MUST SEE! The year’s best meteor shower p.

32
JULY 2018

The world’s best-selling astronomy magazine

NEW RESEARCH

BLACK
HOLES
HOW THEY EXPAND
Einstein’s
theories p. 20

EXPLORING
moons and planets
with submarines p. 44

DISCOVER
deep-sky gems www.Astronomy.com
in Cygnus p. 54
BONUS
Vol. 46

ONLINE
•

CONTENT
Issue 7

BOB BERMAN on the Super Moon p. 12

TESTED: Sigma’s new 20mm lens p. 60 CODE p. 4
 ARE YOU READY FOR
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 Our Night Sky
Taught by Professor Edward M. Murphy
UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
LECTURE TITLES
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JULY 2018
VOL. 46, NO. 7

ASTRONOMY: ROEN KELLY

ON THE COVER
Decades of simulations suggest
this is what gas and dust look like
spiraling around a black hole. We
could soon see the real thing.

CONTENTS
FEATURES
32 COLUMNS
Strange Universe 12
BOB BERMAN

For Your Consideration 16

20 COVER STORY 38 60 JEFF HESTER
Relativity: Right or StarDome and We test Sigma’s
wrong? Path of the Planets 20mm lens Observing Basics 18
GLENN CHAPLE
Einstein’s relativity replaced RICHARD TALCOTT; his wide-angle lens will let
Newton’s gravity. Now ILLUSTRATIONS BY ROEN KELLY you produce high-quality shots Secret Sky 64
observations of black holes with just a camera and tripod. STEPHEN JAMES O’MEARA
might test the limits of Albert’s 44 JONATHAN TALBOT
masterpiece. JESSE EMSPAK Binocular Universe 66
Voyage to the bottom PHIL HARRINGTON
of an alien sea 68
32 he next step in space Ask Astro
Party with the Perseids exploration may be replacing Big stars.
QUANTUM GRAVITY
his meteor shower is the rovers with underwater robots. Snapshot 9
most famous, and in 2018 it MICHAEL CARROLL Astro News 10
will again be one of amateur
astronomy’s great social events. 54
MICHAEL E. BAKICH IN EVERY ISSUE
Observe deep-sky gems From the Editor 6
36 in Cygnus
Dazzling double stars, open Astro Letters 8
Sky This Month clusters, nebulae, and even New Products 62
he Red Planet’s revival. a galaxy will highlight your Advertiser Index 67
MARTIN RATCLIFFE AND summer of viewing the night
ALISTER LING sky. STEPHEN JAMES O’MEARA 54 Reader Gallery 70
Breakthrough 74

ONLINE Astronomy (ISSN 0091-6358, USPS 531-350)

is published monthly by Kalmbach Media

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FROM THE EDITOR
BY DAV I D J. E I C H E R
D
id you know that if
Earth were squeezed
down into the size
of a grape, it would
become a black hole?
It’s true. Once thought to be
merely hypothetical, or rare,
black holes are now believed
to exist in the universe in the how new research on black
trillions. In fact, most every
normal galaxy — those more of Einstein’s theories.
massive than dwarfs — har-
bors a black hole in its cen-
ter, our Milky Way included. dox, don’t forget some other
One of the more
intriguing concepts
associated with black
holes is the so-called
information paradox.
When we combine
two tenets of physics
— quantum mechan-
ics and general rela-
tivity — a conundrum arises
regarding black holes.
Mathematics suggests that
physical information could
disappear permanently into
a black hole, and this would
mean that many physical
states in the universe could
evolve into one state. This,
however, would violate a
widely held principle of sci-
ence: that the value of the
quantum state of a system at
one point in time should
determine its quantum state
Follow the Dave’s Universe blog:
www.Astronomy.com/davesuniverse
Follow Dave Eicher on Twitter: @deicherstar
6 A ST R O N O M Y • JULY 2018
Fun with
black holes
at another time.
It’s perplexing stuff,
and the kind of thing that
cosmologists and particle
physicists love to argue
about over a beer. On p. 20,
science journalist Jesse
Emspak eloquently lays out
holes could test the limits
While you consider the
black hole information para-
Did you know that if Earth
were squeezed down into
the size of a grape, it would stance on the infor-
become a black hole?
amazing facts about these
strange creatures. One of the
staples of science fiction is
the possibility of using black stand all of their cosmologi-
holes as “wormholes,” travel- cal implications. But don’t go
ing to other parts of the cos- traveling near a black hole.
mos and thereby unleashing
all the dreams of countless
sci-fi movies. But there’s a
problem with that idea in
reality. A stellar black hole
would have sufficient gravi-
tational force such that it
would pull you into a miles-
long string of particles before Editor
you entered the “edge” —
the event horizon, the point
beyond which nothing can
escape. So who wants to
travel around the universe as
an ex-human, now a long
strand of spaghetti?
If you approached and fell
into a supermassive black
hole, the kind that inhabits
the centers of galaxies, you
could actually survive
entrance into the event hori-
zon. But the black hole’s
massive singularity at
its center would tear
you apart, and that
would be the story’s
end, regardless of your
mation paradox.
So be glad that we
know of lots of black
holes and can share their
amazing physics, and that
we’re beginning to under-
Trust me. It would simply
ruin your whole week.
Yours truly,
David J. Eicher
Editor David J. Eicher
Art Director LuAnn Williams Belter
EDITORIAL
Senior Editors Michael E. Bakich, Richard Talcott
Production Editor Elisa R. Neckar
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ASTROLETTERS
The thrill of New Horizons
Thank you for the article “New Horizons
explores the Kuiper Belt” by S. Alan Stern
in your February 2018 issue. It was so
well written and had such detailing of the
mission that I can already feel the excite-
ment building. Please follow this mission
closely and keep us informed.
— Charles Martin, The Villages, FL
The astro-jazz genre
I’m very familiar with the song “Stars
Fell on Alabama,” but I didn’t know that
it was about the 1833 Leonid meteor
shower until I read “The real music of the
spheres” in the January 2018 issue. It had
me going back to listen to the Byrds’ song
“C.T.A.-102,” which I’m listening to as I
write this letter.
I enjoyed the article very much, but it
has a glaring omission of Herman “Sonny”
Blount, a jazz band leader, arranger,
and composer who went by the name
of Sun Ra, and whose band went by the
name Solar-Myth Arkestra. Sun Ra com-
posed many songs with Space Age themes,
such as “Space Is the Place,” “Rocket
Number Nine,” and “Outer Spaceways
Incorporated.” Though he isn’t well known
to most, he’s a major figure in modern jazz.
Sun Ra kept his band together from the
1950s to his death in the early ’90s.
Marshall Allen has been with the band
since the 50s and still runs it despite being
over 90 years old. He’s kept the space
theme at the fore of the band’s identity.
Sun Ra put out over 100 albums, many on
his own El Saturn Records label. He even
claimed to be from Saturn, but that’s a
different story. — Frank Cronin, Austin, TX
Memorable mountain viewing
After a December visit to the Coors
Brewery in Golden, Colorado, my son
and I drove up Lookout Mountain Road
around sunset. While we were 1,600 feet
(488 meters) above Golden and look-
ing east, I pointed out and described the
We welcome your comments at
Astronomy Letters, P. O. Box 1612,
Waukesha, WI 53187; or email to letters@
astronomy.com. Please include your
name, city, state, and country. Letters
may be edited for space and clarity.
8 A ST R O N O M Y • J U LY 2018
Belt of Venus. A woman from Wisconsin relate what they learn to what they already
overheard me and was amazed. She was in know. By including both units, our aim is
her 60s and had never seen or heard about to make our magazine both relatable to
this phenomenon, and couldn’t wait to tell and accurate for all readers, regardless of
her family. My son was in awe of what we background. This also includes sometimes
saw as well. I will continue to share what substituting phrases such as “across” for
I learned in Stephen James O’Meara’s “diameter,” which again allows any reader
great article about Earth’s shadow bands. to understand the meaning immediately
— Jerry Slingerland, Des Plaines, IL and accurately, as well as introduces added
variety — and, we hope, readability — to
our work.
Why imperial? While we cannot force people to easily
I recently subscribed to your magazine, change the units in which they think, we
my first astronomy magazine in over 40 can ensure they will understand and relate
years. I was happy to see your in-depth to the measurements presented in our
stories and excellent pictures, but one magazine. — Alison Klesman, Associate Editor
aspect jarred me to the bone — your inci-
dental use of the metric system.
All scientists and astronomers use the Correction
metric system, and the United States In the review “Astronomy tests Celestron’s
passed the Metric Conversion Act back CGX mount” that appeared in our March
in 1975. I was in the U.S. Army from 2018 issue, we mistakenly used photos of
1962–64, and as a member of NATO, we Celestron’s CGX-L Mount. We apologize
had to be on the metric system. None of for the confusion. Here’s a picture of the
us had any trouble learning it and estimat- correct product.
ing distances in meters and kilometers. Of
all ways to get people to voluntarily use
the metric system, wouldn’t a magazine
about astronomy be in the fore-
front?— Daniel Cooley, Las Vegas
Astronomy responds
Our goal at Astronomy is to reach a broad
audience, from the scientifically inclined
to the general public. The more accessible
we can make our subject matter, the better
we’re achieving that goal of exciting
everyone about the universe.
It’s true that scientists universally use
the metric system. But it’s also true that
when you drive on a U.S. road, you’ll
see speed limit signs in miles per hour
and distance markers in miles. The vast
majority of Americans continue to
measure their daily lives in miles, feet,
inches, pounds, and so forth. I’ve
worked in outreach for several years;
at nearly every event, someone
would ask me, “How far away is that
star in miles?” or “How much does it
weigh in pounds?” For all that I can
explain why using light-years is
easier than miles, and solar masses
easier than pounds, people still
ask these questions.
To understand the vast dis-
CELESTRON
tances and extreme conditions
in our universe, individuals
QG
HOT BYTES >>
TRENDING
TO THE TOP
LAUNCH DELAYS
QUANTUM
GRAVITY
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE UNIVERSE THIS MONTH . . .

The James Webb Space

Telescope will launch no
earlier than May 2020,
to provide time for
additional testing and
systems integration.
TARGET PRACTICE
Researchers modeled
how a nuclear explosion
would affect an asteroid
threatening Earth by
shooting miniature aster-
DISTANT ECHO
After a black hole
300 million light-years
away ripped apart a star,
radio telescopes picked
up echoes of the event
oid models with a laser. in the form of a jet.

KRISTA TRINDER; TOP FROM LEFT: NASA/CHRIS GUNN; ELENA KHAVINA, MIPT PRESS OFFICE; ESO/L. CALÇADA

SNAPSHOT Purple is not a common color for
the aurora borealis. But reports of
Call me a strange, ribbonlike purple feature
accompanying aurorae in 2015 and
wind encounter Earth’s magnetic
field, just like the aurora. But Steve
occurs specifically when fast-
moving, hot particles stream along
which provide vital information
about the phenomenon but can be
hard to obtain, as Steve typically
lasts only 20 minutes to an hour.

Steve 2016 led astronomers to develop the

Aurorasaurus citizen science project
to unravel the beautiful mystery.
Citizen scientists The phenomenon, given the
uncover a name Steve, is generated when
strange aurora. charged particles from the solar
magnetic field lines close to the
equator, causing it to appear at lower
latitudes than the traditional aurora.
The key to unlocking Steve’s
nature was a combination of
ground- and space-based images,
Scientists now believe Steve (now
officially STEVE: Strong Thermal
Emission Velocity Enhancement)
could represent a link between pro-
cesses in Earth’s upper and lower
atmosphere. — Alison Klesman

W W W.ASTR ONOMY.COM 9
 ASTRONEWS
an international team of astronomers has calculated.
SMALL MAGELLANIC CLOUD IS LOSING COSMIC FIGHT
ORIGIN STORY. A recent study observed light from distant quasars passing through the Leading Arm,
a fragmented cloud of gas from the Milky Way’s largest satellites. Astronomers found the gas has been pulled
from the Small Magellanic Cloud by the Large Magellanic Cloud. In contrast, the Magellanic Stream trailing
the two galaxies contains gas from both satellites mixed together. NIDEVER ET AL./NRAO/AUI/NSF/MELLINGER/LEIDEN-ARGENTINE-BONN/
LAB SURVEY/PARKES OBS/WESTERBORK OBS/ARECIBO OBS/FEILD/STSCI/NASA/ESA/A. FOX/STSCI
T
he Large and Small Magellanic Clouds
are the Milky Way’s largest satellite
galaxies — and they’re locked in a
cosmic game of tug-of-war. Though
these dwarf galaxies orbit the larger Milky
Way, they also orbit each other, exerting
gravitational influence that has ousted a
huge cloud of gas from one of the two.
Using the Hubble Space Telescope (HST),
astronomers have finally determined that
the Small Magellanic Cloud is the losing
party in this battle.
The results, published February 21
in The Astrophysical Journal, examine a
structure called the Leading Arm. The
Magellanic Stream, which is an extended
“tail” of gas, visible at radio wavelengths,
that trails the two dwarf galaxies, was found
in 2013 to contain gas mixed from both the
Large and Small Magellanic Clouds. But,
astronomers had wondered, what about the
composition of the Leading Arm? Roughly
half the size of our galaxy, this arc of gas
connecting the Magellanic Clouds to the
Milky Way is 1 billion to 2 billion years old,
and it provides additional fuel for new star
formation within our galaxy.
As its name suggests, the structure leads
the Magellanic Clouds in their orbits
around the Milky Way, and astronomers
have long known it was pulled from at least
one of the clouds. Which dwarf galaxy spe-
cifically had lost the gas was unknown until
recent ultraviolet observations made with
HST were combined with radio observa-
tions from the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank
Telescope at the Green Bank Observatory in
West Virginia, and other observatories.
10 A ST R O N O M Y • J U LY 2018
SPECIAL DELIVERY. About one-third of the organic material on Mars was delivered by asteroid and comet strikes,
QUASARS
A Leading
B They also combined their measurements
Arm
C with observations of hydrogen at radio
LMC
SMC
Magellanic Stream
Andrew Fox of the Space Telescope
Science Institute in Baltimore and his col-
leagues found the answer by studying how
light from seven distant quasars — the
bright cores of massive galaxies — filtered
through the gas of the Leading Arm. As the
quasars’ light travels through the gas, it
excites atoms along the way. By breaking
the light that arrives at Earth apart by
wavelength using a spectrograph, the group
was able to measure the composition of the
gas. In particular, they looked at features
MERCURY’S SOUTHERN EXPOSURE
PUPPIS
VELA
South
Celestial
Pole
_ within 1° of the
CARINA
5°
produced by oxygen and sulfur, which trace
the amount of heavy elements (those above
hydrogen in the periodic table) in the gas.
wavelengths to ultimately determine both
the composition and velocity of the gas.
These “fingerprints” were then compared
with the composition and velocity of the
Large and Small Magellanic Clouds to
determine the Leading Arm’s origin.
“We’ve found that the gas matches the
Small Magellanic Cloud,” Fox said in a
press release. “That indicates the Large
Magellanic Cloud is winning the tug-of-
war, because it has pulled so much gas out
of its smaller neighbor.”
HST’s ultraviolet capabilities were vital to
the measurements because the features the
group needed to measure from oxygen and
sulfur aren’t visible at other wavelengths.
Now that the origin of the gas has been
determined, astronomers are hoping to bet-
ter map the structure’s full size. As the
Leading Arm streams from the Magellanic
Clouds onto the Milky Way, it becomes
fragmented, making the structure harder to
study. Learning more about the structure
will help astronomers better trace the fuel
this gas provides for generations of future
stars and planets in the Milky Way. — A.K.
PICTURESQUE POLE STAR.
If you stood in one of the
permanently shadowed craters
at Mercury’s south pole and
looked overhead, these
are the stars you would
see. The innermost
Canopus planet’s axis points
toward a rather bland
part of the sky in
the constellation
Pictor the Painter.
PICTOR The only naked-
eye star that lies
DORADUS
pole is magnitude
3.3 Alpha (α)
Pictoris.
RETICULUM — Richard Talcott
Y
ELL
NK
OE
FAST
Y: R
OM
FACT
ON
TR
AS
The sky’s second-brightest star,
magnitude –0.7 Canopus, lies just 9°
from Mercury’s South Celestial Pole.
ASTRONEWS IN MEMORIAM. In March, astronomers using the MASTER Global Robotic Net telescopes observed a gamma-ray
burst associated with the birth of a new black hole. They dedicated the discovery to the late Stephen Hawking.
Stellar flyby
shook up outer
solar system
About 70,000 years ago, a small star
passed within a light-year of the Sun,
skimming the edge of the Oort Cloud
— the extended shell of over a trillion
icy objects that cocoons the outer
solar system.
Previously, astronomers believed
this wandering star, dubbed Scholz’s
star, passed by relatively peacefully,
influencing few, if any, outer solar
system objects. But new research
suggests the star may have caused
more of a ruckus than we thought.
In a study published February 6
in Monthly Notices of the Royal
Astronomical Society: Letters, scientists stellation Gemini. This spot in the sky ‘Oumuamua (1I/2017 U1) — are travel-
analyzed the orbital evolution of 339 also happens to be exactly where
known minor objects (like asteroids
and comets) with hyperbolic orbits
that will eventually usher them out of Scholz’s star during its close pass.
the solar system. By winding their
orbits back 100,000 years, the team
was able to estimate the point in the
sky, or radiant, where each body
appears to have come from.
Surprisingly, they found that more Comet ISON (C/2012 S1), Comet
than 10 percent of the objects (36)
How do neat
piles of boulders
form on Mars?
FALL IN. Planetary scientists planned
to track the movement of sand dunes
near Mars’ north pole using this image
from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance
Orbiter. But what they discovered
between the dunes was just as
interesting: Inside the parallel dark
stripes that run from upper left to
lower right in this image are piles of
boulders spaced at regular intervals.
The cause? Researchers believe frost
heave — a process that on Earth carries
rocks to the surface and leaves them
in apparently organized piles as the
ground repeatedly freezes and thaws
— is likely the culprit. Such a cycle may
take longer on Mars than on Earth, and
it may be connected to changes in the
Red Planet’s orbit rather than seasonal
cycles, as on Earth. — A.K.
NOSY NEIGHBOR. When humans were just beginning to migrate out of Africa and
Neanderthals still shared the planet with us, a small, reddish star passed within a light-year
of Earth, likely sending dozens of comets and asteroids tumbling from the outer solar system.
originated in the direction of the con- recently identified interstellar visitor
ing so quickly that they are all most
astronomers would expect objects to likely interstellar objects zipping
come from if they were nudged by through the solar system.
The results show that astronomers
In addition to finding evidence may not need to wait for interstellar
that Scholz’s star sent objects tum-
bling from the Oort Cloud, the team
objects to serendipitously slingshot
around the Sun to study them.
also determined that eight of the Instead, statistical studies like this
objects they studied — including could be used to help astronomers
proactively identify extrasolar visitors
McNaught (C/2009 K5), and the for future analysis. — Jake Parks
Clear skies for cooled brown dwarfs
NASA/JPL-CALTECH/UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA
Brown dwarfs, called “failed stars”
because they are not massive enough
to fuse hydrogen into helium, start
out hot and cool over time. As its
temperature decreases, a brown
dwarf’s atmosphere also transitions
from cloudy to clear. Researchers led
by Jonathan Gagné at the Carnegie
Institution for Science in Washington,
D.C., now have determined when this
shift in the weather occurs.
The work, published February 16
in The Astrophysical Journal Letters,
contains observations of the brown
dwarf 2MASS J13243553+6358281
(J1324 for short), one of the nearest
such objects to our Sun.
Using measurements of J1324’s
velocity and position, the team first
confirmed that J1324 is part of the
AB Doradus moving group, which
contains around 80 stars all about
150 million years old. Combining this
age with measurements of the brown
dwarf’s distance and luminosity,
they calculated its radius, mass, and
temperature.
J1324 is cloudless, but another
brown dwarf in the same group is still
cloudy. Because the objects are
roughly the same age, their tempera-
ture disparity must be responsible for
the difference, allowing the team to
determine when this change happens.
QUICK TAKES
DOUBLE SCORE
New research suggests
the interstellar asteroid
‘Oumuamua likely came from
a binary star system.
•
HIGH WATER CONTENT
WASP-39b — a hot, Saturn-
mass exoplanet located
700 light-years from Earth —
contains a surprising amount
JOSÉ A. PEÑAS/SINC
of water, roughly three times
as much as Saturn.
•
NATIONAL TREASURE
McDonald Observatory will
train National Park Service
employees to teach park
visitors about the night sky.
•
DENSE MATTER
A novel mathematical model
that incorporates quantum
mechanical forces with
general relativity allows for a
new, ultra-compact type of
star similar to a black hole.
•
WEATHER REPORT
ARIEL, the world’s first space
telescope dedicated to
studying exoplanetary
atmospheres, will launch in
2028. It will probe planets in
more than 1,000 systems.
•
KEEPING COOL
Drawing inspiration from the
evaporated salt found on
Ceres’ surface, researchers
are investigating whether
injecting salt into the upper
troposphere could cool Earth.
•
SMASH-UP
The rubber duck-shaped Comet
67P may have formed when
two objects catastrophically
collided and reformed within
a matter of days.
CLOUDY CONDITIONS. Brown dwarfs •
are larger than planets but too small to
become stars. Their atmospheres transition
NEW DOMAIN
A proposed dark matter detec-
from cloudy to cloudless over time, and this tor would use gallium arsenide
change happens at about 1,150 kelvins for crystals to scan for signals at
objects 150 million years old, astronomers energies thousands of times
have determined. NASA/JPL-CALTECH lower than currently possible.
“We were able to constrain the
•
SIGNAL OUTAGE
point in the cool-down process at A SpaceX rocket launch carved
which brown dwarfs like J1324 a 560-mile-wide (900 kilome-
transition from cloudy to cloud- ters) hole in Earth’s ionosphere
last year, which may have tem-
free,” Gagné said in a press release.
porarily disrupted GPS signals.
That temperature is 1,150 kelvins
(1,600 degrees Fahrenheit).
Brown dwarfs are similar to gas
•
EARLY DAYS
Physicists have developed the
giant planets, such as Jupiter.
first description of the laws of
Knowing how temperature affects thermodynamics for very
their atmospheres can help astrono- small, high-energy particles,
mers piece together the history and providing insight into the
evolution of our own solar system, as birth of the universe. — J.P.
well as many others. — A.K.
W W W.ASTR ONOMY.COM 11
 STRANGEUNIVERSE
BY BOB BERMAN
The Honey Moon
experiment
T
his past January,
several radio sta-
tions asked me to
talk about the “Blue
Super Blood Moon”
— winter’s biggest astronomical
event, judging by media inter-
est. But in the January issue
of this magazine, there was
not one specific mention of a
Blue Super Blood Moon, other
than noting January 31 would
bring a lunar eclipse in the
inconvenient pre-dawn hours.
Obviously, the event’s high pub-
lic interest was out of sync with
the low importance it received
from astronomy enthusiasts
and professionals.
Maybe we should look at this
phenomenon. After all, astron-
omers would love to see a wider
interest in the night sky. But the
dichotomy between “us” and
“them” can’t be ignored. It
shows itself on public viewing
nights when half the visitors
ask, “What power is your tele-
scope?” and we wearily explain
that the power changes when-
ever we switch eyepieces — and
that low power often gives a
better view than high. They’re
then baffled that we never point
telescopes at the Full Moon.
Thirty years ago, when I
took over as astronomy editor
of the Old Farmer’s Almanac,
the first thing I did was discon-
tinue all mention of penumbral
eclipses, minor meteor showers,
and all such non-events that
were likely to disappoint the
public. The recent Super Moon
craze falls firmly in that cat-
egory. The label suggests an
amazing event, but it’s a visual
letdown. Astronomy doesn’t
need that.
BROWSE THE “STRANGE UNIVERSE” ARCHIVE AT www.Astronomy.com/Berman.
12 A ST R O N O M Y • J U LY 2018
What’s in
a name?
So now rewind to January
when countless media sources
were urging people, “Go out
and look at the big Super
Moon!” Those who did were
disappointed because a peri-
gean Full Moon is never more
than 7 percent larger than the
average Full Moon, which isn’t
enough for the eye to detect.
Nothing was different.
What’s really going on,
I think, is that the public has
a long-standing, deep-rooted
Moon fascination. The public
also likes to name things,
which is reflected in the
media’s quick embrace of
those newly coined Full Moon
labels. A Depression-era
magazine error created the
term Blue Moon as we use it
today, while Super Moon and
Blood Moon were coined only a
few years ago. Not any are used
Let’s test this idea that the public adores
new names for Full Moons.
by astronomers. Should we now
suddenly make them part of
our vocabulary?
I sure won’t. Blood Moon?
Well, a fully eclipsed Moon
looks coppery rather than red.
If your blood is penny-colored,
see a hematologist. But at least
Blood Moon correctly suggests
a ruddy appearance. Conversely,
Blue Moon (usually meaning
the second Full Moon in a cal-
endar month) does not mean
the Moon turns blue. And a
Super Moon (which occurs
during what astronomers call a
lunar perigee) similarly looks
like any other Full Moon. No
The June Full Moon often appears amber or honey colored, rising low in the sky
for those in the Northern Hemisphere. If we start calling it the “Honey Moon,” will
it catch on? KEVIN BURKETT
wonder it all creates confusion.
But when these labels came
together January 31, and the
media figured out that it’s been
152 years since the second
Full Moon in the same month
underwent a total eclipse while
it was also at perigee — wow, it
sure sounded like an amazing
rare event that shouldn’t be
missed. No one was in the
mood to say, “Bah, humbug.”
And thus few in the media
bothered mentioning that such
a low eclipse might easily be
hidden by hills or houses, or
that dawn would arrive before
totality for the Eastern U.S. and
Canada, so no “blood” would
even flow.
Thus, intense media atten-
tion surrounded a sky “event”
that most astronomers didn’t
even bother setting an alarm
for. When it was over, the gulf
between the public and those
who love astronomy remained
as wide as always. But I’ll bet
the high-up midnight lunar
totality on January 21, 2019,
visible throughout the U.S., will
get us all out, no questions
asked. And sure, let them call it
another Blood Moon. What’s
the harm?
In the meantime, let’s test
this idea that the public adores
new names for Full Moons.
Many get this magazine late
in the month, in time for the
June 28 Full Moon. This hap-
pens to be the lowest Full Moon
of the year, which somehow
does not have an official name.
So let’s give it one. What if we
now decide to call the Full
Moon closest to the summer
solstice the “Honey Moon”?
Since this lowest of all Full
Moons must shine through the
thicker air near the horizon,
plus the warm season’s atmo-
sphere typically contains more
moisture, it will likely look
more amber colored than most
Full Moons, making “Honey
Moon” a perfect label. Let’s
start using that term annually,
and you know what? I’ll bet
five years from now, “Honey
Moon” will be repeated by the
media as the official title of the
June Full Moon. If it works,
we’ll know that we were all in
on the experiment.
Join me and Pulse of the Planet’s
Jim Metzner in my new podcast,
Astounding Universe, at
http://astoundinguniverse.com.
ASTRONEWS WETTER WORLDS. The planets around TRAPPIST-1 are estimated to be between 15 and 50 percent water
by mass. Earth is only 0.02 percent.

Oddball galaxy

NASA, ESA, M. BEASLEY (INSTITUTO DE ASTROFÍSICA DE CANARIAS), AND P. KEHUSMAA

stopped growing
too soon
Roughly 1 in 1,000 massive galaxies are consid-
ered “relics” that stopped growing during devel-
opment. These stagnant galaxies are usually too
far away for detailed observation, but NASA’s
Hubble Space Telescope recently found one
right in our local neighborhood.
NGC 1277, about 240 million light-years away,
has remained more or less the same for the last
10 billion years. During its early years, NGC 1277
popped out stars 1,000 times faster than the
Milky Way does today. NGC 1277’s halt in galactic
development left it with twice as many stars as
our own galaxy, at only a quarter of its size. ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT. NGC 1277 is a galaxy in a nearby cluster that abruptly stopped growing.
Astronomers identified this oddball when Today, it is dominated by old, red globular clusters and aging stars born 10 billion years ago. Astronomers
they saw its staggering amount of red globular believe that its location and speed in the cluster are responsible for its lack of continued growth.
clusters, which are thought to form along with
the galaxy, and the near absence of blue globu- the black hole appears large in comparison. additional star formation; even if it could
lar clusters, which show up later on as the galaxy NGC 1277’s lack of growth is likely due to its absorb material, the gas in Perseus’ center is
absorbs surrounding satellite galaxies. The dis- location and speed. It’s racing through the cen- too hot to condense and form stars.
crepancy hints that NGC 1277 never swallowed ter of the Perseus Cluster, which houses more Looking forward, researchers hope to use
up other galaxies. Another sign that NGC 1277 is than 1,000 galaxies, at roughly 2 million mph NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, set to
a relic is its abnormally large supermassive black (3.2 million km/h), moving too fast to either launch in 2020, to further study NGC 1277 and
hole. It likely grew concurrently with the galaxy, merge with other galaxies or acquire their out- measure the amount of dark matter it contains.
but because so little stellar material surrounds it, lying stars. Nor can it pull in the gas needed for — Amber Jorgenson

HOW FAST MUST A ROCKET TRAVEL

TO LEAVE EACH PLANET?

X-RAY: NASA/CXC/SAO; OPTICAL: NASA/STSCI; INFRARED: NASA/JPL-CALTECH

70,000
60,000
80,000
50,000 52,702
90,000
47,826
80,731
40,000
100,000

30,000

25,031 23,175
110,000
Chandra updates
9,507
the Crab Nebula
20,000 POPULAR DESTINATION. NASA’s Chandra X-ray
Mercury Observatory, which celebrates its 20th anniversary
11,252 5,324
Venus next year, continues its historic relationship with
The Moon 120,000 the Crab Nebula with this composite image. The
Earth Crab Nebula was one of Chandra’s first targets after
Mars it launched in 1999, and it has been the subject of
134,664
10,000 Jupiter frequent study ever since. This photo combines
Saturn Chandra’s X-ray observations, shown in blue and
130,000
LY

2,751 Uranus white, with infrared imagery from NASA’s Spitzer

KEL

Neptune
EN

Space Telescope, shown in pink, and optical data from

RO

Pluto
0
Y:

Numbers shown in miles per hour NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, shown in purple. The
OM
ON

nebula dates back to A.D. 1054, when observers from

TR
AS

around the world reported seeing a “new star” in

OUT OF HERE. The speed any object must reach to escape the gravitational pull of a body in space the constellation Taurus the Bull. Knowing when the
is called the escape velocity of that body. For example, a rocket leaving Earth for the Moon must travel central star exploded has allowed researchers to keep
at 25,031 mph (40,283 km/h). Other planets and satellites have different masses than our world, so a detailed timeline of the Crab Nebula’s formation and
their escape velocities are either more or less evolution, making it a prominent target for continued
than Earth’s. — Michael E. Bakich research. — A.J.
To leave the solar system, you must
attain a speed equal to the Sun’s
FAST
escape velocity: 1,381,308 mph.
FACT
W W W.ASTR ONOMY.COM 13
FINGERPRINTING THE VERY FIRST STARS
Using a radio antenna the size of a tabletop, astronomers find evidence of the universe’s earliest suns.
A
stronomers can’t always just
examine a simple image when
they want to solve a mystery.
Most of the time, they have to
meticulously piece together
tiny bits of evidence like
detectives, often by scouring the heav-
ens for clues. One of the biggest cosmic
cold cases that astronomers have been
attempting to solve for years: When
exactly did the first stars form?
On February 28, a team of astrono-
mers announced in the journal Nature
that, after more than a decade of intense
investigation, they had finally cracked
the case of the first stars. Using a simple
radio antenna (the size of a tabletop) in
the Australian desert, the researchers
discovered the faint fingerprints of the
earliest stars in the infant universe, stars
that formed when the cosmos was just
180 million years old.
“This is exciting because it is the first
look into a particularly important period
in the universe, when the first stars and
galaxies were beginning to form,” said
Colin Lonsdale, director of MIT’s Haystack
Observatory, in a press release. “This is the
first time anybody’s had any direct obser-
vational data from the epoch.”
14 A ST R O N O M Y • J U LY 2018
BEHIND THE VEIL. This artist’s
concept shows one of the universe’s
first stars. The massive blue sun is
embedded within filaments of gas,
while the cosmic microwave
background (CMB) is shown as a red
glow on the outer edges of the
image. Researchers recently
inferred the existence of these
massive and ancient blue stars by
measuring the dimming of the CMB.
N.R. FULLER/NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
To pinpoint the signal, the researchers
used an Earth-based instrument called a
radio spectrometer to scan the majority
of the southern sky. After collecting radio
waves from all possible astronomical
sources, the team combed through the
data, searching for dips — where energy
is absorbed — in the signal’s power as a
function of frequency.
“We see this dip most strongly at
about 78 megahertz,” said Alan Rogers,
a scientist at MIT’s Haystack Observatory
and a co-author on the paper, “and
When these stars first began shining that frequency corresponds to roughly
within the pitch-black void of the early 180 million years after the Big Bang. In
universe, they blasted surrounding neutral terms of a direct detection of a signal
hydrogen with ultraviolet radiation. This from the hydrogen gas itself, this has got
impacted the hydrogen atoms within to be the earliest.”
the gas, as scattered ultraviolet pho- The results of the study reveal that the
tons altered the energy of the electrons pre-star universe was likely a much colder
in some of the hydrogen, causing it to place than previously thought. In fact, the
absorb energy from the cosmic microwave researchers found that the hydrogen in
background at one particular frequency the early universe was less than half the
— 1.4 gigahertz, equivalent to a wave- temperature they expected to find. This
length of 21 centimeters. suggests one of two things:
Astronomers knew that they Either astronomers’ theo-
should be able to detect the ries are missing something
When exactly major about our universe,
absorption or corresponding
emission from this process, did the first or the study has detected
but until now, they have stars form? the first evidence of dark
been unable to do so. matter siphoning off
“The problem is, due to energy from normal matter
the expanding universe, this absorption — a theory initially proposed by Renna
would be observed at some [unknown] Barkana of Tel Aviv University.
lower frequency,” said Peter Kurczynski, “If Barkana’s idea is confirmed,” said
a program officer with the National Judd Bowman, an astronomer at Arizona
Science Foundation (which supported State University and lead author of the
the study), in a video. “Finding that study, “then we’ve learned something
frequency, finding the absorption that new and fundamental about the mysteri-
comes when the first stars turn on, would ous dark matter that makes up 85 percent
be like listening to every station on your of the matter in the universe, providing
car stereo at once, and being able to tell the first glimpse of physics beyond the
that your favorite is missing.” standard model.” — J.P.
 ASTRONEWS CLOSING TIME. The University of Chicago plans to cease on-site
operations of the historic Yerkes Observatory on October 1, 2018.
A13
Triangulum-
Andromeda
MAKING WAVES. The passage of a dwarf galaxy through the disk of the Milky Way causes oscillations that oust
stars from the disk to regions above and below it. A single past event may be responsible for the current positions
and densities of the Triangulum-Andromeda and A13 star clusters. T. MUELLER/NASA/JPL-CALTECH
Outlying stars traced to our galaxy’s disk
Most of our galaxy’s stars reside in the Milky
Way’s bulge and disk, with a much smaller
population scattered in a spherical galactic halo.
However, a few large clusters exist outside the
disk. Astronomers previously believed these
outliers were traces of smaller galaxies absorbed
by the Milky Way, but researchers recently found
that these stars were likely born in the galactic
disk and later ejected by invading galaxies.
In a paper published February 26 in the jour-
nal Nature, a team of researchers led by the Max
Planck Institute for Astronomy examined 14
stars in the Triangulum-Andromeda and A13
regions. The two dense star clusters lie on
opposing sides of the Milky Way’s disk, about
14,000 light-years below and above it, respec-
tively. To find how the clusters ended up in
these unlikely locations, the researchers first
measured the spectra of the stars to determine
what they are made of.
“The analysis of chemical abundances is a
very powerful test, which allows [us], in a way
similar to the DNA matching, to identify the par-
ent population of the star. Different parent pop-
ulations, such as the Milky Way disk or halo,
dwarf satellite galaxies or globular clusters, are
known to have radically different chemical com-
positions. So once we know what the stars are
made of, we can immediately link them to their
parent populations,” said the paper’s lead
author Maria Bergemann of the Max Planck
NASA/JPL-CALTECH/SWRI/ASI/INAF/JIRAM
Sun
Institute for Astronomy, in a press release.
The team used the Keck Observatory’s HIgh
Resolution Echelle Spectrometer (HIRES) in
Hawaii to gather spectra from the stars. The data
showed that both groups were abundant in
M giants — stars in which elements heavier than
helium are plentiful, consistent with the chemical
compositions of stars in the outer galactic disk.
The dwarf galaxies that invade the Milky Way, on
the other hand, have hardly any M giants.
With near-identical compositions to the stars
in the outer disk, researchers concluded that
these clusters are likely former disk residents.
“This phenomenon is called galactic eviction,”
said co-author Judy Cohen of Caltech. “These
structures are pushed off the plane of the Milky
Way when a massive dwarf galaxy passes
through the galactic disk. This passage causes
oscillations, or waves, that eject stars from the
disk, either above or below it depending on the
direction that the perturbing mass is moving.”
An additional study conducted by Allyson
Sheffield at Columbia University and research-
ers at Fermilab found similarities in the two
groups’ speed and structure. This suggests that
the same event could have landed them in their
current positions.
Such a discovery not only gives insight into
past events that shaped our galaxy, but also
hints at how the Milky Way will handle future
invaders. — A.J.
A circle of cyclones
SPIRAL PATTERNS. Recent data from Jupiter’s north
pole reveal a massive central cyclone encircled by eight
smaller, close-knit cyclones. The eight surrounding
cyclones, which appear in this composite infrared
image taken by the Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper on
NASA’s Juno mission, range from 2,500 to 2,900 miles
(4,000 to 4,600 kilometers) in diameter and have violent
winds that can gust up to 220 mph (350 km/h). They’re
packed together so tightly that their spiral arms touch
each other, but for reasons unknown to researchers,
the cyclones don’t merge. These strong storms are part
of the weather layer of Jupiter’s atmosphere, which
reaches 1,900 miles (3,000 km) deep and contains about
1 percent of the planet’s total mass. By comparison, less
than one-millionth of Earth’s mass is contained in its
atmosphere. — A.J.
W W W.ASTR ONOMY.COM 15
 FORYOURCONSIDERATION
BY JEFF HESTER
A murmuration of starlings
Emergence and the unity of science.
T
he starling seems an
unexceptional bird,
but gather thousands
together into a mur-
muration (named
for the sound of a multitude
of rapidly beating wings) and
they become the grandest show
in the sky. A murmuration in
flight looks a bit like an amoeba
on steroids as it morphs through
a never-ending sequence of
complex shapes. (Type “murmu-
ration” into a web browser and
play a video. Now. Really!)
Why do starlings do what
they do? Ancient Romans
believed that starlings foretold
the will of the gods. The word
auspicious comes from the Latin
auspicium, or “divination by
observing the flight of birds.” In
the 1930s, ornithologist
Edmund Selous asserted that
starlings are telepathic. Even
today, biologist Rupert
Sheldrake attributes starling
behavior to his hypothetical
“morphic resonances.”
The real answer is a lot cooler!
Some of computing’s most
revolutionary and frankly fun
contributions to science have
come from an ability to answer
seemingly straightforward ques-
tions like, “When you combine
lots of simple things into a
larger system, what happens?”
The flocking behavior of star-
lings is a gorgeous example.
Individual starlings all obey
the same few flight rules: Watch
your seven nearest neighbors.
Fly toward each other, but don’t
crowd. If any of your neighbors
turn, turn with them.
Simplicity itself, right? But
now put a bunch of virtual star-
lings into a computer, each pro-
grammed to obey those same
rules, turn the crank, and see
what happens. There are no
BROWSE THE “FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION” ARCHIVE AT www.Astronomy.com/Hester.
16 A ST R O N O M Y • J U LY 2018
gods, telepathy, or morphic reso-
nances at work in the computer
simulation. Even so, the com-
puter-simulated flock behaves
exactly like the real thing!
In December 2017, the story
came full circle when those
mesmerizing flocks of virtual
birds took wing — or rather
propeller — back into the real
sky. Artists Lonneke Gordijn
and Ralph Nauta programmed
300 drones to obey starling
flight rules, then turned them
loose above Miami Beach, much
to the wonderment of onlook-
ers. Welcome to the burgeoning
science of emergence.
A huge flock of starlings creates a wonderfully complex shape as it lifts into the sky
in this image taken in 2013. Such shapes tell us a lot about how science works.
By definition, an emergent
property is one that is possessed
by a system as a whole but not
by the components from which
the system is made. While com-
puter simulations of emergence
may be a fairly new thing, the
idea of emergence has been cru-
cial to science for a long time.
At one extreme, physics is a
remarkably successful quest for
a few fundamental rules
describing how matter and
energy behave. At the other
extreme, physics encompasses a
complex universe filled with
stars, planets, galaxies, and
much more. That’s quite a
chasm, but we don’t have to interesting. Inventing emer-
jump. Near the first end, gent properties is sort of evolu-
nuclear physics emerges from tion’s gig.
interactions among particles. Starlings have one more
Atomic physics emerges when flight rule: If you spot a preda-
nuclei and electrons interact. tor, fly away! As a falcon dives,
Chemistry emerges from com- the first starlings to notice
plex electromagnetic interac- hightail it. Their neighbors
tions among atoms. On things quickly respond, then their
go as step by step, emergence neighbors’ neighbors respond,
bridges the divide, unifying and so on. Before the falcon
science into a coherent whole. even arrives, birds throughout
Full disclosure: Like most the murmuration are flying
scientists, when I talk about about in chaotic, unpredictable
emergence, I mean physics-is- ways in response to a predator
fundamental-but-as-things-get- that only a few have even seen.
complex-it-can-really-surprise- Surrounded by prey but unable
you emergence. Philosophers to single out an individual tar-
get, the fastest raptor on the
planet usually goes home
hungry.
It turns out that watching
seven neighbors is a sweet spot
where the strategy works best.
© THOMAS LANGLANDS | DREAMSTIME.COM
So when the falcon comes to
visit, any starlings tracking
something other than seven
neighbors make easier targets.
The falcon is more than happy
to remove the nonconformists
from the gene pool. Thus did
evolution happen upon and
fine-tune the starlings’ success-
ful emergent strategy.
often mean a very different woo- It is hard to count the num-
woo-like-morphic-field-pops- ber of times throughout history
up-and-snarfs-the-controls-away when authorities have pointed
emergence. Mischief managed! to a gap in then-current knowl-
You might guess that emer- edge about the natural world
gence would be uncommon, but and proclaimed, “This is obvi-
actually it’s hard to avoid. From ously beyond the reach of sci-
chemical reactions, to weather ence!” Science seldom fails to
patterns, to the beating of your answer such a challenge, and
heart, emergence is ubiquitous quite often it is emergence that
in the world around us. (As you fills the gap. To be honest,
read this, somewhere an unan- there aren’t an awful lot of gaps
ticipated emergent behavior is left in which to look.
costing an engineer her sanity.)
And when life emerges from Jeff Hester is a keynote speaker,
the chemistry of molecules coach, and astrophysicist.
that encode and replicate Follow his thoughts at
jeff-hester.com.
information, things get really
ASTRONEWS
Channel Telescope, is collecting data to identify Earth-sized planets around neighboring stars.
Kepler telescope has
only months of fuel left
NASA’s Kepler space telescope’s
nine-year hunt for exoplanets has
not only assisted in the search
for extraterrestrial life, it has also
provided clues about the behav-
ior of stars and the formation of
solar systems in our galaxy. Sadly,
though, the spacecraft is expected
to run out of fuel within the next
few months.
Without a fuel gauge, the exact
date of Kepler’s demise is still
unknown, and the spacecraft hasn’t
shown signs of slowing down yet.
NASA is continually monitoring the
craft for signs of low fuel, such as
changes in thruster performance
and fuel tank pressure, but no
warnings have arisen so far.
Kepler will continue to carry out
research campaigns and send sci-
entific data back to Earth until its
HOW DO YOU BUILD A GALAXY?
GALACTIC ROAD MAP. Galaxies fall into two broad categories: disklike
(also called late-type) galaxies and bulgelike (early-type) galaxies. Their
different components and structures provide information about their
evolution, teaching astronomers how galaxies are built over time.
Spiral galaxy
Open
cluster
Elliptical galaxy
Globular
clusters Dense
inner core
Satellite galaxies
MEET THE NEIGHBORS. The EXtreme PREcision Spectrometer (EXPRES), an instrument on the 4.3-meter Discovery
thrusters, which are needed to aim
the spacecraft to take and transmit
data, show signs of fuel depletion.
Spacecraft typically need to
reserve fuel for a final orbital
adjustment so they don’t collide
with other satellites, come crashing
down to Earth unexpectedly, or, in
the case of craft sent to other plan-
ets, contaminate extraterrestrial
environments. Kepler, however, is
in an isolated area 94 million miles
(151 million kilometers) from Earth,
so every last bit of fuel can be
used to continue observing and
collecting data.
Kepler was initially hobbled
when the second of four reaction
wheels, which stabilize the craft,
broke in 2013. However, NASA
engineers managed to use the
solar wind to steady the telescope
Disk (arms)
Bulge
Globular clusters
Satellite galaxy
Outer
regions
Elliptical galaxy
Dark matter halo
TRANSIT TELESCOPE. NASA’s Kepler space telescope spots extrasolar planets
by watching for the dip that occurs when a planet transits, or crosses, the face of
its star. Because it stares at the same stars for extended periods of time, Kepler
can also be used to better understand some types of stellar characteristics, such
as flares and starspots. NASA AMES/W. STENZEL
for short periods, resulting in 2,342 exoplanets, with K2 adding
80-day observing campaigns 307. With a few months of opera-
carried out as a second mission, tion remaining, the craft will likely
dubbed K2. As of March 9, the orig- add even more worlds to its list
inal Kepler mission had confirmed of discoveries. — A.J.
Stellar halo
Spiral galaxy
Dark matter halo
Spiral galaxies gain their distinctive shape from two main
components: the bulge and the disk. The central bulge is usually
shaped like a flattened or elongated sphere, densely packed
with older stars but little gas and dust. The disk is made up of
arms containing a high fraction of gas and dust, from which new
stars are formed in open clusters. Spiral galaxies are surrounded
by a spherical, sparsely populated stellar halo, which also
contains globular clusters of ancient stars. Surrounding the
entire galaxy is a larger spherical halo of dark matter, and these
galaxies are often circled by smaller satellite galaxies attracted
through gravity.
Elliptical galaxies have very little gas and dust. They are
composed mainly of old, red stars and contain no open clusters.
These galaxies are shaped like the bulge of a spiral galaxy,
with a dense inner core and a less dense outer region, but lack
a disk or arms. Because elliptical galaxies form via mergers,
they often have accumulated many more globular clusters and
satellite galaxies in a spherical halo than spirals. They, too, are
encompassed by a larger dark matter halo. — A.K.
ASTRONOMY: ROEN KELLY
M87 is one of the most massive elliptical FAST
galaxies in the local universe, weighing FACT
an estimated 2.7 trillion solar masses and
hosting about 12,000 globular clusters.
W W W.ASTR ONOMY.COM 17
 OBSERVINGBASICS
BY GLENN CHAPLE
Demystifying
Messier 24
M24 is often misidentified as NGC 6603, but don’t let that
stop you from seeking out this superb nebulosity.
I
n the summer of 1764,
the French comet hunter
Charles Messier came
upon a nebulous object
“near the extremity of the
bow of Sagittarius, in the Milky
Way.” He went on to describe
it as “a considerable nebulosity,
of about one degree and a half
extension: In that nebulosity
there are several stars of dif-
ferent magnitudes; the light
which is between these stars is
divided in several parts.” It was
recorded as the 24th entry in
his catalog of nebulous objects.
Messier 24 (M24), visible to
the unaided eye and three Full
Moon diameters in length, was
one of the last members of the
Messier catalog that I officially
notched. Why? It all has to do
with resources that misidenti-
fied it as NGC 6603.
As I’ve mentioned in the
past, my earliest cosmic excur-
sions were made with a little
3-inch f/10 Edmund Scientific
reflector. Throughout the
1970s, I used this scope exclu-
sively to work my way through
all the entries in the Messier
catalog. Bright Messiers, like
the Andromeda Galaxy (M31),
the Orion Nebula (M42), and
the Beehive Cluster (M44), fell
quickly. Within a few years, I
had moved on to less accom-
modating targets, like the Crab
Nebula (M1), the Pinwheel
Galaxy (M33), and the galaxies
in the Coma/Virgo area.
As the decade drew to a
close, only a handful of Messier
objects had eluded my eye. One
of those holdouts was M24.
BROWSE THE “OBSERVING BASICS” ARCHIVE AT www.Astronomy.com/Chaple.
18 A ST R O N O M Y • J U LY 2018
The problem was that several
of my resources identified M24
as NGC 6603, when in fact the
two are not the same object.
M24 is a 1°-by-2° detached
chunk of the Milky Way, also
known as the Small Sagittarius
Star Cloud. On the other hand,
NGC 6603 is a small, faint
open cluster, tucked away in
the northern part of M24, that
was discovered by John
Herschel in 1830. John Louis
Emil Dreyer’s 1888 edition of
the New General Catalogue
correctly described NGC 6603
as a “remarkable cluster, very
rich, very much compressed,
round,” but then incorrectly
cross-identified it as M24.
Thus began the confusion.
The problem was that several of my resources
identified M24 as NGC 6603, when in fact
the two are not the same object.
Messier’s description of M24
matches the appearance of the
Small Sagittarius Star Cloud;
Dreyer’s doesn’t. Moreover,
NGC 6603 is likely too faint to
have been visible through
Messier’s telescopes. American
astronomer Robert Burnham
Jr. had said as much in the
third volume of his Celestial
Handbook. Nevertheless, I
decided to withhold planting a
flag atop M24 until I had
notched NGC 6603. This was
hardly an easy task, as this
5'-wide cluster shines at a feeble
11th magnitude and is more
aptly viewed with a telescope
One of the sky’s richest star regions, M24 (central diagonal cloud) makes up part
of the Milky Way’s Sagittarius spiral arm. On the other hand, NGC 6603 — a small,
dim open cluster — is located in the northeastern section of M24. CHRIS SCHUR
twice the aperture of mine.
Numerous were those summer
nights when I swatted mosqui-
toes while struggling with this
elusive target! Finally, near
midnight on the evening of
July 28, 1978, I glimpsed an
“incredibly faint, but persistent
averted vision haze.” To
remove all doubt that I had
indeed seen NGC 6603, I care-
fully sketched the field to
include stars in the immediate
vicinity of my suspect. Indoors,
I compared my sketch with a
photo of NGC 6603 in the
Celestial Handbook. The match
was perfect! Fist pump!
Many sources describe
M24’s brightness as magnitude
4.5. I agree more with Stephen
James O’Meara’s assessment
that it’s about two magnitudes
brighter. M24 is reasonably
visible from my backyard,
where the limiting magnitude
is around 5. Under such skies,
a 4.5-magnitude nebulous
object would be extremely dif-
ficult to see.
Needless to say, the real
Messier 24 (correctly identified
as IC 4715) is best viewed
through binoculars or a rich-
field telescope. Through 10x50
binoculars, it appeared to me
as a kidney bean-shaped nebu-
losity interspersed with numer-
ous stars. The brightest four
formed a kite-shaped asterism.
As I suspected, the embedded
NGC 6603 wasn’t visible. I’m
sure a skilled observer working
from a dark sky site can pick
out NGC 6603 with a common
2.4-inch refractor and moder-
ately high (75x to 100x) magni-
fication. You’ll need a scope
6 inches or larger in slightly
light-polluted suburban areas.
Larger instruments will resolve
individual stars.
If M24 is on your list of yet-
to-see Messier objects, don’t
torture yourself like I did.
Look for a naked-eye patch
of light hovering high above
Sagittarius’ Teapot asterism, 2°
north and slightly east of the
4th-magnitude star Mu (μ)
Sagittarii. Get a close-up view
with binoculars, take time to
enjoy the sight, and then put a
check mark next to M24 on
your Messier catalog list. If
you’re up for a small-telescope
challenge, try your luck with
NGC 6603 as well. Just remem-
ber to put on some bug spray!
Questions, comments, or
suggestions? Email me at
gchaple@hotmail.com. Next
month: a backyard mission to
Mars. Clear skies!
Glenn Chaple has been an
avid observer since a friend
showed him Saturn through a
small backyard scope in 1963.
ASTRONEWS FALSE ALARM. The mysterious glow of gamma rays at the center of the Milky Way, once believed to come
from dark matter, is instead most likely due to emission from thousands of millisecond pulsars.

Disk galaxies spin

like clockwork
All disk galaxies fully rotate about once every billion
years, no matter their size or mass, astronomers
announced in a study published March 9 in the
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
“It’s not Swiss watch precision,” said Gerhardt
Meurer of the International Centre for Radio
Astronomy Research in a press release. “But
regardless of whether a galaxy is very big or very
small, if you could sit on the extreme edge of its
disk as it spins, it would take you about a billion
years to go all the way round.”
To carry out the study, the researchers deter-
mined the velocity of neutral hydrogen on the
outer edges of more than 100 galaxies — ranging
from small dwarf irregulars to massive spirals.
These galaxies differed in both size and rotational
velocity by up to a factor of 30. Using the velocity
measurements, the researchers calculated the
rotational periods of their sample galaxies, which
led them to conclude that the outer rims of all disk
galaxies take roughly a billion years to complete
one rotation.
The researchers expected to find only sparse
populations of young stars and interstellar gas on
the outskirts of these galaxies, based on theoreti-
cal models. Instead, they discovered a significant
population of much older stars mingling with the
young stars and gas.
“This is an important result because knowing

FORS/8.2-METER VLT ANTU/ESO

where a galaxy ends means we astronomers can
limit our observations and not waste time, effort,
and computer processing power on studying data
from beyond that point,” said Meurer. “So because
of this work, we now know that galaxies rotate
once every billion years, with a sharp edge that’s
populated with a mixture of interstellar gas [and] COSMIC CAROUSEL. The spiral galaxy NGC 1232 is just over 60 million light-years away in the constellation
both old and young stars.” — J.P. Eridanus. According to new research, all disk galaxies take about a billion years to complete one full rotation.

1 billion
The diameter, in light-years, of the largest ever computer-
generated “slice” of a model universe created by cosmologists
to study galaxy formation.

Radio images reveal a bustling stellar birthplace ESO/H. DRASS/ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/A. HACAR

READY, SET, FORM STARS. Astronomers combined 296 observations
from Chile’s Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and France,
Germany, and Spain’s Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM) 30-meter
radio dish to create a high-resolution radio image of the Orion Nebula (M42). The
nebula is a hotbed of star formation about 1,350 light-years away. Red areas show
millimeter-wavelength data taken by ALMA and the IRAM telescope, while blue
areas show infrared imagery from the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large
Telescope. The flowing red strands represent large amounts of cold gas that, over
time, compress under their own gravity and produce protostars. Using this data,
astronomers identified 55 such filaments, which are so cold they are invisible to
optical and infrared telescopes. The blue-white points (left side of the image) are
the Trapezium Cluster, hot stars just a few million years old. With its proximity
to Earth and intense star-forming activity, the Orion Nebula serves as a tool for
astronomers looking to study star birth and evolution. — A.J.

W W W.ASTR ONOMY.COM 19
RELATIV
VITY
RIGHT OR WRONG? Einstein’s
relativity
replaced
Newton’s
gravity. Now
observations
of black holes
might test
the limits
of Albert’s
masterpiece.
by Jesse Emspak

The event horizon of

the supermassive black
hole at the center of
the Milky Way appears
dark against a bright
maelstrom of swirling
gas and infalling matter.
Astronomers hope
to probe general
relativity’s limits by
imaging this black hole.
ADOLF SCHALLER FOR ASTRONOMY

W W W.ASTR ONOMY.COM 21
 N FEBRUARY 11, 2016, two teams of scientists announced the
first observation of gravitational waves, a phenomenon that Albert
Einstein’s general theory of relativity had predicted a century earlier.
The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) and
Virgo collaborations had caught ripples in space-time itself: the wake
of two black holes that collided and merged more than a billion light-years away.
It was a triumph for general relativity. But to physicists, it wasn’t an end; it was a beginning.
Black holes — objects so dense that not even light can escape — proved Einstein right. Now,
scientists want to use them to stretch relativity to its limits, and perhaps even break it.
“It’s not that we think relativity’s wrong,” says Andrea Ghez, a professor of physics and
astronomy at the University of California, Los Angeles, and director of UCLA’s Galactic Center
Group. “It’s just incomplete.”
Astronomers and physicists are work- Newton’s conception of gravity as a force Meanwhile, light follows a curved
ing to probe black holes with radio tele- that acts instantaneously at a distance. path, bending around the edges of the
scopes and gravitational waves, as well as While the math in general relativity is well. An object with enough mass can
tracking the motions of stars and other more complex than in Newton’s gravity, behave like a lens, making objects behind
matter around black holes to see if they its basic principles can be stated simply. it visible. And light traveling out of a
follow the rules laid down by Einstein Relativity treats gravity as a curvature gravity well is stretched, becoming redder
a century ago. in space-time. (Space-time itself merely as it climbs out. Time also slows as grav-
The general theory of relativity adds time as a coordinate to the three ity gets stronger, so clocks near a black
has passed every test physicists have normal space coordinates: length, width, hole, a star, or even Earth’s surface will
devised so far. It underlies our under- and height.) An object bends the fabric of tick more slowly than those farther away.
standing of space, time, and gravity; space-time, making a gravitational “well”
Global Positioning System satellites even at the location where a planet, star, black Is it complete?
take it into account. It superseded Isaac hole — or anything with mass — resides. Although relativity has passed every test
with flying colors, gaps exist that have
driven research for decades. A prime
example is that Einstein’s gravity does
Mercury’s not seem to fit into quantum mechanics,
even though the three other fundamen-
ece
ssio
n shifting tal forces of nature do. Each of the other
Pr
perihelion three forces is mediated by particles:
Photons carry the electromagnetic
force, gluons carry the strong nuclear
The perihelion of
Mercury, the point in force, and W and Z bosons carry the
the planet’s orbit where weak nuclear force. But no one has yet
it comes closest to the observed the corresponding particle that
Sun, precesses nearly 2°
Mercury at per century. Newton’s should carry the gravitational force —
Sun
perihelion laws accounted for all the graviton — though current theories
but 43" of this change; say it should exist.
general relativity
Ghez says that some phenomena
Me

resolved the rest. The

ur
rc

y ’s advance illustrated here don’t quite fit into Einstein’s paradigm.

orb is exaggerated to show
it Universal expansion is one. While it’s
detail. ASTRONOMY: ROEN KELLY
true that general relativity implies galax-
ies should be racing apart, the underlying
reasons why cosmic expansion seems to

22 A ST R O N O M Y • JULY 2018
 “It’s not
that we
think
relativity’s
wrong.
It’s just
incomplete.”
Andrea Ghez

This photo of the May 1919 solar

eclipse shows that the positions
of stars (inside the dashed lines)
have changed in accordance with
general relativity when their light
passed near the Sun’s limb. F.W. DYSON,
A.S. EDDINGTON, AND C. DAVIDSON

be accelerating are still controversial.

“Is that because we don’t have the right
theory to describe gravity?” she asks.
“Observationally, now we are just push-
How objects
ing the edges. We want a more complete distort
version of gravity; there’s evidence this
version isn’t good enough.” space-time Sun
Tim Johannsen, a postdoctoral fellow Any object with mass
at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, warps space-time. But
studies gravity in extreme environments. objects with more mass Black hole
and greater density
He agrees that black holes may offer a create greater gravity
way to find relativity’s breaking points. wells. This illustration
“There have been many experimental compares the relative White dwarf
deformations from
tests of general relativity, but hardly any different objects.
of them have probed the strong-field Notice that a black hole
regime in the immediate vicinity of a essentially rips a hole in
the fabric of space-time.
black hole so far,” he says. ASTRONOMY: KELLIE JAEGER
The first tests involved the far weaker
field surrounding the Sun. For example,
the point in Mercury’s orbit where it
Neutron star
W W W.ASTR ONOMY.COM 23
Above: The Einstein Cross vividly shows the
effects of gravitational lensing. Light from a
distant quasar passes through the outskirts of a
diffuse galaxy, which acts as a lens to magnify
and bend the quasar’s light into four distinct
images. ESA/HUBBLE AND NASA

Right: Gravitational lensing also occurs on grand

scales. Here, the giant galaxy cluster MACS
J0717.5+3745 magnifies and distorts light from
more distant galaxies, warping their light into
arcs and streaks. NASA/ESA/THE HST FRONTIER FIELDS TEAM (STSCI)

comes closest to the Sun, called peri-

helion, advances about 2° per century.
Relativity accounts for the tiny fraction,
just 43" per century, that Newton’s laws
cannot. And observations of a total solar
eclipse in 1919 found a small bending of
light by the Sun’s gravitational field.
Later, the discoveries of gravitational
lensing and gravitational waves helped
confirm relativity’s power to explain
nature. It would seem that Einstein is in
good shape, but the nagging question is
whether his theory will hold up under
more extreme conditions, or eventually
show its incompleteness as Newton’s
theory did.
Yet even with the knowledge that gen-
eral relativity might not be the last word,
any new theory still has to fit all the
results that have come before. “The bar
is getting higher,” says Nicholas Yunes,
a physicist at Montana State University.
“Whatever theory of gravity you decide
to devise, at the very least it has to pre-
dict the same gravitational waves that
[LIGO] observed.”

Forging a black hole

To make a black hole, you need to com-
press a lot of mass into a very small

24 A ST R O N O M Y • JULY 2018
space. Einstein’s theory says it doesn’t
matter what that mass is, but astrono-
mers think nature makes stellar-mass
black holes when massive stars die. All
stars spend most of their lives fusing
hydrogen into helium in their cores. The
energy this produces creates an outward
pressure that balances the inward pull
of gravity. After a star exhausts its core
hydrogen, it eventually starts to fuse
helium into carbon.
More massive stars can tap into addi-
tional fuels. Ultimately, silicon fuses into
iron and nickel. But the process stops
there because fusing heavier elements
consumes, rather than releases, energy.
The star can no longer support its own
weight with radiation pressure from
fusion, so it collapses. The implosion
triggers a shock wave that tears the star
apart in a violent supernova explosion.
For stars that begin life with more than
20 solar masses, the core left behind col-
lapses to infinite density and becomes
a singularity. An event horizon forms
around the singularity, and you have
a black hole.
The event horizon — the point of no
return — is surprisingly small. The black
hole at the center of the Milky Way
Galaxy, known as Sagittarius A* (pro-
nounced A-star), holds about 4 million
times the Sun’s mass, but its event hori-
zon is only 15 million miles (24 million
kilometers) across. It would fit inside
Mercury’s orbit with plenty of room to
spare. A black hole with 10 times the
Sun’s mass would have an event horizon
that spans 37 miles (60 km) and would fit
inside Rhode Island. And if Earth were
compressed into a black hole, it would be
the size of a marble. The event horizon
radius increases in direct proportion
to the black hole’s mass, but unlike
Hollywood treatments, black holes
don’t vacuum matter up. If an Earth-
mass black hole replaced our planet,
the Moon’s orbit wouldn’t change.
The small size matters because the
gravitational field changes drastically as
one approaches the event horizon. That’s
why black holes are such good arenas for
testing relativity. The gravity wells are
steep — a person 3 feet (1 meter) from
an Earth-mass black hole would feel a
force more than 40 trillion times the
gravity at Earth’s surface. In the vicinity
of a black hole, the bending of light is
“How do you
convince
yourself you
know what
Newton is
predicting?”
Andrea Ghez
The LIGO and Virgo collaborations
have detected gravitational waves
from the mergers of several black
hole pairs. This illustration depicts
the merger seen December 25,
2015, when black holes of 8 and
14 solar masses merged into a
single 21-solar-mass object. LIGO/T. PYLE
easy to spot, and effects like time dila- the Sun, it will be moving at between
tion and deviations from Newtonian 1 and 2 percent the speed of light.
mechanics are large enough to observe After years of observations, data from
readily. If relativity stops working, then 2018 will give the researchers enough
near a black hole is where we are likely information to measure deviations from
to see it happen. Newton’s laws due to general relativity
accurately, Ghez says. Paradoxically,
The hurried paths of stars the relativistic effects are so large they
To track down some of these relativistic actually make it more difficult to do
effects, Ghez’s research team is using a a Newton’s-law calculation. “How do
method similar to the one scientists used you convince yourself you know what
to analyze Mercury’s orbit. Sagittarius A* Newton is predicting?” she says. Thus
is the closest supermassive black hole, and far, Einstein’s theory should show a dif-
astronomers can resolve individual stars ference from a Newtonian calculation of
orbiting it. One in particular, called S2, about 120 miles per second (200 km/s).
takes 16 years to complete its highly ellip- Further deviations from that might show
tical orbit. The black hole’s mass is why that Einstein’s theory is starting to fray.
the star goes so fast. By the time it makes The team’s observations also touch on
its closest approach to Sagittarius A* in another mystery, says Ghez. Stars near
mid-2018, at a distance about three times the galactic center should be relatively
as far from the black hole as Pluto is from old. The clouds of gas and dust that

26 A ST R O N O M Y • JULY 2018
 Supermassive
(4 million solar masses)
Intermediate mass
(10,000 solar masses)
Up to 37,000 miles (60,000 km)
The sizes
15 million miles (24 million km)
of black
4.7 Earths across
holes
The diameter of a
black hole’s event
horizon increases in
direct proportion to its
17 Suns across mass. A black hole with
10 times the Sun’s mass
Stellar mass would span 37 miles
(10 solar masses) (60 km), while the one
37 miles (60 km) Rhode in the Milky Way’s center
Island measures 17 Suns across.
ASTRONOMY: ROEN KELLY

W W W.ASTR ONOMY.COM 27
One of LIGO’s twin detectors (above) is
in Livingston, Louisiana, some 25 miles
(40 km) east of Baton Rouge. The other Mirrored
detector is in Hanford, Washington. End test mass
station
CALTECH/MIT/LIGO LAB

How LIGO works

Mirrored Each LIGO detector
test mass sends laser pulses
Mid Mirrored Mirrored down two 2.5-mile-
station test mass test mass long (4 km) arms and
would give birth to stars shouldn’t be
then combines the
stable so close to a supermassive black light beams to create
hole; calculations based on relativity Laser
Beam splitter
an interference
show that tidal forces should disrupt pattern. Analyzing
these patterns lets
them. Yet stars near the center skew scientists measure
young. Unless someone can invoke a Detector tiny changes in the
mechanism for quickly getting these distance the light
Corner
station travels in response
youngsters in from an outer region, to a passing
they demonstrate that scientists must gravitational wave.
be missing something. ASTRONOMY: ROEN KELLY

1.24 miles (2 km) 1.24 miles (2 km)

In the shadows
Johannsen is among the astronomers
taking a different tack, using the Event
Horizon Telescope (EHT) to see if rela-
tivity breaks down in the “shadow” of
a black hole.
The EHT is a collection of radio tele-
scopes spread around the world. Using a
technique called very long baseline inter-
ferometry, the telescopes work together
to achieve a resolution comparable to a
single instrument with a diameter nearly
as wide as our planet. The array delivers
enough resolution for radio astronomers
to observe the edges of Sagittarius A*, as
well as the much larger supermassive
black hole that lurks at the center of the
giant elliptical galaxy M87 in the Virgo
Cluster. Accretion disks of gas and dust
surround both black holes. Such disks
tend to form around black holes because
their strong tidal forces rip apart any
object that gets too close. Friction within
the disk heats the material to millions of
degrees before it falls into the hole, and
the gas glows brightly in wavelengths
ranging from X-rays to radio.
Since black holes act like lenses,
Johannsen’s team expects to see a per-
fect ring of light as the photons from
behind the black hole are bent around it.
(Although most researchers describe the
dark void at the center of the ring as
a “shadow,” it is really a silhouette of
the black hole against the bright back-
ground light.) If that ring isn’t a perfect
circle and shows some oscillations, then
a quantum effect may be happening. It
would be the first time anyone has seen
anything like it around a black hole.
“The shape of a given shadow is almost
entirely determined by gravity alone and
not by the particulars of the gas and dust
that are swirling around the black hole,”
says Johannsen. “Therefore, the detection
of the shadow can potentially be a clean

28 A ST R O N O M Y • JULY 2018
 The 1.9-mile-long
(3 km) arms of the
Virgo interferometer
are nestled in the
countryside near Pisa,
Italy. This instrument
works in tandem
with the twin LIGO
interferometers in
the United States.
THE VIRGO COLLABORATION

Researchers using
measurement of the underlying theory N the 10-meter
of gravity without many of the compli- Keck Telescope
cations that come with those messy 1995–2017 have tracked
the motions of a
surroundings.” handful of stars
General relativity says the shape of the in orbit around
S2
shadow should be nearly circular with a Sagittarius A*.
S38 They expect these
fixed size. Other theories of gravity posit observations will
S102
other shapes. “If we find any of those soon allow them
S5
deviations, there are two possibilities: to detect deviations
S16 from Newton’s laws.
Either [general relativity] is not correct KECK/UCLA GALACTIC
S19
in the strong-field regime, or [general E CENTER GROUP
S20
relativity] still holds but the object is not
a black hole but some exotica. Either one
0.1"
would be quite a sensation.”

Riding the waves

Perhaps one of general relativity’s most
famous predictions was gravitational
waves. (While Einstein’s theory gave
gravitational waves a sound mathemati-
cal basis, the concept was not unique
to him: Henri Poincaré and Oliver
Heaviside also floated the concept.)
Einstein predicted that accelerating
massive objects would cause space-time
to ripple. The resulting waves would
propagate at the speed of light and not at
an infinite speed as Newton’s formula-
tion of gravity predicted. As of March
2018, astronomers with the LIGO and
Virgo collaborations have picked up
unequivocal evidence for gravitational
waves six times.
LIGO and Virgo are interferometers.
A laser is fired at a beam splitter that
sends the light down two perpendicular
arms. Each of LIGO’s arms is 2.5 miles
(4 km) long, while each Virgo arm
extends 1.9 miles (3 km). The two beams
bounce off mirrors at the end of the arms
and return to the beam splitter, where
they combine into a single beam before Thousands of stars crowd the core
heading into a photodetector. If the two of our galaxy, which harbors a
4 million-solar-mass black hole
beams travel precisely the same distance called Sagittarius A*. This near-
before merging, they will either cancel infrared image reveals many of
each other out or reinforce each other, those stars, some interstellar dust,
and the faint glow surrounding the
and the photodetector will either pick up black hole. ESO
nothing, or it will see light as bright as
the original beam.

W W W.ASTR ONOMY.COM 29

LIGO’s two detectors and Virgo’s
one are designed so the photodetectors
record nothing if the arms stay the same
length. But if the beams travel a different
distance — as one would expect if pass-
ing gravitational waves distorted space-
time — then the photodetectors will
record an interference pattern, and the
merged beam will appear brighter or
dimmer than the original one. The
interferometers can detect changes in
the lengths of their arms as small as
1⁄10,000 the width of a proton.
The detection of gravitational waves
doesn’t mean Einstein’s theory can rest,
however. In many ways, their detection
raises as many questions as it answers. A
few theorists have started to poke at the
observations to see if they reveal hints at
a quantum theory of gravity, or at least
some connections that don’t violate
quantum mechanics.
In late 2016, for example, researcher
Jahed Abedi of the Sharif University
of Technology in Tehran, along with
Hannah Dykaar and Niayesh Afshordi of
the University of Waterloo, proposed
that “echoes” in the gravitational wave
signal might indicate there were some
tiny structures near the event horizons of
the merging objects, pointing to physics
beyond general relativity. The idea wasn’t
met with a lot of enthusiasm from fellow
scientists. In a set of back-and-forth
papers, skeptics stated that they had res-
ervations about the theoretical basis. The
next question is whether these echoes
will show up in future observations.
30 A ST R O N O M Y • JULY 2018
“The puzzle
is getting
completed
one piece
at a time.”
Nicholas Yunes
Left: The supermassive black hole at the
center of M87 emits a high-powered jet
of subatomic particles. Although this
elliptical galaxy lies more than 50 million
light-years from Earth, astronomers hope
to image its black hole with the Event
Horizon Telescope because it is more than
1,000 times the mass, and thus diameter,
of the Milky Way’s central black hole.
NASA/ESA/THE HUBBLE HERITAGE TEAM (STS CI/AURA)
Right: The Milky Way and aurora australis
shine down on the South Pole Telescope,
one of about a dozen instruments that
form the Event Horizon Telescope. This
virtual Earth-sized observatory seeks
to image a black hole’s event horizon.
DANIEL MICHALIK/SOUTH POLE TELESCOPE
A weighty particle
Gravitational waves also may reveal
physics beyond relativity in other ways,
notes Kent Yagi, a theoretical astrophysi-
cist at the University of Virginia. One
way is simply by constraining param-
eters like the mass of the graviton. If this
particle has no mass, then gravitational
waves should move at the speed of light,
he says. A graviton with mass means
that gravitational waves can’t, by defini-
tion, go that fast.
If the graviton has mass, it has to be
quite small. “We can constrain it to no
more than 10-20 eV [electron volt] with
the first detection, but beyond that, we
don’t know. Maybe it’s 10-23 eV,” says
This computer-generated model shows the
Yunes. (An electron volt is a common “shadow” of the 4 million-solar-mass black hole
measure of energy in particle physics; at the Milky Way’s center. Astronomers hope to
scientists often use it as a unit of mass by compare such models with images of the black
hole made with the Event Horizon Telescope, to
dividing a particle’s energy by the speed look for any deviations from general relativity.
of light squared, per Einstein’s famous AVERY BRODERICK (UNIVERSITY OF WATERLOO/PERIMETER INSTITUTE)
equation, E=mc2.) But at a certain point,
if there’s no mass detected, one has to
wonder if it’s massless — or even exists.
Meanwhile, other scientists have
taken a crack at looking for quantum
effects at large scales using combinations
of black holes and neutron stars. Neutron
stars are the corpses of stars born with
more than about eight times the Sun’s
mass, but less than the 20 solar masses
needed to make black holes. They have
powerful magnetic fields, and some send
focused beams of radio waves in our
direction at regular intervals like a light-
house beacon — pulsars.
John Estes of Long Island University
and his colleagues have proposed using
the precisely timed signals from a pulsar
orbiting a black hole to probe the region
near the event horizon. Since black holes
bend light, the pulsar’s signal would be
delayed by a discrete amount when the
pulsar passes behind the black hole. If
quantum effects are important, then that
delay would change in ways general rela-
tivity cannot predict, and might even
reveal something about how quantum
mechanics works with relativity.
But there’s another reason to do these
kinds of tests. It is far from clear that
gravity — and thus general relativity
— applies the same way at different
scales. Leo Stein of Caltech notes that
the physics one encounters near a super-
massive black hole, like the one at the
center of the Milky Way, might be dif-
ferent from the physics near a stellar-
mass black hole.
LIGO, for example, showed us that
gravitational waves are generated in the
expected way near a stellar-mass black
hole. The steepness of the curvature of
space just outside the event horizon is
smaller for larger black holes, however.
“It’s potentially very different physics,”
Stein says. “When curvatures are large,
you need to use LIGO. When interested
in physics on the millions-of-kilometers
scale, there are things you might be able
to test with the EHT. In the middle is
stuff we have got nailed down, at the
solar system scale.
“Cosmologists are interested in
changing the theory of gravity at very
large distance scales,” he says. “String
theorists and high-energy physicists are
changing the theory of gravity at the
quantum level.”
As with many mysteries, however, we
may have to wait for observations to tell
us one way or the other which theory is
correct. “The puzzle is getting completed
one piece at a time,” says Yunes.
Jesse Emspak is a science writer who lives
and works in New York City.
W W W.ASTR ONOMY.COM 31
 This meteor
shower is the most
famous, and in
2018 it will again
be one of amateur
astronomy’s great
social events.
by Michael E. Bakich

PARTY WITH THE

C
all your friends. It’s time once again for the annual Perseid
meteor shower, typically the greatest shower of the year.
This event occurs during the Northern Hemisphere sum-
mer, so even many people who don’t consider themselves
astronomers venture outdoors to watch it.
The Perseids feature a slow (two-week) buildup to
maximum (along with an equally slow decline to zero
activity), and many bright meteors that leave luminous
trails visible for several seconds. The trails form because
Perseid meteors are fast — their speeds top 125,000 mph
(200,000 km/h). Usually, Perseid meteors appear white
or bluish white.
In 2018, the New Moon fortuitously occurs
August 11, so our normally brilliant satellite will be
absent during the shower’s peak, which falls on the
night of August 12 and the morning of the 13th. If you
see the Moon at all, it will be a thin crescent low in the
western sky that will set an hour or so after the Sun.
Perhaps the only negative about this year’s Perseids is
that the peak occurs on a Sunday night into Monday

32 A STR O N O M Y • J U LY 2018
 While shooting
the setting Moon
from Pensacola
Beach, Florida, this
photographer captured
what he describes as
“probably the luckiest
shot of my life” on
August 2, 2017, at 2 A.M.
EDT. He used a Nikon
D90 with an 18mm
lens at f/3.5 to take a
15-second exposure at
ISO 2500. AUSTIN HOUSER

This photographer
imaged all night August
11/12, 2016, from
Joshua Tree National
Park in California.
He used a Canon
60Da with a Rokinon
24mm f/1.4 lens set
at f/2. All exposures
were for 15 seconds
at ISO 6400. MICHAEL KRYPEL

morning, so work commitments may limit the number

of people who actually view the shower.
For many amateur astronomers, one of the best
things about the Perseids comes from getting together
with like-minded friends for fun under the stars. Few
astronomical viewing sessions promise the drama of a
brilliant fireball (a meteor that casts a shadow) or
bolide (an exploding meteor), but meteor showers can
feature such events. You’ll know real excitement if you
experience a bright meteor with a group of people.

W W W.ASTR ONOMY.COM 33

Polaris
Radiant
Capella
AURIG A
Looking northeast
2 A.M., August 13
All Perseid meteors seem to originate from a point near the Hero’s head, called the radiant.
To see the maximum number of meteors, look roughly 45° away from the radiant. ASTRONOMY: ROEN KELLY
Most astronomy clubs host observing
sessions either on the night of the shower’s
predicted maximum or on a weekend night
close to it. If you’re not doing serious
meteor counting, all you’ll need to bring is
a lawn chair, some snacks, and your eyes.
Telescopes do a great job of magnifying
objects, but they severely restrict your field
of view, a negative for meteor watching.
Binoculars also restrict your view, so don’t
observe the shower through them. Instead,
if you have binoculars nearby, you can use
them to catch a close-up view of a meteor’s
smoke trail after spotting it with your
naked eye.
What’s going on?
Meteors are tiny dust-size particles of rock
and metal that Earth passes through as
it orbits the Sun. Astronomers call these
particles meteoroids when they are float-
ing freely in space, but when they burn up
in the atmosphere, they become meteors.
If they survive the fiery ordeal of passage
through our thick blanket of air to land on
the ground, they are then known as mete-
orites. No meteorites come from meteor
showers — the particles are too small.
Most meteor showers originate with
comets. When a comet swings around the
Sun, our star’s heat boils off ice and with it,
trapped dusty debris. When the debris
trail’s orbit crosses Earth’s orbit, we experi-
ence a meteor shower. The exception to the
comet rule is the Geminid shower, which
occurs in December. That event’s particles
34 A ST R O N O M Y • J U LY 2018
A R IE S
Algol
PERSEUS
Pleiades
TAURUS
Aldebaran
10°
METEORS: FASCINATING FACTS
• To be visible, a meteor must be within about • The average total mass of meteoritic
120 miles (200 kilometers) of an observer.
• Meteors become visible at an average
height of 55 miles (90 km). Nearly all
burn up before they reach an altitude
of 50 miles (80 km).
• No shower meteor has survived
its flight through the atmosphere
and been recovered.
• The typical bright meteor is produced
by a particle no larger than a pea
with a mass of less than 1 gram.
originate with dust coming from the aster-
oid 3200 Phaethon.
Astronomers designated the Perseids’
parent comet as 109P/Swift-Tuttle. The
number identifies it as the 109th periodic
comet whose orbit astronomers have calcu-
lated. The common name comes from the
discoverers, Lewis Swift of Marathon,
New York, and Horace Parnell Tuttle,
who worked at Harvard Observatory in
Massachusetts. Each discovered the comet
in July 1862. It shone at magnitude 7.5 at
the time of the discovery and brightened to
about magnitude 2 by early September. It
sported a tail between 25° and 30° long and
was quite impressive. The comet visits our
part of the solar system every 133 years. In
November 1992, it brightened to 5th mag-
nitude and was visible without optical aid
A Perseid meteor
leaves a colorful trail
over Lake Nockamixon
in Quakertown,
Pennsylvania,
on August 13, 2016,
at 3:32 A.M. EDT. The
imager used a Canon
60Da with a Sigma
18–35mm lens at f/1.8.
He took a 7-second
exposure at ISO 800.
material entering Earth’s atmosphere is
estimated to be between 100 and 1,000 tons
(91,000 and 910,000 kilograms) per day.
• The typical hourly rate for meteors
on a “non-shower” night is about
6 meteors per hour.
• A meteoroid enters the atmosphere with a
velocity between 50,000 and 165,000 mph
(81,000–265,000 km/h).
only from the darkest sites. During its next
close passage in 2126, it will shine slightly
brighter than 1st magnitude.
By the way, astronomers call this par-
ticular shower the Perseids because if you
trace all the meteor trails backward, they
meet within the boundaries of the constel-
lation Perseus the Hero. The point of origin
(the direction in space toward which Earth
is heading) is called the radiant. A good
visual approximation of the radiant is
the famous Double Cluster in Perseus
(NGC 869 and NGC 884).
2018 forecast
Scientists who study meteor showers predict
the Perseids will peak between 4 p.m. EDT
August 12 and 4 a.m. EDT August 13.
Based on these times, meteor watchers
 A Perseid streaks
between the Pleiades
(M45) and the Hyades
in Taurus above
Pasargadae, a UNESCO
World Heritage site
near Shiraz, Iran, on
August 12, 2015. This
20-second exposure
at ISO 3200 was taken
with a Canon 5D Mark
II and an f/1.4 Samyang
24mm lens set at f/2.8.

LARRY KUHN
TIMOTHY BENKO/NEW JERSEY ASTRONOMICAL ASSOCIATION

AMIRREZA KAMKAR
While taking a
wide-field shot
in the United of the Andromeda of the way up in the sky. Bright meteors How many Perseids will you see?
States who can Galaxy (M31) on that travel near the top of the atmosphere Meteor counters use a quantity called the
August 14, 2015, this
spend the night and leave long trails are more common at zenithal hourly rate (ZHR). This is the
imager captured a
outdoors should Perseid in one of his this time. As the radiant rises (remember, number of meteors visible per hour for an
begin observ- exposures. He used you can use the Double Cluster to approxi- observer under a dark sky with no scat-
ing at the end of a Canon T2i with a mate it), adjust your gaze to keep watching tered light and with the radiant positioned
50mm lens at f/1.4
astronomical twi- and stacked five a point about 45° west of it. Glancing directly overhead. The ZHR for the
light on the 12th 13-second exposures around is OK. In the early morning hours, Perseids is 110. This year, with the Moon
and watch the sky taken at ISO 1600. after the radiant has crossed the meridian out of the sky, you can expect to count
until dawn. — the imaginary line from north to south between 80 and 90 meteors per hour from
August 12 isn’t that divides the eastern half of the sky from a dark site — a terrific rate!
the only night you can observe Perseids. the west — and begins to sink lower in the All meteor showers are exciting events,
This year, the shower will be active northwest, you might want to change your but this summer’s Perseids rank at the top.
between about July 17 and August 24. Of view and look 45° east of the radiant. Be comfortable, have fun, and get ready for
course, you’ll see fewer meteors the further If you’re observing in a group, let those some oohs and aahs.
you observe from the date of the peak. around you know when you spot a bright
Early in the evening on August 12, set Perseid. Some meteor trails last for several Astronomy Senior Editor Michael E. Bakich
up a lawn chair (preferably one that seconds, and glowing trains may remain has spent countless summer nights through the
reclines), face east, and look a third to half long after the meteors’ light fades. years observing the Perseids.

W W W.ASTR ONOMY.COM 35
 SKYTHIS
MONTH
July 2018: The Red Planet’s revival
Mars puts on its best show in 15 years this month. The Red Planet spans
24.3" in late July, when telescopes should show an impressive array of
surface features. NASA/ESA/THE HUBBLE HERITAGE TEAM (STSCI/AURA)/J. BELL (ASU)/M. WOLFF (SSI)
J
uly features the finest
views of Mars in 15 years.
But that’s just one high-
light in a month full of
them. The five planets
known since antiquity span
the evening sky: Mercury
and Venus appear in twilight,
Jupiter and Saturn remain vis-
ible until after midnight, and
Mars is a showpiece all night.
As if to underscore the Red
Planet’s peak, a total eclipse of
the Moon visible from most of
the Eastern Hemisphere occurs
near Mars on the night of July
27/28. Binoculars will show
Uranus and Neptune as they
climb high before dawn, and a
telescope reveals Pluto sliding
past a bright star. It’s a great
month to watch the night sky,
so let’s get started.
Evening twilight hosts both
Mercury and Venus. Mercury
36 A ST R O N O M Y • J U LY 2018
MARTIN RATCLIFFE and ALISTER LING describe the
solar system’s changing landscape as it appears in Earth’s sky.
crosses from Cancer into Leo
this month, passing within 1°
of the Beehive star cluster
(M44) July 3 and 4. The
innermost planet glows at
magnitude 0.0 and should be
easy to spot with your naked
eye, though you’ll need bin-
oculars and a transparent sky
to see M44. The two stand 7°
high 45 minutes after sunset.
Mercury dims and dips
closer to the horizon as July
progresses. It crosses into Leo
on the 14th, when a slender
crescent Moon passes 2° above
it. Use binoculars to best view
the pair. A telescope reveals
Mercury’s 8"-diameter disk,
which appears 38 percent lit.
Evening twilight swallows the
planet within another week.
As you search for Mercury,
you can’t help but see Venus
to its upper left. The second
planet from the Sun shines at
magnitude –4.1 in early July
and brightens to magnitude
–4.3 by month’s end. Venus
spends July among the back-
ground stars of Leo, passing
1° north of 1st-magnitude
Regulus on the 9th.
A waxing crescent Moon
slides 2° to the planet’s right
July 15. The stunning duo
stands 15° high in the west
45 minutes after sundown. The
conjunction provides a nice
photo opportunity. Shoot the
twilight scene before 9:30 p.m.
local daylight time and you’ll
also capture Regulus to the
lower right and Mercury closer
to the horizon. Point a tele-
scope at Venus this evening
and you’ll see an 18"-diameter
disk that appears nearly two-
thirds illuminated.
As Venus and the Moon slip
close to the horizon, shift your
gaze to their left and you’ll
encounter Jupiter, Saturn, and
then Mars. Jupiter appears
about 30° high in the south-
west while Saturn stands 20°
Mars at its peak
Altair
AQUIL A
Mars
AQUARIUS
CAPRIC ORNUS
Late July, 10 P.M.
Looking southeast
The Red Planet shines at magnitude –2.8 when it reaches opposition in late
July among the dim stars of Capricornus. ALL ILLUSTRATIONS: ASTRONOMY: ROEN KELLY
Visible to the naked eye
Visible with binoculars
Visible with a telescope
high in the south-southeast.
And Mars pokes above the
southeastern horizon around
9:30 p.m. local daylight time.
The solar system’s two gas
giants are on view every clear
evening. Jupiter lies in Libra,
2° northwest of Zubenelgenubi
(Alpha [α] Librae). Saturn
resides in northern Sagittarius,
not far from several deep-sky
gems. Jupiter shines at magni-
tude –2.2 in mid-July, nearly
10 times brighter than magni-
tude 0.1 Saturn. Both remain
within 0.1 magnitude of these
values all month.
Catch Jupiter first while it
is still high in the sky. The
giant planet’s equator spans
41" in early July and 38" late in
the month. Despite its dwin-
dling size, Jupiter remains a
fine object through telescopes
of all sizes. Any instrument
shows its two dark equatorial
belts, one on either side of a
noticeably brighter zone.
Jupiter’s dynamic atmo-
sphere can provide hours of
enjoyment, but it’s also worth
Saturn
SC OR PIUS
SAGIT TARIUS
10°
 RISINGMOON
A pair of oval impact scars
The striking form of Schiller
stands out in the deep south-
west of a waxing gibbous
Moon. This shoeprint-shaped
impact crater lights up July 23,
when its mostly flat floor and
exceptionally elliptical shape
catch the eye. Of course, even
circular craters located close to
the Moon’s limb appear oval, an
effect called foreshortening. But
Schiller seems squashed twice
as much as any other impact
feature in the area. The shadows
appear quite long the evening
of the 23rd, which helps exag-
gerate the terrain’s height.
Early lunar observers were
left scratching their heads trying
to explain Schiller’s shape. A few
decades ago, however, scientists
studying high-velocity impacts
in laboratories on Earth showed
viewing the planet’s four
bright moons. Io, Europa,
Ganymede, and Callisto orbit
Jupiter with periods ranging
from 1.8 to 16.7 days, and
their relative positions change
noticeably hour by hour.
Scan east from Jupiter
and you’ll find Saturn set
against the rich Milky Way of
Sagittarius. In early July, the
ringed planet lies 4.7° due east
of the Trifid Nebula (M20),
with the even brighter Lagoon
Nebula (M8) 1° south of the
Trifid. Open cluster M25
resides 4.0° northeast of
Saturn and globular cluster
M22 sits 3.5° southeast of the
ringed world. Saturn drifts
slowly westward during July,
closing in on the Trifid and
Lagoon. By the 31st, the planet
stands 2.7° east of M20.
Despite this wonderful
backdrop, the best views of
Saturn come through a tele-
scope. The planet reached its
peak at opposition in late June,
— Continued on page 42
Schiller and Hainzel
that single projectiles striking a
surface at a grazing angle can
produce some unusual craters,
including ones that look like
Schiller. (Messier A in the Moon’s
southeast is the poster child for
such low-angle impacts.) Long Hainzel
after the impact gouged out
Schiller, lava welled up through
crustal fractures and created its
smooth floor.
Scan to the crater’s northeast Schiller
and you can’t miss the elliptical
crater Hainzel. A close look N
reveals this feature to be the
result of three separate impacts. E
The roughly circular crater on
the northwestern side shows a These elongated craters stand out near Luna’s southwestern limb on the
classic central peak. The south- July 23 waxing gibbous Moon. CONSOLIDATED LUNAR ATLAS/UA/LPL; INSET: NASA/GSFC/ASU
eastern structure formed later —
the timing becomes clear when texture and albedo. The south- two craters overlay it, but its rim
you notice that the floor of the ern component was first on the is also softer, a result of wear
overlapping area matches its scene. Not only do the other from long-term bombardment.
METEORWATCH
Fighting off a Full Southern Delta Aquariid meteor shower
Moon fever AQUARIUS
Moon
Although the Southern Delta
Aquariid meteor shower doesn’t
CAPRIC ORNUS
reach the heights of its more Radiant
famous cousins, it stands out for
its longevity. The shower lasts
from mid-July to mid-August,
and that’s a good thing this year CETUS
Fomalhaut
because it peaks July 30, just
three days after Full Moon. Your 10°
best bet is to watch under the GRUS
dark skies before dawn prior to
July 25.
Or, if you live in the Eastern July 30, 2 A.M.
Looking south-southeast Southern Delta Aquariid
Hemisphere, keep an eye out for
meteors
meteors during the total lunar
A nearly Full Moon lessens the Active dates: July 12–Aug. 23
eclipse the night of July 27/28. impact of this shower in 2018,
Peak: July 30
The eclipse brings nearly two though meteor observers
Moon at peak: Waning gibbous
should still watch for an
hours of darkness and a grand Maximum rate at peak:
occasional bright streak.
stage for viewing totality, Mars, 25 meteors/hour
and a handful of “shooting stars.”
OBSERVING Mars shines brighter (magnitude –2.8) and looms larger (24.3"
HIGHLIGHT across) through a telescope in late July than it has in 15 years.
W W W.ASTR ONOMY.COM 37
 N
STAR
DOME
NG
C8
84
How to use this map: This map portrays the C8
NG
sky as seen near 35° north latitude. Located 69 O PA R D
CAMEL
inside the border are the cardinal directions
ALIS

and their intermediate points. To find

stars, hold the map overhead and 1
orient it so one of the labels matches M8
the direction you’re facing. The NE SS
CA M82
stars above the map’s horizon
IO

M
PE

31
now match what’s in the sky. Polaris
IA

ND A
NCP

OM R
MINOR
The all-sky map shows CE
URSA
how the sky looks at: ED PH
EU
A

S
midnight July 1
11 P.M. July 15
10 P.M. July 31 r
iza
Planets are shown

LA
PE

at midmonth

ER C
GA

DR AC O

TA
SU

De
ne
S

CY

Ve
GN

a g

M13
US

BOREALIS
E

C O RO NA
H

LY R A
ER
M27

M57
M15

U
LE
Enif

VU
S
DEL

LPE
SA
EQU

PHI

GIT

CU
ULE

TA
NU

LA
US

T S
P EN
A P
Al
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SE

C ER
U
ta

CA RPE

S
ir
UA

UD NS
STAR A
RI

MAGNITUDES
US

S
A

UCHU
OPHI
Q
U

Sirius
IL
A

0.0 1 M
3.0 SC 1
1.0 UT
4.0 U M M16
C

2.0 5.0
A
P
R
IC

M17
O
R

S at u r M20
N

STAR COLORS M22 n

U

M
S

A star’s color depends ar res

on its surface temperature.
s M8 Anta
SA M4
• The hottest stars shine blue SE GI
TT M6
• Slightly cooler stars appear white
AR
IU
S
• Intermediate stars (like the Sun) glow yellow M7
• Lower-temperature stars appear orange CO
R L
• The coolest stars glow red AU O NA
STR
ALI SCORPIUS
NGC 62
31
• Fainter stars can’t excite our eyes’ color
receptors, so they appear white unless you
S
TELES
COPIU
use optical aid to gather more light M

38 A ST R O N O M Y • J U LY 2018 S
 Note: Moon phases in the calendar vary
in size due to the distance from Earth
JULY 2018 and are shown at 0h Universal Time.
SUN. MON. TUES. WED. THURS. FRI. SAT.
MAP SYMBOLS
Open cluster
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Globular cluster

Diffuse nebula
R 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
Planetary nebula
NW
O
AJ
M
A Galaxy

ILLUSTRATIONS BY ASTRONOMY: ROEN KELLY

RS
U 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
R
O
IN
M

22 23 24 25 26 27 28
O
LE
CI
TI

29 30 31
A
EN V

Calendar of events
ES
1
M5

LEO
N
CA

bola

3 The Moon passes 3° south of 15 The Moon passes 1.6° north of

Neptune, 8 P.M. EDT Venus, midnight EDT
Dene
COMA CES

NGP

6 Last Quarter Moon 19 First Quarter Moon

occurs at 3:51 A.M. EDT occurs at 3:52 P.M. EDT
NI
TES

M64
BERE

Earth is at aphelion 20 Asteroid Thisbe is at

BOÖ

(94.5 million miles from opposition, 5 A.M. EDT

the Sun), 1 P.M. EDT
W The Moon passes 4° north of
7 The Moon passes 5° south of Jupiter, 8 P.M. EDT
Uranus, 10 A.M. EDT
s

25 The Moon passes 2° north of

ic )
Arcturu

pt

9 Venus passes 1.1° north of Saturn, 2 A.M. EDT

cli
(e

Regulus, 4 P.M. EDT

un

Mercury is stationary, 3 A.M. EDT

eS
GO

10 The Moon passes 1.1° north of

th
VIR

27 Mars is at opposition, 1 A.M. EDT

of

t h Aldebaran, 6 A.M. EDT

Pa
4

The Moon is at apogee (252,415

M10

Jupiter is stationary,
midnight EDT miles from Earth), 1:44 A.M. EDT
5
M

ca

12 Mercury is at greatest eastern Full Moon occurs at

Spi

elongation (26°), 1 A.M. EDT 4:20 P.M. EDT; total

lunar eclipse
r
te

New Moon occurs at

pi
Ju

A 10:48 P.M. EDT; partial The Moon passes 7° north of

R Mars, 6 P.M. EDT
IB
RA

solar eclipse
L
YD

SPECIAL OBSERVING DATE 30 Southern Delta Aquariid

H

12 Pluto reaches opposition meteor shower peaks

and peak visibility.
31 The Moon passes 3° south of
Neptune, 2 A.M. EDT
13 The Moon is at perigee
SW (222,097 miles from Earth), Mars comes closest to Earth
4:25 A.M. EDT (35.8 million miles away),
4 A.M. EDT
US 14 The Moon passes 2° north of
UP Mercury, 6 P.M. EDT

BEGINNERS: WATCH A VIDEO ABOUT HOW TO READ A STAR CHART AT www.Astronomy.com/starchart.

W W W.ASTR ONOMY.COM 39
 PATH OF THE
PLANETS The planets in July 2018
DR A
Objects visible before dawn
LYN
AND L AC LY R
PER CYG
AUR
Gpartial
A EM solar eclipse occurs July 13 TRI
C NC across southeastern Australia
ARI VUL
Sun PEG
Path o
f the
Mo on A totalSGE
lunar eclipse
ORI Juno Uranus PSC EQU occurs July 27/28 across
TAU Pat
ho parts of Europe, Africa,
CMi f th
e Su Asia, andAQL
Australia
n (e Celestial
clip equator
tic)
Asteroid Thisbe reaches
MON AQR opposition July
Neptune S C T20
CET SE R
Saturn Vesta
CMa
LEP ERI CAP
FOR Ps A SG R appears at its best
Pluto
PYX
PUP C OL SCL Mars appears at its best for the year in July
MIC
in 15 years in late July
CAE
GRU

Moon phases Dawn Midnight

14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

31 30 29 28 27 26 25

The planets These illustrations show the size, phase, and orientation of each planet and the two brightest dwarf planets at 0h UT
for the dates in the data table at bottom. South is at the top to match the view through a telescope.
in the sky

Uranus
Mercury

W E Mars
N
Pluto
Saturn
Ceres Neptune
10" Venus Jupiter

Planets MERCURY VENUS MARS CERES JUPITER SATURN URANUS NEPTUNE PLUTO
Date July 31 July 15 July 15 July 15 July 15 July 15 July 15 July 15 July 15
Magnitude 0.5 –4.2 –2.6 8.8 –2.2 0.1 5.8 7.8 14.2
Angular size 8.4" 17.5" 23.2" 0.4" 39.8" 18.3" 3.5" 2.3" 0.1"
Illumination 38% 64% 99% 98% 99% 100% 100% 100% 100%
Distance (AU) from Earth 0.801 0.953 0.404 3.186 4.948 9.093 20.030 29.330 32.586
Distance (AU) from Sun 0.463 0.724 1.409 2.568 5.395 10.065 19.881 29.941 33.601
Right ascension (2000.0) 9h22.2m 10h29.9m 20h43.9m 10h46.1m 14h44.0m 18h18.8m 2h00.4m 23h10.2m 19h25.2m
Declination (2000.0) 14°22' 10°44' –24°17' 17°01' –14°47' –22°33' 11°41' –6°24' –21°50'

40 A ST R O N O M Y • J U LY 2018
 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.

UM A
Objects visible in the evening Jupiter’s moons
LYN
Dots display positions
Io
CVn of Galilean satellites at
HE R
LMi Mercury appears bright 11 P.M. EDT on the date Europa
BOÖ during eveningGEM
twilight shown. South is at the
CrB
C OM in early July
top to match
LEO S
C NC the view
Sun Ganymede
es through a W E
Cer
telescope. N Callisto
SE R us
Ven
1
CMi
2
OPH VI R SE X
LIB MON 3

C RV C RT 4
Jupiter HYA
CM a 5
ANT
PYX 6
Amphitrite PUP
LUP 7
SCO V EL
8

Early evening 9
To locate the Moon in the sky, draw a line from the phase shown for the day straight up to the curved blue line.
10 Europa
Note: Moons vary in size due to the distance from Earth and are shown at 0h Universal Time.
11

12
24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13
13

14 Io

15
Mercury
Greatest eastern 16
elongation
is July 11/12 17 Ganymede

18

Ceres 19 Jupiter

Venus 20

21
Earth
Aphelion is July 6 22 Callisto

23
Jupiter Mars
Opposition is 24
July 26/27
25

26
Jupiter
The planets Uranus
ILLUSTRATIONS BY ASTRONOMY: ROEN KELLY

27

in their orbits 28

Arrows show the inner planets’ Neptune 29

monthly motions and dots depict Saturn
the outer planets’ positions at mid- Pluto 30
month from high above their orbits. Opposition
is July 12 31

W W W.ASTR ONOMY.COM 41
— Continued from page 37
WHEN TO VIEW THE PLANETS
EVENING SKY MIDNIGHT
Mercury (west) Mars (southeast)
Venus (west) Jupiter (southwest)
Mars (southeast) Saturn (south)
Jupiter (south) Neptune (east)
Saturn (southeast)
but the view changes little in
July. The gas giant sports a
disk measuring 18" across sur-
rounded by a spectacular ring
system that spans 41". Structure
in the rings shows up well
because they tilt 26° to our
line of sight.
Saturn also hosts a large
family of moons. Any tele-
scope reveals 8th-magnitude
Titan, the planet’s brightest
satellite. It circles the giant
world once every 16 days.
A 4-inch scope brings in
four more moons. Tethys,
Dione, and Rhea all glow at
10th magnitude and orbit
closer to Saturn than Titan.
Iapetus is trickier to locate. It
orbits well beyond Titan and
shines five times brighter
(magnitude 10.2) when farthest
COMETSEARCH
The return of a periodic visitor
It’s been more than a year since
a short-period comet put on a
decent show. But this autumn
promises no fewer than four
that should crest brighter than
10th magnitude, and one of
these — 46P/Wirtanen — could
reach naked-eye visibility.
The first up is 21P/Giacobini-
Zinner. French astronomer
Michel Giacobini first spotted
this comet in 1900, and German
astronomer Ernst Zinner recov-
ered it two orbits later, in 1913.
In September 1985, it became
the first comet to be visited
by a spacecraft when the
International Cometary Explorer
flew past.
42 A ST R O N O M Y • J U LY 2018
MORNING SKY
Mars (southwest)
Uranus (southeast)
Neptune (south)
west of the planet than when
it’s farthest east (magnitude
11.9). Your best chance to spot
Iapetus comes July 1, when it
glows at 11th magnitude some
1.7' due north of Saturn.
You can find Pluto 15° east
of Saturn. Everyone’s favorite
dwarf planet reaches opposi-
tion July 12, but its appear-
ance doesn’t change during
the month. It glows at 14th
magnitude, so you’ll need an
8-inch or larger telescope to
see it. Pluto passes a mere 35"
west of the 6th-magnitude star
50 Sagittarii on the evening of
July 3. The finder chart (oppo-
site page, top) will help you
find Pluto on other nights.
On the night of July 26/27,
Mars reaches its most favor-
able opposition since 2003.
Giacobini-Zinner could reach
6th magnitude at its September
peak. This month, it should glow
around 10th magnitude. Plan to
look for it under Moon-free skies
during July’s second and third
weeks. It then appears against
the photogenic northern Milky
Way, passing from northern
Cygnus into southern Cepheus.
Although this region remains vis-
ible all night, it climbs highest
before dawn. The comet likely
won’t be visible at low power
through a 4-inch scope, however.
Use an eyepiece that provides a
magnification of around 100x,
dark adapt, and try averted vision
to pick up the faint cotton ball.
Glimpse Saturn’s two-toned moon
S
Titan
Rhea
Saturn
W
Tethys
Dione
Enceladus
July 1, 11:30 P.M. EDT
Iapetus
30"
Iapetus’ brightness varies by a factor of five as it orbits the ringed planet.
A good time to catch it is when it passes due north of the gas giant July 1.
And its elliptical orbit brings it stars. In early July, the Red
closest to Earth (35.8 million Planet rises around 10:30 p.m.
miles away) four nights later. local daylight time and climbs
This is the month to view the highest around 3 a.m. It
Red Planet — it won’t be as shines brilliantly at magni-
good again until 2035. tude –2.2. But Mars doesn’t
Mars spends July among stand pat. It brightens to mag-
the background stars of nitude –2.8 in late July, far
Capricornus, but it shines brighter than any other night-
more than 100 times brighter time object except for the
than any of the Sea Goat’s Moon and Venus (which sets
Comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner
i
N
20
CEPHEUS
h
Path of Comet 21P 17
+
c
b
14
E
¡
11
July 8
1° CYGNUS
This periodic comet returns to the inner solar system every 6.6 years.
You can find it in mid-July as it treks from Cygnus into Cepheus.
 Pluto makes a close pass
N
July 1
50 3
E 5
7 but its surface reflects more
Spying this 14th-magnitude dwarf planet is a bit easier than normal when
it skims just north of 6th-magnitude 50 Sagittarii during July’s first week.
around 10 p.m.). The ruddy
world then rises around sunset
and peaks in the south shortly
before 1 a.m.
When viewing detail on
Mars’ surface through a tele-
scope, it all comes down to
angular size. It’s a small planet
to begin with, so the weeks
surrounding opposition are
special. Mars spans 20.9" on
July 1 and grows to 24.3" by
month’s end.
A day on Mars lasts 37 min-
utes longer than on Earth. This
means if you observe at the
same time each night, mark-
ings appear to shift westward
9.1° per day, so you can view
the entire planet during the
course of the month. Features
appear best when they lie near
the central meridian — the line
joining Mars’ north and south
poles that passes through the
disk’s center — though they
remain visible for a couple of
hours on either side.
Both Syrtis Major, a promi-
nent dark feature with a trian-
gular shape, and the bright
Hellas Basin cross the central
meridian around 2 a.m. EDT
on July 12 and 13. Don’t con-
fuse Hellas with the brighter
south polar cap on the planet’s
limb. The bright Elysium plain
takes center stage at 2 a.m.
EDT on July 21. At the same
time on the night of opposition,
SAGIT TARIUS
Path of Pluto
9
11
13
0.025°
Mare Sirenum appears on the
central meridian.
Less than 24 hours after
Mars reaches opposition, the
Full Moon plunges through
Earth’s shadow. Observers
across most of Europe, Asia,
Africa, and Australia will see
a total lunar eclipse, with the
eclipsed Moon hanging 7°
north of Mars. Totality runs
from 19h30m to 21h13m UT
on July 27 (before dawn on
the 28th for people in eastern
Asia and Australia). The
103 minutes of totality makes
this the longest total lunar
eclipse since 2000.
After the thrilling sight of
Mars, July’s final two planets
might be a letdown. But
Neptune and Uranus deserve
a few moments of your time.
Neptune lurks in eastern
Aquarius, rising around mid-
night on the 1st and two hours
earlier by month’s end. The
distant world glows at magni-
tude 7.8, so you’ll need bin-
oculars or a telescope to spot
it. Wait until it climbs high in
the south before dawn and
then zero in on 4th-magnitude
Phi (ϕ) Aquarii. Neptune lies
west-southwest of Phi all
month; it is 0.9° from the star
on the 1st and 1.4° away on
the 31st. A telescope reveals
GET DAILY UPDATES ON YOUR NIGHT SKY AT www.Astronomy.com/skythisweek.
LOCATINGASTEROIDS
Spotting the easiest asteroid of all
The second-largest object in
the asteroid belt, 4 Vesta, is the
brightest. Not only does Vesta
orbit closer to the Sun (and thus
Earth) than dwarf planet Ceres,
sunlight. Vesta should be easy
for beginners to track through
binoculars from the suburbs,
and a challenge for seasoned
observers to follow with their
naked eyes from a dark site.
Vesta fades from magni-
tude 5.6 to magnitude 6.3 this
month as it crosses one of the
legs of Ophiuchus the Serpent-
bearer. With binoculars, start at
magnitude 2.4 Eta (η) Ophiuchi
and then drop south one field
to magnitude 4.4 Xi (ξ) Oph.
Vesta comes to the fore
N
July 1
6
11
58
E Path of Vesta
52
OPHIUCHUS
The sky’s brightest asteroid should be an easy target as it wanders
southwest against the backdrop of Ophiuchus the Serpent-bearer.
the planet’s blue-gray disk,
which measures 2.3" across.
Plan to target Uranus
shortly before twilight begins.
The magnitude 5.8 planet then
lies reasonably high in the east
and should be easy to find
through binoculars. It lies in
southwestern Aries some 12°
south of 2nd-magnitude Alpha
Arietis. A few 6th-magnitude
stars lie in the planet’s vicinity,
Our target lies a little to the left
(east) of Xi. Before you head
out, make a sketch of the
brighter anchor stars using the
chart below. Once you’re under
the stars, add the ones near
Vesta’s position. Return a cou-
ple of nights later to see which
one has moved.
Experienced skywatchers
are familiar with the Prancing
Horse dark nebula just west of
our galaxy’s nucleus. During
the New Moon weekend of
July 14, Vesta crosses the dusky
steed’s front shoulder. The
contrast between asteroid
and cloud should help veteran
observers spot Vesta without
optical aid.
j
16
21
26
31
51
44 0.5°
so you’ll need a telescope to
confirm a Uranus sighting.
Only the planet shows a dis-
tinct blue-green color and a
3.5"-diameter disk.
Martin Ratcliffe provides plane-
tarium development for Sky-Skan,
Inc., from his home in Wichita,
Kansas. Meteorologist Alister
Ling works for Environment
Canada in Edmonton, Alberta.
W W W.ASTR ONOMY.COM 43
The outer solar
system is rife with
alien oceans. But to
explore them, we’ll
need to get creative.
MICHAEL CARROLL
The next
step in space
exploration
may be
replacing
rovers with
underwater
robots. by
Michael Carroll

W W W.ASTR ONOMY.COM 45
 wenty Thousand Leagues Under the that ice with a drill or a melt probe are
not going to work.”
Sea had Nemo’s Nautilus. Voyage to Engineering firms have approached
the Bottom of the Sea featured the Seaview. the ice crust problem in a host of ways.
Drills are efficient only to certain depths,
Fantastic Voyage even sent a submarine into and debris often fouls the mechanism or
the human body at the capable hands of fills the tunnel left behind, blocking the
probe’s signals to the surface. Other
Captain Bill Owens. Fiction often presages designs have tried using heating ele-
ments to melt through the ice. But as
fact, and it seems that submarines may turn out to be water fills the column behind the probe,
the new hotness in planetary exploration, although it freezes and again blocks radio signals,
and the power needed to melt through
their fearless skippers will remain back on Earth. may be prohibitive. Another approach
heats water and pumps it through jets to
The solar system is awash with Europa, ho! melt the ice ahead, though the refreezing
oceans. Unlike the majority of Earth’s As a target for any kind of probe, water behind the probe is still a problem.
seas, these ubiquitous brines are locked including a submarine, Europa presents Stone Aerospace came up with a dif-
away beneath ice crusts. But they’re some formidable roadblocks. Jupiter’s ferent solution. Its VALKYRIE probe
there, lurking under the surfaces of ice moon contains the most extensive operates neither by drilling, nor by hot
Ganymede, Europa, Enceladus, and per- ocean known in the solar system, but water. Instead, a laser takes advantage of
haps other worlds like Titan, Dione, and its location presents problems for future the fact that “certain frequencies trans-
Pluto. These maritime sites may provide explorers. Temperatures are bitterly cold, mit power through liquid water, and yet
the best venues for life beyond Earth, but and distances for communication with absorb through ice,” Stone explains.
getting to them is the tricky part. In the Earth are daunting, too. The ice crust Last year, Stone Aerospace built
case of Jupiter’s ice moon Europa, its capping the ocean may be 18 to 30 miles the first laser-powered ice penetrator,
60-mile-deep (100 kilometers) ocean (30 to 50 km) thick, and once any probe on a probe called Archimedes. The
ebbs and flows beneath miles of solid ice, arrives at the ice-sea boundary, it must Archimedes system effectively takes the
which blocks direct access. safely deploy its submarine. Says Stone, light of an industrial laser operating at
Many engineers now believe that the “It’s a very tough problem. At Europa, 1,070 nanometers and expands that into
best way to search for life in these deep you’re operating at 100 kelvins, in a hard a collimated beam the width of the
waters is to deploy a modern-day vacuum. Most techniques for getting into probe. “The vehicle needs to be long and
Nautilus. But sending a probe to Jupiter’s skinny. Ultimately, you realize that this
moon, and safely down to the surface, thing starts to look like a hot dog.
through the ice, and into the ocean, is a Physics forces you to have the smallest
daunting prospect to say the least. possible diameter. You end up with a
It’s just the kind of prospect that fires long train,” says Stone. As scientists care-
the visions of engineers, and a few brave fully select the focal length of the laser
souls are taking the vision beyond imagi- optics, the probe can increase or
nation and into the practical world. One decrease its rate of speed.
of them is William Stone, the founder of Other research groups have also
Stone Aerospace, a Texas-based company drawn plans for planetary subs. Sweden’s
that develops both the tools and systems Uppsala University is exploring a sub-
needed to explore the modern frontier of mersible the size of two soda cans, while
space. Recently, Stone led a team atop Georgia Tech’s Icefin follows an elon-
Alaska’s Matanuska Glacier. There, engi- gated design. Britney Schmidt, an assis-
neers tested a cryobot (a robot that can tant professor in the School of Earth and
penetrate ice) called the Very deep Atmospheric Sciences at Georgia Tech,
Autonomous Laser-powered Kilowatt- brought a team to drill a hole in
class Yo-yoing Robotic Ice Explorer Antarctica’s Ross Ice Shelf.
(VALKYRIE). VALKYRIE is one of many The Icefin robot entered
submersible robotic explorers that engi- NASA’s Titan Mare the water and
neers are studying, hoping one day to Explorer aims to descended to the ocean
investigate the oceans of other worlds. analyze organic floor, following a flight
compounds found
on Saturn’s largest profile identical to a
moon. MICHAEL CARROLL

46 A ST R O N O M Y • JULY 2018
 Stone Aerospace
recently sent a
team to Alaska
to test VALKYRIE,
an ice-penetrating,
submersible robot.
Engineers are
exploring these
“cryobots” to
determine if they
could bore through
Europa’s thick
ice crust to the
liquid ocean below.
This is an artist’s
concept of one
such cryobot. NASA

baseline Europa mission. Louisiana State
University is working on several projects,
including the Sub-glacial Polar Ice
Navigation, Descent, and Lake
Exploration (SPINDLE). The autonomous
cryobot melts through dense ice to
explore the lake below. Plans call for
SPINDLE to deploy a second-stage probe,
called a hovering autonomous underwater
vehicle (HAUV), into the water. Another
LSU probe design, the Environmentally
Non-Disturbing Under-ice Robotic
Antarctic Explorer (ENDURANCE), can
travel untethered under ice and create
three-dimensional maps of its underwater
surroundings. The probe can obtain sam-
ples of microbes, and it has already done
so in an 80-foot-deep (25 meters) frozen
lake in Wisconsin. Designers plan to soon
send it to its next stop: a permanently ice-
covered lake in Antarctica.
Why a submarine?
After flyby and orbital missions, the first
surface probes to Europa will probably be
stationary landers, perhaps outfitted with
coring devices to sample the shallow
ice. It’s a good start, but the chances of
finding extant microbial life on Europa’s
surface, or even within the first 10 feet
(3 meters), are slim, given the radiation
environment. “But if you can get through
to the ocean,” says Stone, “that’s a whole
different story.”
Stone’s cosmic hot-dog robot — or
any other probe type — will follow a
general four-step itinerary on its mari-
time journey:
Phase One: Getting into the ice. This
problem has been approached using a
variety of solutions, all with limitations.
Phase Two: The cruise. The entry
borehole closes behind the descending
probe as vapor pressure builds above.
Phase Three: Obstacle avoidance.
Meteoritic impact debris that has worked
its way down to random locations,
or dense brine deposits, could end
the mission.
Phase Four: Breakthrough.
The probe delivers the submarine to the
sea. As the submarine hits the ocean,
how does it deploy? How does it
communicate?
One of the most efficient ways to cut
through the ice in a place like Earth’s
polar caps is a hot water jet. The design is
simple: Heat hot water in a diesel-fired
burner, pump it down a hose to a
weighted nozzle, and let the water jet out
just short of boiling. “It cuts through ice
like butter,” Stone says. This has been
done successfully in Antarctica, but there
is a problem: It takes 1,000 metric tons of

W W W.ASTR ONOMY.COM 47
An underwater
explorer could be
designed to collect
exotic samples
from the oceans
of other worlds for equipment to deploy a hot
onboard analysis. water drill. How can a
Or it could simply
return the samples
miniaturized cryobot
to a more functional pack enough power?
laboratory nearby. Stone proposes using a
MICHAEL CARROLL
5,000-watt industrial
laser as a power source.
Engineers envision a laser
on the lander that powers a microprobe,
with the probe itself spooling fiber
behind it. Other designs, like the
VALKYRIE, would carry a nuclear
power system on board. The laser power
comes through an armored fiber optic
cable. Designers have been able to fabri-
cate a 12.5-mile-long (20 km) fiber spool
that fits in a 1-quart bottle. Proof of con-
cept was carried out by Stone Aerospace’s
Artemis probe, which utilized a 9.3-mile
(15 km) fiber optic spool.
Once the cruise through the ice is
underway, the probe must avoid hazards
and buried obstacles too small to see by
orbiters with ground-penetrating radar.
The VALKYRIE test bed carried an
onboard ice-penetrating radar that could,
within a range of about 330 feet (100 m),
detect objects as small as 4 inches
(10 centimeters) across. Tests carried
out in Alaska in 2015 proved that the
probe could look ahead with enough
warning to avoid a collision.
This is critical to mission success,
says Stone. “We don’t want to risk a
$4 billion mission on something like a
trash can-sized piece of rock and then
you’re done.” With a tunable laser
system, the pathway of the probe
through the ice can be changed as the
laser shifts its focus to one side.
Sailing the
alien seas
Once deployed in the ocean, the robot
would map the seafloor, chart currents
and chemical streams, and look for life.
The cryobot could even be programmed
to search for sources that may support
One of the most efficient ways
to cut through the ice in a place like
Earth’s polar caps is a hot water jet.
living organisms.
For example, a plume with a higher
sulfur content might indicate hydrother-
mal vents, so the probe would try to fol-
low the sulfur trail back to its source.
The next step would be to maneuver to
that site, and look for changes in the
background that would suggest the pres-
ence of microbial communities (such as
mats or changing colors). The cryobot
would then take close-up, high-definition
video. Finally, a sample would be pulled
into a microscope for confirmation and
characterization of living systems.
With the remoteness of Jupiter’s sys-
tem, the robot must think for itself. But
how do we train it to recognize life? One
possibility is to load a digital library of
Earth’s microbial life architectures into
its memory for comparison. Anything
that moves within the probe’s field of
view is then compared to various micro-
bial structures and patterns. Because
form follows function, microbes of other
worlds should have some characteristics
similar to those seen in the animal king-
dom on Earth.
Getting around
In addition to studying propellers, engi-
neers have been creating propulsion sys-
tems based on life-forms in Earth’s seas.
These biomimetic designs emulate the
agility and mobility of biological forms.
The ocean’s inhabitants exhibit high-
endurance swimming that out-
paces current underwater propulsion
systems for stealth, flexibility, and speed.
For example, the glass knifefish (or
“glassfish”) uses a single ventral fin,
which runs the length of its entire body,
to change direction or hover in place.
Designers at the University of Edinburgh
are working on SquidROV, a biomimetic
submarine propulsion system that uti-
lizes a glassfish-style fin to maneuver.
Some engineers suggest that such a pro-
pulsion system is more efficient than a
W W W.ASTR ONOMY.COM 49

propeller-based system of equivalent
thrust. The design also generates much
less turbulence, making it ideal for
research and observation of a host of
marine conditions.
Engineers at the Swiss Federal
Institute of Technology in Zurich are
currently testing a nautical robot that
incorporates four fins inspired by those
of the cuttlefish. Called Sepios, the
28-inch-long (70 cm) remotely operated
underwater vehicle (ROV) exhibits a high
degree of maneuverability, along with the
capability for precise multidirectional
travel in tight spots.
Researchers at Canada’s Dalhousie
University have combined forces with
McGill University and York University to
create the AQUA robot. This aquatic
vehicle is a hybrid, with the capacity to
walk along the seabed as well as to
“swim” using its legs.
Yet another approach, under study
at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, uses
a buoyant robot that floats against
the underside of ice, crawling or
wheeling along upside down. There
are many options available for underwa-
ter exploration, but considering the
50 A ST R O N O M Y • JULY 2018
vast geological differences between the
various watery worlds in our solar sys-
tem, no single submersible vehicle is
equipped to effectively explore every
wet environment.
Challenges at Titan
While Europa’s ice crust presents a bar-
rier to its ocean (as does the crust of the
geyser-spouting moon Enceladus, which
orbits Saturn), one moon in the solar sys-
tem has seas on its surface.
Saturn’s Mercury-sized moon Titan is
shrouded in an orange haze. Since the
1960s, researchers have suspected that
conditions on Titan’s surface were at the
triple point of methane: Methane could
exist as a gas, a liquid, and a solid (ice).
Earth’s surface is at the triple
point of water, and it was tempting to see
Titan as a cryogenic version of Earth’s
coastal regions, with surf breaking on
alien shores. But the actual conditions
there were not known in detail. Studies
for landing probes often included a
spectrum of designs to accommodate
thick or thin atmospheres, and surfaces
ranging from rock or ice to snowbanks
and liquid ponds.
SquidROV, currently
under development
at the University
of Edinburgh,
is a biomimetic
submarine
propulsion
system that uses a
glassfish-style fin
to get around. In
addition to being
more efficient than
a propeller-based
system, SquidROV
(shown upside
down, below)
also creates less
turbulence.
UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH
With the arrival of the Cassini orbiter
and the European Huygens probe in
2004, the true nature of Titan’s unique
landscape became clear. Vast lakes of
methane and ethane, rivaling the Black
Sea in extent, wash across the northern
hemisphere, with another huge body —
Ontario Lacus — in the south. The larg-
est of Titan’s hydrocarbon oceans is
Kraken Mare, followed closely by Ligeia
Mare. To Johns Hopkins University
Applied Physics Laboratory’s Ralph
Lorenz, it seems a perfect place for a sub-
marine: “There are some aspects about
Titan’s methane bodies that are actually
easier for a submarine [than terrestrial
seas] because hydrocarbons are not elec-
trically conductive, so you don’t need to
worry so much about exposed connec-
tors. There’s a possibility that you can
send a radio signal through the liquid,
which is something you can’t do very
easily on Earth. You might be able to
have higher bandwidth. We know that at
least one of Titan’s seas is very radio
transparent, because we bounced Cassini
radar off the bottom of it.”
But despite its advantages, Titan
presents a new set of challenges for
submersible design. The liquid is cold
(94 K; –290 degrees F), so just staying
warm will draw a large part of a probe’s
energy and dictate its structure. Another
problem is how Titan’s atmosphere reacts
with its methane seas. On Earth, subma-
rines can use air to fill their tanks and
regulate buoyancy. But the nitrogen that
makes up the majority of Titan’s atmo-
sphere is soluble in liquid methane, so it
has less power to make the sub buoyant.
If designers use nitrogen for flotation, the
gas will be effective only at limited
depths. The other option is to use a noble
gas, such as neon.
Nitrogen dissolved in methane pres-
ents another problem, Lorenz explains.
“If you have a patch of your submersible
which is leaking heat, you could raise the
temperature of that liquid enough that it
reduces the amount of nitrogen that can
dissolve. Think how much CO2 you can
dissolve in water on Earth (imagine a
soda bottle), and that’s the picture. You
could get bubbles on [the outside of]
your submarine. That’s not going to
make the thing sink, but it reduces move-
ment, and they might influence a side-
scan sonar to image the seabed. This is a
problem that just doesn’t happen on a
terrestrial submarine.”
Another probe under consideration is
more akin to a dinghy. Known as an
unmanned surface vehicle (USV), this
robot would float atop the surface of
Titan’s sea rather than diving below.
Lorenz says, “It simplifies things to have a
capsule that just floats and doesn’t have to
do buoyancy control. You can imagine a
propelled vehicle — a boat — that would
be interesting.” But a boat loses the ability
to profile the liquid column to see if the
mix of methane and ethane is stratified.
Does Ligeia Mare have an ethane-rich
layer 100 meters down at the
bottom, something like the
anoxic layer found at the
bottom of the Black Sea? SeaBED, captured
Researchers see evi- here on a test
run under the
dence of evaporites — Antarctic ice, is
minerals left over after a an autonomous
body of water evapo- underwater
vehicle that can
rates — on the shores of hover over Earth’s
Titan’s seas, as if the seafloor at depths
seas have dried out and of up to 6,000 feet
(2,000 meters).
KLAUS MEINERS/AUSTRALIAN
ANTARCTIC DIVISION ROV TEAM
Although we are
still in the early
stages of exploring
the outer solar
system using
robots, someday we
will find a way to
set foot on another
world. When
that day comes,
researchers will
undoubtedly want
to get their hands
dirty. MICHAEL CARROLL
 “The possibility of life on Europa and
Enceladus is pretty good; it’s non-zero.
Life acts like a battery.”

refilled a number of times over the
course of Titan’s history. That story is
told in the layers of sediment, not only
on the coastline, but also on the seafloor.
It may be prudent to do some surface
exploration of the seas with a boat first,
something akin to the HMS Challenger
expedition of 1872 to 1876. As part of the
world’s first global oceanographic expe-
dition, the Challenger crew sampled the
seafloor by lowering a simple weight
with a hole in the bottom before winch-
ing it back up. A Titan boat could
explore the depths in similar fashion.
But are these underwater explorers our
best option for exploring the seas of
other worlds like Titan?
“If you’re asking me, ‘Is a submarine
cool?’, the answer’s definitely yes,”
Lorenz says. “Are the seas worth explor-
ing? Definitely, yes. Is a submarine
the next logical step in Titan explora-
tion? I’m not so sure. It’s a whole new
world, and there are an awful lot of
unknowns. Maybe a sub is a step or two
away.”
Titan is a wonderfully alien world, but
when it comes to the search for life, the
majority of astrobiologists have their eyes
set on other targets. Stone puts it this
way: “The possibility of life on Europa
and Enceladus is pretty good; it’s non-
zero. Life acts like a battery. It needs elec-
tron donors, it needs electron receptors,
it needs water, and it needs carbon.
Those four constituents are likely to exist
on Europa and Enceladus. Both are good
targets. There are other ocean worlds out
there, but by far and away, Europa is the
one to cut our teeth on.”
Stone points out that a Europa flyby
mission — NASA’s Europa Clipper — is
fully in motion and set for launch some-
time between 2022 and 2025. Further-
more, a proposed lightweight companion
craft, named the Europa Lander, is cur-
rently accepting instrument proposals.
So, although researchers would love to
explore the seas of Titan, Europa will
likely be the first world to have its water
appraised. Either way, the pieces seem to
be falling into place for a voyage to the
bottom of an alien sea.
Frequent Astronomy contributor Michael
Carroll featured planetary submarines in his
latest scientific novel, Europa’s Lost Expedition
(Springer, 2017).

A robotic
submarine explores
the depths of
Kraken Mare, the
largest body of
water on Saturn’s
largest moon,
Titan. Using radar,
such a sub could
map the seafloor
of Titan, perhaps
uncovering
life-supporting
hydrothermal vents
like those found
at the bottom of
Earth’s oceans.
NASA GLENN RESEARCH CENTER
W W W.ASTR ONOMY.COM 53
NGC 6960, one portion
of the Veil Nebula, is
composed of glowing
gas from an ancient
supernova, a star
that was torn asunder.
KENT WOOD
 Observe
DEEP-SKY
IN CYGNUS
Dazzling double stars, open clusters,
nebulae, and even a galaxy will highlight
your summer of viewing the night sky.
by Stephen James O’Meara
CYGNUS THE SWAN wings its way
down the River Milky Way with three of the
largest and most conspicuous cosmic show-
pieces north of the celestial equator: the Great
Rift, the Northern Coalsack, and the North
America Nebula. When viewed under a dark
country sky, this trio of dark and bright naked-
eye splendors instills a sense of balance, a visual
reminder of sorts that every day has its night.
Cygnus also contains a rich assortment of tele-
scopic gems, many incorporating this natural
theme of darkness and light, that run the gamut
from an enormous supernova remnant to the
site of an infinitely small black hole candidate.
A choice selection follows.
Pairing off
We’ll begin with one of the most treasured
double stars in the night sky: Albireo (Beta [β]
Cygni), which combines a 3rd-magnitude pri-
mary and a 5th-magnitude companion. To the
unaided eye, this star appears solitary, but even a
2.4-inch scope can split it into a colorful pair of
celestial jewels 34" apart. Albireo A shines with a
golden hue, while its companion has an emerald-
blue light.
Now test your visual perception on a fainter
pairing of similar colors about 30' northeast of Albireo (Beta [β] Cygni),
25 Cygni. Known as h1470 Cygni, this pretty one of the most beautiful
double stars in the sky,
double star sports a magnitude 7.5 golden pri- consists of a brilliant yellow
mary with a magnitude 9 companion 29" to the sun and its bluish companion.
north-northwest. The pair shares the same low- ALAN TOUGH
power field with a striking, 30'-long curve of four
similar double stars first noticed by Astronomy
columnist Glenn Chaple in the mid-1970s and
subsequently known as Chaple’s Arc. In the
W W W.ASTR ONOMY.COM 55
 NGC 7008 is a planetary
nebula with a distorted
appearance and bluish-
green color. Two bright stars
lie near its edge. BOB FERA
One of the most unusual
planetary nebulae in the
sky, NGC 7027 is a relatively
young object shaped like
a dumbbell. ADAM BLOCK/MOUNT
LEMMON SKYCENTER/UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA
1990s, Utah amateur astronomer Kim Hyatt added
more pairings to form a complete 40'-wide circle,
now known as the Cygnus Fairy Ring.
Moving about 1½˚ west-northwest of magni-
tude 3.7 Tau (τ) Cygni, we come to the remarkable
binary star 61 Cygni. The pair is composed of a
deep-orange 5th-magnitude primary with a simi-
larly colored 6th-magnitude secondary, only 28"
apart. Through a 3-inch refractor at 60x, the stars
look like a nocturnal animal’s eyes reflecting light.
In 1792, Italian astronomer Guiseppe Piazzi chris-
tened it the Flying Star for its unusually large
proper motion, about 5" per year — the seventh
highest known.
Delta (δ) Cygni is one of the bright stars
that will become Earth’s “North Star” around
a.d. 11,250 due to the precession of our planet.
And like our present Polaris, Delta is a binary star.
The blue giant 3rd-magnitude primary is accom-
panied by a white 9th-magnitude secondary only
56 A ST R O N O M Y • JULY 2018
2.8" away. The star can be split in a 2.4-inch
refractor, but it’s best viewed through 4-inch and
larger telescopes at powers of 150x or more.
Next, locate the beautiful double star 16 Cygni,
some 2¼° southeast of 4th-magnitude Iota (ι)
Cygni. These twin 6th-magnitude yellow stars
resemble our Sun, are separated by 40", and are
beautiful at low magnification with any instru-
ment. The pair’s southeastern member is orbited
every 2.2 years by an exoplanet about 2.5 times the
mass of Jupiter.
Keep your telescope pointed at 16 Cygni,
because we are about to jump eastward to our next
object — one in a very different class.
Blowing off
Planetary nebulae — shells of gas ejected by, and
moving out from, the hot cores of dying red giant
stars — portend the fate of our Sun. One special
example is the Blinking Planetary (NGC 6826),
so named because it appears to blink when you
alternate between direct and averted vision. Look
directly at it, and you’ll see the bright central star;
a glance to the side, which uses your eyes’ more
sensitive rods, brings out the faint nebula. Actually,
just about all planetary nebulae blink, but the phe-
nomenon stands out prominently with this one.
You’ll find this unusual gem about ½°
east–southeast of 16 Cygni. It shines at magnitude
8.5 and is visible as a star in handheld binoculars.
Telescopically, at powers of 75x and higher, it

displays an aqua disk some five times larger
than Uranus.
NGC 7008, nicknamed by some the Coat
Button Nebula, is a 10th-magnitude planetary in
the nondescript northern shores of the Swan’s
coalsack, about an outstretched fist-width north-
east of Deneb, near the Cepheus border. At 60x,
NGC 7008 looks like a double blob with an elegant
skirt of nebulosity fanning off to the northwest.
Actually, this skirt is the planetary, which rounds
off at 100x. The nebula’s bright inner ring has a
dark central keyhole.
We now move some 3° south of Epsilon (ε)
Cygni, where we will expand our view from
arcseconds to degrees as we hunt down the fibrous
fragments of the Veil Nebula (NGC 6960,
NGC 6979, NGC 6992/5, and IC 1340, sometimes
collectively called the Cygnus Loop). This wreath-
like expanse consists of two likely interacting
supernova remnants that erupted some 5,000 to
8,000 years ago. Under a very dark sky, the Veil is
visible through small telescopes, appearing as two
ghostly arcs some 3° apart. Telescopically, the
eastern segment is fractured into three segments:
NGC 6992, NGC 6995, and IC 1340 (known as
the Network Nebula). The fainter, western segment
(NGC 6960, the Filamentary Nebula) caresses
52 Cygni, like a braid of hair with kinks.
Let’s now look just 15' south of magnitude 4.5
Phi (ϕ) Cygni to try to get a visual taste of another
Cygnus supernova remnant, Sharpless 2–91.
While the entire complex spans some 4° of sky
(and requires large telescopes to see), the remnant’s
brightest squiggle — a 20'-long anemic whisper of
light — has been spied under a dark sky through a
6-inch telescope with an Oxygen-III filter.
For an uncommon sight, seek out planetary
nebula NGC 7027, sometimes called the Pink
Pillow Nebula. This unassuming fuzzy “star” lies The Crescent Nebula
only about 1½° south of Xi (ξ) Cygni. Visible in (NGC 6888) is a bubble being
blown out from intensely
handheld binoculars, it is one of the brightest hot winds of a Wolf-Rayet
(magnitude 8.5), smallest (18"), and arguably most star. KEN CRAWFORD
fascinating planetary nebulae in the heavens. Seen
in the early stages of evolution, this unusual treat
The big, sprawling
appears little more than a slightly swollen ashen open cluster M39 is
star at powers up to 150x. But if the steadiness of visible to the naked eye
your sky allows you to pump up the power to 100x and a wonderful sight in
binoculars. ANTHONY AYIOMAMITIS
per inch of aperture, you’ll see its dumbbell shape,
which may break up into knots of various
brightnesses. The Cocoon Nebula
(IC 5146) is a glowing cloud
of gas surrounded by an
Signing off extensive network of dark
Emission nebulae, colorful gas clouds excited by nebulosity. KEN CRAWFORD
hot young stars within, glow like neon signs in
photographs, but they are visually much more
delicate creatures. One such waif lies 2¾° south-
west of Gamma Cygni: the Crescent Nebula
(NGC 6888). In this case, hot gases fleeing from
an extremely luminous and hot sun near the end
its life (a magnitude 7.5 Wolf-Rayet star) flow into
space at enormously high rates until they collide at
supersonic speeds with older shell material, caus-
ing them to glow.
The Crescent Nebula is the visible result of such
a collision. Through a telescope, the 20'-wide
nebula’s brightest segment forms a narrow crescent
along its northern and western rims; patchy
segments of dim material continue on to the
south and east, forming an annulus. But the more
southerly sections are difficult to detect through
W W W.ASTR ONOMY.COM 57
 small telescopes — thus the nebula’s apparent
crescent shape.
One of Cygnus’ most celebrated emission and
reflection nebulae mirrors the naked-eye splendor
of the Swan’s union of dark and light. The Cocoon
Nebula (IC 5146) lies in a stunning cul-de-sac of
dark nebulosity that connects to a longer, 1° strip
of celestial asphalt. Collectively known as Barnard
168, this extensive inky swath is one of the north-
ern sky’s most visually stunning dark nebulae —
whether with the naked eye, binoculars, or
low-power telescopes. The Cocoon itself appears as
a 10'-wide circular glow almost overpowered by a
pair of roughly magnitude 9.5 stars embedded
within the open cluster Collinder 470.
Often overlooked by
celestial observers, open
cluster NGC 6819 makes
a brilliant sight in small
telescopes. BERNHARD HUBL
Showing off
Open star clusters abound in Cygnus, but only
a couple are celestial show-offs. Nearly 10° east-
northeast of Deneb we find M39, the Swan’s pre-
mier open cluster, at least in terms of brightness.
Just visible to the unaided eye under a dark sky,
this magnitude 4.5 cluster is a loose collection of
30 suns that belongs to a class of poorly populated
open clusters. Handheld binoculars will easily
resolve about a dozen stars in an area of sky the
size of the Full Moon. The true beauty of the clus-
ter lies in the near-uniform brightness of its most
prominent members, which shine with diamond
blue purity.
Another popular target, M29, appears as a tiny
and tight knot of fuzzy starlight about 2° south-
southeast of Gamma (γ) Cygni. Telescopically, the
magnitude 6.5 cluster transforms into a collection
of about a dozen obvious suns veiled by dusty fila-
ments that mar an otherwise opulent stream of
milky starlight. The brightest of these stars form a
boxy pattern reminiscent of a miniature Pegasus.
NGC 6819, sometimes called the Fox Head
Cluster, is one of the Swan’s silent wonders, a
celestial butterfly lost in the stellar madness of
the Milky Way, about 2¾° north-northwest of
15 Cygni. Although it’s a magnitude fainter than
M29, it sports some 900 stars in an area 5' across;
many of the brightest stars share similar bright-
nesses, so the cluster stands out especially well at
high powers. At low magnifications, NGC 6819
looks like a shaken snow globe. High powers bring
out a lazy V-shaped pattern of stars (the Fox’s face)
with a knot of dim suns around a prominent dou-
ble near its southern apex (the Fox’s nose).
Now treat yourself to an open cluster illusion.

Smaller than M39 but

an attractive open cluster
nonetheless, M29 lies near
the bright star Sadr (Gamma
[γ] Cygni). RICHARD HAMMAR

Sometimes called
the Smoke Ring Cluster,
NGC 6811 packs 250 stars
into an area half the
diameter of the Full Moon.
ANTHONY AYIOMAMITIS

58 A ST R O N O M Y
Shining only 0.3 magnitude fainter than M29,
NGC 6811, sometimes called the Smoke Ring
Cluster, lies almost 2° northwest of Delta Cygni
and is one of the Swan’s overlooked treats. When
Danish amateur astronomer Tommy Christensen
used a 3.5-inch refractor to view the cluster in
the mid-1980s, he thought it was one of the most
beautiful he’d ever seen, likening it to a smoke
ring of stars. The cluster has about 250 members
scattered across 15' of sky. The hole is a contrast
illusion created by a ring of brighter stars around
a cloud of fainter sparklers.
NGC 6866, occasionally called the Frigate
Bird Cluster, is another obscure but fanciful open
cluster. You’ll find this Caroline Herschel discov-
ery about 3½° east-southeast of Delta Cygni.
NGC 6866 has a small bulbous protrusion to
the north, punctuated by a brilliant yellow star
that marks the tip of the bird’s powerful beak.
This pouch of stars is followed to the south by an
ellipse of stars from which extend two long wings
of starlight — one to the east, one to the west. A
zigzagging line of stars to the south marks the
bird’s tail. If you sweep across this area at 60x
with direct, then averted vision, see if the bird’s
pouch doesn’t puff in and out, breathing life into
The beautiful face-on
this celestial creature. galaxy NGC 6946 is one of
Cygnus’ greatest deep-sky
Hiding out treats. TONY HALLAS
NGC 6946 is a spiral galaxy seen nearly face-on.
It features a pair of branching arms that have a Yet another obscure
puzzling propensity for supernova explosions, but beautiful open cluster
with nine known to date — thus its moniker, the is NGC 6866, a sea of
suns almost lost in the
Fireworks Galaxy. Shining at 9th magnitude, rich Cygnus Milky Way.
NGC 6946 is among the closest galaxies to the MARTIN C. GERMANO

Local Group, hiding out in the far northeastern

corner of Cygnus, only 2° southwest of Eta (η) The bright
Cephei and just ⅔° from open cluster NGC 6939 bluish-green star in the
in Cepheus. center of this image is HDE
We end our tour of Cygnus with Cygnus X-1 226868, the supergiant star
feeding the celebrated
(R.A. 19h58.4m, Dec. 35°12', epoch J2000.0), black hole Cygnus X-1.
one of the best known black hole candidates. ANTHONY AYIOMAMITIS

Although we cannot see the black hole —

the brightest X-ray source detected in Cygnus
— we can see through the smallest of telescopes
HDE 226868, its 9th-magnitude blue supergiant
companion on which the black hole feeds. It’s a
fun and thought-provoking target.
From large emission nebulae to tiny
black holes, Cygnus is a wonderland of light
and shadow, harboring some of the most
fascinating — and strangest — objects known.
Enjoy it during your summertime observing
nights, returning to these objects until they
become old friends.

Stephen James O’Meara is a veteran deep-sky

observer, author of numerous books on astronomy,
and columnist for Astronomy magazine.

W W W.ASTR ONOMY.COM 59
 I recently tested the astroimaging capability of the
20mm Sigma f1.4 DG HSM Art lens with my two
DSLR cameras. Released in fall 2015, this Sigma lens
has 15 elements in 11 groups. The optics contain
two F low-dispersion (FLD) elements and five
special low-dispersion (SLD) elements to specifically
It takes a
tackle the pesky problem of chromatic aberration.
lot of high-
quality glass This lens’ maximum aper- 20mm lens was similar to using
to create an
optical layout free
ture comes at a focal ratio of a 32mm lens on the 5D.
of aberrations. For the f/1.4, so it’s extremely fast and
20mm, Sigma arranged lets in lots of light. This fast Performance
15 elements in 11 groups. ratio is perfect for capturing The 20mm feels well built.
COURTESY OF SIGMA CORP.
objects in the dark night sky. It is definitely heavier than
Sigma’s 20mm f/1.4 DG Other specs include autofo- other short-focal-length lenses
HSM Art lens is 5.1 inches cus utilizing an ultrasonic I’ve used, but in my hand the
(130 mm) long and
weighs 33.5 ounces motor, nine rounded aperture camera and lens didn’t feel out
(950 grams). COURTESY OF blades, lens mounts for various of balance or unwieldy. The
SIGMA CORP. camera manufacturers, and manual focus ring is buttery
super multicoatings to reduce smooth. I prefer one that is a
lens flare and ghosting. The lens tad stiffer, but it worked excep-
also has a built-in hood with a tionally well. The lens came to
lens cap and a carrying case. But focus very close to the infinity
it’s not light: This lens weighs a mark on the lens distance scale.
hefty 33.5 ounces (950 grams). The 20mm Sigma Art lens
Short focal lengths make has all the hallmarks of well-
shooting nightscapes and Milky built optics. It excels when it
Way panoramas easy. They also comes to sharpness, even with a
minimize the need for a track- wide-open aperture. As you’d
ing mount. I have previously expect, stars in the extreme cor-
shot nightscapes with 14mm ners are not well corrected when
f/2.8 and 35mm f/1.4 lenses the lens is wide open at f/1.4,
attached to my Canon 60Da and and they exhibit significant
Canon 5D cameras, respectively. coma. Near the center of the
The 20mm lens, falling in lens, however, it’s a different
between the focal lengths of story. The 20mm Sigma is a bit
those other two lenses, offers a sharper than anything I’ve used.
slightly different perspective. It’s normal practice when
I used both of my cameras to using a camera lens for astroim-
evaluate the Sigma lens. My aging to stop it down to get well-
Canon 5D, which uses a full- corrected stars in the corners of
frame sensor, achieved a field of the image. The 20mm Sigma
view of nearly 83.5° and a reso- offers superb correction at f/4
lution of 85" per pixel. The and is easily usable at f/3.2. At
Canon 60Da, with its APS-C- f/2.8, the corner stars start to
size sensor, had a field of view of show elongation, and at f/1.4
58° and a resolution of 44" per coma is evident.
pixel. With a 1.6x crop factor, Focusing using the “Live
the field of view through the View” capability of the 60Da

60 A ST R O N O M Y • J U LY 2018
20mm lens
This wide-angle lens will let
you produce high-quality
shots with just a camera and
tripod. by Jonathan Talbot

was extremely easy because the

stars snapped into focus. The
lens does exhibit some chro-
matic aberration. Stars have
bright magenta rings on one
side of focus and slightly green
ones on the other side. This
actually made finding exact
focus relatively easy because
it was the point where the
magenta disappeared.
One of the nice things
about using a wide, short-
focal-length lens is that you
can gather excellent images
just by mounting your camera
on a tripod. No tracking
required! However, you do
need to keep your exposures
relatively short to avoid elon-
gated stars if your goal is a
sharp image (showing the
stars as your eyes see them).
Using the 500 rule (divide
500 by the focal length in
millimeters), gives a maximum
non-tracked time of 25 seconds
using the 5D, and 15 seconds
using the 60Da. Remember,
though, that this rule is a rough
guess, and a test exposure is
good practice to make sure the
star profiles in your exposures
are what you expect.
Even after following these
exposure recommendations, the
stars showed some elongation
PRODUCT INFORMATION
Sigma 20mm f/1.4 DG HSM
Art Lens
Construction: 15 elements in
11 groups
Minimum aperture: f/16
Length: 5.1 inches (130 mm)
Diameter: 3.6 inches (91 mm)
Weight: 33.5 ounces (950 grams)
Price: $899
The photographer titled this image “Comet Storm.” He used the Sigma 20mm f/1.4 lens at f/2 coupled to a Nikon
D810 camera. He shot fifty-seven 30-second exposures at ISO 1600, then used stacking software and created the
cometlike stars by reducing the opacity for each exposure by 2 percent. DARREN WHITE
when viewed full size, but it
went away and the image
looked sharp when downsized.
These days, with low-noise
CMOS chips and electronics
with extremely high ISO set-
tings, you may be able to get
away with exposures using 400
divided by the focal length.
One issue I dealt with late at
night was dew forming on the
lens. The front of this lens is a
big chunk of glass, and when it
cooled to near the dew point, I
Contact:
Sigma Corp. of America
15 Fleetwood Court
Ronkonkoma, NY 11779
800.896.6858
www.sigmaphoto.com
constantly had to use a 12-volt
hair dryer to carefully heat it
up a bit. If you’re going to shoot
in a humid climate, you may
want to invest in a small dew
heater strap to wrap around the
lens cover. (I’ve got several, but
forgot to bring them.) Either
way, a quick shot of heat kept
the lens clear for 10 minutes,
long enough to take some short
untracked exposures.
A bit later the same night,
I decided to take my favorite
shot: a mosaic of the Milky
Way arching across the sky.
The 20mm Sigma did not
disappoint. With hair dryer
in hand, I used the 5D
camera and captured multiple
30-second untracked exposures
at f/3.2 and ISO 1600. With my
geared head and an 85° field of
view, I took six images from
south to north. Then I pointed
the camera high and took six
more in the opposite direction.
Finally, I took six low across
the ground. Six images gave me
about a 20 percent overlap. I
stitched together the 18 images
in Adobe Photoshop using the
“Photomerge” function.
Final thoughts
The 20mm Sigma f/1.4 DG
HSM Art is a well-built and
well-corrected lens. The one
I tested provided the best-
looking stars at f/4, but f/3.2
won’t disappoint if you need
the extra speed. This heavy
lens is built to be solid. If you’re
currently shooting nightscapes
through 14mm or 35mm lens-
es, the 20mm focal length is
one to add to your arsenal. And
if you’re just starting wide-field
imaging, I recommend you
take a close look at Sigma’s
20mm lens.
Jonathan Talbot is an
astroimager and equipment
tester who lives in Ocean Springs,
Mississippi.

W W W.ASTR ONOMY.COM 61
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 SECRETSKY
BY STEPHEN JAMES O’MEARA
A Hathor halo?
A solar phenomenon could have inspired ancient Egyptians.
A
n uncommon solar
halo display for
subtropical lati-
tudes occurred
over Maun,
Botswana, last February. It’s
called a circumscribed halo,
and the sight of it brought to
mind another type of halo that
may adorn some hieroglyphs
in ancient Egypt.
Searching for solar halo
phenomena requires not only
some knowledge of clouds (and
sunglasses to cut down on
glare) but also a habit of look-
ing up more than down as the
day progresses, as some phe-
nomena can be fleeting. Here
in Botswana, occurrences of
the 22° solar halo and its asso-
ciated ice-crystal phenomena
— induced by interactions with
rays of sunlight — are com-
mon during the country’s wet
season. That’s when veils of
ice-crystal-laden cirrostratus
clouds (the type that usually
produces the halo phenom-
enon) often precede or follow
passing thunderstorms.
The February sighting
began with an enhancement of
the top of the 22° halo that
grew into the upper tangential
arc — an ice-crystal display
that curves outward from the
BROWSE THE “SECRET SKY” ARCHIVE AT www.Astronomy.com/OMeara.
64 A ST R O N O M Y • J U LY 2018
top of the halo, like the horns
of a bull. As the Sun rose, the
horns began dropping down
alongside the halo. Meanwhile,
the same phenomenon began
in reverse from the bottom of
the 22° halo, until the horns
merged into the circumscribed
bow. You can see these features
in the picture to the right.
Like the 22° halo, a circum-
scribed halo is created when
light passes through hexagonal
pencil (or column) crystals.
The difference is that the crys-
tals that form the 22° halo twirl
around three axes, whereas the
crystals that create the circum-
scribed halo float horizontally
rotating around two. As
described earlier, a circum-
scribed halo forms from the
union of the upper and lower
tangential arcs and is visible
when the Sun lies between 35°
and 55° above the horizon. The
image here shows its appear-
ance midway up the sky.
Symbols in the sky?
As I admired the warped-
looking ice-crystal complex,
including the orange interiors
of the rings and the fuzzy
bluish exteriors, my mind was
drawn to a photo I recently
shot while taking in the ancient
The Egyptian goddess
Hathor (left) has many
similarities to a lower
solar halo. Could the
real sky phenomenon
have influenced
Egyptian mythology?
STEPHEN JAMES O’MEARA
Occasionally, the 22° halo (the inner circle) coincides with the sighting of a
circumscribed halo. Both phenomena are caused by sunlight passing through
ice crystals in the upper atmosphere. STEPHEN JAMES O’MEARA
Egypt exhibit at the Ashmolean
Museum in Oxford, England.
One depiction in particu-
lar caught my attention: the
winged goddess Hathor, with
her telltale cow horns set in a
solar disk atop her head.
In ancient Egypt, the hiero-
glyph for the Sun is a circle
surrounded by a ring, which
some scholars have interpreted
as a 22° solar halo. Certainly
the ancients had also seen cir-
cumscribed halos and more.
The horns of Hathor are par-
This ornament shows one of the Uraeus
ticularly interesting. They rep- cobras. The round disk represents the
resent the Apis, a bull revered Sun. WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
in ancient Egypt as a fertility
god. The bull was also associ- Hathor, and her Sun disk is
ated with the solar cult and often represented as an eye
was often represented with the from which the Sun is born.
Sun disk between his horns. One hieroglyph of the Sun
Isn’t it possible, then, that the incorporates two Uraeus cobras
horns of Hathor were inspired coiled around the disk of the
by the hornlike appendages of a Sun, looking like lobed append-
tangential arc — especially ages, similar to the appearance
since the halos can appear at of the circumscribed halo. Food
times when fertilizing rains are for thought?
either approaching or receding? As always, send your
Now consider the following thoughts (and observations)
eyelike appearance: the pupil of to sjomeara31@gmail.com.
the Sun surrounded by the iris
of the 22° halo and the lids of Stephen James O’Meara
the circumscribed halo. The is a globe-trotting observer
Eye of Ra, in fact, sometimes who is always looking for the
next great celestial event.
functioned as the goddess
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 BINOCULARUNIVERSE
BY P H I L H A R R I N G TO N
Scorpion
treasures
T
wo of my favorite
summer star clusters
can be found scraping
the southern horizon
this month. M6 and
M7 trail after the stinger stars
that mark the tail of Scorpius
the Scorpion. Each would be a
lovely sight if viewed alone, but
when teamed together in such
rich surroundings, the scene
becomes singularly beautiful.
To spot them, place the
stinger on the southern edge of
your binoculars’ field of view,
and then look to the north. The
clusters should fit into the same
field. In fact, you might not even
need binoculars to spot them.
Both are bright enough to see
with the naked eye if the sky in
that direction is dark and clear.
M6 is the smaller of the pair.
At first glance, it strikes most
observers as sharply rectangular,
making it unique in a universe
populated with ovals and circles.
But take a closer look, and let
your mind play connect-the-dots
with the stars. See anything
besides a rectangle? Many
observers can trace the outline
of a butterfly among the stars.
Look for two wings outstretched
from a centered body. The but-
terfly appears to be headed
toward the northwest.
M6 is about 1,590 light-years
from Earth, spans about 10
light-years, and is believed to
be between 90 million and
100 million years old. More
than two dozen cluster stars can
be seen using 50mm binoculars,
while 70mm and 80mm glasses
add another 10 to 15 fainter
points. Most are hot blue-white
infernos.
One of its most massive stars,
66 A ST R O N O M Y • J U LY 2018
Scorpius contains
dazzling open
star clusters for
binocular users.
however, has left the main
sequence and evolved into an
orange stellar ember. That star,
set east of the cluster’s center
and known as BM Scorpii, is
an irregular variable that fluc-
tuates slowly and erratically
from 6th to 8th magnitude
across an average of 850 days.
Steer to the southeast of M6
to find the next member of
Charles Messier’s catalog. M7 is
larger and brighter than M6, so
it should be even more obvious
through binoculars. In fact, it is
one of the few deep-sky objects
that was known to the ancient
world. Ptolemy was first to
mention it in his epic volume
Almagest, published in a.d. 130.
Today, many refer to this as
Ptolemy’s Cluster, although he
had no way of knowing its true
nature. That revelation had to
wait 15 centuries. In 1654,
Italian astronomer Giovanni
Battista Hodierna published the
first telescopic observation,
recording 30 stars. In 1764,
Messier included it as object
No. 7 in his catalog, describing
it as “a cluster considerably
larger than the preceding” (M6).
One reason M7 appears con-
siderably larger is because it’s
considerably closer, some 980
light-years away. It also spans
twice the space — 23 light-years
versus 10 light-years. However,
both include about the same
number of stars.
At nearly 35° south of the
celestial equator, M7 is the
southernmost object in
Messier’s listing. With a clear
view, you’re in for a real treat.
Even through modest pocket
binoculars, M7 explodes into a
striking assortment of stars
The Butterfly Cluster (M6) in Scorpius is beautiful through binoculars, with dazzling
stars and a curious shape. BERNHARD HUBL
sadly, passed away earlier
this year.
The first, which he chris-
tened the Hockey Stick, lies
about a 7° binocular field west
ALLAN COOK/ADAM BLOCK/NOAO/AURA/NSF
of M7. Look for a north-south
line of four equally spaced 7th-
magnitude stars. A fifth sun
southwest of the line forms the
stick’s heel. I can squeeze this,
plus both open clusters, into my
10x50s. When you place M7 at
the easternmost edge of the
The enormous open cluster M7 is a fine
naked-eye sight. In binoculars, it field and M6 toward the north,
explodes with bright stars. the hockey stick will be visible
along the western edge.
covering an area larger than the Another Davis creation is
Full Moon. Eighty stars have about a binocular field north-
been identified as belonging west of the hockey stick. He
to the cluster, with dozens of dubbed this one the Garden
nonmembers either in the fore- Trowel. Three 7th-magnitude
ground or lying beyond also stars point southward to form
contributing to the scene. More the trowel blade, while another
than 30 cluster stars shine four or so create its northward-
brighter than 10th magnitude, meandering handle. Most of
and as such, should be visible the Trowel’s stars are white, but
through 50mm binoculars. a couple of them shine with a
Several also show delicate hues subtle golden glint.
of yellow and blue, with the We will explore more of
brightest being a yellow beacon Davis’ asterisms in my next
close to the group’s center. column. Meanwhile, do you
I know it’s an illusion, but my have a favorite binocular target
16x70 binoculars create a three that you’d like to share? I’d love
dimensional effect that makes to hear about it and possibly
many of the brighter stars in M7 feature it in a future column.
look like they’re floating in front Drop me a line through my
of a field of fainter stardust. This website, philharrington.net.
visual impact can never be Until next time, remember
duplicated in a photograph. that two eyes are better than
This region of Scorpius also one!
holds a pair of asterisms visible
through binoculars. Both were Phil Harrington is a longtime
created by the imaginative mind contributor to Astronomy and
of Massachusetts amateur the author of many books.
astronomer John Davis, who,
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ASKASTR0 Astronomy’s experts from around the globe answer your cosmic questions.

Q: WHAT IS METALLIC As I mentioned earlier, hydro-

HYDROGEN, AND DOES IT
EXIST AT THE CORE OF ALL
THE GAS GIANTS IN OUR
SOLAR SYSTEM?
Doug Kaupa
Sun VY Canis Council Bluffs, Iowa
Majoris
Earth’s orbit
A: On Earth, elements exist in
one of three states: solid, liquid,
or gas. The form an element
takes depends on its pressure
and temperature. While hydro-
gen is typically a gas on Earth,
VY Canis Majoris, a red supergiant, has a radius that measures more than it can be artificially compressed
1,400 times that of the Sun. OONA RÄISÄNEN
and cooled to become a liquid
or a solid. Even in these states,
gen is a non-metal. But inside
Jupiter and Saturn, hydrogen
atoms at high temperatures
and pressures actually lose
their electrons, creating a free-
floating stew of hydrogen
nuclei (protons) and electrons.
Because the electrons are
unbound, they can move easily
between the nuclei — a prop-
erty associated with metals.
This is metallic hydrogen:
hydrogen that behaves like a
metal. Metallic hydrogen is
conductive, and it’s believed to
be largely responsible for the

BIG STARS
Q: WHAT IS THE MAXIMUM THEORETICAL
SIZE OF ANY STAR BEFORE IT VIOLATES
THE LAWS OF PHYSICS? James Boyton, Shreveport, Louisiana
A: The size of a star is a natu-
ral consequence of the balance
between the inward pull of
gravity and the outward pres-
sure of radiation produced
inside the star. When these two
forces are balanced, the outer
layers of the star are stable and
said to be in hydrostatic equi-
librium. In general, both the
gravitational force and the
energy generation rate are
determined by the mass of a
star. During most of their lives,
stars burn hydrogen in their
cores, and their structures are
almost completely determined
by their masses. Later in their
lifetimes, energy is generated
in a shell surrounding their
cores, and the outer layers
expand, such as in the red
supergiant (for higher-mass
stars) and red giant (for lower-
mass stars) phases.
Although stars do not have
surfaces, the most common
definition for the outer bound-
ary of a star is the photosphere,
or the location where light
leaves the star. The biggest
stars are red supergiants, and
the biggest has a radius that is
approximately 1,800 times the
radius of the Sun (432,300 miles
[695,700 km]). The reason for
this maximum observed size
not well understood.
One might guess that a more
massive star would grow to be
bigger in its red supergiant
phase, but more massive stars
do not evolve through a red
supergiant phase, and they
consequently do not grow as
large. Perhaps one could imag-
ine a star with arbitrarily large
mass and thus arbitrarily large
size, but no stars have been
found with masses beyond
approximately 200 to 300 solar
masses — even at that mass,
they are smaller than the big-
gest red supergiants. One of
the largest known stars is the
red supergiant VY Canis
Majoris, which would envelop
Jupiter if it were placed at the
Sun’s location.
Donald Figer
Director of Center for Detectors and
Professor of Imaging Science,
Rochester Institute of Technology,
Rochester, New York
hydrogen remains a non-metal dynamo that powers Jupiter’s
— its atoms hold on to their and Saturn’s magnetic fields.
electrons tightly, so hydrogen (Whereas on Earth, that
conducts heat and electricity dynamo is powered by liquid
poorly. By contrast, metals con- iron, an actual metal.)
duct electricity and heat well Uranus and Neptune — our
because of the arrangement of solar system’s ice giants — are
their atoms, which create a lat- too dense for hydrogen to be a
tice that allows the outermost major component of their
electrons from one atom to makeup. Planetary scientists
easily transfer to another. estimate that hydrogen makes
Our solar system has two up only about 15 percent of
gas giants: Jupiter and Saturn. their masses, and furthermore
Both planets contain a signifi- assume that the interiors of
cant percentage of hydrogen, these two planets are roughly
based on their densities. But at the same because their masses
the temperatures and pressures are so similar. While hydrogen
deep inside these giants, their does exist in the ice giants’
hydrogen becomes so heated atmospheres, and is also
and compressed that it enters believed to form a liquid
several strange states, includ- molecular shell deeper down,
ing liquid metallic hydrogen. the hydrogen inside Uranus
Thin
Jupiter gaseous
atmosphere
Saturn
71,000 km Liquid
molecular
hydrogen
59,000 km 60,000 km
Liquid
metallic
hydrogen 30,000 km
Melted 16,000 km
14,000 km
ice
8,000 km
7,000 km Molten
rock
Inside Jupiter and Saturn, gaseous hydrogen gives way to liquid hydrogen
and, deeper down, liquid metallic hydrogen. The temperatures and
pressures inside these gas giants cause hydrogen to take on properties
more befitting a metal. ASTRONOMY: ROEN KELLY, AFTER KENNETH R. LANG, TUFTS UNIVERSITY

68 A ST R O N O M Y • J U LY 2018

and Neptune is never subjected
to the temperatures and pres-
sures required to reach a
metallic state.
Alison Klesman
Associate Editor
Q: WHAT PRODUCES
THE RADIO WAVES FROM
A PULSAR, AND WHY DO
THEY FORM BEAMS?
Fr. Taylor Reynolds
Rome, Italy
A: Pulsars are rapidly rotating,
highly magnetic compact stars.
The rotating magnetic field of a
pulsar acts as a generator, accel-
erating energetic charged par-
ticles that then stream along the
field lines. A pulsar’s magnetic
field is like that of a typical bar
magnet, emanating from one
pole and returning to the other,
with an important exception:
To keep up with the rotation of
the star, magnetic field lines
that extend to a sufficiently
large distance would need to
move at the speed of light,
which is impossible. The limit
at which the field lines can no
longer rotate fast enough is
called the pulsar’s “light cylin-
der.” Field lines that extend
beyond this limit remain
“open” rather than returning to
the star, as illustrated in the
image to the upper right.
Particles accelerated by the
pulsar stream along these open
field lines and produce radia-
tion that stimulates a cascade
of additional particles, which
radiate as well. Because the
particles are moving relativisti-
cally (close to the speed of
light), their radiation is beamed
in the direction of their
motion. The bulk of a pulsar’s
radio emission is produced at
some particular height above
the magnetic pole and con-
fined to a narrow beam defined
by the field line orientation at
that height (which points
largely upward). As the star
rotates, if this beam crosses the
path of the observer, it is seen
as a radio pulse. The cross-
section of the beam can be
complicated, meaning that the
pulse shape can depend on
which part of the beam crosses
the observer’s line of sight.
The exact details of where in
the open-field region the par-
ticles create this radio emission
is still under investigation.
While many models suggest it
is formed close to the poles,
recent studies indicate that the
emission may occur closer to
the edges of the light cylinder.
Further studies are ongoing to
better understand the details
of the process, particularly at
higher energies.
Pat Slane
Senior Astrophysicist, Smithsonian
Astrophysical Observatory and
Lecturer, Department of Astronomy,
Harvard University,
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Q: I HAVE A PROBLEM
VISUALIZING THE
COSMOLOGICAL
“DARK AGES.” WHY WAS
EVERYTHING DARK?
John Pratt
New Haven, Vermont
A: The universe has been dom-
inated by starlight for the past
13 billion years or so — most of
its history. But for the first few
hundred million years after the
Big Bang, there were no stars
yet. These were the “cosmic
dark ages,” when the universe
appeared featureless and had
no recognizable structures. The
evocative “dark age” metaphor
is a bit misleading, though.
During the dark ages, there
was a background of infrared
radiation: the remnant glow of
the primordial fireball that
would eventually, in our
present-day universe, cool down
into the low-energy photons of
the famous cosmic microwave
background. In a way, the dark
Closed
magnetic
Rotation axis
field lines
Neutron star
Radio
beam
Light cylinder
age terminology assumes the
viewpoint of a hypothetical
human observer, with eyes
attuned to perceive visible light
only. And in this specific sense,
the dark ages really were “dark,”
meaning the absence of any
sources of visible light.
The other important prin-
ciple at play here is the expan-
sion of the universe, discovered
by Edwin Hubble. All light
traveling through this “Hubble
flow,” the generalized move-
ment of galaxies away from any
observer, is redshifted because
the expansion of space itself
stretches the wavelengths of
photons, making them redder
and less energetic. This is also
the fate of the exceedingly hot
radiation produced in the Big
Bang. At first, the universe was
so hot that all hydrogen was
ionized, stripped of its electrons
by energetic photons. Over
time, this radiation became less
energetic and “colder.”
About 400,000 years after
the Big Bang, the photons of
this primordial background
radiation were already red-
shifted into the infrared. Their
energy was no longer sufficient
to ionize hydrogen, so that pro-
tons and electrons could com-
bine to form neutral hydrogen
atoms for the first time in cos-
mic history. This moment of
“recombination” marks the
beginning of the dark ages. To
Pulsars emit
cones of bright
radio emission
from their
magnetic
poles as they
rotate rapidly.
Because
Open
magnetic these stellar
field lines remnants can
spin so quickly,
their outermost
magnetic field
lines cannot
move fast
enough and do
not reconnect.
ESA/ATG MEDIALAB
end them, the first stars had to
form, the so-called Population
III stars. Once they appeared,
we again had sources of visible
light, and also of higher-energy
ultraviolet radiation.
This crucial epoch in cosmic
history, when the first stars
brought about an end to the
cosmic dark ages, is currently
beyond the capabilities of our
most powerful telescopes, such
as the Hubble Space Telescope
or the Keck telescopes in
Hawaii. When the James Webb
Space Telescope is launched
around 2020, astronomers will
be able to push the horizon of
what is observable all the way
to the end of the dark ages.
That will be a remarkable
moment of discovery.
Volker Bromm
Professor,
Department of Astronomy,
University of Texas at Austin
Send us your
questions
Send your astronomy
questions via email to
askastro@astronomy.com,
or write to Ask Astro,
P. O. Box 1612, Waukesha,
WI 53187. Be sure to tell us
your full name and where
you live. Unfortunately, we
cannot answer all questions
submitted.
W W W.ASTR ONOMY.COM 69
 READER
GALLERY

70 A ST R O N O M Y • J U LY 2018
1. THE MARCH OF TIME
In the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest
in California, the oldest trees are
more than 5,000 years old. This scene
captures an iconic — and still living —
bristlecone pine silhouetted against
the Milky Way’s core. The so-called
Galactic Dark Horse looms just to
the right of the tree. Starlight softly
illuminates the tree’s details, which
have formed over thousands of years.
• Chirag Upreti

W W W.ASTR ONOMY.COM 71
 2 3

2. LITTLE-KNOWN FEATURE
This is one of relatively few images of
the Hercules Cluster (M13) that show
the dark “propeller” feature (to the
upper left of center in this image). The
spiral galaxy NGC 6207 in the upper
right, some 62.5 million light-years
away, gives a bit of perspective to the
much closer star cluster, which lies
“only” 25,000 light-years away.
• Rodney Pommier

3. WHOSE LINE IS IT?

The lunar feature Rupes Recta (lower
left) is often called the Straight Wall.
The slope is not as steep as you might
think; it shows up as it does due to the
perspective caused by sunlight striking
it at just the right angle. • Brian Ford

4. BLUE ON BLUE
Comet C/2016 R2 (PANSTARRS)
appears to the left of the Pleiades star
4 cluster (M45) on February 4, 2018. The
comet’s blue tail comes from ionized
carbon monoxide, whereas the blue
nebulosity around M45 is reflected
light from nearby bright stars.
• José J. Chambó

5. THE MORE MOONS,

THE BETTER
This breathtaking scene shows the
positions of the eclipsed Moon as
it descends the western sky over
San Francisco. The photographer
composed this image by stacking 17
exposures taken from a fixed location.
He captured his shots January 31,
2018, between 5:58 A.M. and 6:44 A.M.
PST from the USS Hornet Museum in
Alameda, California. • Wesley Chang

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
5 to readergallery@astronomy.com.

72 A ST R O N O M Y • J U LY 2018
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W W W.ASTR ONOMY.COM 73
 BREAK
THROUGH
Escape from
the Lobster
Heavyweight stars
dominate the young
cluster Pismis 24. At least
three of these behemoths
tip the scales at 100 solar
masses or more and
rank among our galaxy’s
most massive suns. The
cluster lies in the core of
the Lobster Nebula (NGC
6357) about 8,000 light-
years from Earth in the
constellation Scorpius.
Pismis 24 already has
begun to emerge from
the Lobster’s clutches. The
glowing gas just below
the cluster in this Hubble
image is the nebula’s
brightest section. Intense
radiation from the brilliant
stars has created a bubble
in the surrounding gas
that lets their light shine
through. NASA/ESA/JESÚS MAÍZ
APELLÁNIZ (IAA, SPAIN)

74 A ST R O N O M Y • J U LY 2018
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Astronomics – 800.422.7876 – astronomics.com Focus Camera – 800.221.0828 – focuscamera.com
 SOUTHERN
SKY
September 2018: Four-planet showcase
September opens with a fine
sight in the western evening
sky — brilliant Venus passes
within 2° of blue-white Spica.
At magnitude –4.6, the planet
shines nearly 200 times bright-
er than 1st-magnitude Spica,
the brightest star in the constel-
lation Virgo. And Venus bright-
ens even more as the month
progresses, reaching magni-
tude –4.8 at greatest brilliancy
September 21. The planet’s
eastward motion relative to the
background stars carries it near
the border with neighboring
Libra by month’s end.
This is probably the best
month to observe Venus
through a telescope. As its dis-
tance from Earth decreases, the
planet’s disk grows larger and
shows an increasingly obvious
crescent shape. On the 1st,
Venus appears 29" across and
40 percent lit. By the 30th, the
planet spans 46" and the Sun
illuminates 18 percent of its
Earth-facing hemisphere.
If you view Venus each clear
night, you’ll notice it edging
closer to Jupiter. The giant
planet lies in Libra the Scales,
creeping eastward from night
to night. Jupiter shines at mag-
nitude –1.9 in mid-September.
Although this is second only
to Venus among the planets, it
appears less than one-tenth as
bright as its sibling.
Jupiter stands high in the
west in early evening and pres-
ents a lovely sight in your tele-
scope. Notice that the gas
giant’s disk appears flattened,
measuring 33.7" across the
equator but just 31.5" through
the poles. The most distinctive
feature of the jovian cloud tops
MARTIN GEORGE describes the solar system’s changing landscape
as it appears in Earth’s southern sky.
is an alternating series of bright
zones and darker belts. Small
scopes also reveal Jupiter’s four
brightest moons.
Saturn follows Jupiter in
a sweeping curve across the
northern evening sky. The
ringed planet appears as an
interloper among the stars of
Sagittarius. At magnitude 0.4,
however, it is more than a full
magnitude brighter than the
Archer’s brightest star.
With a declination of –23°,
Saturn continues to be placed
beautifully for observers in the
Southern Hemisphere. It lies
nearly overhead in early eve-
ning, so its light passes through
the least amount of Earth’s
image-distorting atmosphere.
Any telescope reveals the plan-
et’s golden disk, which appears
17" across at midmonth, sur-
rounded by a gorgeous ring
system that spans 38" and tilts
27° to our line of sight. Its
brightest moon, 8th-magnitude
Titan, shows up nicely through
small scopes, while several
fainter ones become visible
in 20-centimeter and larger
instruments.
Although the best days for
Mars are now behind us, it
remains a standout object from
evening twilight until well past
midnight. It trails about two
hours behind Saturn, and
passes nearly overhead in mid-
evening. It spends the month
traveling slowly eastward
against the backdrop of south-
western Capricornus.
As the Red Planet recedes
from Earth, it dims noticeably.
It starts September blazing at
magnitude –2.1, but it fades by
half, to magnitude –1.3, by
month’s end. Mars’ apparent
diameter also shrinks during
September, from 21" to 16",
though that is still large enough
to reveal subtle surface details
during moments of good see-
ing. You also should notice the
planet’s gibbous phase, particu-
larly in late September when
the Sun lights 89 percent of its
visible hemisphere.
For all practical purposes,
Mercury can’t be seen this
month. The planet passes
behind the Sun from our per-
spective at superior conjunction
September 21. For those eager
to glimpse the elusive planet,
it will make a fine evening
appearance in early November.
The starry sky
September evenings offer mag-
nificent views of the southern
Milky Way. Both Scorpius the
Scorpion and Sagittarius the
Archer — the constellations
closest to our galaxy’s center
— ride high in the western sky.
When I attend international
conferences, I often find that
my Northern Hemisphere col-
leagues envy me because this
region hangs so low in their sky.
As regular readers know,
this is one of my favorite parts
of the sky. This month, let’s
explore some of the interesting
star clusters in the vicinity
of the Scorpion’s Stinger.
Magnitude 1.6 Shaula (Lambda
[λ] Scorpii) and magnitude 2.7
Upsilon (υ) Sco mark the busi-
ness end of the Scorpion.
Although the spectacular
open clusters M6 and M7 lie
just a few degrees northeast of
Shaula, I want to highlight a
few lesser-known targets.
Closest to the stinger are
Harvard 16 and Collinder 332.
The first lies about 0.5° north of
Shaula and Upsilon and forms
an equilateral triangle with the
two. Harvard 16 is quite scat-
tered and barely recognizable
as a cluster. Still, several of its
stars spread out roughly along
an east-west line and are quite
easy to see through a telescope.
Collinder 332 is more inter-
esting. It lies 0.2° due north of
Upsilon and also spreads out
along a line. To my eyes, it
looks like a dog with its gaze
fixed firmly in a northwesterly
direction as if about to run and
retrieve something.
Our next target is Collinder
338. You can locate it 1.1° south-
east of Shaula, roughly 40 per-
cent of the way from that star to
magnitude 2.4 Kappa (κ) Sco.
This cluster spans about 0.5°
and makes a nice target through
binoculars. In my 10x50s, I can
resolve several of its stars.
I have a tendency to save the
best until last, and this month
is no exception. Just 1.3° east
of Shaula lies the little cluster
NGC 6400. Although it is the
smallest of the four in our
September tour, it’s a beautiful
sight through a 20-cm telescope
and appears richer than the
other three. The 9th-magnitude
cluster spans about 8' and
stands magnification well.
If you do not have a go-to
scope, there’s an easy way to
find NGC 6400. Because it has
nearly the same declination as
Shaula, simply aim your tele-
scope at the bright star and
wait seven minutes for Earth’s
rotation to carry NGC 6400
into view.
 STAR S
DOME S
VOL A N

THE ALL-SKY MAP CR C A R I NA

SHOWS HOW THE b UX
a
SKY LOOKS AT: _ C HA M A 2070 M
10 P.M. September 1
ELEON NGC LU U
9 P.M. September 15 ` NG LMC
IC T
C4 RE
8 P.M. September 30 755

NG
ENSA M

C
51
NG
Planets are shown

2
C5 M

8
at midmonth 9
13 ` AU
SCP IU
G
C S US R LO
EN TR TRAL HY
D O
TA IA N E
U _ GU
RU LU
S
M
SMC
CI O C TA N S
RC
IN 104
U NGC ar n
S er h
Ac
A PA V O A
RA AN C
TU

N
O
NG

R
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X
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39

NI
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A
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LU

NG 7 LE IN
P

SC S
US

O U
PI R
62
LIB

G
SC
UM

AU R O
31

OR
Ant

CO
O
RA

PT
RP
ares

TR A
M4

L
IU
Jupiter

IU
AL
N

CU
SAG
M7
M6

P
S

ut
IS

CO

S
a
I

Fomalh
S
T TA

RO
M8

IC
W

S
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NU
Saturn M1

M
M20

TRI
S

AU S I S
Ma
M22

C
rs

PIS
M5

7
M16

SC

NUS
UT

ICOR
OP

CAPR
UM
HI
UC

S
SE

AQ

IU
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UI
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11

LA

R
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SER UT

A
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Q
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UL

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AU
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f
Eni
A

Altair

SAG M15
ITT
A DELPHINUS
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LPE
CU
LA

H
ER
C
U
LE
MAGNITUDES S LY
RA TA
Sirius Open cluster C ER
LA
0.0 Veg C YG N
Globular cluster a US
1.0
Diffuse nebula
2.0
3.0 Deneb
Planetary nebula
4.0
5.0 Galaxy

N
 HOW TO USE THIS MAP: This map portrays
the sky as seen near 30° south latitude.
Located inside the border are the four
SEPTEMBER 2018
directions: north, south, east, and
west. To find stars, hold the map Calendar of events
overhead and orient it so a
direction label matches the 2 Venus passes 1.4° south of Spica, 17 The Moon passes 2° north of
direction you’re facing. 9h UT Saturn, 16h UT
The stars above the
map’s horizon now 3 The Moon passes 1.2° north of 19 Asteroid Urania is at opposition,
match what’s Aldebaran, 2h UT 2h UT
S

O
U

in the sky.
H
N

Last Quarter Moon occurs at 20 The Moon is at apogee

A
ID

2h37m UT (404,876 kilometers from Earth),

ER

0h53m UT
5 Mercury passes 1.0° north of
Regulus, 23h UT The Moon passes 5° north of
Mars, 7h UT
X
NA

6 Saturn is stationary, 10h UT

R

21 Mercury is in superior
FO

7 Neptune is at opposition, 18h UT conjunction, 2h UT

8 The Moon is at perigee (361,351 Venus is at greatest brilliancy
kilometers from Earth), 1h20m UT
O

(magnitude –4.8), 13h UT

PH

9 New Moon occurs at 18h01m UT 23 September equinox occurs at

1h54m UT
SGP

12 The Moon passes 10° north of

Venus, 16h UT The Moon passes 2° south of
53

Neptune, 16h UT
NGC 2

14 The Moon passes 4° north of

Mira

Jupiter, 2h UT 25 Full Moon occurs at 2h52m UT

CETUS

E 16 Mars is at perihelion (206.7 27 The Moon passes 5° south of

million kilometers from the Sun), Uranus, 7h UT
13h UT
30 Pluto is stationary, 16h UT
First Quarter Moon occurs at
23h15m UT

Path of t
he S un (ecliptic
)
ES
SC
PI
S
SU

STAR COLORS:
A
G

Stars’ true colors

E
P

depend on surface
temperature. Hot
stars glow blue; slight-
A ly cooler ones, white;
ED intermediate stars (like
M
R
O the Sun), yellow; followed
D by orange and, ultimately, red.
N
A
Fainter stars can’t excite our eyes’
color receptors, and so appear white
without optical aid.

Illustrations by Astronomy: Roen Kelly

BEGINNERS: WATCH A VIDEO ABOUT HOW TO READ A STAR CHART AT www.Astronomy.com/starchart.

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