, would see Hawaii
AI
The Moon’s gravity
as a nice dot. All of them would see gorgeous views of The ice giants are migrating very little, and pulls the ocean
Earth’s larger features. But although these telescopes any migration that they undergo is certainly closest to it slightly
are above the clouds of Venus, they would still have to not for the same reason that Earth’s Moon is moving farther out than the
rest of Earth. On the
contend with the clouds on Earth blocking those views, away from us. Many factors affect orbits of large bodies, opposite side of the
just as when we try to look at Venus from Earth. which are actively fluctuating, if slightly. But two key planet, the ocean
Kelly Fast factors are tidal interactions and the distance between feels less gravitational
force and bulges
Near-Earth Object Observations Program Manager, the two bodies. outward as the rest of
Planetary Defense Coordination Office, NASA Headquarters, Earth’s gravity keeps the Moon in orbit around us Earth is pulled toward
Washington, D.C. the Moon. ASTRONOMY:
and the Moon in turn causes the oceans’ tides. The side
QI
ROEN KELLY
of Earth that faces the Moon feels a bit more gravity,
ARE THE ICE GIANTS (OR ANY while the side facing away feels less, creating a slightly
SOLAR SYSTEM PLANETS) STILL oblong Earth. Called tidal bulges, these oblong areas
MIGRATING IN THEIR ORBITS, THE can occur on solid ground, but are most noticeable in
WAY THE MOON ORBITS EARTH FROM the ocean. Earth’s rotation means that the tidal bulge
SLIGHTLY FARTHER AWAY EACH YEAR? facing the Moon will always be just ahead of the Moon,
Glen Hicks pulling our natural satellite forward. This gives the
Monument, Colorado Moon a gravitational boost, pushing it farther away.
But the Moon is only 60 Earth radii from us, whereas
Uranus is 4,000 or so solar radii from the Sun. So, the
tidal influence of the Sun on Uranus’ orbit is smaller by
around 16 orders of magnitude (that’s a factor of 1016).
The effect for Earth or even Mercury is much larger but
still negligible. It is likely, however, that Mercury’s and
Venus’ spins experienced some tidal influence, slowing
their rotation somewhat since they were first formed.
David Stevenson
Professor of Planetary Science, Caltech, Pasadena, California
SEND US YOUR QUESTIONS

Send your astronomy questions via email to
This view of Earth and the Moon was captured from Mars by
askastro@astronomy.com, or write to Ask Astro,
NASA’s Reconnaissance Orbiter. Venus is about two times
farther from our planet than Mars is, but hypothetical venusian P.O. Box 1612, Waukesha, WI 53187. Be sure to tell us
astronomers would still be able to see our planet’s continents, your full name and where you live. Unfortunately,
oceans, and polar ice caps. NASA/JPL-CALTECH/UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA we cannot answer all questions submitted.
READER GALLERY
Cosmic portraits
1. CLOSE ENCOUNTER
Conjunctions of Jupiter and
Saturn — known as “great
conjunctions” — occur
about every 20 years. As
the timing of the most
recent such event coincided
with 2020’s winter solstice,
it also received the popular
moniker “Christmas star.”
This composite of the two
planets and their moons
was taken from Mazatlán,
Mexico, on the evening
of Dec. 21, 2020, with
the planets near their
minimum separation of 6'.
• René Saade
2. RARIFIED AIR
Jupiter and Saturn blazed
above the Alborz Mountains
north of Tehran, Iran, on
Dec. 21, 2020. This exposure
was 2.5 seconds and taken
with a star cross filter.
• Amirreza Kamkar
3. MAKING MEMORIES
A young astronomer views
Jupiter and Saturn’s
conjunction over the
Atlantic Ocean from
Chatham, Massachusetts,
on Cape Cod. The
half-second exposure was
taken with an iPhone 11
2 Pro on Dec. 22, 2020.
• Chris Cook
3
4. ROSES ARE BLUE
The Rosette Nebula is a
gorgeous cloud of ionized
gas in Monoceros that
surrounds the open cluster
NGC 2244 and glows
at magnitude 9.0. This
image was captured over
90 exposures totaling
75 minutes, with filters
similar to the ones used
by the Hubble Space
Telescope. • Andrew Alvey
5. WARM GLOW
The Moon joins Jupiter and
Saturn in this scene from
Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on the
evening of Dec. 16, 2020.
The image is a five-second
exposure at f/9 and ISO 250.
• Gregg Alliss
6. IMPERIAL REACH
“The more you tighten your
grip, Trajan, the more
planets will slip through
your fingers”: This statue of
the Roman emperor Trajan
appears to hold Jupiter and
Saturn in his hand as they
neared conjunction on
4 Dec. 13, 2020, over the
Italian port of Civitavecchia.
• Marco Meniero
5 6
READER GALLERY
7. GOT FISH?
The Dolphin Nebula
(Sharpless 2–308) is the
wind-blown bubble of a
central, massive Wolf-Rayet
star, the bright blue star in
the lower-center of the
frame. The photographer
combined 36 hours of
exposure time using
a 14-inch scope.
• Fred Hermann
8. BUBBLING CAVES
This five-image narrowband
mosaic spans over 4º and
reveals a vast region of
nebulosity in Cassiopeia
and Cepheus. The gaping
maw of the Cave Nebula
is the large feature in the
lower left quadrant; to its
upper left lies the Bubble
Nebula and, at the side of
the frame, the open cluster
M52. • Alistair Symon
7 9
9. TOUCHING TADPOLES
The emerald-green Comet
C/2020 M3 (ATLAS) passed
through the constellation
Auriga and nearly grazed
the Tadpoles Nebula (IC 410)
in the lower left of this
image from Dec. 10, 2020.
The Flaming Star Nebula
(IC 405) is the comma-
shaped emission and
reflection nebula just right
of center. • Terry Hancock/
Tom Masterson/Grand
Mesa Observatory
10. IN A HURRY
NGC 3981 is a spiral galaxy
in the constellation Crater
that shines at magnitude
11.8. Though its arms look
as if they’re trailing in the
breeze, they consist of stars
that were ripped outward by
past collisions with other
galaxies. • Adam Block/
Telescope Live

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.
10
BREAKTHROUGH
A STUNNING PRIDE OF GALAXIES

While British astronomer Ralph Copeland was scouring northeastern Leo the Lion in April 1874, he stumbled upon a compact
group of seven indistinct objects. In the nearly 150 years since, astronomers have learned that Copeland’s Septet is a group
of eight interacting galaxies (one was too faint for Copeland to see) residing 400 million light-years from Earth. The brightest
member, spiral galaxy NGC 3753, lies just left of center and features a warped disk as well as a long stream of stars that its
neighbors have torn from it. Scientists took this portrait with the 4-meter Victor M. Blanco Telescope on Cerro Tololo in Chile
as part of the DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys, which captured more than 1 billion galaxies across half the sky.
DESI LEGACY IMAGING SURVEYS/LBNL/DOE & KPNO/CTIO/NOIRLAB/NSF/AURA

Learn more at celestron.com/RASA
B&H Photo – 800.947.9970 – bhphotovideo.com Woodland Hills – 888.427.8766 – telescopes.net

High Point Scientific – 800.266.9590 – highpointscientific.com Adorama – 800.223.2500 – adorama.com
Optics Planet – 800.504.5897 – opticsplanet.com Focus Camera – 800.221.0828 – focuscamera.com
Astronomics – 800.422.7876 – astronomics.com Agena AstroProducts – 562.215.4473 – agenaastro.com
OPT Telescopes – 800.483.6287 – optcorp.com
SOUTHERN SKY BY MARTIN GEORGE
July 2021
Venus and Mars come together
Anyone who enjoys Mars displays a featureless disk Saturn, Jupiter is sliding west- The constellation has noth-
watching the planets just 4" in diameter. ward relative to the background ing to do with playing cards by
in motion is in for a treat this Following their conjunction, stars. It will reach opposition in oneself. The solitaire is a bird,
month. The evening stage fea- the two planets continue the latter half of August. and the obsolete constellation
tures a dramatic conjunction marching eastward across Leo. A telescope reveals a distinct owes its existence to French
between the two worlds — Venus moves faster because it flattening to Jupiter’s disk. In astronomer Pierre Le Monnier
Venus and Mars — whose orbits closer to the Sun. The mid-July, the equator spans (1715–1799). Writing in 1776,
orbits lie closest to Earth’s. inner world passes 1.2° north 46.95", 3.05" more than the Le Monnier said he introduced
But July’s night sky offers of 1st-magnitude Regulus, the polar diameter. The planet’s the constellation in memory of
much more for both naked-eye Lion’s brightest star, on July 21. rapid spin and gaseous nature Alexandre Pingré’s (1711–1796)
observers and telescope owners, Mars slides 0.7° north of the causes this equatorial bulge. voyage to the island of
so let’s get started. same star on the 29th. Also look for a series of alter- Rodrigues to observe the tran-
The first object to emerge If you were disappointed in nating bright zones and darker sit of Venus.
during evening twilight is bril- the views of Venus and Mars belts that runs parallel to the Strangely, Le Monnier
liant Venus. The planet shines through your telescope, just gas giant’s equator. Jupiter’s four described the bird as being
at magnitude –3.9 throughout wait until Jupiter and Saturn bright moons provide an added from the “Indies and the
July and appears like a beacon appear later in the evening. treat as their relative positions Philippines” — the solitaire
in the northwest as darkness Saturn rises first, poking above change from night to night and from the family Turdidae —
falls. It grows even more con- the eastern horizon around even from hour to hour. while Rodrigues is a volcanic
spicuous as the month pro- 8 p.m. local time in early July July’s final naked-eye planet island in the Indian Ocean. It’s
gresses because it gains and during twilight late in the appears in morning twilight an entirely different bird from
altitude. Venus stands 10° high month. The ringed planet during early July. Mercury the Rodrigues solitaire!
an hour after sundown July 1; shines at magnitude 0.2 against reaches greatest elongation on Le Monnier’s bird appears
its elevation nearly doubles by the dim backdrop of north- the 4th, when it lies 22° west of upside down to us, perched on
month’s end. central Capricornus. Saturn the Sun and stands 10° high in Hydra’s tail east of the 3rd-
As Venus moves away from moves slowly westward relative the east-northeast 45 minutes magnitude star Pi (π) Hydrae.
the Sun, it takes dead aim on to this starry background as it before sunrise. Shining at mag- The star we now call Sigma (σ)
Mars. The two planets begin approaches opposition and nitude 0.5, the planet makes a Librae marked the bird’s chest,
July 7° apart, but the gap nar- peak visibility in early August. fine sight some 10° to the lower and a short line of three 5th-
rows by about 0.5° each day. Don’t pass up any opportu- right of Aldebaran in Taurus and 6th-magnitude stars a few
They are destined for a close nity to target Saturn through a and 15° to the left of Betelgeuse degrees west and a bit south of
conjunction on the 13th, when telescope. Even the smallest in Orion. A telescope shows Alpha [α] Lib marked its tail.
just 0.5° — the apparent diam- instrument reveals the planet’s Mercury’s disk, which mea- See if you can spot them
eter of the Full Moon — sepa- disk, which measures 18.5" sures 8" across and appears in binoculars.
rates them. Ruddy Mars glows across the equator in mid-July, about one-third lit. Le Monnier was an accom-
at magnitude 1.8 to Venus’ encircled by a spectacular ring plished astronomer. Had he
upper left. A lovely crescent system that spans 42.0" and tips The starry sky been more methodical in some
Moon adds to the scene some 18° to our line of sight. I find it fascinating to look at of his observations, he might
10° to the pair’s upper right. Jupiter rises about 90 min- old star charts and discover have discovered Uranus. After
A telescope at low power utes after Saturn along with the constellations that no longer William Herschel (1738–1822)
shows both planets in the same stars of its host constellation, exist. Although many of these discovered the seventh planet, a
field of view. Unfortunately, Aquarius the Water-bearer. At star patterns lie in the northern search for earlier observations
neither world looks impressive magnitude –2.7, the giant planet sky, one intriguing southern showed that Le Monnier had
even at higher magnifications. shines nearly 15 times brighter specimen — Turdus Solitarius recorded the planet many times
Venus appears 12" across and than Saturn and dominates the the Solitaire — passes nearly without recognizing it for what
87 percent illuminated while night sky once Venus sets. Like overhead early on July evenings. it was.
STAR DOME
S
LMC NGC 2
070
SMC
H Y DRU S
HOW TO USE THIS MAP
CA VO
LA
R NG NS MENSA
C 2 I NA
This map portrays the sky as seen 516 NG C
104
near 30° south latitude. Located
inside the border are the cardinal
SW
S
O C TA N
directions and their intermediate SCP
points. To find stars, hold the map
overhead and orient it so one of
the labels matches the direction
V
EL
you’re facing. The stars above C HA M
A
PY
AELE
the map’s horizon now match
ON
VO
XI
3 PA
what’s in the sky. NG372
S
C AU S T R A L E
T R IA N G U LU M
The all-sky map shows CR NG
A
UX C4
how the sky looks at:
NT
7 55
L
M
IA
U
9 P.M. July 1
PI
97
63
O
8 P.M. July 15
5
NG 139 C
CIRCINUS NG
7 P.M. July 31 C
Alphar
A MA
CE
Planets are shown AR NOR
NT
HYDR
at midmonth
NG
AU
d
C5
R
NG231
1 28
US
A
S
C
6
IU
US
P
P
OR
MAP SYMBOLS
C O RV U S
LU
M8 3
M6
S E X TA N S
SC
Antares
C R AT E R
Open cluster
W
M4
Globular cluster
Diffuse nebula
M104
Spi
Planetary nebula
ca
Galaxy
u n (ecliptic) LIBRA
Path of the S
V
IR
G
H
O
STAR M5
IU
C
PH
MAGNITUDES O
M6
M6
Sirius
6
NS
5
De
SERPE
LE
0.0 3.0
ne
U T
Arc CAP
O
bo
1.0 4.0 tur

la
us
M
2.0 5.0 64
C NG
P
BE OM
R A
STAR COLORS EN
IC
A star’s color depends ES C O R O NA
N
BO ÖTE BOREALIS
on its surface temperature. S
W
•• The hottest stars shine blue M1 3
•
Slightly cooler stars appear white CA
VE NES
•
Intermediate stars (like the Sun) glow yellow NA C ULE
TI HER
•
Lower-temperature stars appear orange CI
M51
The coolest stars glow red
• Fainter stars can’t excite our eyes’ color
receptors, so they appear white unless you
use optical aid to gather more light
N
BEGINNERS: WATCH A VIDEO ABOUT HOW TO READ A STAR CHART AT
www.Astronomy.com/starchart.
JULY 2021
SUN. MON. TUES. WED. THURS. FRI. SAT.
1 2 3
NA A
UC T
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
SE
S
U
R
G
ILLUSTRATIONS BY ASTRONOMY: ROEN KELLY

11 12 13 14 15 16 17
S
U
D
18 19 20 21 22 23 24
M
IN
IU P
CO S
RO
25 26 27 28 29 30 31
C
E L NA L I S
MI
Note: Moon phases in the calendar vary in size due to the distance
RO RA
from Earth and are shown at 0h Universal Time.

ST
S
NU
ES
AU
IUS
O
rn
C
T
ICO
AR
S a tu
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
T
R
GIT
AP C
1 Last Quarter Moon occurs at 21h11m UT

SA
M7
4 The Moon passes 2° south of Uranus, 15h UT

M8
Mercury is at greatest western elongation (22°), 20h UT

E
M2 2
5 The Moon is at apogee (405,341 kilometers from Earth), 14h47m UT

UM
M20
M17
Earth is at aphelion (152.1 million miles from the Sun), 22h UT

SCUT
8 The Moon passes 4° north of Mercury, 5h UT

ILA
M11
M1 6
10 New Moon occurs at 1h17m UT

AQU
12 The Moon passes 3° north of Venus, 9h UT

S
INU
S
H
U The Moon passes 4° north of Mars, 10h UT
UD NS
PH
ir
CA RPE
Alta
13 Mars is at aphelion (249.2 million miles from the Sun), 0h UT

A
DEL
SE
Venus passes 0.5° north of Mars, 7h UT

A
TT
17 First Quarter Moon occurs at 10h11m UT

GI
SA
Asteroid Hebe is at opposition, 11h UT

Pluto is at opposition, 23h UT
18 Asteroid Pallas is stationary, 20h UT
LA
U
EC
21 The Moon is at perigee (364,520 kilometers from Earth), 10h24m UT

LP
U
Venus passes 1.2° north of Regulus, 19h UT

V
RA 24 Full Moon occurs at 2h37m UT

N
LY
The Moon passes 4° south of Saturn, 17h UT
ga 26 The Moon passes 4° south of Jupiter, 1h UT
ES Ve
27 The Moon passes 4° south of Neptune, 18h UT
29 Mars passes 0.7° north of Regulus, 16h UT
30 Southern Delta Aquariid meteor shower peaks
Asteroid Victoria is at opposition, 13h UT
31 Last Quarter Moon occurs at 13h16m UT

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HOW TO VIEW THIS MONTH’S LUNAR ECLIPSE p.

The world’s best-selling astronomy magazine

See Apollo 14 in 3D p. 40 ONLINE

This all-new and up-to-date globe offers:

• Images from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter

• 1,473 lunar features including 20 of the top Apollo

• Custom-produced, injection-molded globe with a

Don’t miss out on the extensive assortment of exclusive

The best $299

M16 Eagle Nebula

4 ASTRONOMY • MAY 2021

In this month’s story on Breakthrough Starshot, Associate Editor CONTACT US

For reprints, licensing, and permissions:

NEAF April 10th

6 ASTRONOMY • MAY 2021

SUCCESS! NASA safely lands

CAUGHT ON CAMERA. Perseverance’s descent cameras captured its thrilling landing

8 ASTRONOMY • MAY 2021

Astronomers find the youngest,

10 ASTRONOMY • MAY 2021

Busy 2021 at Mars

NASA, ESA, STSCI, AND J. BANOVETZ AND D. MILISAVLJEVIC (PURDUE UNIVERSITY)

impacts on our science community

Moon golf shot determine its age: 1,700

Smyth tells us Veronica’s Veil is between the celestial

14 ASTRONOMY • MAY 2021

middle, like a swarm of bees.”

tion was due to his recent interstellar mission that

eye-catching paper would use lightsails to

Loeb first pondered spacecraft equipped with

interstellar interloper was laser light, propelling it

16 ASTRONOMY • MAY 2021

Mercury Venus Earth Mars

Small and swift

Visiting Proxima Centauri precipice of literally reaching out and

20 ASTRONOMY • MAY 2021

lightsails to venture to other stars.

have to pack everything it needs for a

22 ASTRONOMY • MAY 2021

In the likely best-case scenario, of pressing events that have unfolded

Apollo 14 lifts off from

24 ASTRONOMY • MAY 2021

26 ASTRONOMY • MAY 2021

28 ASTRONOMY • MAY 2021

0 100 200 meters

30 ASTRONOMY • MAY 2021

BELOW: Later, the astronauts went over to collect

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

Through a telescope, Mercury's

Moon turns red

Planetary action is below the Pleiades (M45) star

32 ASTRONOMY • MAY 2021

that is 35 percent lit. A mere 100 years ago, it would have

1.0 4.0 LI Spica

ILLUSTRATIONS BY ASTRONOMY: ROEN KELLY

from Earth and are shown at 0h Universal Time.

3 The Moon passes 4° south of Saturn, 1 P.M. EDT

Last Quarter Moon occurs at 3:50 P.M. EDT

4 The Moon passes 5° south of Jupiter, 5 P.M. EDT