Astronomy, Vol. 49.6 (June 2021)

Sharing Our Knowledge
As so many of us spent the last year in our homes and backyards, millions
around the world began looking up at the night sky for the first time. If you’re
one of them, we want to welcome you into the rewarding hobby of astronomy.
All of us at Celestron are committed to supporting you as you embark on your
own journey into the Universe.
That’s why we’ve put together a free resource center with tools to help you get
more out of every night of stargazing.
Visit celestron.com/beginners, where you’ll find:

• Downloadable 2021 celestial calendar
• 12 things to try with your new telescope
• Helpful videos from our experts
• Detailed observing guides for every planet, the Moon,
meteor showers, deep sky objects, and more
• Telescope basics and tips for navigating the night sky
and so much more!
Visit today and don’t forget to share it with every new astronomer in your life.
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ON THE COVER
Our own planet Earth gives us
great insight into the worlds of
planetary science. NASA/GSFC/ARIZONA
STATE UNIVERSITY
CONTENTS 50
COLUMNS
Strange Universe 13
BOB BERMAN
FEATURES Secret Sky 15
STEPHEN JAMES O’MEARA
16 COVER STORY 32 46
Earth is a planet too! Sky This Month Catch a ring of Observing Basics 56
As researchers strive to The planets are out to play. fire eclipse GLENN CHAPLE
understand our solar system, MARTIN RATCLIFFE AND In a few weeks, the Moon Binocular Universe 58
there’s a perfect laboratory ALISTER LING will almost entirely blot PHIL HARRINGTON
right under our feet. out the Sun in a stunning
ALISON KLESMAN 34 annular eclipse. So, grab your
Star Dome and eclipse glasses and get ready. 7
24 Paths of the Planets MICHAEL E. BAKICH QUANTUM GRAVITY
The age of multi- RICHARD TALCOTT; Everything you need to
messenger astronomy ILLUSTRATIONS BY ROEN KELLY 50 know about the universe
Cosmic rays, neutrinos, The sky’s best this month: A close-up
photons, and gravitational 40 planetary nebulae with Venus, discovering
waves: Each of these signals Backyard astronomy These dying stars’ final an Earth-like exoplanet,
carries a message. What can with a small scope acts put on a great show Cygnus X-1’s new
they tell us? It doesn’t take a huge telescope through amateur scopes. mysteries, and more!
ARWEN RIMMER to view the beauty of the MICHAEL E. BAKICH
cosmos. Here’s how to make
the most out of what you have. 60 IN EVERY ISSUE
KEVIN RITSCHEL Ask Astro From the Editor 5
Stolen rocket booster.
Astro Letters 6
Advertiser Index 59
Reader Gallery 62
Breakthrough 66
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4 ASTRONOMY • JUNE 2021

FROM THE EDITOR
Earth is a planet too!

Editor David J. Eicher
Design Director LuAnn Williams Belter
EDITORIAL
Senior Editor Mark Zastrow
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Senior Associate Editor Alison Klesman
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Many years ago, in the hallways at AstroMedia Associate Editor Caitlyn Buongiorno
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ART
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what a perfect laboratory it is for understanding planetary Phil Harrington, Korey Haynes, Jeff Hester, Alister Ling,
Stephen James O’Meara, Martin Ratcliffe, Raymond Shubinski,
science. Earth gives us the greatest insight we have into Richard Talcott
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ASTRO LET TERS
Voyager 2 slingshot Saturn, but in order to ensure Neptune and Uranus were
I was reading the article still possible targets, that kick also altered the spacecraft’s
from the December issue, trajectory. (Saturn did supply a final push to carry
“The mystery and majesty of Voyager 2 to Neptune and Uranus, though.)
the ice giants,” and I think I
came across an error. If the Observing advice
decision to direct Voyager 2 Another great Strange Universe column in the February
to the ice giants was made issue: Bob Berman elicited additions to his top 10
in 1981, which was also telescopic challenges. I’d suggest splitting the double
Voyager 2 launched the year it flew by Saturn, star of Antares, which, when successful, shows a
over 40 years ago.
NASA/ESA/G. BACON/STSCI
wouldn’t it be Saturn that Voyager got the slingshot blazing orange-red star and a dotlike green companion.
“kick” from, not Jupiter as stated? I realize it received I’ve done it with a 10.24-inch Vixen VMC scope at
a slingshot from both, but in the context of what was 31 degrees north latitude. — Eric Rachut, Moody, TX
being said there, it was Saturn that was utilized for
We welcome
your comments the final directing towards Uranus and Neptune. A tale of two sciences
at Astronomy Letters, — Matt Skinner, Livermore, CA Since October, I have been meaning to say how much
P.O. Box 1612, I enjoyed Alan Goldstein’s article “View Earth through
Waukesha, WI 53187; Associate Editor Caitlyn Buongiorno answers: a cosmic lens.” The idea of juxtaposing the time frame
or email to letters@ Three years before launch, the planners proposed that if of geology with objects viewed by astronomers created
astronomy.com .
Voyager 1 was successful, Voyager 2 would be redirected a previously unconsidered relationship between the
Please include your
name, city, state, and
to Uranus and Neptune, taking advantage of a rare two sciences for me. This article has caused me to
country. Letters may planetary alignment. The Jupiter flyby was the start of think about the time frame that connects Earth with
be edited for space Voyager 2’s eventual journey to the ice giants. At Jupiter, the cosmos in a totally new way. — Bonnie Becker,
and clarity. Voyager 2 received the “kick” necessary to send it on to Springfield, VA
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QUANTUM GRAVITY
QG EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE UNIVERSE THIS MONTH
SNAPSHOT
NASA/JOHNS HOPKINS APL/NAVAL RESEARCH LABORATORY/GUILLERMO STENBORG AND BRENDAN GALLAGHER. BOTTOM FROM LEFT: NOIRLAB/NSF/AURA/J. DA SILVA; CHANDRA (X-RAY): NASA/CXC/UNIV. DI PALERMO/E. GRECO, NUSTAR (X-RAY): NASA/JPL-CALTECH; DESY, SCIENCE COMMUNICATION LAB
PROBE PEERS
UNDER VENUS’
ATMOSPHERE
NASA mission gets
an unexpectedly
revealing view of our
neighboring planet.
The Parker Solar Probe is on a seven-year
journey to get up close and personal with the
Sun. On its way, it’s making regular flybys of
Venus, using the planet’s gravity to direct the
probe’s orbit closer to our star. Its wide-field
camera captured this view of Venus’ nightside
during its third flyby, in July 2020, at a mere
7,700 miles (12,400 kilometers) from the planet.
From its position above the thick venusian
clouds, the NASA craft detected a fluorescent
rim around the edge of Venus. But the team was
stunned to see that the image also captured a
surface feature: a prominent dark area in the
center of the planet, known as Aphrodite Terra.
The Wide-field Imager for Parker Solar
Probe (WISPR) is designed to
image the Sun’s corona and
inner heliosphere in visible
light. That’s why the team was
surprised the camera was able to
peer straight to Venus’ surface
rather than imaging just its
cloudy atmosphere. This may
be a sign that WISPR is more
sensitive to near-infrared light HOT APTLY NAMED NEWBORN PULSE LAST GASP
The IceCube neutrino
than predicted. If so, the instru- BYTES Astronomers have
confirmed the orbit of
Energetic X-rays
emerging from the detector at the South
ment could be used to study 2018 AG37, the most remnant of supernova Pole has captured
dust around the inner solar distant object ever SN 1987A suggest that a neutrino — a tiny,
system and Sun. Alternatively, observed in the solar a pulsar — a rapidly chargeless particle
system. Nicknamed spinning neutron star — emitted when a
the imager may instead have
“Farfarout,” the 250-mile- emitting beams of star was ripped apart
discovered a “window” in Venus’ wide (400 kilometers) radio waves — lies and swallowed by a
atmosphere through which light planetoid is currently at hidden in the debris. supermassive black
can escape. — CAITLYN BUONGIORNO 132 times the Earth-Sun If confirmed, it would hole 700 million light-
distance, or nearly four be the youngest pulsar years away. It’s the first
times farther from the ever found. neutrino observed from
Sun than Pluto. such an event.
QUANTUM GRAVITY
A NEARBY EXOPLANET WITH

AN EARTH-LIKE ATMOSPHERE
THIN AIR. Though Gliese 486b’s landscape is

likely hot and hellish, its atmosphere may
resemble Earth’s in its thinness.
RENDERAREA, HTTPS://RENDERAREA.COM
Today, astronomers know of Gliese 486b, was identified by members surface temperature averages around
thousands of planets orbiting of the CARMENES (Calar Alto high- 800 degrees Fahrenheit (430 degrees
other stars. But relatively few of these Resolution search for M dwarfs with Celsius), meaning Gliese 486b’s surface
worlds are considered Earth-like. Exoearths with Near-infrared and opti- probably looks similar to Venus.
Among those that are, studying their cal Échelle Spectrographs) consortium. But, unlike the dense atmosphere
atmospheres is difficult because rocky Further scrutiny revealed the planet is of Venus, Gliese 486b’s atmosphere
planets have only a thin envelope of air 2.8 times more massive and 30 percent is probably thin, a result of the star’s
surrounding them. Thus, Earth-like larger than Earth. radiation blasting away atmospheric
atmospheres must meet stringent Gliese 486b orbits an M dwarf, a molecules, despite the best efforts of the
criteria to render them observable, star smaller and cooler than the Sun. planet’s gravity to retain them. Coupled
even with upcoming telescopes like However, the planet’s tight orbit — with its proximity to Earth, that makes
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope or which takes just 1.5 days at an average Gliese 486b an exciting target for future
the next generation of extremely large distance of 1.6 million miles (2.6 million telescopes to observe. By studying such
ground-based telescopes. kilometers) — means it receives intense worlds, researchers hope to better under-
But a newly discovered rocky radiation from its star. The planet is also stand how terrestrial planets like Earth
super-Earth 26 light-years away tidally locked, so one side perpetually form — and subsequently lose or retain
could fit the bill. The planet, dubbed faces its sun. Researchers think its — their atmospheres. — ALISON KLESMAN

QUICK
TAKES
STELLAR
TANTRUM GRAVITY GANG
ESA/HUBBLE & NASA, B. NISINI

The globular cluster NGC 6397
Stellar nurseries are might be home to a collection of
scattered throughout many stellar-mass black holes
rather than a single intermediate-
the Milky Way. Inside mass black hole, as astronomers
these clouds of gas and had previously suspected.
dust, dense regions of matter condense until finally collapsing to form
a protostar. Leftover material then creates a rotating, flattened disk DESERVED RECOGNITION
around the fledgling star. At this stage, material is still raining down NASA has named their
on the hungry star. The star’s feeding frenzy can eject additional super- headquarters building in
Washington, D.C., after Mary W.
heated matter far into space. In this image, a central newborn star is Jackson, a pioneering “human
blowing out gas and dust to distances of around 10 light-years at speeds computer” who became the
of over 93 miles (150 kilometers) per second. Bright shock waves, agency’s first Black female
referred to as Herbig-Haro objects, are seen where those outflows strike engineer.
the surrounding gas in the nebula. — C.B.
DARK MATTER BEASTS
A new model could explain how
supermassive black holes grew so
quickly after the Big Bang. Instead
of black holes slowly accreting the
remnants of stars, these monsters
instead may form when a massive
clump of dark matter at the core
of a galaxy collapses.
TURKEY’S TIME
Turkish President Recep Tayyip
ESA/HUBBLE & NASA, J. LEE AND THE PHANGS-HST TEAM; ACKNOWLEDGMENT: JUDY SCHMIDT
Erdoğan announced the country

will launch a lunar rover in 2023 as
part of a new 10-year plan to
develop its space program. The
nation’s goals also include sending
astronauts to orbit.
BOSON BUDDIES
Astronomers have proposed that a
142-solar-mass black hole recently
detected via gravitational waves
could have formed through a
collision of two boson stars. These
exotic — and for now, purely
theoretical — stars are made of
ultralight particles just one-billionth
the mass of an electron. They are
also an appealing candidate for
dark matter.
People are strange, galaxies are stranger
The Black Eye galaxy casts its inscrutable gaze over the dark, mysterious cosmos. ARTEMIS LIVES
Located 17 million light-years away, the galaxy — also known as NGC 4826 — The Biden administration has
declared it supports NASA’s
appears to be rotating strangely. The gas in its inner regions is spinning in one
commitment to returning American
direction, while gas on the galaxy’s outskirts twists the opposite way. And, at the
astronauts to the Moon as part of
boundary between the two, colliding gas gives birth to new stars. What caused the Artemis Program, which will
this mysterious motion? Astronomers believe a recent galactic merger might be serve as a stepping-stone to Mars.
responsible for this strange sight. — HAILEY ROSE MCLAUGHLIN — JAKE PARKS
QUANTUM GRAVITY
BRING IT BACK HOME

Precious cargo. Intrepid probes that return pictures and data are
great; even better is when they return samples that scientists can
analyze with lab equipment on Earth. But while astronauts could
pick up and haul hundreds of pounds, robotic probes are limited
to just a handful of pounds — or even just specks of dust from
the wispy atmospheres of comets or asteroids.
The history of deep-space sample-return missions began 19.7 in./50 cm
during the Space Race in the 1960s and ’70s, when Soviet
robotic probes raced (and nearly beat) the American crewed
Apollo missions. In 1999, sample-return missions began again
in earnest with the U.S. mission to the comet 81P/Wild. Japan
completed two successful Hayabusa missions to near-Earth
asteroids, and earlier this year, China joined the club of sample-
return nations with its Chang’e 5 mission. — MARK ZASTROW
APOLLO 12 KEY
Nov. 14–24, 1969
KOSMOS 305 Soviet Union/ Moon
Oct. 22, 1969 Russia
Translunar injection burn failed United States Small body
LUNA YE-8-5 NO. 405
to ignite, apparently due to a Feb. 6, 1970 Japan Malfunction
programming failure. Launch stage shut down China
due to a sensor malfunction Mars
128 seconds after launch. Samples
KOSMOS 300 returned in
Sept. 23, 1969 kilograms Earth
Upper stage failed to ignite for
APOLLO 13
translunar injection, as a stuck
April 11–17, 1970
valve meant all the liquid
“Houston, we’ve had a problem.”
oxygen fuel had leaked out.
APOLLO 11 LUNA 16 LUNA 18

July 16–24, 1969 Sept. 12–24, 1970 Sept. 2, 1971
“The Eagle has landed.” First successful robotic Crashed into the
sample-return mission. mountains near 9 2000
Mare Fecunditatis. 199
1998
LUNA 15
July 13, 1969 APOLLO 15
July 26–Aug. 7, 1971 LUNA 20
Launched just days before Feb. 14–25, 1972
1996
Apollo 11, it crashed into Mare
Crisium while Neil Armstrong APOLLO 14
1995
and Buzz Aldrin were also on Jan. 31–
APOLLO 16 1994 19
the lunar surface. April 16–27, 1972
Feb. 9, 1971
APOLLO 17
Dec. 7–19, 1972
LUNA YE-8-5 NO. 402
June 14, 1969
Launched in an attempt to LUNA 23
beat Apollo 11 in returning Oct. 28, 1974
the first Moon samples. Tipped over on its side upon
Upper stage failed to landing at Mare Crisium and
ignite and the craft didn’t could not collect samples.
reach Earth orbit.
22 34 0.101 43 77 0.055 95 111
1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974

Perseverance takes in the view
Mars’ Jezero Crater has a new visitor capturing its stunning vistas.
NASA’s Perseverance rover took this panorama Feb. 21, 2021 — three
days after it landed — using a pair of cameras mounted to its mast.
About 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) in the distance sits the roughly 200-foot-
tall (60 meters) ridgeline of an ancient delta, consisting of a mass of
sediment deposited when a long-lost river flowed into Jezero Crater.
NASA/JPL-CALTECH/ASU/MSSS
Beyond that lies the crater rim itself, some 2,000 feet (600 m) high.
The inset shows a rock with a unique overhanging shape, carved
and eroded by the martian wind. — M.Z.
MARS SAMPLE
RETURN
July 30, 2020–early 2030s
81P/Wild Mission is already
FOBOS-GRUNT in progress with the
STARDUST Nov. 8, 2011 HAYABUSA2 successful launch and
Feb. 7, 1999–Jan. 15, 2006 Attempted mission to Mars’ Dec. 3, 2014–Dec. 6, 2020 landing of Perseverance,
Collected about 0.035 ounces moon Phobos. Trans- Returned 0.2 ounce (5 g) which will cache martian
(1 g) from comet 81P/Wild. 25143 martian injection failed. of asteroid material. samples for future return.
Itokawa
Mars
162173
GENESIS HAYABUSA Ryugu
Aug. 8, 2001– May 9, 2003- Phobos
Sept. 8, 2004 June 13, 2010 101955 Bennu
Collected First asteroid
particles from sample-return
the solar wind. mission; collected
particles totaling
less than 0.035 OSIRIS-REX
ounce (1 g). The Sept. 8, 2016–
plucky probe Moon
L1 Sept. 24, 2023
was blasted by a Returning to CHANG’E 5
monster solar flare, Earth with an Nov. 23, 2020–
but made it home estimated haul Dec. 16, 2020
on just two of its of at least 14 First successful
four ion engines. ounces (400 g) Chinese sample
of material. return.
«0.001 0.001 <0.001 0.005 1.731 0.4

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
FUTURE MISSIONS
CHANG’E 6
993 1992 1991 1990 2023
1989 1988 1987 China’s second lunar sample-return
1986 mission will use hardware similar to
1985
198 Chang’e 5.
4
MARTIAN MOONS EXPLORATION
198
(MMX)
3
LUNA YE-8-5M LUNA 24 2024–2029

1982
NO. 412 Aug. 9–23, 1976 This planned Japanese mission to Phobos
Oct. 16, 1975 Landed just 1.4 miles (2.3 km) aims to collect at least 0.35 ounces (10 g)
Upper stage failed from Luna 23’s site. of material.
during launch.
MARS SAMPLE RETURN
July 30, 2020–early 2030s
1980
NASA and the European Space Agency

are planning missions to retrieve the
9
197
sample caches prepared by Perseverance.
ASTRONOMY: ROEN KELLY
The agencies are targeting the early

0.17
1978 2030s as a potential launch date.
1975 197 6 197 7
QUANTUM GRAVITY
THOMAS MARTIN, DANNY MILISAVLJEVIC AND LAURENT DRISSEN

Cygnus X-1 springs a
massive surprise
THE CRAB
NEBULA’S
DELICATE
HEART
Although the Crab Nebula (M1)
appears as a fuzzy patch of light
through small scopes, larger
instruments reveal a complex,
twisting structure. And a stun-
ning new 3D reconstruction of
The first known black hole has a new PREMIER BLACK HOLE. Based on its updated
distance, the Cygnus X-1 system lies the remnant’s central regions is
mystery for physicists.
7,200 light-years away in the constellation taking our ability to study this
Cygnus X-1 was discovered in Cygnus. INTERNATIONAL CENTRE FOR RADIO ASTRONOMY RESEARCH
1964 when a pair of rocket-borne millennia-old object to the next
Geiger counters picked up a strong astronomers’ understanding of how level. Researchers generated the
source of X-rays coming from deep black holes form. model using the SITELLE imag-
space. Astronomers traced the sig- “Stars lose mass to their surrounding ing spectrometer on the 3.6-meter
nal to a binary system located some environment through stellar winds Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope
7,200 light-years away, consisting of that blow away from their surface,” on Mauna Kea, and published the
a blue supergiant star — which could said co-author Ilya Mandel of Monash work Jan. 18 in Monthly Notices
not be responsible for producing the University in a press release. “But to of the Royal Astronomical Society.
X-rays — and another massive object. make a black hole this heavy, we need It shows the Crab in exquisite
Eventually, astronomers agreed: The to dial down the amount of mass that
detail, highlighting the remnant’s
mystery object is a stellar-mass black bright stars lose during their lifetimes.”
delicate lattice of gas filaments,
hole, the remains of what was once a This means it’s possible stars can be
companion star that suffered an explo- more massive than originally believed
which crisscross each other like
sive — and implosive — death. when they go supernova. a honeycomb. The 3D model
Astronomers also agreed that the A companion paper, published in allows astronomers to observe
system was 6,000 light-years away, The Astrophysical Journal the same day, the Crab from every angle. The
making its black hole just under 16 revealed that Cygnus X-1’s exceptional images shown here depict the
times the mass of the Sun. But a study mass isn’t its only record-breaking Crab as seen from Earth (left),
published Feb. 18 in Science has aspect. As lead author Xueshan Zhan and a simulated rotated view of
revealed the distance to Cygnus X-1 explained, “Cygnus X-1 is spinning the nebula from another angle
is actually about 7,200 light-years. So, incredibly quickly — very close to the (right). Astronomers aren’t sure
to produce X-rays as bright as we see speed of light and faster than any other what type of star produced M1,
them, the black hole must be heavier black hole found to date.” According to
and the team’s results don’t quite
than previously thought: 21 solar the study, Cygnus X-1 may rotate at a
match the type of supernova (and
masses. This makes it the largest slightly higher speed than previously
stellar-mass black hole ever discovered deemed possible. If true, Cygnus X-1
thus, progenitor star) that is most
without the use of gravitational waves. would place new limits on how fast a suspected. By getting up close to
It’s so massive, in fact, that it challenges black hole can spin. — C.B. the Crab, scientists may now be
better able to determine the kind
of star that exploded to give birth
to this amazing object. — A.K.
STRANGE UNIVERSE
Unusual purchases ones I have. That’s why I’ll now give you sales pitches for
my favorite half-dozen:
1. A swing-arm binocular mount: If you can’t afford
Looking for something to add to your observing collection? those fabulous pricey image-stabilized binoculars,
attach your inexpensive model to a long swing-arm
device — the kind with parallel metal bars. They keep
you safely distant from the clunky tripod and remain
pointed to the target even when you lower the swing arm
to share the view.
2. A star spectroscope: You might have to hunt for
one online. But the pure saturated colors emanating
from stars — a dramatic break from the mere pastels
seen through your telescope — will take your breath
away. Observing the vivid Balmer lines in A-type stars
like Vega or the swarthy, complex molecules seen in
M-class supergiants blends revelatory physics with
jaw-dropping beauty.
3. A spinthariscope: Go to United Nuclear’s website
(https://unitednuclear.com) and buy their best model;
Drawers and shelves it’s currently $50. Through it, you’ll see atoms disinte-
with solar filters,
octahedrite meteorites, We’re into astronomy to be wowed and grating. No joke — you’ll view countless scintillating
spectroscopes, even a amazed. Sometimes this arrives at no cost or pinpoints as if you’re carrying around your own globular
spinthariscope — the effort, as when a bolide tears across the sky. At cluster, albeit one that’s out of focus.
author’s astro-toys
may be typical other times, a glorious apparition might indeed be free, 4. A pocket spectroscope: Get one of the solid metal
of astronomers but can be improved with the right equipment, as when five-prism models in a wooden box (you can find them
everywhere. BOB BERMAN last year’s great Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) was for under $150) and have fun observing streetlights or
visible to the naked eye but wonderfully enhanced unscrambling the Sun’s light. You think the sky is blue?
through binoculars. With this device, you’ll discover its true color. At din-
Beyond bright comets, we can boost the naked-eye nertime, you’ll find butter solely emits green and red
pleasure of solar totalities, the Milky Way, and large star light. Endless revelations.
clusters like the Pleiades with binoculars, 5. Meteorites: Keep one in your living
which are thus essential instruments. We can room. Pass it around and let friends clutch an
safely watch solar eclipses with eclipse glasses, The asteroid in their hand. I recommend
and telescope filters bring out details that astronomy octahedrites because they look like stereo-
boost our observing enjoyment. Today’s passion typical meteorites, contain regmaglypts
theme: further astro-accessories that are (small depressions that form as the meteorite
super-cool or downright peculiar.
provokes a streaks through Earth’s atmosphere), and
The typical stuff we buy is familiar to all. In peculiar strongly pull on magnets.
the January 2020 issue (“Invitation to the dark blend of art 6. A Gemini Sky Window: I still use this
side”), I mentioned that as a teenager I first and avarice. swiveling first-surface flat mirror with a
explored the sky, like so many others, with a metal binocular holder attached above it so
60mm refractor, then later spent countless you can comfortably observe the sky while
hours using a 6-inch f/8 reflector. Presently, you’ll find me looking downward, seated at a table, with no neck strain.
still observing deep-space wonders with the pier-mounted It’s just one example of the cool stuff that was manufac-
12.5-inch f/6 equatorial-mounted reflector I bought tured 30 or 40 years ago that you might stumble across.
40 years ago. And I still gaze at solar system objects I can’t tell you what your Sky Window equivalent might
through my 5-inch 1997 Takahashi refractor — always be, but you’ll know it when you see it.
with a binoviewer, since I’m hooked on the 3D sensation. Telescopes are merely the preliminary money sinks
BY BOB BERMAN Housed in separate observatories, this equipment you encounter once you’re betrothed to the muse who
Bob’s newest book, ought to suffice. Nonetheless, the astronomy passion rules celestial profligacy. Carried off in her addictive
Earth-Shattering provokes a peculiar blend of art and avarice. An caress, we learn the true origin of the phrase “the sky’s
(Little, Brown and
ever-increasing number of science gadgets typically the limit.”
Company, 2019),
explores the greatest occupy the drawers and closets of backyard astronomers
cataclysms that have and physics teachers. Yet for reasons only a therapist BROWSE THE “STRANGE UNIVERSE” ARCHIVE
shaken the universe. could explain, I want you to buy more. Specifically, the AT www.Astronomy.com/Berman
QUANTUM GRAVITY
Asteroid dust found at Chicxulub Crater

be the same age as the global rock layer
COLD CASE SOLVED? enriched with asteroid dust, researchers
An asteroid smashed
into the Yucatán
were fairly certain they had figured out
Peninsula 66 million the cause of the dinosaurs’ demise.
years ago, wiping out Now, a new study published Feb. 24
the majority of life on
Earth, including all in Science Advances may have officially
non-avian dinosaurs. closed the case for good.
WILLGARD KRAUSE/PIXABAY
The latest evidence comes from rock
core samples plucked from Chicxulub
Crater itself, which is buried beneath
the seafloor. In the most recent study
based on samples collected by an
international collaboration during a
2016 mission, researchers say they’ve
found the first unambiguous evidence
Some 66 million years ago, a city- ushering in a period of mass extinction of asteroid dust from within Chicxulub.
sized asteroid barreled through that killed 75 percent of life on Earth. The team found the highest con-
Earth’s atmosphere and slammed into But eventually, the dust settled. centration of iridium-peppered rock
the shallow waters off the Yucatán Fast-forward to the 1980s, and within a 2,600-foot-long (800 meters)
Peninsula in the Gulf of Mexico. scientists uncovered traces of asteroid core sample taken from the crater’s
The cosmic artillery strike gouged a dust — mainly iridium, which is peak ring. This sample likewise shows
125-mile-wide (200 kilometers) crater common in some types of asteroids yet elevated levels of other elements com-
in Earth’s surface, lofting plumes of rare in Earth’s crust — scattered across monly associated with asteroids, giving
vaporized rock and debris into the air the globe. They found the dust in the it a chemical fingerprint that strongly
that globally blocked out the Sun for geological layer that corresponds to the resembles that of the asteroid dust
years or even decades. The reduced time of the dinosaurs’ extinction. Then, found around the globe in the 1980s.
sunlight caused surface temperatures in the following decade, researchers dis- As study lead Steven Goderis said in a
to plummet by as much as 50 degrees covered Chicxulub Crater in the Gulf of press release, “the circle is now finally
Fahrenheit (28 degrees Celsius), Mexico. Because the crater appeared to complete.” — J.P.
1.3 “Super Soaker” rocket seeds cloud at edge of space

On Jan. 26, 2018, a trio of NASA sounding rockets
NASA’S WALLOPS FLIGHT FACILITY/POKER FLAT RESEARCH RANGE/

million
launched from Fairbanks, Alaska, on a mission to
create an artificial night-shining, or noctilucent, cloud.
Also known as polar mesospheric clouds (PMCs),
The number these specters are wisps of ice crystals that form
of binary star roughly 50 miles (80 kilometers) high and glimmer
systems detected after twilight, illuminated by a Sun that has already
set. This long-exposure photograph shows the path
by the Gaia space of the main rocket, dubbed the “Super Soaker,” which
telescope within deployed an explosive canister containing about
ZAYN ROOHI
about 3,000 light- 485 pounds (220 kilograms) of water at an altitude

years of Earth — of about 53 miles (85 km). Also visible are the trails
of two support rockets, which fired vapor tracers —
6,500 times the streams of trimethyl aluminum gas that react with oxygen in the atmosphere and luminesce — to
number cataloged track wind movement. The research was intended to investigate why PMCs are so often caused
by its predecessor by water exhaust from rocket launches. The results, published Feb. 1 in the Journal of Geophysical
Research: Space Physics, indicate that water exhaust not only provides material for the icy clouds,
mission,
but its explosive injection into the air also cools the immediate surroundings by roughly 45 degrees
Hipparcos. Fahrenheit (25 degrees Celsius). These conditions are ripe for forming a PMC. — M.Z.

This telephoto
SECRET SK Y image from
Nov. 4, 2020, was
intentionally placed
Seeing the
out of focus to
show the color
difference between
Saturn (top) and
Great Conjunction
Jupiter (bottom).
STEPHEN JAMES O’MEARA
beneath a cloud bank and were only about 5° degrees

above the horizon, where atmospheric extinction is great.
Jupiter and Saturn put on a show with a variety They were not disappointed, though, as they said the
of visual appearances. single star aspect was what they were “expecting to see.”
Edgar Castro of the Universidad Galileo in Guatemala
It’s rare that we have a chance City had a similar experience when observing about
to see a naked-eye planetary 15 minutes before the start of astronomical twilight. “All
phenomenon with little prec- I wanted to see,” he said, “was if indeed the two bright
edent in recorded human history. Yet, spots would become one and, indeed, they did. At first
last year, those fortunate enough to have glance it looked like a single point of light. I had never
clear skies on Dec. 21 had a chance to seen that before and it was wonderful.”
witness something not seen in the night Also observing during nautical twilight, longtime
sky since 1226: a Great Conjunction amateur observer Leo Cavagnaro, in Mendoza,
between Jupiter and Saturn that brought Argentina, had to climb his roof to view the planets,
the planets within 6' of one another. which were about 10° above the horizon. “Both planets,
What people saw — or didn’t see — at least for me and my now older eyes, were easy to dis-
this time around might surprise you. cern,” he reported. “I’m amazed at how close to each other
they were when viewed with the unaided eye.” He also
Incomparable beauty remarked on how “beautiful the color combination was,”
This cropped and The big question on many minds was with “yellowish Saturn” so close to “white Jupiter.”
enhanced 50mm
(effective focal length
whether the two planets would defy the resolving power Terry Atwood of Louisiana’s Shreveport-Bossier
70mm) image of the of the naked eye and appear as a single (or elongated) Astronomical Society also commented on color. “As
Great Conjunction on star — especially when Jupiter, shining at magnitude soon as they were visible in the fading twilight,” he said,
Dec. 21, 2020, was
taken at 17:28 UT at
–2.0, outshone Saturn (0.6) by about 12 times. No close “they first looked like two colorless points of light, remi-
closest approach, pairing of comparable brightness exists among the niscent of two distant high-altitude balloons reflecting
when the worlds were naked-eye stars, though other planetary conjunctions sunlight. As the sky darkened, brilliant Jupiter took on
6' apart. The view, from
Maun, Botswana, have come close: In 2015, Venus and Jupiter approached a pale pink coloration while Saturn became a distinct
occurred 24 minutes within 18' of one another. Glare from the planets made yellow next to our neighbor’s spreading magnolia tree.”
after sunset, which their separation appear smaller when seen against a He adds that while he and his sister-in-law could discern
reduced the ill effects
of glare. Unfortunately, dark sky, though not enough to visually merge into one. both planets “as two separate points of light,” without
only Jupiter was bright Glare is a problem familiar to double-star observers. optical aid, his wife Ruth could see only one.
enough to be seen with Mizar and Alcor — a 2nd-magnitude primary and a Veteran planetary observer and “newly minted octo-
the naked eye, and
thickening cirrus 4th-magnitude secondary seen 11.8' apart — have long genarian” Klaus Brasch of Flagstaff, Arizona, said he
clouds soon occulted been considered a test for naked-eye visual acuity. In had no difficulty splitting the pair. “Although I wear
them. STEPHEN JAMES O’MEARA fact, studies have shown that they are almost exactly at trifocal glasses and still have pretty good eyesight, I was
the predicted threshold of distinguishability for those pleasantly surprised to readily resolve both points of
with 20/20 vision. The Jupiter and Saturn conjunction light without difficulty.”
presented a much greater challenge: The glare from As Atwood watched the sight, he wondered if we were
Jupiter is much stronger than Mizar’s, and the gap viewing something akin to the Star of Bethlehem.
between Saturn and Jupiter was just half of the separa- “Because it took so many months for the two planets to
tion between Alcor and Mizar. meet in the evening twilight,” he said, “we wondered if
anyone else would have noticed without the announce-
One “star” or two? ments from the TV weathermen.” Atwood notes that
So, what did people see? From a small sample of obser- according to the Gospel of Matthew’s account, only the
vations that I collected from acquaintances — all made Wise Men — astronomers well-acquainted with the
BY STEPHEN during closest approach — the results depended on stars — noticed it. Who else would have taken note?
JAMES O’MEARA both atmospheric and physiological factors. As always, share your thoughts and observations at
Stephen is a globe-
Several casual observers from Maun, Botswana, sjomeara31@gmail.com.
trotting observer who
is always looking reported that the two planets appeared as a single star.
for the next great All of them saw the event during nightfall, when glare is BROWSE THE “SECRET SKY” ARCHIVE AT
celestial event. most prominent. The planets had just emerged from www.Astronomy.com/OMeara
As researchers strive to
understand our solar system,
there’s a perfect laboratory
right under our feet.
BY ALISON KLESMAN
IN 2017, NASA CELEBRATED

20 consecutive years of Mars exploration — the
longest humankind has continuously monitored
another planet. But there’s a key phrase in that
statement that’s easy to overlook: another
planet. Even as planetary scientists strive to
understand the fellow planets circling our Sun,
it’s worth remembering that we have the perfect
scientific testbed right at our fingertips.
As the most familiar planet — and perhaps
the strangest — Earth gives us insight into the
forces that shaped our solar system, revealing
clues about how rocky planets form and evolve.
Studying Earth lets us walk before we run, test-
ing techniques and technologies in a familiar
setting before sending them to other worlds.
But the more we learn, the more we see that
our planet is one of the weirdest places we’ve
ever encountered, uniquely shaped and forever
altered by the life-forms it sustains.
Researchers
simulating a manned
Comparative planetology Mars mission practice
Every planet in our solar system formed collecting geologic samples in
from the same ingredients: gas and dust Hawaii, where some landscape
features are similar to regions of
in the solar nebula around our nascent Mars. Training on Earth allows
Sun. The inner planets assembled closer to future astronauts to learn how
to best achieve their goals
our star, where temperatures were warmer, before setting foot on
meaning volatiles — elements that turn another world. NASA
into a gas at low temperatures — were rare.
As a result, these planets are largely rocky, with
atmospheres and surface water that came much
later, released through geologic processes or
delivered by impacts.
Although their sizes, compositions, and dis-
tances from the Sun differ, the basic processes

or Venus, are all really important,” says
Matthew Chojnacki, a research scientist
also at the Planetary Science Institute
and a participant in the High Resolution
Imaging Science Experiment, or HiRISE,
orbiting Mars.
Sometimes, processes are no lon-
ger active but have left signs of their
presence, Ghent says. Based on
how the presence of water has
changed Earth’s landscape over
time, scientists have identified
widespread evidence of flowing
surface water on Mars in the
planet’s past.
One such place is the river
delta preserved inside Jezero
Crater, where NASA’s
Perseverance rover touched
down in February. John Mustard
of Brown University chairs the
Mars 2020 mission’s Science
Definition Team and is one of many
planetary scientists studying the site.
Among other features of interest,
Jezero contains the mineral magnesite,
whose formation suggests the region has
The crew
of Apollo 17 been altered by water. Furthermore,
captured one scien- “Some magnesite deposits on the Earth
of the most
iconic images ever tists can are tightly coupled to a biological set-
taken of our planet on instead apply ting,” Mustard says, making Jezero an
Dec. 7, 1972, while en route their knowledge intriguing location to search for signs of
to the Moon. NASA
of how processes work on ancient life — one of the rover’s four
one planet (say, Earth) to extrapolate main science objectives.
that formed and shaped Mercury, Venus, how they work somewhere else. This is Meanwhile, Perseverance’s predeces-
Earth, and Mars can be read in the rocks called comparative planetology, and it’s sor, Curiosity, has shown researchers
right under our feet. “The same physics a valuable first step when looking out that Gale Crater, an ancient lakebed,
apply on all the planets,” says Rebecca across the solar system. once experienced conditions akin to
Ghent, a senior scientist at the Planetary “Terrestrial analogues and how we modern-day Iceland. To make the find,
Science Institute whose current work can study specific locations on Earth and published Jan. 18 in JGR Planets,
focuses on the geology of Earth, the apply that knowledge to places that seem researchers compared soil formed in
Moon, and Mars. It’s the ways in which completely unterrestrial, like [Saturn’s various locations on Earth to the read-
those physics play out, she says, as well as moon] Titan or certain places like Mars ings sent back from the rover. “Earth
which ingredients are available on each
planet, that create the differences that pro-
vide vital clues about planetary evolution.
All the terrestrial planets, she says, are
subject to gravity-driven effects such as
cratering, sedimentation, and landslides;
interior-driven processes such as volca-
nism; and processes driven by water on or
below the surface. Taken together, “com-
parative studies of the planets can tell us
lots more about the underlying processes
than we can learn from studying a single
planet in isolation,” Ghent says.
NASA’s fleet of airborne observatories includes a DC-8 aircraft (left) modified to carry a slew of instruments
Essentially, instead of starting from that can be swapped out for each new mission. The agency also operates the ER-2 (right) — a modified U2
scratch to understand a given world, spy plane capable of reaching altitudes up to 70,000 feet (21,000 m). FROM LEFT: NASA PHOTO/JIM ROSS; NASA/CARLA THOMAS

THE TERRESTRIAL PLANETS
MERCURY VENUS EARTH MARS
D 0.949 1
I 0.383 0.532
A
M
E
T
E
R = 7,918 miles (12,742 km)
A 8% Other 96% 95%

6% Carbon 78% 21% Carbon 2.7%
T Helium 42% Nitrogen
dioxide Oxygen dioxide Nitrogen
M Oxygen
Its vantage point at L1 afforded the DSCOVR O
spacecraft an excellent view of the Aug. 21, 2017, S
total solar eclipse as it crossed North America. P
DSCOVR snaps pictures of Earth every two hours, H 0.9%
providing researchers with a rich dataset that can’t Argon
be obtained from low Earth orbit. NASA EPIC TEAM
E 22% 4%
Sodium Nitrogen 0.1% Other 1.6%
R 22% (carbon dioxide, Argon
E Hydrogen < 0.1% Other water, etc.) 0.7% Other
provided an excellent laboratory for us 1 0.107

0.0553
in this study,” said co-author Kirsten M 0.815 = 1.317 x 1025 pounds
A (5.972 x 1024 kg)
Siebach of Rice University in a press
release announcing the discovery. “The S
S
range of climates on Earth allowed us to
calibrate our thermometer for measur-
ing the temperature on ancient Mars.” D
E 0.984 0.951 1 0.713
Something in the air N
Geology isn’t the only feature researchers S
I
can compare between planets. On Earth, T
weather prediction and climate modeling Y = 344 lb/ft 3 (5,513 kg/m3)
have become integral to our daily lives.
Over the past several decades, meteo- The solar system’s terrestrial planets formed close to our star out of roughly the same ingredients.
rologists have developed sophisticated Many differences today arise because of slightly different initial conditions, although general
comparisons can still be made. Here’s how the four terrestrial planets stack up; note that the mass,
models based on advanced observations diameter, and density of Mercury, Venus, and Mars are all shown as ratios of Earth’s values.
of how our atmosphere works. ASTRONOMY: ROEN KELLY
While Earth’s atmosphere certainly

contains a different mix of ingredients
than its neighbors, both near and far, some confidence in [the] physics and operating in those environments, but also
the underlying physics that govern how parameterizations and so forth,” he says. in comparing the different geologic pro-
an atmosphere acts remain the same. “Obviously, for the gas giants and these cesses that are occurring there, because
“Climate models that have been created other very different kinds of atmo- they’re not exact,” Chojnacki says.
for the Earth are now increasingly being spheres, I think that there’s a lot For example, Mars today experiences
adapted to look at other planets: Mars, of adaptation that’s done. But for a carbon dioxide cycle, while Earth sup-
even the gas giants, and exoplanets,” says terrestrial-like planets, certainly Mars ports a water cycle. But because water
Richard Eckman, program manager for and terrestrial exoplanets, the modifica- and carbon dioxide behave differently
NASA’s Atmospheric Modeling and tions are more straightforward.” — especially under martian and terres-
Analysis Program. trial conditions — the two cycles are
Eckman also serves as the earth sci- So close, yet so far similar but not directly comparable.
ence representative to the cross-divisional Despite the many benefits of using Earth Similarly, while martian winds sculpt
exoplanets science program at NASA. as a laboratory, the comparison eventual- the landscape just as terrestrial winds do,
This group, he says, seeks to better ly breaks down. “Venus, Earth, and Mars Mars’ atmosphere is much thinner and
understand exoplanets by exploiting the are on a continuum, where you have its winds subsequently much weaker.
similarities between observing our planet major changes in temperature, you have “You don’t see sand dunes migrating [on
and, as technology progresses, observing major changes in atmospheric pressure Mars] like they do in Egypt, for exam-
planets around other stars. “We are able and atmospheric composition, and those ple,” Chojnacki says. On Mars, “you have
to test the models on Earth, and we have bring some serious challenges to not just to wait a decade to see the kinds of
NASA’S EARTH-
OBSERVING GRACE-FO
FLEET DSCOVR
ICESat-2
NASA currently operates nearly SMAP

30 space-based Earth-observing
missions to address a variety of
science objectives, including CYGNSS
monitoring climate, sea level,
land use, and vegetation health.
NASA HEADQUARTERS & ASTRONOMY: ROEN KELLY OCO-2
Landsat 8
Sentinel-6
Michael Freilich
International Space Station
LIS
SAGE III
TSIS-1 SORCE
GEDI
OCO-3 Suomi NPP Aqua
ECOSTRESS
Terra
Aura
CALIPSO CloudSat
GPM Core
Observatory
Landsat 7
changes that you might see in the Earth science research currently Earth-orbiting satellites or a spacecraft
African sand seas in just a month. There receives about $1.9 billion from NASA’s destined for another world.
is a more muted effect because of the dif- budget each year — on par with the Cameras and other passive sensors
ferences in atmosphere.” amount awarded to the agency’s astro- record the amount of energy, such as
“As we study comparative planetology, physics division, which studies the larger reflected sunlight, coming from the
you think, ‘Let’s study these terrestrial universe as a whole. As of early 2021, planet. For Earth, Margolis says, that
planets, the rocky ones. They all should NASA operates around 30 space-based information can be related to “the
follow the same [evolutionary] path.’ And Earth-observing missions, including biophysical properties of the land surface,
they don’t,” Mustard says. “There’s this joint missions with other agen- such as the amount of leaves, the
stochasticity, this randomness that comes cies. By comparison, NASA absorption of radiation by
into play. And I think that’s a fascinating has about half that many vegetation canopies, the
part of it. Earth is fantastic, we really interplanetary missions Earth science types and the changes of
know how it operates, but we can’t be scattered throughout the research currently land cover, the area of
naïve enough to think that every planet solar system. receives about $1.9 snow cover.”
operates that way.” And Earth scientists Active sensors send
have more than satellites
billion from NASA’s out signals, such as radio
Earth science at their disposal. Airborne budget each year. waves (radar) or laser light
NASA’s Earth Science Division seeks missions provide measure- (lidar), which bounce off
to understand our planet as a unique ments close to the ground that land and water, reflecting back
environment in its own right. “Studying are difficult or impossible to make to the spacecraft. Scientists can then
the Earth from space has always been from low Earth orbit, Eckman explains. determine how the signal has changed
an important part of NASA’s mandate,” These missions target a variety of areas, and relate those changes to properties
says Hank Margolis, program manager ranging from air quality and cloud for- of the planet below. The most recent
for NASA’s Terrestrial Ecology Program. mation to the amount of ice, coral, or addition to the Earth-observing fleet,
“NASA and other space agencies have a vegetation on land or sea. Many airborne Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, uses radar
large fleet of satellites that make obser- missions also provide a cost-effective to measure sea level of more than
vations of the Earth’s surface and its way to test technologies ultimately 90 percent of Earth’s oceans to within
atmosphere.” bound for space, whether aboard just a fraction of an inch. Lidar allows

Decades of observations have revealed that the surface of Mars was much wetter in the past. The Perseverance Mars rover’s landing site in Jezero Crater (left)
shows the telltale features of an ancient river delta. For comparison, at right is the Mississippi Delta, photographed by NASA’s Landsat 7 in 2001. ESA/DLR/FU-BERLIN;
NASA IMAGE CREATED BY JESSE ALLEN, USING DATA PROVIDED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND’S GLOBAL LAND COVER FACILITY
researchers to visualize the vertical out. From this vantage point, called L1, science contributions. “Amazingly, from
structure of vegetation, while radar can the mission studies the solar wind in a million kilometers out, we can measure
characterize vegetation even through real time, offering warnings as much as ozone and aerosols and clouds and sulfu-
cloud cover, Margolis says. Studying all 60 minutes before solar storms hit our ric acid droplets from volcanic eruptions
these aspects of Earth allows researchers planet. But DSCOVR also looks back at and all kinds of cool stuff, useful stuff
to understand how our planet is evolving Earth, snapping photos every two hours — and looking uniquely at the entire
and predict how land, water, and vegeta- at 10 different wavelengths that include Earth in a way that even geosynchronous
tion might change in the future. ultraviolet and infrared light (those weather satellites can’t.”
images are available daily to the public Even at its vast distance, DSCOVR’s
A unique perspective at https://epic.gsfc.nasa.gov/). camera can resolve areas as small as
Naturally, most Earth-observing “But it’s way more than pretty pic- about 16 miles (25 km) across. And
satellites orbit Earth, with many in tures,” Eckman says of DSCOVR’s earth because it regularly takes global pic-
geostationary orbits that keep them tures, Eckman says, DSCOVR can look
above one region of the planet even at certain aspects of vegetation — like
as it rotates. But one mission is differ- the size of plant canopies or the amount
ent: Launched in 2015, the Deep Space of biomass present — more easily than
Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) was satellites closer to the planet. Plus,
originally proposed in the late ’90s by DSCOVR’s pictures show diurnal, or
then-Vice President Al Gore. But the daily, variations across the planet that
spacecraft was put on hold for decades can’t be observed from low Earth orbit.
until the Obama administration resur- “DSCOVR has made the case of being a
rected it as a joint heliophysics and earth highly productive science instrument
science mission, says Eckman. apart from the daily RGB [true-color]
Now operated by NASA, the U.S. Air visible images that are probably what
Force, and the National Oceanic and most people think about,” Eckman says.
Atmospheric Administration, DSCOVR
is located roughly 1 million miles The strangest planet?
(1.5 million kilometers) from Earth, Such long-term observing campaigns
positioned between our planet and the In July 2013, the Cassini spacecraft captured this of Earth have taught scientists one sure
Sun at a stable Lagrange point where image of Earth (the bright point beneath the rings) thing: Our planet is unique and bizarre,
as it appears from Saturn. Images such as this help
the gravitational influences of our put our planet in context as one of many worlds in with unusual properties that don’t
planet and our star cancel each other the solar system. NASA/JPL-CALTECH/SPACE SCIENCE INSTITUTE match those of any other world we’ve
[nearly] all the early forms of life. It was
just a catastrophic moment for life at that
time.” But that catastrophic moment
paved the way for life — and Earth —
as we know it today.
Yet another curious characteristic of
our planet: Earth has a huge number of
minerals. Referencing work led by Robert
Hazen of the Carnegie Institution for
Science, Mustard explains that meteorites
— leftover planetary building blocks —
have a small number of minerals. “Then
on the Moon, you’ve got an increasing
number.” Finally, he says, “You go to the
Earth and it’s just ridiculous.”
Why is this? The prevalence of water
isn’t enough to explain the disparity,
Mustard says. But “if you look at Earth’s
history, the number of minerals that we
know exist increases with time,” he
explains. “You had these big explosions
of mineral diversity something like
600 million years ago — which coincides
with the emergence of life on land. [Life]
Phytoplankton are microscopic plantlike organisms with a macroscopic role to play on Earth: They turn just changes the chemical reactions, the
carbon dioxide into oxygen through the process of photosynthesis. This image, taken by NASA’s Terra environment, so much. … The coevolu-
satellite, shows the Argentine Sea and the Falkland Islands off the coast of Argentina. The colorful swirls just
offshore at lower left signal a massive bloom of phytoplankton that measures more than 62 miles (100 km)
tion of life and geology on Earth — we
across. LAUREN DAUPHIN, USING LANDSAT DATA FROM THE U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY AND USING MODIS DATA FROM NASA EOSDIS LANCE AND GIBS/WORLDVIEW can’t disentangle that, I don’t think.”
But perhaps the clearest example of
life shaping Earth’s land, sea, and air is
seen, either in our own solar system or interface where water meets land. And much more recent — and, in fact, cur-
beyond it. with no Moon, our planet’s rotation axis rently playing out. “I’d say humans are
Earth is the only planet with abundant would wobble unpredictably, destabiliz- among the dominant forces of change on
liquid water driving an active water cycle. ing the climate on timescales of just a few the planet,” Mustard says. Much of his
From weather to weathering, the effects of thousand years. career has been dedicated to observing
water are everywhere. Our home world is Perhaps in part because of all these how Earth’s surface changes in response
also the only known planet with active factors, Earth is, thus far, the only planet to both natural and human forces. And
plate tectonics, in which distinct pieces of we know of that hosts life. And that life there are plenty of human forces at work.
crust are constantly created and destroyed has left its mark on our world. “Over We remove or replace vegetation.
in a planetwide recycling program that geologic time periods, the We exhaust or reroute water
drives phenomena like earthquakes and Earth’s vegetation has supplies. We populate and
volcanoes. Tectonic activity is even played a major role in the Earth is the reshape coastlines. And
responsible for releasing volatiles from evolution of the atmo- only planet with we produce or release
Earth’s interior, which helped create — sphere,” Margolis says. In massive amounts of
and now maintain — our atmosphere. fact, “vegetation is largely abundant liquid water atmosphere-altering
Then there’s the Moon. “Without the responsible for the cur- driving an active gases. Many of these
catastrophic Moon-forming impact very rent level of oxygen in the water cycle. effects can be observed
early in the solar system’s history, the atmosphere: 20 percent.” with relatively coarse data
Earth would not be the way it is today, at Earth started out with an and commercially available
all,” Mustard says. That impact and the atmosphere rich in methane and software, Chojnacki says.
satellite it formed have affected every- carbon dioxide. But photosynthesis, the Fortunately, earth science is different
thing from the strength of Earth’s tides process by which plants convert sunlight from other planetary science in one
to the stability of our planet’s 23.4° tilt. and carbon dioxide into energy, releases final, fundamentally important way:
Without the Moon, our tides would be oxygen as a byproduct. “There was life Earth science is actionable science. By
solely influenced by the Sun — and, given in existence as photosynthesis was get- monitoring the changes our host planet
its vast distance, would consequently be ting going,” Mustard says. “But then, undergoes, we can make choices and
much weaker. This would have brought 2.5 billion years ago, Earth pivoted to an take actions that reduce or alter our
about very different landscapes at the oxygen [atmosphere] and it just killed off effect on the landscape.

The signs of natural settling, human-built levees and canals, and global sea-level rise are all imprinted upon Louisiana’s Barataria Bay, which appears here on
Aug. 31, 1985 (left), and Oct. 2, 2020. As a result of both natural and human-induced change, the region has lost as much as 430 square miles (1,120 square km) of
land in less than 100 years. LAUREN DAUPHIN, USING LANDSAT DATA FROM THE U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
“What we learn from spaceborne remote-sensing techniques researchers are best suited to survive on. Thus, it
measurements can have very practical use to determine how humans are affect- serves as a necessary jumping-off point
applications to human society — e.g., ing the planet can also show us how well when humanity turns its gaze outward.
wildfire management, forest manage- mitigation efforts are progressing. NASA once trained the Apollo astro-
ment, disaster management, improving nauts to become lunar field geologists
agriculture, managing air pollution, Beyond Earth by taking them to Hawaii or Arizona.
managing biodiversity, etc.,” Margolis Despite its strangeness, Earth is the And researchers today are setting up
says. And Chojnacki notes that the same planet we are most familiar with and simulated Mars camps in Utah and
Hawaii or traveling to Antarctica to test
how easy — or hard — it will be to carry
out geologic research with rovers and in
EARTH AND VENUS: SEPARATED AT BIRTH space suits. “It’s useful to be on Earth
and actually have a timeline and try to
Venus and Earth are only planet to do so. processes that have pro- understand how you’re going to collect
stunningly similar; Although its core is foundly shaped life on Earth,” that many geologic samples in eight
in fact, Venus is still hot, like Earth’s, says Suzanne Smrekar,
often called Earth’s Venus has no plate principal investigator of the hours with your supplies when you’re in
sister planet. At first tectonics. Its oppres- Venus Emissivity, Radio the field — and how complicated that
glance, it’s easy to sively thick atmo- Science, InSAR, Topography gets in reality,” says Chojnacki. “Field
see why: Earth is a sphere is about & Spectroscopy (VERITAS) studies and terrestrial applications are
mere 1.1 times wider and 96 percent carbon dioxide, mission, which is currently certainly going to pave the way for lunar
1.2 times more massive than 4 percent nitrogen, and less under consideration for
Venus, and they’re made up than 0.1 percent other gases. NASA funding. Smrekar also and martian exploration.”
of largely the same material Earth has a comparatively worked on the Magellan And as Eckman points out, several
in equal amounts. light atmosphere consisting spacecraft that orbited Venus exoplanets have been identified in recent
Yet, the two look vastly dif- of 78 percent nitrogen, in the early 1990s. years with at least some Earth-like char-
ferent. It’s an experiment in 21 percent oxygen, and “On Earth, plate tectonics acteristics. Based on our understanding
how small initial differences 1 percent other gases. is the fundamental process
can snowball into huge Despite these differences, that links the interior heat of the solar system, terrestrial planets,
effects further down the line, Earth’s strange sister still has engine to surface geology at their core, all likely share at least a
leading one planet to become much to offer. Venus doesn’t and releases (and recycles) somewhat similar origin story.
the lush, water-filled paradise look much like modern-day volatiles from the interior to But, Mustard says, “Planets are built
we enjoy today, while the Earth, but scientists think create the atmosphere,” by chance. And we should be grateful
other becomes a broiling, the two were much more Smrekar says. “Yet this pro-
toxic wasteland. But research similar shortly after forma- cess began billions of years and thankful that the chances that came
suggests both may have tion, potentially making ago, leaving only vague clues together that formed the Earth resulted
started out with roughly the Venus a good analogue for about how it started. There in this. It just says it’s a special place and
same amount of water. So, a younger Earth. are many models but little let’s not mess it up.”
what happened? That’s the “Venus is the only planet data. By going to Venus …
million-dollar question. that can teach us both about we have a chance to see pro-
We do know that Venus early Earth and the cesses that shaped the Alison Klesman is senior associate editor
rotates retrograde, or back- birth of both plate birth of our home of Astronomy. Her academic introduction to
ward, compared to its orbital tectonics and conti- planet in action!” astronomy was through planetary science,
motion around the Sun — the nents — two — A.K. which still holds a special place in her heart.
THE AGE OF
multi-messenger
astronomy Cosmic rays, neutrinos,
photons, and gravitational
waves: Each of these signals
carries a message. What can
they tell us? BY ARWEN RIMMER
The IceCube Laboratory building at

the South Pole stands atop an ice
field laced with over 5,000 optical
sensors. Computers in the lab
building perform an initial round of
processing before transmitting the
data via satellite to researchers at
the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
MARTIN WOLF, ICECUBE/NSF

F
or centuries, astronomers studying the
stars were limited to information from
visible light. Telescopes, photographic
plates, and digital detectors were all
developed to collect, magnify, and
capture that signal.
But visible light isn’t the only message the cosmos
is sending us.
“All the big, interesting events — like supernovae,
gamma-ray bursts, and mergers — are disruptive,” says
Péter Mészáros, a theoretical astrophysicist at Penn
State. “They send out accelerated particles, photons,
and waves in space-time.”
Astronomers call these messengers, and there are
four types: photons, neutrinos, cosmic rays, and gravi-
tational waves. Gradually, scientists have unlocked the
ability to detect them all. Today, astronomers stand on
the brink of a new era of multi-messenger astronomy
— one they have been awaiting for decades and that
is already providing new insights. Thanks to big instru-
ments, big collaborations, and big data, they finally
have the practical tools to interpret the cosmic detritus
constantly raining down upon the Earth.
A fuller picture
The roots of multi-messenger astronomy date to the
1960s, when the U.S. government launched satellites
carrying detectors for gamma rays — the most
powerful photons — to track Russian nuclear tests.
They found plenty of gamma-ray sources, but to their
surprise, they weren’t coming from Earth, but from all
around the sky.
“People thought the Russians were making nuclear
explosions out in space,” says Mészáros. “But soon
it was obvious that they were coming from very far
away, cosmological distances.” Around the same time,
astronomers detected neutrinos, which are subatomic
particles with no charge and very little mass, emerging
from the Sun. Cosmic rays — atomic nuclei that have
been accelerated to near the speed of light — were
first seen in balloon experiments about 100 years ago.
And although Albert Einstein predicted gravitational
waves — the ripples in space-time that occur when
massive objects collide — in 1916, they were not
observed until 2015.
The Super-Kamioka Neutrino Detection Experiment (or Super-Kamiokande) near Hida, Japan, is an underground stainless steel tank that holds 55,000 tons
(50,000 metric tons) of water. If a neutrino interacts with a water molecule, it emits light that can be detected by the 13,000 photomultiplier tubes that line the
tank’s interior. KAMIOKA OBSERVATORY, ICRR (INSTITUTE FOR COSMIC RAY RESEARCH), THE UNIVERSITY OF TOKYO
Multi-messenger astronomy is the Kate Scholberg, a neutrino physicist at messengers requires vastly different
practice of synthesizing these various Duke University. “We have come close in detectors and an unprecedented level
messengers from violent astronomical the past few years. When it does happen of cooperation across disciplines.
events. For instance, astronomers have — and it should soon — then hopefully Instantaneous communication is needed
directly observed gravitational waves we can get a full picture of the emission to coordinate observations of fleeting
and used these observations to under- source.” events, and processing the data requires
stand what happens when neutron stars The power of these combined messen- bespoke skills in statistical analysis and
or black holes collide. Astronomers have gers comes from the fact that each one is data mining. It has been said that the
also uncovered new mysteries, including generated by one of the four forces of only limit to success is of imagination,
the discovery that rare ultrahigh-energy nature: photons by the electromagnetic but in this case, the challenges are purely
cosmic rays originate from outside our force, gravitational waves by gravity, practical.
galaxy, and that high-energy neutrinos cosmic rays by the strong nuclear force,
form a cosmic background that pervades and neutrinos by the weak nuclear force. Capturing neutrinos
the universe. Exciting theo- The different messengers The first object scientists studied with
ries abound as to what kinds are the product of their multiple messengers was one close to
of exotic objects are sending particular origins, and so home: our Sun. In the 1960s, American
out these cosmic messengers: It has been said their presence (or absence) physicist Raymond Davis Jr. led the first
superstrings, dark matter, that the only limit and their characteristics experiment to detect solar neutrinos: a
and even “defects” in the to success is of — such as composition, 100,000-gallon (380,000 liters) tank of
structure of the universe energy level, and direction dry-cleaning fluid placed deep under-
have all been suggested. imagination, but — teach us about the ground in the Homestake Gold Mine in
“The ultimate goal is to in this case, the object they came from. South Dakota. When a neutrino hap-
witness an event with all challenges are The trick is that each pened to interact with a molecule of
the messengers,” says of the aforementioned that fluid, it transformed into an atom
purely practical.
of argon, which Davis could detect. The
observations of solar neutrinos have since
been confirmed by others, including the
series of Kamiokande detectors using
pure liquid water in Japan.
Then, in 1987, neutrino observatories
detected emission from a supernova in
the Large Magellanic Cloud — two hours
before visible light from the stellar explo-
sion reached Earth. That supernova,
SN 1987A, was the first that modern
astronomers were able to study with
multiple messengers. These observations
revolutionized our understanding of
core-collapse supernovae, eventually
providing direct evidence that these
events create neutron stars. When a neutrino strikes a molecule of ice, it produces secondary particles that emit light as they pass
through the ice. This diagram shows how IceCube’s array of optical sensors detected the light produced by
Neutrinos are useful messengers the neutrino from blazar TXS 0506+056. The red-to-blue color gradient reflects the sequence of time, with
because they travel in a straight, traceable red indicating the sensors triggered first as the particle shower entered the array. ICECUBE COLLABORATION/NSF
line from their origin, passing through
nearly every obstacle in their path. This
allows scientists to see into locales that
radiation cannot penetrate — but it also
makes them difficult to detect.
“Neutrinos only weakly interact with
matter,” says Julia Tjus, an astroparticle
physicist at Ruhr-Universität Bochum in
Germany. “So you need huge volumes
to catch only a few particles, either in
man-made water tanks or, on a much
bigger scale, by instrumenting the ocean
or the Antarctic ice sheet.”
This last option is what has been done
with IceCube, a neutrino detector at the
South Pole. Ice works better than liquid
water — when water sloshes around, it
makes it harder to trace neutrinos back
to their point of origin in the sky — and
Antarctic ice is especially transparent
and stable. To detect neutrinos, IceCube
also needed to be shielded from radiation The Homestake experiment, seen here in a 1972 archival photo, was constructed in a mile-deep gold mine
at Earth’s surface. So scientists drilled in South Dakota. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
with a specially designed hot-water tool
into the ice sheet to a depth of about
8,200 feet (2,500 meters), and lowered from the impact of a single neutrino a source of high-energy neutrinos. But it
optical modules on long cables into the from a source in the constellation Orion. also suggests that blazars play a role in
holes before they refroze. These sensors Follow-up observations from NASA’s generating another mysterious messenger
detect neutrinos by imaging the second- Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope — cosmic rays, which are critical inter-
ary particles that radiate from points of showed that in the same direction lies mediaries in producing those neutrinos.
impact in the ice. blazar TXS 0506+056, making it the
“The most significant multi-messenger third known individual source of Cosmic debris
detection out of IceCube so far came neutrinos (after the Sun and SN 1987A). Cosmic rays are high-energy protons
from a blazar in 2017,” says Tjus. Blazars Furthermore, the gamma-ray observa- and atomic nuclei — the leftovers of
are a type of galaxy with a central super- tions showed that the blazar was flaring matter that has been torn apart. These
massive black hole that shoots out jets up at the time. particles represent the only direct source
of ionized matter at nearly the speed of The detection of these two messengers of samples of material from outside the
light. In that event, IceCube’s sensors — a high-energy neutrino and gamma solar system. They move through space
captured the telltale trail of particles rays — is strong evidence that blazars are at nearly the speed of light, and their
On the plains of Argentina, the 1,660 water tanks of
the Pierre Auger Observatory lie scattered across
an area the size of Rhode Island, waiting for cosmic
rays to strike the atmosphere overhead. These
events create an air shower of secondary particles
that the 3,170-gallon (12,000 L) tanks are designed a
to detect as the particles pass through them. PIERRE
AUGER OBSERVATORY/STEVEN SAFFI
p
/0 e
e e
exact speed and character are determined KW
AV
E
SH
OC /±
by the events that accelerate them. When +
ASTRONOMY: ROEN KELLY, AFTER ICECUBE/NASA

i+
they strike other material, they interact e ie
with it, leaving clues in their wake. For
instance, when colliding with interstellar a
dust, they may form bonds between
atoms and create complex organic
molecules, the building blocks of life. i+
And, scientists suspect, when cosmic
rays are ejected from the core of a blazar
and interact with surrounding gas, they
may generate neutrinos — like the one TRAIL BLAZARS
detected by IceCube in 2017.
The voracious black holes at fields that scatter particles Alternatively, the pions
That means the next generation of
the centers of blazars are the back and forth across the may have a charge (π±), in
neutrino telescopes will also be useful for most powerful particle shock boundary, gaining which case they decay to a
investigating cosmic rays. Upcoming accelerators in the cosmos, energy from the shock every muon (μ) and a muon
facilities like IceCube-Gen2 (an upgrade capable of producing multi- time. This can accelerate neutrino (νμ) — one of three
to the existing array) and the Cubic ple types of messengers, protons to nearly the speed “flavors” of neutrinos. The
including gamma rays and of light, turning them into muons decay further to an
Kilometre Neutrino Telescope (a planned
neutrinos. cosmic rays (p). electron or positron (e) and
neutrino detector to be installed at the The process starts with If these cosmic rays either a muon neutrino or an
bottom of the Mediterranean Sea) the blazar’s jets of matter, collide with photons, they electron neutrino (νe , another
“should be sensitive enough to see the which shoot out into space, may produce particles called flavor of neutrino).
diffuse neutrino flux that high-energy forming a shock wave as pions. These can be neutral These messengers then
cosmic rays make as they travel through they plow into surrounding pions (π0), which decay to carry on streaming through
material. The charged parti- gamma rays as well as some the universe — perhaps to be
deep space,” colliding with interstellar cles streaming away from electrons and positrons captured and counted by
dust, Tjus says. the shock generate magnetic (both denoted by e). detectors at Earth.
Astronomers can also use dedicated
observatories to study those cosmic rays
that survive the trip to Earth from galac- pions, electrons, positrons, and neutrons. (3,000 square kilometers) in western
tic or even extragalactic events. When The largest facility designed to capture Argentina.
they hit Earth’s atmosphere, they inter- this subatomic shrapnel is the Pierre Astronomers think that most cosmic
act with air molecules, creating showers Auger Cosmic Ray Observatory, which rays originating within our galaxy are
of secondary particles: X-rays, muons, uses more than 1,600 massive water accelerated by shock waves produced by
protons, antiprotons, alpha particles, tanks spread out over 1,160 square miles supernovae. But Pierre Auger has also

seen very rare ultrahigh-energy cosmic
rays. In 2017, Pierre Auger researchers A SKY FULL OF MESSENGERS
reported these cosmic rays appear to As more observatories that are capable of detecting different types of messengers
originate outside our galaxy. While they come online, astronomers are slowly gaining new views of our cosmic surroundings.
suspect actively feeding supermassive
black holes produce them, a true multi-
messenger detection that includes cosmic
rays is needed to verify that theory. Visible: One of the
most comprehensive
Across the spectrum maps of the visible sky
ever made, this familiar
Astronomers have been studying the view of the Milky Way
cosmos with electromagnetic radiation Galaxy comes from
ever since people first looked at stars with ESA’s Gaia spacecraft.
the naked eye. But beyond visible light,
the electromagnetic spectrum includes
Gamma rays: This
all types of electromagnetic radiation: view from NASA’s
radio waves, microwaves, infrared and Fermi space telescope
ultraviolet light, X-rays, and gamma rays. reveals gamma-ray
sources ranging from
These last two are blocked by Earth’s
pulsars in our own
atmosphere, so astronomers must rely on galaxy to distant
spacecraft like Fermi and NASA’s Neil blazars. The galactic
Gehrels Swift Observatory. disk appears flat due
to the use of galactic
Gamma rays are produced mainly by coordinates.
nuclear reactions: fusion, fission, and
atomic decay. Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs)
are born from the explosion of a massive Cosmic rays: This
star or the collision of neutron stars. In a map of the cosmic
ray sky, produced
matter of seconds, GRBs put out as much by IceCube and
energy as the Sun puts out in billions of the High Altitude
years. “Gamma rays are the most ener- Water Cherenkov
FROM TOP: ESA/GAIA/DPAC; NASA/DOE/FERMI LAT COLLABORATION; ASTRONOMY: ROEN KELLY, AFTER ABEYSEKARA ET AL. (2019); ICECUBE COLLABORATION; LIGO/VIRGO
getic kind of radiation, so this tells us Observatory, is less

detailed but shows
that something massive has happened,” that more ultrahigh-
says Paul O’Brien of Leicester University, energy cosmic rays
who has been part of the Swift team for are coming from one
side of the sky (shown
nearly two decades.
in red) than the other
Swift acts as an eye in the sky, con- (in blue). Astronomers
stantly scanning the cosmos for GRBs. aren’t yet sure what
But GRBs are brief and easy to miss. To causes this imbalance.
maximize the chances of spotting one,
Swift teams up with gravitational-wave Neutrinos: IceCube’s
detectors. “If the gravitational wave guys all-sky neutrino map is
tell us they saw something, we have to also in its early stages
of being collected, and
move quickly, to point in that direction individual sources are
and try to find it,” says O’Brien. only on the verge of
The observations complement each detection.
other: Gravitational waves are the fastest
messenger, but current gravitational wave Gravitational waves:
instruments aren’t able to accurately The plotted areas are
localize the exact source of events. On astronomers’ best
the other hand, X-rays and gamma rays estimate of the origins
of LIGO/Virgo’s first
are very useful in this regard. 11 gravitational wave
“But Swift is getting on,” O’Brien says. detections. When
The Space Variable Objects Monitor additional gravitational
(SVOM), a joint project between China facilities come online,
they should help
and France, is a small satellite in the vein pinpoint future
of Swift but with new capabilities. It’s sources with greater
planned for a June 2022 launch. The precision.
European Space Agency (ESA) also has
“sadly, the gravitational-wave facilities
are currently offline, so they couldn’t
corroborate,” says Fong. That’s because
the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-
wave Observatory (LIGO) in the U.S. and
the Virgo detector in Italy are undergo-
ing upgrades in preparation for their
next observing run, set to start next year.
Catching waves
Einstein predicted gravitational waves,
the most elusive of the messengers, in
the early 20th century on the basis of his
general theory of relativity. Unlike the
messengers of the other three forces, they
are not particles, but disturbances in the
fabric of space-time that propagate out-
ward at the speed of light and are created
when matter is accelerated. The effects
of these waves passing through Earth are
so small and brief that the LIGO-Virgo
detector arms, which range from 1.86
to 2.46 miles long (3 to 4 km), measure
a distortion of only 1/10,000 the width
of a proton over a fraction of a second.
The first gravitational-wave detectors
were built in the 1970s, but it took sev-
eral decades to improve their sensitivity
Cosmic rays are thought to be produced in remnants of supernovae like SN 1987A, seen at the center of this
Hubble Space Telescope image. The expanding shock waves of these stellar explosions can accelerate
enough for functional observing.
protons to near the speed of light. NASA, ESA, R. KIRSHNER (HARVARD-SMITHSONIAN CENTER FOR ASTROPHYSICS AND GORDON AND BETTY MOORE Since that long-awaited 2015 detec-
FOUNDATION), AND M. MUTCHLER AND R. AVILA (STSCI)
tion, subsequent observations have been
trickling in — a few the next year, more
a large observatory planned for the Fong had found something special. the next. Then, in just the first half of
2030s: the Advanced Telescope for High- Although the event was very bright, it the third observing run (from April
ENergy Astrophysics (ATHENA). These clearly wasn’t a nova or supernova. It was to October 2019), an incredible 39
detectors are needed, says O’Brien, a little too dim, and with faster ejecta. gravitational-wave events were detected.
“because without space-based transient She concluded it was a kilonova: a burst This has been game-changing for
monitors, we don’t get the high-energy created by a neutron star colliding with the field — gone are the days when
signal. And that’s a critical part of the a black hole or — in this case — another astronomers caught only one big multi-
whole message.” neutron star. messenger event a decade. And as gravi-
On May 22, 2020, Northwestern Fong’s study is a significant contribu- tational waves are the fastest of all the
University’s Wen-Fai Fong received a tion to the theory that a collision of two messengers, our chances of capturing
more mundane kind of message: an neutron stars forms a magnetar — a kind an event are higher than ever.
email straight from Swift, announcing a of super neutron star with a To identify these events
GRB. “When they see one, it triggers an powerful magnetic field, and sort them from the
automatic mail-out,” she says. “I got a which has recently been noise, the LIGO and Virgo
notification on my phone, and quickly shown to produce high- LIGO-Virgo’s teams use advanced signal
contacted the Very Large Array (VLA), energy X-rays and gamma third observing processing and analysis
then Hubble.” rays. Roughly 30 magnetars run was game- methods, including
Fong was able to collect some good have been discovered — all machine learning. This
data from the VLA, which helped her in our galaxy — and Fong’s
changing for the illustrates an emerging new
secure precious time on the Hubble multi-messenger work ties field — gone are specialty in the field that
Space Telescope. This added vital infor- them together with the days when combines skill sets from
mation to the GRB that Swift detected. kilonovae and GRBs. astronomers astronomy, statistics, and
Ultimately, she and her team were able The resulting kilonova computer science. Even
to capture five messengers from the also produces gravitational
caught only one though these scientists have
event: X-rays, optical light, infrared light, waves on a grander scale big multi- no amalgamated title as of
radio waves, and gamma rays. than supernovae. But, messenger yet, à la astrophysicist, their
event a decade.
work is vital. The ability to quickly —
and accurately — identify events in
observational data so that alerts can be
sent out to the rest of the astronomical
community rests upon their software.
“Not all events produce all messen-
gers,” says LIGO team member Lilli Sun
of Australian National University. “For
example, we will not expect to see [elec-
tromagnetic] radiation after a binary
black hole merger.” She notes that one
particularly remarkable detection in
2017, a neutron star merger, “had every-
thing except neutrinos. We tried to see
them but didn’t. We don’t know why
exactly — it is possible that we were not The detector arms of LIGO’s Livingston Observatory in Louisiana (seen here) — as well as its twin Hanford
facing the event exactly right. This Observatory in Washington — stretch for 2.46 miles (4 km). CALTECH/MIT/LIGO LAB
remains a goal, because indeed we are
expecting to see them.”
Space Antenna, scheduled for launch in universe and holds together galaxies
Working together the early 2030s. These new facilities, with with its gravitational glue.
Multi-messenger detection capabilities their improvements in resolution and Multi-messenger astronomy might
are only set to grow more powerful. All sensitivity, will allow for more and better even hold clues to resolving one of the
the major facilities involved are either detections, and hopefully even solve some most fundamental problems in all of
currently undergoing upgrades — like long-standing mysteries. science: the fact that the standard model
Pierre Auger — or have imminent plans “There are many things we hope to of physics unifies only three of the four
to do so. IceCube-Gen2 is due to be learn in the next few decades,” Sun says, known forces (electromagnetic, strong,
deployed during the Antarctic summer “such as what is at the center of a neutron and weak). General relativity, which
of 2022–2023. The Japanese Kamioka star, and the exact conditions which describes how gravity arises from the
Gravitational Wave Detector has recently determine whether a merger creates curvature of space-time, also explains
begun operations and hopes to achieve a compact object or a black hole. We the behavior and evolution of the cos-
its target sensitivity by 2024. In addition also hope to see different kinds of gravi- mos, but from a different point of view.
to the ongoing Advanced LIGO-Virgo tational waves, perhaps ones from con- Yet these two theories become inconsis-
upgrade, a new LIGO facility is currently tinuous sources. And it could be that tent with each other at the smallest level,
being built in India. And ESA has plans gravitational waves can teach us about such as the center of a black hole or the
to build a space-borne gravitational-wave dark matter,” the mysterious stuff that moment of the Big Bang. Can they both
observatory, the Laser Interferometer makes up most of the matter in the be right? Can they be unified into a
“Theory of Everything?”
Perhaps multi-messenger astronomy
has the answer. Perhaps by combining
information from all four forces, we can
penetrate to the tiniest, earliest core of
astronomical-scale phenomena and take
a quantum leap in our understanding of
how the universe actually works.
Like the old parable that teaches us
blind men cannot make sense of an
elephant by touching just one part of its
body, the big picture of massive astro-
nomical objects and events can only be
made clear when all possible sources of
information are gathered and synthe-
sized. Perhaps then, we will be able to
approach the grand unification of the
forces and finally make sense of it.
Since its launch in 2004, NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory has served as a sentry, keeping watch for Arwen Rimmer is a writer and musician
gamma-ray bursts across the sky. NASA in Cambridge, England.
SKY THIS MONTH
Visible to the naked eye
Visible with binoculars
Visible with a telescope
THE SOLAR SYSTEM’S CHANGING LANDSCAPE AS IT APPEARS IN EARTH’S SKY.

BY MARTIN RATCLIFFE AND ALISTER LING
Mars crosses OBSERVING

HIGHLIGHT
the stunning
JUNE 2021
Beehive Cluster
(M44) this
month, just as it VENUS meets up with open
The
did in this 2010 star cluster M35 in Gemini the
image. TUNÇ TEZEL evening of June 3. The pair
stand 30' apart in twilight.
planets with M35, see if you can spot
are out
the cluster to Venus’ east
though binoculars in twilight
as the pair descends toward the
western horizon.
to play
Telescopically, Venus
changes very little this month.
It’s on the far side of the Sun,
revealing a 95-percent-lit disk
June 1 that wanes to 90 percent
lit by June 30. Meanwhile, the
span of the disk grows from 10"
to 11" in the same period.
An annular solar open cluster in Gemini the follows the Sun, its visibility Mars begins the month 5.5°
eclipse crosses parts Twins, roughly 30' from the stays good throughout June. due south of Pollux in Gemini
of northern Ontario this month. bright planet? Venus continues across and sets just before midnight in
Easier targets for observers Venus and a slender crescent Gemini and is in line with early June. The Red Planet
include the wonderful spectacle Moon meet the evening of Castor and Pollux on June 24, shines at a bright magnitude 1.7,
of Mars crossing the Beehive June 11, less than 3° apart. The just over 6° south of Pollux. By nearly 0.2 magnitude dimmer
star cluster, while Venus dazzles planet is at its most northerly the end of June, Venus is nearly than nearby Castor. The planet’s
in the early evening sky. The declination for the year and halfway across Cancer the Crab orange hue contrasts nicely with
solar system’s two giant planets, also reaches perihelion on the and ends the month 2.7° shy of the star’s A-type white glow;
Jupiter and Saturn, perform well 12th. So, while Venus closely the Beehive Cluster (M44). As yellow-orange Pollux, a K-type
in the early morning hours. giant, is a closer match for Mars.
Uranus and Neptune are fine June 13 combines a
An evening star and a crescent Moon
binocular objects, both moving three-day-old crescent Moon,
close to similarly bright stars Mars, and the Beehive Cluster.
CA NCE R
this month. Lastly, Mercury The cluster stands 4.5° southeast
attempts to show itself in the of the Moon, with Mars 3°
last few days of June, but it’s low Mars southwest of our satellite.
Castor
Pollux
and difficult in bright twilight. Mars crosses the 1.5°-wide
Venus is the first planet to GE MI NI
Beehive June 22 and 23. Now
appear after sunset. It’s low in AURIG A magnitude 1.8, the ruddy planet
the western sky at 6° elevation CA N IS M INOR Venus Capella provides a stunning contrast to
Moon
45 minutes after sunset on Procyon
the stars of Praesepe (another
June 1. At magnitude –3.9, it name for M44). Catch the view
easily punctuates the twilight 10° through a low-powered tele-
glow and remains visible until scope, but do it early — the
nearly 10 P.M. local time. grouping is low in the west and
June 11, 30 minutes after sunset
Locate Venus June 3 and you’ll need a clear horizon to
Looking west
scan east with binoculars as the follow it as the sky darkens.
sky darkens. Can you spot M35, The crescent Moon passes close to Venus the evening of June 11, with Mars Mars sets just before 11 P.M.
a well-known 5th-magnitude also visible nearby. ALL ILLUSTRATIONS: ASTRONOMY: ROEN KELLY local time.

RISING MOON I Splendid spray
REMINISCENT OF SEASONAL CHANGES
Anaxagoras and Goldschmidt
in Earth’s polar regions, the lunar north trans-
forms every month from creeping, cratered
shadows to an expansive reflective domain and
Mars ends June still at mag-
back again. On the 24th, the high Sun at Full
nitude 1.8. On the 30th, it lies
Moon blankets the zone with gray patches and
4.5° east of M44 and sets around
white rays converging toward the young crater
10:30 P.M. local time. Venus is Anaxagoras
Anaxagoras, named after the Greek philosopher.
catching up with Mars — it is The progression begins on the 18th, one
Goldschmidt
now just over 7° west of the Red evening after First Quarter. Goldschmidt, named
Planet. Mars remains in the eve- for a German amateur observer from the 1800s, is
ning sky for several months a considerable 75 miles wide and sports a
more, but its great distance from freckled floor and a low rim. The relentless N
Earth renders a 4"-wide disk bombardment that wore it down has
— a challenging object even left rounded shadows that extend E
with a telescope. Despite its lack across its notably shallow floor. Return
of detail, the Red Planet remains the next evening, when sharp-edged Look to the lunar north this month
to watch bright rays appear over time.
interesting as it traverses the Anaxagoras has rotated into the light. Its CONSOLIDATED LUNAR ATLAS/UA/LPL. INSET: NASA/GSFC/ASU
constellations of the ecliptic. deep insides remain in shadow for another
Saturn appears above the day. Notice how it is carved onto the edge of the at a more convenient latitude, instead of leaving
eastern horizon soon after sprawling and shallow Goldschmidt. As we near a mark that is foreshortened in the far lunar north.
midnight local time on June 1, Full Moon, insert a filter or pump up the power to The rays are beautifully defined and evenly
and about two hours earlier on cut down on the glare. Watch Anaxagoras turn spread and the bright, large apron almost
June 30. The planet starts June into the brightest splotch of rays in the north. obscures its older neighbor. By comparison, the
at magnitude 0.4 and brightens Goldschmidt is similar in age to Tycho and ray system of the much more famous Copernicus
by 0.1 magnitude during the would be just as famous if its impactor had hit appears disorganized.
month. Saturn is located in
40°
the mid-northern part of
Capricornus the Sea Goat and Jupiter’s altitude an hour before sunrise on June 30 — the highest the
— Continued on page 38 gas giant has been in Northern Hemisphere skies for four years.
METEOR WATCH I Shine bright at night

Noctilucent clouds THERE ARE NO major meteor
showers this month — a lull before
late summer, when the shows
pick up again. There are minor
showers but they are hard to
track, generating only a handful
of observable meteors per hour.
Regularly recording summer
meteors helps researchers track
these minor showers, so check
with the International Meteor
Organization (http://imo.net) to help.
Be on the lookout for noctilucent
(night-glowing) cloud activity. These
pearly clouds appear 50 miles high
— more than 10 times the altitude of
cirrus clouds. They are produced
when ice crystals form on high-flying
dust particles. Noctilucent clouds
appear between latitudes of 55° and
70° north, remaining in sunlight for
hours after sunset during summer.
They are usually seen toward the
Last year’s Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) floats amid breathtaking noctilucent clouds over the skyline of Moscow. northern horizon.
DMITRY KOLESNIKOV
STAR DOME
HOW TO USE THIS MAP
N
This map portrays the sky as seen
E
near 35° north latitude. Located
inside the border are the cardinal
directions and their intermediate
points. To find stars, hold the map
overhead and orient it so one of
the labels matches the direction
you’re facing. The stars above
the map’s horizon now match
what’s in the sky.
The all-sky map shows

how the sky looks at:
midnight June 1
11 P.M. June 15
10 P.M. June 30
Planets are shown
at midmonth
MAP SYMBOLS
Open cluster
Globular cluster
Diffuse nebula
Planetary nebula
Galaxy
STAR
MAGNITUDES
Sirius
0.0 3.0
1.0 4.0
2.0 5.0
STAR COLORS
A star’s color depends
on its surface temperature.
•• The hottest stars shine blue

Slightly cooler stars appear white
• Intermediate stars (like the Sun) glow yellow
• Lower-temperature stars appear orange
• The coolest stars glow red
• Fainter stars can’t excite our eyes’ color
receptors, so they appear white unless you
use optical aid to gather more light a
c
S
BEGINNERS: WATCH A VIDEO ABOUT HOW TO READ A STAR CHART AT
www.Astronomy.com/starchart.
JUNE 2021
SUN. MON. TUES. WED. THURS. FRI. SAT.
1 2 3 4 5
W
N
6 7 8 9 10 11 12
ILLUSTRATIONS BY ASTRONOMY: ROEN KELLY

13 14 15 16 17 18 19
20 21 22 23 24 25 26
27 28 29 30
Note: Moon phases in the calendar vary in size due to the distance
from Earth and are shown at 0h Universal Time.
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
1 The Moon passes 5° south of Jupiter, 5 A.M. EDT
2 Last Quarter Moon occurs at 3:24 A.M. EDT
W
Mars passes 5° south of Pollux, 10 A.M. EDT

The Moon passes 4° south of Neptune, 9 P.M. EDT
6 Asteroid Juno is at opposition, 6 P.M. EDT
7 The Moon passes 2° south of Uranus, 2 A.M. EDT
The Moon is at apogee (252,418 miles from Earth), 10:27 P.M. EDT
10 New Moon occurs at 6:53 A.M. EDT; annular solar eclipse
Mercury is in inferior conjunction, 9 P.M. EDT
12 The Moon passes 1.5° north of Venus, 3 A.M. EDT
13 The Moon passes 3° north of Mars, 4 P.M. EDT
17 First Quarter Moon occurs at 11:54 P.M. EDT
20 Summer solstice occurs at 11:32 P.M. EDT
21 Jupiter is stationary, 1 A.M. EDT
22 Venus passes 5° south of Pollux, 11 A.M. EDT
Mercury is stationary, 7 P.M. EDT
23 The Moon is at perigee (223,666 miles from Earth), 5:55 A.M. EDT
SW
24 Full Moon occurs at 2:40 P.M. EDT

26 Neptune is stationary, 6 A.M. EDT
27 The Moon passes 4° south of Saturn, 5 A.M. EDT
28 The Moon passes 4° south of Jupiter, 3 P.M. EDT
30 The Moon passes 4° south of Neptune, 5 A.M. EDT
PATHS OF THE PLANETS
M
An annular solar eclipse occurs LAC

PER path that CYG HER
June 10 along a narrow
stretches from Canada to Russia LYR BOÖ
CrB
ARI
Sun
PEG VUL
Me
rcu Uranus PSC
ry SGE
OR I SER
TAU Cere Pat EQU
s ho AQL SER
f th
Celestial equator eM
o on
Neptune Victoria OPH
AQR Hebe LIB
Jupiter SCT
CET Saturn
ERI
LE P
Pluto
F OR SGR
SCL
PsA MIC
C OL CAE CrA LUP
PHE GRU SCO
Moon phases Dawn Midnight
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To locate the Moon in the sky, draw a line from the phase
shown for the day straight up to the curved blue line.
30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21
THE PLANETS Uranus THE PLANETS IN THE SKY

IN THEIR ORBITS These illustrations show the size, phase,
Arrows show the inner and orientation of each planet and the two
planets’ monthly motions brightest dwarf planets at 0h UT for the dates
and dots depict the Jupiter in the data table at bottom. South is at the top
Neptune
outer planets’ positions to match the view through a telescope.
at midmonth from high Saturn
above their orbits.
Venus
Mercury
Pluto Mars
Ceres
Ceres PLANETS MERCURY VENUS

Mars
Venus Date June 30 June 15
Magnitude 1.0 –3.9
Angular size 9.0" 10.7"
Mercury Illumination 25% 93%
Inferior conjunction Earth
is June 10 Summer solstice Distance (AU) from Earth 0.746 1.566
is June 20 Jupiter
Distance (AU) from Sun 0.414 0.718
Right ascension (2000.0) 5h08.5m 7h05.3m
Declination (2000.0) 19°01' 23°56'

JULY
This map unfolds the entire night sky from sunset (at right) until sunrise (at left). Arrows
and colored dots show motions and locations of solar system objects during the month. JUNE 2021
1
LYN
Callisto 2
CVn AUR
LMi
GEM 3
COM Europa
CNC Venus Sun 4 Jupiter
LEO )
Io
ecli
ptic Mars 5
s ta (
Ve un OR I
he S
h of t
VIR Pat CMi 6 Io
Ganymede
SEX 7
MON
HYA
CRT JUPITER’S 8 Ganymede Callisto
CM a
CRV MOONS
LE P Dots display 9
ANT ER I
PYX positions of
C OL
Galilean satellites 10 Europa
VEL P UP CA E at 4 A .M. EDT on
CEN
the date shown. 11
Early evening South is at the
top to match the
12
view through a
telescope.
13
14
20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10
15
16
Jupiter S
17
Saturn W E
18
N
19
10" 20
21
22
Uranus Neptune Pluto
23
24
MARS CERES JUPITER SATURN URANUS NEPTUNE PLUTO 25

June 15 June 15 June 15 June 15 June 15 June 15 June 15
26
1.8 9.2 –2.5 0.4 5.9 7.8 15.0
4.0" 0.4" 43.1" 17.9" 3.4" 2.3" 0.1" 27
96% 99% 99% 100% 100% 100% 100%
28
2.340 3.573 4.574 9.263 20.505 29.890 33.437
1.662 2.873 5.043 9.959 19.750 29.924 34.301 29
8h17.6m 2h54.3m 22h16.7m 21h01.9m 2h42.0m 23h35.6m 19h53.2m

30
21°02' 9°52' –11°42' –17°37' 15°18' –3°51' –22°26'
WHEN TO
SKY THIS MONTH — Continued from page 33 VIEW THE
Sharing space
PLANETS
Jupiter’s eastward progression
slows until it reaches a station- EVENING SKY
Europa S ary point June 21. The planet Venus (west)
has brightened to magnitude Mars (west)
Callisto Jupiter –2.6 and stands 8.5° northeast MIDNIGHT
of a waning gibbous Moon the Jupiter (east)
W Io’s shadow Io morning of June 28. Saturn (east)
Viewing improves during
the month and by June 30, MORNING SKY
Mercury (east)
30" when it rises shortly before Jupiter (south)
June 10, 4:30 A.M. EDT midnight, Jupiter stands nearly Saturn (south)
Ganymede
40° high at 4:30 A.M. local time. Uranus (east)
Io crosses the face of Jupiter the morning of June 10. Both the moon and its This is the highest Jupiter has Neptune (southeast)
shadow share the disk between 4:04 A.M. and 5:04 A.M. EDT. been in Northern Hemisphere
skies for four years. The higher
on June 1 stands 0.7° west it moves toward its June 13 infe- elevation improves its bright-
of Theta (θ) Capricorni, a rior conjunction. By June 30, it’s ness and clarity as light from planet, while subtle dusky fea-
4th-magnitude star better seen near 10th magnitude and 8.8' the planet passes through less tures transit quickly from east
once the region is high in the due west of Saturn. of Earth’s atmosphere. to west as Jupiter’s fast rotation
sky in the hour before dawn. Jupiter rises an hour after Jupiter’s disk spans 41" as period carries them across the
Early morning viewers will find Saturn and is about 30° high in June begins and grows to a fine visible disk. That rotation
the waning gibbous Moon 17° the southeast June 1 at 4:30 A.M. 45" wide by month’s end. The period varies with latitude but
farther east in Aquarius. The local time, just as the first signs gas giant is still two months ranges from five to 10 minutes
Moon returns to Saturn’s vicin- of twilight paint the sky. It from opposition but offers an less than 10 hours, so the
ity June 27, when the ringed shines at magnitude –2.4 outstanding view through tele- motion of features is visible
planet stands 5° north of our among the dimmer stars of scopes. The main equatorial with just a few minutes of
satellite an hour before sunrise. Aquarius the Water-bearer. belts straddle the middle of the careful observation.
Saturn’s disk reaches a span
of 18" by mid-June, while its
rings reach 42" wide by June 30. COMET SEARCH I Almost a ringer
The planet’s yellowish disk may
show subtle features through a THIS IS THE YEAR to add no. 7 Comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke
telescope and its best viewed in to our list of periodic comets, a
the hour before dawn, around first for most of us. Discovered
Jupiter N
4 A.M. local time. Look for over 200 years ago by Jean Louis o f M73
June 1
white spots, which indicate a Pons, Comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke
Skat 5 Deneb M72
new storm erupting. Such sports a surprisingly short period Algedi
f e Saturn
storms are rare, but large ones of 6.4 years. You’d think it would NGC 7492 AQUAR IU S Nashira
be well known, but Pons-Winnecke 10
can dominate the planet over p CAPRIC ORNUS
the course of just a few weeks. is so small that it must be nearby NGC 7293 M30
for us to see it well. 15 c
The ring tilt drops below 17° Path of
E Comet Pons-Winnecke
this month, allowing a glimpse The comet’s closest approach
20 s
to Earth occurs June 12, when it ¡
at the southern polar region. t
comes within 0.44 astronomical 25
Saturn’s brightest moon, PISCIS
unit (1 astronomical unit, or AU, is
magnitude 8.6 Titan, is an easy Fomalhaut AUST RI N U S
the average Earth-Sun distance), `
target for small scopes. It lies 30 b
and astronomers expect it to a f
south of the planet June 8 and glow at magnitude 11.5. Back in 5°
24, and north of Saturn June 16. 1927, it came within 0.04 AU —
Fainter Tethys, Dione, and just 16 lunar distances — and Comet Pons-Winnecke is back and comes closest to Earth on June 12. The
Rhea congregate near Saturn positions of Jupiter and Saturn are shown on June 15.
was visible to the unaided eye at
and shine at magnitude 10. magnitude 3.5. Our next decent
Enceladus, near magnitude 12, shot at Pons-Winnecke comes in 2037 (0.27 AU), but 2045 brings us closer (0.21 AU).
hugs the outer region of Ring A. The observing and imaging highlight occurs on the 15th, when Pons-Winnecke sits less than twice the
Iapetus starts June near 12th diameter of the Helix Nebula (NGC 7293) to the nebula’s southwest. A dark sky and a 6-inch scope are a
magnitude, but progressively must, along with the fortitude to search just before dawn breaks and the planning to ensure your equip-
brightens to 11th magnitude as ment is guarded against a soaking dew.

LOCATING ASTEROIDS I
Heyo Leo trio
CONTINUING TO DOMINATE the spring and summer asteroid
Mars meanders through the Manger standings, 4 Vesta slowly slips from Leo into Virgo. Shining at
magnitude 7.5, this 300-mile-wide space rock might be getting
tough for binoculars from the suburbs, but remains easy to locate
N
with a small scope. Look among the bright stars of the Lion’s
hindquarters and the Maiden’s head.
Messier fans are familiar with the bright spiral galaxies M65,
M66, and their sidekick NGC 3628, which together form the Leo
Triplet. From the 7th to the 13th, Vesta is less than 1° to their south,
M44 skimming a mere 7' from 5th-magnitude 73 Leonis on the 7th.
E Path of Located toward the outside of the main belt, Vesta moves
Mars 20 June 19
21 slowly, giving fewer chances to see it shift during a single session.
24 22
23 ¡ By a third consecutive night of observing, its 40' displacement will
25 be obvious on your sketch of a distinct starfield. If you have three
CANCER hours on the 17th or 21st, you could notice the sidestep.
Coincidentally, on the 17th, asteroid 3 Juno lies on the
northeast outskirts of globular star cluster M10 in Ophiuchus.
1° Look for its magnitude 10 glow as this nearby world threads
through a field of red giants lurking some 14,000 light-years in
Mars passes through the Beehive Cluster (M44) — also known as Praesepe or
the Manger — late this month. the distance.
Jupiter’s four Galilean a double during the last few Skirting stars and galaxies
moons, Io, Europa, Ganymede days of the month as it comes
and Callisto, are also visible close to Omicron (ο) Arietis, a N
most nights. Their changing field star of similar brightness
Chertan
positions are fun to track. to the magnitude 5.9 planet. On
Denebola
Neptune is located in June 30, the bluish planet NGC 3628 73 June 1
northeastern Aquarius and stands 11' due north of the star. M66 5
reaches a stationary point Mercury reaches inferior L EO 10 M65
June 26. It rises just after 2 A.M. conjunction with the Sun on E 15
local time June 1, and two June 10 and moves west of the Path of Vesta
20
f
hours earlier by June 30. On the Sun in late June. It’s too faint to 25
1st, Neptune stands 5.6° east of spot in bright twilight until the k 30
Phi (ϕ) Aquarii and due south last week of the month. On V IRG O
of the Circlet in Pisces. The ice June 30, the planet shines at
giant’s magnitude of 7.8 places magnitude 1 and is just over 8° 1°
it within range of binoculars an east of Aldebaran in Taurus.
hour or two before dawn. Its Look east at 4:30 A.M. local time Asteroid Vesta trades the Lion for the Maiden this month, passing the
identity is easy to verify, espe- to find Aldebaran 5° high; over famous Leo Triplet along the way.
cially with a good star map. the next half hour, see if you can
Neptune remains within 7' of a spot Mercury as it rises while
slightly brighter (magnitude 7.2) the sky brightens. Observers in center line of the eclipse. The barren land until it reaches the
field star all month, appearing the Southern Hemisphere and eclipse track runs across the Hudson Bay at Polar Bear
like a double star. Although the the tropics have a better view. extreme northern regions of Provincial Park. Eclipse chasers
planet moves slowly from night Earth’s summer solstice Canada, Greenland, and the from the cities of Toronto,
to night, its motion relative to occurs June 20 at 11:32 P.M. EDT. Arctic Ocean, as well as far Montreal, Ottawa, and Quebec
this star is easy to notice. An annular solar eclipse northeastern Russia. can take Route 11 through
Uranus emerges in the takes place June 10. Annular In Canada, the annular North Bay, Ontario, and cross
predawn sky and is best found eclipses occur when the Moon eclipse will be visible starting into the path of the annular
using binoculars in late June, is farther than average from about 100 miles northeast of eclipse just beyond the small
when the planet stands about Earth during a total solar Thunder Bay, Ontario. A par- town of Mattice, Ontario.
20° high as twilight breaks. eclipse, making our satellite too tial eclipse is already underway
It lies in Aries, nearly 12° small to cover the entire solar at sunrise (about 5:50 A.M. local Martin Ratcliffe is a
southeast of Hamal, the Ram’s disk. This leaves a ring of solar time). The low altitude of the planetarium professional and
brightest star. Uranus picks up photosphere visible along the Sun when annularity begins enjoys observing from Wichita,
just after sunrise means a very Kansas. Alister Ling, who
GET DAILY UPDATES ON YOUR NIGHT SKY AT clear sky is required to see it. lives in Edmonton, Alberta, is a
www.Astronomy.com/skythisweek. The path continues across longtime watcher of the skies.
It doesn’t take a huge telescope to view the
beauty of the cosmos. Here’s how to make the
most out of what you have. BY KEVIN RITSCHEL
BACKYARD ASTRONOMY
with a small scope
A
bout 10 years ago, I telescope? Well, it will help you spot most For example, the North America Nebula
was severely bitten of the Messier catalog and many of the in Cygnus (NGC 7000 or Caldwell 20)
by the aperture bug. Caldwell objects, as well as a lot of other spans about 2° by 1.7° in the sky, while
I was using large wonders. Yet, what a 3-inch, wide-field the California Nebula in Perseus (NGC
telescopes in rural telescope really excels at is fitting big 1499) covers about 2.5°. Plus, having a
locations to chase objects and groupings of several objects in wide enough field of view allows you to
down galaxies, one view. For example, the 3-inch f/6.2 capture some of the darker background
as well as obtain (500mm focal length) refractor I have sky, making the faint objects you’re tar-
detailed views of brighter objects. And been using recently gives me dependable, geting stand out even more.
while these scopes did produce memo- exciting views of expansive and faint
rable results, a big telescope has a serious fuzzies like Barnard’s Loop, the Rosette Portability: The best amateur telescope
drawback, other than being a beast to Nebula, and the North America Nebula. in the world will not help you enjoy the
transport: You only see a small portion It also opens up beautiful panoramas of sky if it never leaves your garage. Small
of the sky at a time. the open clusters of Cassiopeia, as well as scopes, sometimes referred to as grab-
So, to get a better view of the the Sagittarius and Cygnus star clouds. and-go telescopes, are favorites because
California Nebula, a notoriously faint Let’s look at some of the advantages they can be used on a whim. You’ll be
and expansive object, I started to employ of small telescope observing, and then surprised at how often you’ll take it out
smaller and smaller telescopes, including I’ll discuss some of my favorite targets, onto your deck or into your backyard, or
10-inch, 8-inch, and 6-inch, achieving season by season. even toss it in your trunk and drive to a
various degrees of success. Almost as a dark-sky site.
lark, I eventually decided to try my luck Perks of a small telescope
with a short-focal-length 3-inch refrac- Wide fields of view: A short-focus Affordability: A short-focus refractor
tor. That little refractor, combined with a telescope gives you a wide field of view. or reflector of 3 to 6 inches in diameter
2-inch wide-field eyepiece, 2-inch diago- That means you can take in a big chunk doesn’t cost a fortune, which means you
nal, and a Hydrogen-beta (Hβ) filter, of the sky at once. The eyepiece that I use could potentially put the money you
produced the best view of the California most consistently for survey work with a save toward wide-field eyepieces to use
Nebula I have ever seen. It was not barely 3-inch refractor is a 2-inch, 22mm eye- with it. While I have owned 3-, 4-, 5-,
there, as usual. It was a pronounced, dis- piece with an 82° apparent field of view and 6-inch extra-low dispersion (ED)
tinct view that stood out from the back- (AFOV). That translates to a 3.5° true refractors, the 2.4- and 3-inch refractors
ground. Thus, I began an astronomical field of view at 23 power — about the I most often use are the more basic, non-
adventure to see what else a 3-inch same as good wide-field binoculars! And ED designs. I encourage you to go out to
would reveal under a dark sky. to catch some of the most imaged objects a dark site and try looking at the night
What can one find with such a modest in the sky, you need a large field-of-view. sky, as you can see lots of neat objects
with pretty modest equipment. However,
if you really want to chase the big and
A modest telescope can help you spot most of the Messier catalog faint celestial sights, I recommend you to
invest in some moderately wide-field eye-
and many of the Caldwell objects, as well as a lot of other wonders. pieces, narrowband filters, and diagonals.

This deep exposure brings out many
beautiful targets within the familiar
constellation Orion the Hunter. The red
circle among the passing clouds is
Barnard’s Loop. The Horsehead Nebula is
visible near Orion’s famous belt stars. And to
the lower left is the Rosette Nebula. Light
pollution from the city Chengdu, China, is
visible off in the distance. JEFF DAI
The heart of Orion includes Barnard’s Loop and several other major nebulae, as seen in this image taken from the photographer’s backyard in Montrose, Colorado,
on Jan. 14, 2021. Numerous reflection nebulae — illuminated by Rigel, which is located just outside the frame — are also visible near the top. VINCE FARNSWORTH
WINTER TARGETS
OBJECT TYPE CONSTELLATION NOTES
Supernova remnant/ Orion To see this very subtle target within the Orion
Barnard’s Loop emission nebula Molecular Cloud Complex, use the lowest possible
power and an Hβ filter. You may need to nudge your
telescope slightly while viewing the area to notice how
the nebulosity moves in the field.
Witch Head Nebula Reflection nebula Eridanus This one’s a real challenge. Located just west
(IC 2118) of Rigel in Orion, you need a dark site and transparent
skies to see it.
Orion’s Belt Association and emission Orion With a 3-inch refractor, you can easily spot the
nebulae nearby Flame Nebula, as well as hints of the emission
nebula IC 434, which harbors the shadowy
Horsehead Nebula. The reflection nebula M78 lies just
outside the field to the northeast.
NGC 2174 & Emission nebula and open Orion Both of these targets are easy to pick out without an
NGC 2175 star cluster Oxygen-III (OIII) filter.
Rosette Nebula Emission nebula Monoceros This celestial sight is also visible without filters,
but an OIII filter still enhances the view.
How to make the most contrast between the object you seek and CONSIDER A STEADY MOUNT.
of a small scope the surrounding sky much more appar- A solid mount for a small, lightweight
SEEK DARK, TRANSPARENT SKIES. ent. There’s simply no getting around the telescope is relatively cheap to purchase,
I cannot overemphasize enough how fact that urban skies wash out deep-sky and it makes it much easier for you to
tracking down deep-sky objects with a objects. But a small, portable telescope locate and spot the details of your target.
small scope is far more rewarding if you also makes for a good travel companion, I recommend getting a mount with slow-
do it from the darkest, least light-polluted providing an excuse to venture to spec- motion controls, if possible, as they allow
site you can find. Dark skies make the tacular dark-sky sites like national parks. for quick and easy fine adjustments.

SPRING TARGETS
M48 (NGC 2548) Open star cluster Hydra From a dark-sky location, you should be able to see
this cluster with your naked eye. It is nicely resolved in
2.4- and 3-inch refractors.
M81 (NGC 3031) & Galaxy grouping Ursa Major Visible in both 2.4- and 3-inch refractors, this view is
M82 (NGC 3034) one of the grandest galaxy pairings in the sky.
Omega Centauri Globular star cluster Centaurus If you live in the lower 48 states or Hawaii, this is one
(NGC 5139) of the most amazing sights in the sky. It’s easy to see
with 2.4- and 3-inch telescopes. Plus, the peculiar
galaxy Centaurus A (NGC 5128) is located about
4.5° north, and even sports a dark lane.
Beehive Cluster Open star cluster Cancer This seasonal treat is easy to pick out and fully resolved
(M44, NGC 2632) with the smallest of scopes. You can even see it with
your naked eye under very dark skies.
M65 (NGC 3623) & Galaxy grouping Leo Can you also pick up hints of a third galaxy nearby,
M66 (NGC 3627) the Hamburger Galaxy (NGC 3628)?
ABOVE: Early on Oct. 2, 2014, the photographer

snapped this shot of bright Jupiter with the
Beehive Cluster above it. The image also
captures zodiacal light, caused by sunlight
reflecting off of dust spread throughout the
solar system. DALE CUPP
LEFT: The Leo Triplet (M65, M66, NGC 3628)

was captured in this shot from the photographer’s
backyard observatory in Long Island, New York,
under Bortle 7/8 skies. DAVID BARNETT
Indeed, I have a fairly robust equatorial DON’T FORGET YOUR FILTER. (NGC 2359) in Canis Major. Some
mount that I can equip with several Narrow-band filters are essential for objects, such as the California Nebula
scopes at once. And while such a mount observing faint-emission nebulae, even and Barnard’s Loop, require an Hβ filter
may seem like overkill for only a little from a particularly dark-sky site. You’ll to identify them.
3-inch refractor, the excellent handling be surprised by how well some objects GRAB A WIDE-FIELD EYEPIECE.
it provides makes it a breeze to quickly respond to an Oxygen-III (OIII) filter, Getting at least one low-power, 60° to 82°
view a lot of different objects during a like the Owl Nebula (M97 or NGC AFOV is essential for your deep-sky kit,
single night of observing. 3587) in Ursa Major or Thor’s Helmet at least in my opinion. While a good
ABOVE: The Lagoon (left) and Trifid (right) nebulae
are both popular targets in Sagittarius. FABIO DI STEFANO
LEFT: The Eagle (left) and Omega (right) nebulae are

shown here using the Hubble Palette. ALISTAIR SYMON
SUMMER TARGETS
Emission nebulae Serpens & Sagittarius Both 2- and 3-inch refractors capture the Eagle Nebula
Eagle & Omega panorama and Omega Nebula (M16 and M17, respectively) in
nebulae (M16, M17) the same field of view. The Omega Nebula’s classic
check mark shape is readily apparent in a 3-inch scope.
Emission nebulae Sagittarius As two of the best emission nebulae visible from the
Lagoon & Trifid panorama Northern Hemisphere, these targets are easily seen in
nebulae (M8, M20) a single field of view with 2- to 3-inch refractors. Many
other open and globular clusters speckle the same
area of the sky.
Ptolemy’s Cluster Open star cluster Scorpius Ptolemy’s Cluster is a beautiful, fully resolved grouping
(M7 or NGC 6745) of stars that can be seen in both 2- and 3-inch
refractors. Look for the globular cluster NGC 6453
on its northwest edge and the dark nebulae B286
and B287 to the south. With a wide enough field of
view, you can also catch the Butterfly Cluster (M6),
located about 3.5° to the northwest.
M22 (NGC 6656), Globular star cluster Sagittarius Look at Lambda (λ) Sagittarii, the star at the top of the
M28 (NGC 6626), panorama Teapot asterism. In the same field, you will easily find
NGC 6638 two fine globular star clusters, along with a third that’s
more of a challenge.
North America Emission nebula Cygnus Use your lowest power/widest field-of-view eyepiece
Nebula and an OIII filter for the best view possible of
(NGC 7000) NGC 7000. The region is about 1° to 2° east-southeast
of the bright star Deneb.
THE BORTLE
SCALE
The Bortle Scale is one
way to measure the
darkness of the night
sky. It ranges from
1 to 9, with 1 referring to
a fully dark sky devoid
of light pollution, and
9 corresponding to a
heavily light-polluted
8/9 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 inner-city sky.
Inner-city sky City/suburban Bright suburban Suburban Suburban/rural Rural sky Dark sky Excellent dark sky
FALL TARGETS
Barnard’s Galaxy Dwarf galaxy Sagittarius This target is another real challenge. I have seen
(NGC 6822) Barnard’s Galaxy in many other scopes, but in a 3-inch
refractor, it appears as a patch of sky that’s just slightly
brighter than the background.
Pleiades (M45) Open star cluster Taurus At almost 2° wide, the Pleiades (or Seven Sisters) fits
nicely in the field of view of both 2- and 3-inch scopes.
You should even glimpse the reflection nebulae
around the brightest stars; I can usually make out at
least two patches.
NGC 253 & NGC 288 Galaxy and globular Sculptor Also known as the Silver Dollar Galaxy, the spiral
star cluster pair NGC 253 fits into the same field of view as the globular
NGC 288 when viewed through both 2- and
3-inch refractors.
California Nebula Emission nebula Perseus At 2.5° in length, you need a wide-field view to pick up
this cosmic tribute to the most populous state in the
U.S. Use an Hβ filter to achieve the best results.
The Helix Nebula Planetary nebula Aquarius Wow, this is an exceptionally big planetary nebula! It’s
(NGC 7293) faint, but easy to see without a narrow band filter;
however, an OIII filter makes it (and its dimmer central
region) more obvious through a 3-inch scope.
ABOVE: The photographer escaped to the “boot

heel” of New Mexico in October 2020 to get this
shot of the California Nebula. RICH RICHINS
LEFT: This view of the Helix Nebula was captured

from the photographer’s backyard in Houston.
JEFF SCHILLING
Plössl eyepiece (a design that comes stan- Target your Celestial sights abound under a dark
dard with many commercial telescopes) seasonal favorites sky. Regardless the size of your scope,
can do the job for many targets, a wide- Equipped with the knowledge of why there are many incredible views just
angle piece makes it far easier to find small telescopes can be wonderful tools waiting for you to discover. So don’t
objects while star-hopping to your targets. for deep-sky observing, as well as how to delay: Grab your small scope, a few basic
An 82° AFOV eyepiece gives a 64 percent get the most out of them, the only thing accoutrements, and start hunting!
wider view than a Plössl eyepiece of the left to do is to begin exploring. And for-
same focal length. Buy or borrow one tunately, there are countless terrific tar- Kevin Ritschel previously worked at
and experiment, and you’ll be sold on gets for you to track down — no matter major telescope companies and has loved
the benefits of wide-field eyepieces. the time of year. watching the night sky since the third grade.
Catch a ring of fire
ECLIPSE
In a few weeks, the Moon will almost entirely
blot out the Sun in a stunning annular eclipse.
So, grab your eclipse glasses and get ready.
BY MICHAEL E. BAKICH

D
rama, in the form of sublime
celestial geometry, is once
again coming to our planet.
On June 10, 2021, the Sun, the
Moon, and Earth will form a
straight line in space. While this scenario
often produces a total eclipse, this time,
the Moon will be too far from us to com-
pletely cover the solar disk. The result?
People along a narrow path that stretches
through Canada, Greenland, and Russia
will experience an annular eclipse.
This event derives its name from the
Latin annulus, meaning “ring.” That’s
because, at mid-eclipse, a ring of the
Sun’s disk is still visible around the
Moon. And that means one important
thing for anyone watching: You must use
approved solar glasses or solar filters for
binoculars or telescopes when observing.
During an annular eclipse, the dark
inner shadow of the Moon (the umbra)
never reaches Earth. Astronomers, how-
ever, call the virtual extension of that
shadow the antumbra. If you’re beneath
the antumbra, you will see annularity.
The Moon also has a lighter, outer shadow
This composite image shows an annular eclipse crossing above the massive Ooty Radio Telescope in
called the penumbra. Anyone under the southern India on Dec. 26, 2019. At 1,780 feet (540 m) in length, Ooty is the largest single-moving-structure
penumbra will witness a partial eclipse. radio telescope in the world. NEELAM & AJAY TALWAR
The nitty-gritty
The Moon’s penumbra first touches This stunning, fiery ring occurs in the Another vantage point is the northern
Earth at 4:12:16 a.m. EDT. The shadow constellation Taurus the Bull, at right coast of Akimiski Island in James Bay,
remains in contact with our planet ascension 5h15m31s and declination Canada. While there, you could visit the
for nearly five hours, finally leaving at 23°02'37". But it won’t be the only sight in Migratory Bird Sanctuary, which occu-
9:11:16 a.m. EDT. The antumbra first the sky: During the eclipse, Venus will lie pies the eastern two-thirds of the island.
touches Earth’s surface at 5:49:43 a.m. 20° east of the Sun, shining at magnitude Tourists would sacrifice 10 to 12 seconds
EDT and its final contact with our planet –3.9. The nearby world may be visible a of annularity compared to Polar Bear
is at 7:33:45 a.m. EDT. This stretch marks few minutes before maximum annular- Provincial Park, but they also might spot
the annular part of the eclipse. The total ity, but spotting it will be a difficult task, ringed seals, polar bears, and beluga
path length is 4,831 miles (7,775 kilome- as it will be low on the horizon. The whales. As the center line crosses the
ters). Greatest eclipse occurs at 6:41:51 Sun’s maximum altitude during the Belcher Islands, the duration of annular-
a.m. EDT at longitude 66°48' West and eclipse will be 23°. If you search for ity increases a few seconds and the Sun’s
latitude 80°49' North, 150 miles (241 km) Venus through binoculars, be sure not mid-eclipse altitude climbs to 9°.
south of Alert, Nunavut, Canada, the to sweep the Sun into your field of view. The antumbra next touches the main-
northernmost permanently inhabited land 30 miles (50 km) east of the village
place on Earth. Canada and Greenland of Inukjuak, with 1,800 inhabitants,
The magnitude of this eclipse is This eclipse begins some 130 miles located at the mouth of Hudson Bay. It
0.9152. This means the Moon’s apparent (210 km) north of Thunder Bay, Ontario continues northward and reaches the
diameter, 29'33.6", will be 91.5 percent (see the map on page 49). Eclipse chasers Hudson Strait near the northernmost
that of the Sun’s, which will be 31'30.4". selecting that region as their observing point of Quebec. At water’s edge, the Sun
At the midpoint of the eclipse, annularity site might head to Polar Bear Provincial stands 15° high at mid-eclipse and annu-
lasts 3 minutes 51 seconds. Park, which lies on Hudson Bay. From larity lasts 3 minutes 38 seconds. The
there, you’ll enjoy an unobstructed view shadow then crosses more than 800 miles
(over water) to the north-northeast with (1,300 km) of Nunavut province. At the
LEFT: Annular eclipses may not be as stunning as the Sun 6° above the horizon. The dura- coastline of Baffin Bay, annularity begins
total solar eclipses, but with the right preparation
and cooperative weather, they are quite unlikely to tion of annularity along the center line around 6:19 a.m. EDT. It lasts 3 minutes
disappoint. AMANJOT SINGH AND SANCHITA ABROL will be 3 minutes 33 seconds. 43 seconds, with the Sun nearly 21° high
ANNULAR SOLAR ECLIPSE
View from above
Sun Earth
Antumbra
Moon
Penumbra
Umbra
Penumbra
On June 10, the Moon will be directly aligned, or in syzygy,

Not to scale
with the Sun and Earth. But because the Moon will be
slightly farther from Earth than usual, it won’t appear wide
enough in the sky to entirely block the Sun’s disk, leading
to an annular eclipse. ASTRONOMY: ROEN KELLY
Taken using a mylar solar filter, the images in this

Average cloud composite show how a solar eclipse on June 21,
coverage (%) 2020, evolved between 6 A .M. and 11:30 A .M. above
100 Pasabandar, Iran. HAMED GHADERI
90
80 elsewhere along the path. One other des-

tination could be Qaanaaq, where annu-
70
larity lasts 3 minutes 33 seconds and
60 where the mean cloud cover in June is
50 just 39 percent. This is a popular tourist
40
destination for cruise ships and Air
Greenland flies into Qaanaaq Airport.
30
The duration of annularity for this
20 eclipse reaches its maximum in Nares
10 Strait, midway between Greenland and
Ellesmere Island, Canada. The antumbra
0
One of the most unpredictable factors in witnessing a beautiful eclipse, whether total, annular, or even
then reenters Canada, where the center
lunar, is clouds. This map, based on analyzing historical data, shows the forecast for clouds near the line will track for another 220 miles
eclipse path in June 2021. JAY ANDERSON (350 km). For hardy eclipse watchers
who want to observe annularity from
Canada’s northernmost point, head to
in the east and a perfect watery horizon main fragment is the third-largest iron Cape Columbia for a duration of 3 min-
below it. Unfortunately, weather pros- meteorite, weighing nearly 31 tons. This utes 42 seconds. From that location, the
pects here are not good. In Canada’s piece, named the Ahnighito fragment, Sun will stand 23° above the eastern
boreal forest in June, cloud cover gener- has been on display in the American horizon at mid-eclipse. Then, after con-
ally ranges from 50 to 60 percent at the Museum of Natural History in New York tinuing some 220 miles (350 km) north
beginning of the eclipse track to about City since 1904. through the Arctic Ocean, the antumbra
85 percent farther north. The Moon’s antumbra then treks leaves Earth’s surface — but only for a
The center line next touches land across the entire northwestern side of few minutes.
20 miles (32 km) west of Savissivik, Greenland, but it only encounters a half-
Greenland. This tiny community of dozen small villages. The closest to the Russia
fewer than 100 people is located on the center line is Qeqertat, which, at around Because of the geometry of this eclipse —
southwestern end of Meteorite Island 6:33 a.m. EDT, will experience 3 minutes mainly the extremely curved path of the
— a destination that could prove inter- 43 seconds of annularity with the Sun antumbra — after briefly leaving Earth,
esting to astronomy buffs. This is where 23° high in the east. This region boasts the shadow will once again touch our
the famous Cape York meteorite fell to the best weather prospects. The cold air planet 1,370 miles (2,200 km) north of
Earth more than 10,000 years ago. Its there contains much less moisture than the New Siberian Islands in the Laptev

These maps shows the path of the annular eclipse on June 10, 2021, which sees the Moon’s shadow trek through both Canada and Greenland, briefly hop off
Earth’s surface, and then return again to visit Russia. MICHAEL ZEILER
The June 21, 2020, annular eclipse is seen here from the Pacific Ocean side of Bailey’s beads, caused by light filtering through the Moon’s rugged topography,
the Chenggong Fishing Port in Taiwan. LUKE (WEI CHUNG) LU are evident during the annular eclipse on Dec. 26, 2019. NEELAM & AJAY TALWAR
Sea. From the northern point of Novaya the eclipse finally ends its contact with observe June’s annular eclipse, the best
Sibir, annularity lasts 3 minutes 36 sec- Earth at a point some 155 miles (250 km) strategy is to arrive a few days early, con-
onds, but the Sun’s altitude has dropped north of the Sea of Okhotsk. tinually check the local weather report,
to 12° at this location. Unfortunately, weather prospects and stay mobile. If the clouds part, you’ll
The center line encounters the main- throughout Russia are poor, especially certainly be one of the few people on
land of Russia 93 miles (150 km) north of when you consider the Sun’s low altitude Earth to glimpse this stunning ring of
Russkoye Ustye, a village of fewer than in the sky. Average cloud cover in June fire in person. Good luck!
200 people. They will experience 3 min- ranges from 65 percent to nearly 90 per-
utes 34 seconds of annularity with the cent. The most favorable locations lie Michael Bakich is a contributing editor of
Sun 8° high in the northwest. Then, after near the end of the eclipse path. Astronomy who has seen roughly 30 solar
tracking another 870 miles (1,400 km), Wherever you choose to travel to eclipses, including 14 total eclipses.
The sky’s best
planetary nebulae
These dying stars’ final acts put on a great show
through amateur scopes. BY MICHAEL E. BAKICH
A STAR LIKE THE SUN SPENDS how bright it appears. For objects that are
roughly 10 billion years fusing the hydro- not point sources — like planetary nebulae
gen in its core into helium, releasing — the integrated magnitude compares all
energy in the process. But eventually, it the light from the object to the light of a
exhausts its fuel supply. And when fusion single star. For NGC 40, then, an inte-
stops providing outward pressure, the grated magnitude of 11.5 means its total
pull of gravity shrinks the star’s core. This light output equals that of a magnitude
heats it, and the extra energy forces the 11.5 star.
star’s outer layers to expand. Eventually, A 4-inch scope shows NGC 40’s oval-
the star puffs away its atmosphere in pul- shaped disk. Through a 10-inch, the disk
sations, creating a glowing shell of gas that shows several bright knots toward the
astronomers call a planetary nebula. southeast and northwest. Increase the
The Milky Way contains more than magnification to 200x (if the seeing per-
3,400 of these objects. They survive for mits) and look for a dark cavity between
only tens of thousands of years — the the shell and the central star.
blink of an eye on cosmic scales. After Up next is NGC 246 in Cetus. The
that, the shell is too distant for the former easiest way to find it is to first locate two
core to sufficiently heat and excite its gas. stars: magnitude 4.8 Phi1 (φ1) Ceti and
While they exist, however, planetary magnitude 5.2 Phi2 (φ2) Ceti, which form
nebulae make fascinating targets for an equilateral triangle with NGC 246. The
amateur astronomers. Here are some of planetary itself glows at magnitude 10.9
my favorites, which I’ve listed in order of and spans 3.8'.
right ascension. Use a 6-inch scope at a dark site, and
Let’s start our tour with the Bow Tie you’ll see several stars across NGC 246’s
Nebula (NGC 40) in Cepheus. This plan- face, including an obvious central one. A
etary never fails to delight when I show it 12-inch scope reveals a hollow center and a
to others. NGC 40 glows at magnitude 11.5 bright, thin rim to the northeast. As with
and measures 37" in diameter. It lies 5.5° most of these objects, an Oxygen-III (OIII)
south-southeast of the star that marks the filter will coax out more detail.
head of Cepheus the King, Gamma (γ) Our first Messier object is the Little
Cephei. And even though it’s faint, the Dumbbell Nebula (M76) in Perseus.
Bow Tie Nebula looks good through small This magnitude 10.1 planetary sits in
scopes due to its high surface brightness. the far western end of the constellation,
An object’s magnitude tells observers near its border with Cassiopeia and

The Medusa Nebula
evokes the hideous
snakes of its
mythological namesake
with filaments of gas lit
by the same object from
whence they came — a
dying star puffing away
its outer layers. ESO
The Crystal Ball Nebula (NGC 1514) is thought
to be the product of a pair of stars orbiting
each other so closely they shared their outer
layers, which they puffed into space. KFIR SIMON
east-southeast of Atik (Zeta [ζ] Persei).

Through an 8-inch telescope at 200x, use
The Robin’s Egg Nebula (NGC 1360) is seen here close to the barred spiral galaxy NGC 1398. DAN CROWSON a nebula filter to see a magnitude 10.9
round haze that measures 1.9' across —
big for a planetary. This object is
Andromeda. You’ll find it 1° north of the west. The Oyster’s magnitude 14 central definitely brighter along its rim. The
4th-magnitude star Phi Persei. star is easier to see than that number magnitude 9.4 central star can be a bit
As you’ll notice, M76 appears fairly implies. The stellar pearl peeks through distracting, but an OIII filter should dim
bright because it isn’t that large, so its a slightly darker core that suggests the it to manageable levels. If you still have
light is relatively concentrated. Its elon- presence of a thick ring structure. It may trouble spotting the star, try increasing
gated disk measures about 1' across. An even appear patchy, with several small the magnification to 150x or beyond.
8-inch telescope reveals the two lobes dark areas visible. Now head south into Eridanus for
that give the nebula its name. If you use Our next target, the Crystal Ball Cleopatra’s Eye (NGC 1535). It glows
a larger scope, you might even just be Nebula (NGC 1514) in Taurus, lies 3.4° at magnitude 9.6 with a diameter of 18".
able to detect a large halo.
Most planetary nebulae are round —
or close to it — but the Robin’s Egg
Nebula (NGC 1360) in Fornax stretches
that rule. It appears twice as long (6.5') as
it is wide, with the long axis running
north to south. The object’s magnitude
is 9.4, and the northern half glows more
brightly than the southern portion. To
find NGC 1360, look 5.6° northeast of
magnitude 4.0 Alpha (α) Fornacis.
Each lobe of this planetary has a dark
lane crossing it. You’ll need at least a
12-inch scope to see them, but the dark
region in the southern half is the easiest
to spot. It stretches from the nebula’s
southern edge to the 11th-magnitude
central star.
Look for our next treat, the Oyster
Nebula (NGC 1501), 6.9° west of Beta
(β) Camelopardalis. It glows at magni-
tude 11.5 and measures 52" across.
A 10-inch telescope shows a circular The pearl of a star that lies at the heart of the Oyster Nebula (NGC 1501) is a variable star — a rarity for
a planetary nebula. It pulsates and changes brightness on a period of roughly half an hour. ESA/HUBBLE &
disk, but larger scopes and high powers NASA; ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: MARC CANALE
will reveal an oval shape oriented east to

The Lion Nebula (NGC 2392), as seen in this Hubble Space Telescope NGC 2438 appears situated within the open cluster M46 on the sky. However,
image, sports a magnificent mane made of gas filaments a light-year long it is likely not a member of the cluster, as it has a significantly different radial
— an unusual feature for a planetary nebula. NASA/ANDREW FRUCHTER (STSCI) velocity. MADHUP RATHI
You’ll find it 4° east-northeast of Zaurak sky conditions are ideal. Expect to see a 2° south of Mu (μ) Hydrae for one of my
(Gamma Eridani). faint arc with lots of dark gaps. Areas on all-time favorite deep-sky objects: the
Through a 6-inch scope, NGC 1535 the northern and southern ends glow Ghost of Jupiter (NGC 3242). Despite
has a sharply defined disk surrounded by brightest. its name, its color actually makes it look
a faint envelope. A 10-inch scope will let Stay in Gemini for the Lion Nebula more like Uranus or Neptune.
you see some of the Eye’s color. Crank (NGC 2392), which you’ll find 2.4° east- At low magnification through a 6-inch
the magnification past 300x, and you’ll southeast of magnitude 3.5 Delta (δ) scope, you’ll see the Ghost’s magnitude 7.8
observe a dark hollow around the central Geminorum. It glows at magnitude 9.2 pale, blue-green disk, which spans 16".
star. You should be able to detect the and measures 15" across, with a double- Through larger scopes and at powers in
boundary between the inner disk and the shelled appearance. The inner shell excess of 200x, the interior appears oval,
fainter outer shell. appears bright with a mottled texture, like an eye or a gridiron football. The
For our next object, head north and and a dark ring separates it from the inner 10" looks hollow, except for the
a bit east. It’s the Double Bubble outer shell. When you look at it, does it dim central star. A tough-to-see shell 40"
Nebula, also known as NGC 2371 and remind you of a feline face surrounded across surrounds the eye. To spot it, you’ll
NGC 2372, a double-lobed planetary that by a majestic mane? need a 12-inch or larger scope, a power of
glows at magnitude 11.3. It lies 1.7° north With a 10-inch or larger scope, details about 100x, and an OIII filter.
of Iota (ι) Geminorum. Use at least an will emerge. Crank up the power until the One of the best springtime planetaries
8-inch scope, or its details may elude you. seeing breaks down. You’ll easily spot the is the Owl Nebula (M97) in Ursa Major,
When hunting the Double Bubble, use planetary’s 10th-magnitude central star. which lies 2.3° southeast of Merak (Beta
low power. This object isn’t small. It mea- Our next target, NGC 2438, is an Ursae Majoris). This magnitude 9.9
sures 54" by 35". An OIII filter will help. easy catch. It lies in Puppis, within the object has a diameter of 3.2', so its sur-
If the seeing is good, use a power of 200x boundaries of the bright open cluster face brightness is low. It looks like an
or more and try to spot a brightness dif- M46. The planetary itself has a magni- owl’s face because of the two dark areas
ference between the two lobes. tude of 11 and a diameter of 1.1'. It sits 7' in its disk. Each “eye” is slightly less than
Another worthy target in Gemini is north of the cluster’s center. Use a 1' across and the northwestern one
the Medusa Nebula (Abell 21). It glows 10-inch telescope and high magnifica- appears a bit darker.
at magnitude 10.3, but it spreads out its tion, and you may detect the planetary’s The best views come through an OIII
light in a circle measuring 10.3' across. doughnutlike appearance. Several stars filter and a magnification around 100x.
Look for it 5° north of Gomeisa (Beta lie within the doughnut’s boundary, but If you view through a 10-inch or larger
Canis Minoris). none are the object’s central star, which scope, you’ll see the eyes are not equal in
This target can be tough to spot is a faint magnitude 17.7. size. If your sky is dark, you may also see
through an 8-inch telescope unless your Now head due east to a point not quite the disk’s outer 10 percent as a faint ring.
of the halo as a galaxy. It even carries
its own designation — IC 4677.
Now head south to Ophiuchus to enjoy
the Emerald Nebula (NGC 6572), a rel-
atively bright (magnitude 8.1) object that
any scope will reveal. It sits 2.2° south-
southeast of 71 Ophiuchi. Although it’s
small, only 18" across, it has a high sur-
face brightness. Plus, it’s colorful.
Through an 8-inch telescope, you’ll
see the Emerald’s oval shape. A small but
bright central region also appears. To
pull out the color, I suggest keeping the
magnification low, but I’ve had good
results from 100x to 400x through a
12-inch scope.
Our next object, the Ring Nebula
(M57) in Lyra, is a great target for small
telescopes. It glows at magnitude 8.8 and
spans 1.2'. Through a 4-inch scope, you’ll
see the Ring as a pale gray ball. Cranking
the power beyond 100x, you’ll see that
the outer edge of the ball looks denser
than the center. This gives M57 a distinc-
tive smoke ring appearance.
To find it, locate Beta and Gamma
Lyrae, the two stars at the end of the par-
allelogram farthest from Vega. The Ring
lies roughly midway between them.
Now move to Aquila and point your
The Butterfly Nebula (NGC 6302) is lit across its 3-light-year wingspan by an extremely hot central telescope 3.8° north-northwest of Delta
star with a surface temperature of 450,000 degrees Fahrenheit (250,000 degrees Celsius). However, it Aqilae to observe NGC 6781. It glows
was shrouded by so much dust that it was not detected until Hubble was upgraded in 2009. NASA, ESA, AND
THE HUBBLE SM4 ERO TEAM softly at magnitude 11.4 and measures
1.8' across.
Through a 6-inch scope at 100x, NGC
Next up is the Turtle Nebula (NGC east to west. This bipolar nature is appar- 6781 stands out well against a rich, star-
6210) in Hercules. It glows at magnitude ent at magnifications above 150x. Look filled background. The disk appears soft,
8.8 and spans 14". You’ll find it 4° north- for an extension with a tapered end on
east of Kornephoros (Beta Herculis). the western side. Then, try to spot the
Even through a small telescope, you can faint “arm” on the east.
easily identify this planetary’s light blue, Our next object is a wonderful plan-
turtle-shaped disk. And while you’ll see etary nebula you’ll find just a bit more
it right away, it’s so bright that you may than 5° east-northeast of Zeta Draconis.
miss the magnitude 12.5 central star. Through telescopes as small as 4 inches
Through the largest amateur instruments in aperture, the Cat’s Eye Nebula
at high magnification, you’ll notice (NGC 6543) can look blue, blue-green,
NGC 6210 is ever-so-slightly oval in greenish-blue, or green, depending on
an east-west orientation. your eyes’ color sensitivity. The color
Next, head south to Scorpius for the is apparent because the Cat’s Eye is
Butterfly Nebula (NGC 6302). You’ll relatively bright (magnitude 8.1) and
find this magnitude 9.6 object 3.9° west spans 18".
of Shaula (Lambda [λ] Scorpii). It’s Use a magnification of 200x in an
named for its insectlike shape and is 8-inch telescope, and you’ll see some
In 1998, when the Hubble Space Telescope
one of the brightest and most massive hazy spiral structure around the nebula’s team began using discretionary time to take
planetary nebulae known. bright central star. A faint shell 5' across stunning images mainly intended for public
Through a 6-inch scope, the Butterfly surrounds NGC 6543. This halo contains consumption, they chose the Ring Nebula
(M57) as their first target, producing this
appears like a galaxy four times as long more mass than the core, and past image. THE HUBBLE HERITAGE TEAM (AURA/STSCI/NASA)
as it is wide (50" by 13"), stretched out observers misidentified a bright part

The Blue Snowball (NGC 7662) has a complex,
layered structure. The photographer used OIII
and Hydrogen-alpha filters in addition to RGB
data to construct this image with a total
exposure of 33.4 hours. DOUGLAS J. STRUBLE
scope to pick them out. What color do

you see in the Saturn Nebula? Whether
you see it as mostly blue or mostly green
depends only on your color perception.
The second treat the Water-bearer
The Helix Nebula (NGC 7293) glows spectacularly in this image from the La Silla Observatory. At only offers is the Helix Nebula (NGC 7293).
700 light-years away, it is a quarter the size of the Full Moon on the sky. The small blobs — called
cometary knots — along the inside of the ring are each the size of our solar system. ESO You’ll find this great object 1.2° west of
Upsilon (υ) Aquarii. The Helix is one of
the brightest hard-to-see objects in the
irregular, and oval-shaped with a slightly Look a bit to the side (averted vision), sky. Although its total light output nearly
darker center. If the seeing at your and the nebula pops back into sight, reaches 7th magnitude, its diameter is 13',
observing site is good, look for small, swamping the star’s light. so its surface brightness is disappointingly
dark blotches over NGC 6781’s face. For our next treat, move slightly south low. For best results, use binoculars that
Our next treat, the Little Gem (NGC into the constellation Vulpecula. There, provide 7x to 15x magnification and have
6818), sits in a region with no bright stars you’ll find the Dumbbell Nebula front lenses larger than 50 millimeters.
near Sagittarius’ northern border with (M27), one of the finest planetaries of all. Through 12-inch and larger scopes
Aquila. Look for this planetary 9° due It glows relatively brightly at magnitude with an OIII filter, you’ll see bright and
west of Beta Capricorni. NGC 6818 glows 7.3 and spans a whopping 5.8'. The easi- dark regions in the ring. The northern
at magnitude 9.3 and measures 48" est way to find it is to head 3° north from and southern edges seem slightly brighter.
across from north to south and a bit less Gamma Sagittae, the star at the tip of the Our final target — one of my favorites
from east to west. The greenish-blue Archer’s arrow. Small scopes show two — is the Blue Snowball (NGC 7662) in
color most observers see appears best at bright regions and several stars superim- Andromeda. It glows at magnitude 8.3
around 100x. However, at magnifications posed on M27’s face. Crank up the and spans 12". Through an 8-inch scope,
higher than this, you should spot the power, and the Dumbbell’s high surface the Snowball is a small, evenly illumi-
Gem’s ever-so-slightly darker inner half. brightness will reward you. nated disk. Crank up the power and you’ll
Now head north to Cygnus for a fun Our next two targets lie in Aquarius. see the nebula’s rich inner structure. Look
object to show others at star parties. First is the Saturn Nebula (NGC 7009), for a bright ring around NGC 7662’s hol-
Through 8-inch and smaller scopes, the which glows at magnitude 8.3. You’ll find low center. Then try to spot the fainter
Blinking Planetary Nebula (NGC it slightly more than 1° west of Nu (ν) shell that surrounds that ring. The ring is
6826) appears to flash when viewed with Aquarii. brightest to the northeast and southwest.
direct, and then averted, vision. It glows Through an 8-inch or larger telescope, As you’ll quickly see by going through
at magnitude 8.8 and spans 25". Look for view NGC 7009 with magnifications this list, planetary nebulae each have
it 0.5° east of 6th-magnitude 16 Cygni. above 200x. Its oval disk measures 25" unique features. Pick your favorites and
From a dark site, I’ve used a 6-inch through its long axis. The ringlike exten- share them with your friends at the next
telescope at about 100x to make this sions that give the nebula its name pro- star party. Good luck!
object blink. Looking at it directly, you’ll trude on each side another 15". At
easily spot the 11th-magnitude central the ends of those protrusions are fainter Michael E. Bakich is a contributing editor
star, but the nebula fades from view. bulbs, but you’ll need at least a 12-inch of Astronomy.
OBSERVING BASICS
Non-urban
observin’
City slickers, rejoice: You have options.
An observer at the
2015 Texas Star Party Last month, I defined an observatory as noth-
aims his telescope at a
target within the Milky ing more than the place — temporary or per-
Way, which is clearly manent — where you set up your telescope for
visible in this single- an evening of stargazing. Such a site can be as sophisti-
exposure image taken
at a dark-sky site. cated as a state-of-the-art domed structure or as basic
ALAN DYER as an open spot on a grassy surface. Ideally, it should be
situated on your property to eliminate the bother of
lugging your scope and gear to a comfortable, remote,
and safe setting. But what are your options if you live in
an area where backyard astronomy isn’t practical, say in
a severely light-polluted urban environment?
Short of moving or acquiring an off-
property observing site, a good tactic is to a facility may require club membership, but
contact your local astronomy club for info It doesn’t matter the typical annual fees range from about $25
on accessible locations nearby. There’s at
if they’re scrubby to $50 — which is obviously still a lot
least one astronomy club in virtually every cheaper than having to purchase land.
major metropolis; to find one near you, go
pines, stately Rural stargazers like myself don’t have
to our website, Astronomy.com, hover over elms, or concrete to struggle with extremely restricted space
the “Community” tab, and click “Groups.” skyscrapers, and excessive ambient light like our city-
A filtering option allows you to narrow your tall objects dwelling counterparts do, but we do deal
choices by category or country/state. (Note can obscure with plenty of trees. And it doesn’t matter
to astronomy club officers: If your club anyone’s window if they’re scrubby pines, stately elms, or
BY GLENN CHAPLE doesn’t appear on our list, take a few minutes to the night sky. concrete skyscrapers, tall objects can
Glenn has been an
and use the “Add Your Group” button to obscure anyone’s window to the night sky.
avid observer since
a friend showed make sure it’s on the site. Otherwise, you That’s why you need to always plan around
him Saturn through could be losing potential members!) Many metropolitan them — whether you’re in the country or in the asphalt
a small backyard astronomy clubs have access to observing sites located jungle.
scope in 1963. in the countryside surrounding their cities. Use of such For example, the historic Jupiter/Saturn conjunction

The Milky Way
this past December was bright enough to be seen from “observatory-away-from-home” kit, including astro stretches across the
sky in southern New
midcity locations, yet I couldn’t even glimpse it from equipment, toiletries, and perhaps even your laptop. Mexico during a
my backyard in rural north-central Massachusetts. Fortunately, total eclipses attract universal attention, monthly stargazing
session co-hosted by
During the duo’s brief period of visibility after sunset, and you can sign up for organized eclipse expeditions City of Rocks State
the planets were hiding behind tall pine trees to the that secure your ideal observing site and make your Park and the Silver
southwest. Fortunately, several days prior to the event, travel plans for you. City Astronomy Club
on Nov. 22, 2014. The
I drove around town until I found an area near a high So, remember: Just because the city lights aren’t con- faint glow of zodiacal
school athletic field that afforded a wide-open view of ducive to cosmic sights doesn’t mean you have to miss light — caused by
the event. And this brings me to my next point: out on the fun. With a little effort and planning, even sunlight reflecting off
dust in the inner solar
Whatever your open-sky location of choice, be sure to urban observers can enjoy the night sky. system — is visible
get permission from the landowner if it’s private prop- Questions, comments, or suggestions? Email me at above the western
erty or the local authorities if it’s a public space. gchaple@hotmail.com. Next month: Hunting the Fox! horizon to the left.
ALAN DYER
But what about catching an astronomical event only Clear skies!
visible from a specific area, like a total solar eclipse?
Unless you’re lucky enough to live near the region of BROWSE THE “OBSERVING BASICS” ARCHIVE
best visibility, you’ll have no choice but to pack an AT www.Astronomy.com/Chaple
It is usually best to search for individual craters when
BINOCULAR UNIVERSE they lie near the terminator, since the shadowing makes
them easier to identify. Can you spot the north-to-south
trio of Ptolemaeus, Alphonsus, and Arzachel along the
A June honeymoon
First Quarter terminator? Ptolemaeus is the largest of
the three, spanning 95 miles (153 km). Alphonsus is
73 miles (119 km) across, while Arzachel measures
60 miles (96 km).
Short nights are perfect for studying our celestial neighbor. The Moon’s southern hemisphere is cluttered with so
many craters that it is hard to distinguish individuals
Dark skies are in through binoculars. Two, however, stand out. Sunrise on
short supply dur- day eight of the lunar cycle sheds light on Clavius, the
SINUS ing June, as we second-largest crater on the Moon’s nearside. This mon-
IRIDUM
usher in summer and strous impact feature appears oval-shaped from Earth,
MARE
MARE
the shortest nights of but that’s only because of the lunar globe’s curvature. It’s
IMBRIUM
SERENITATIS the year. So rather actually circular, 144 miles (231 km) in diameter.
Aristarchus MARE than focus on what This same night, a spark is struck to the lower right of
CRISIUM
we don’t have, let’s Clavius as the crater Tycho enjoys sunrise. As the phases
Kepler MARE
look at what we do. progress toward Full Moon, watch Tycho’s brilliant sys-
PROCEL
Copernicus TRANQUILLITATIS
OCEAN RUM
Our Moon is tem of rays turn that spark into a conflagration of bright
MARE visible long before beams of ejecta spraying northward across the Moon.
LA
US
FECUNDITATIS
Ptolemaeus the Sun sets, after As the waxing gibbous phases advance, sunlight
Alphonsus it rises, and even in uncovers the rest of Mare Imbrium, including a dent
MARE Arzachel
NUBIUM
broad daylig ht, along its northern edge known as Sinus Iridum or the
MARE
HUMORUM depending on the Bay of Rainbows. Sinus Iridum is the remains of a large
phase. It is decorated crater whose south wall was subsequently breached by
with a number of impact lava from Mare Imbrium. The bay’s “mouth” spans
Tycho craters and lunar maria — 155 miles (249 km). As the days march onward, the
large, dark plains formed by terminator reveals Mare Humorum, Mare Nubium,
ancient volcanic activity. Early and finally the largest mare of all, Oceanus
Explore the Moon’s astronomers once mistook these locations Procellarum, which has three brilliant craters. At
seas and craters this for seas (hence the Latin name maria). nearly twice the size of Alaska, the Ocean of Storms is
month. NASA/GODDARD
SPACE FLIGHT CENTER/ARIZONA Let’s begin with New Moon, which occurs June 10. the only lunar maria to earn the title “ocean.”
STATE UNIVERSITY While you won’t see the Moon that night, you can see The first of Oceanus Procellarum’s craters to see
it the night after, as the young waxing crescent lies just sunlight is Copernicus, famous for its dazzling rays that
above the horizon, bathed in the deepening twilight burst into view against the darker surroundings. By
glow. It’s a beautiful sight through binoculars Full Moon, the rays are visible without any
— especially one night later, when Venus optical aid at all. To its west (our east) sits the
appears to its south. Our satellite crater Kepler. While Copernicus measures
Three nights after New Moon, Mare is a beautiful 58 miles (93 km) across, Kepler is just
Crisium comes into full view. This large, oval one-third as large. Yet Kepler is one of the
plane measures 270 by 350 miles (435 by 560
sight most prominent craters on the Moon, thanks
kilometers), with the long dimension running through to its bright ray pattern. It may remind you
east-west. However, its long axis appears to binoculars. of a miniature Copernicus. The third bright
extend north-south, an illusion caused by the crater adorning Oceanus Procellarum is
Moon’s curvature. Aristarchus. Like Copernicus and Kepler,
Five nights after New Moon, dawn has crossed Mare Aristarchus is highlighted by a magnificent system of
Fecunditatis and Mare Tranquillitatis. It was along the rays extending from its rim into the mare.
southwestern edge (southeast in our sky) of the latter And that brings us to Full Moon. As our satellite
that Apollo 11 landed 52 years ago next month. As you continues in its orbit, the waning phases that follow
look its way, hear in your mind the immortal words of turn the terminator into the sunset line. It’s fun to stay
mission commander Neil Armstrong as he took “one up late or rise early to watch each of the features listed
small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.” here say goodnight as the Sun drops below their western
Mare Tranquillitatis flows northward into Mare horizon.
Serenitatis. The last mission to the Moon, Apollo 17, Questions, comments? Contact me through my
BY PHIL
landed near its eastern “shore” in November 1972. website, philharrington.net. Until next month, remem-
HARRINGTON
Phil is a longtime First Quarter begins to cast light on Mare Imbrium. ber that two eyes are better than one.
contributor to The eastern limit of Mare Imbrium is marked by the
Astronomy and the Apennine Mountains, which curve into the termina- BROWSE THE “BINOCULAR UNIVERSE” ARCHIVE AT
author of many books. tor’s darkness. www.Astronomy.com/Harrington

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ASK ASTRO Astronomy’s experts from around the globe answer your cosmic questions.
T H ’S H
I L L SPH
E RE
2020 SO’S BRIEF
AR
E EARTH ORBIT
enough energy to transition between either orbit. For
higher velocities at the same position, two gateways open
where a heliocentric orbit intersects with the Earth’s Hill
Moon
sphere. These specific points are known as the Lagrange
Earth L1 and L2 equilibrium points. At either gateway, a satel-
lite orbiting the Sun could find itself briefly orbiting the
Earth, and vice versa.
The orbital energy of 2020 SO was high enough for the
booster to move from its heliocentric orbit through the
L2 gateway into Earth’s Hill sphere in November 2020,
when it was temporarily captured. Since the energy of
the system is conserved, the other gateway remained
open to the booster and 2020 SO escaped Earth’s Hill
2020 SO
sphere through the L1 point in March 2021.
Javier Roa Vicens
Stolen rocket
In November 2020, Navigation Engineer, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory,
Earth temporarily La Cañada Flintridge, California
recaptured a rocket
booster originally
launched in the 1960s.
After a few months
orbiting our planet,
2020 SO returned to booster QI I’VE SEEN IT SUGGESTED THAT
THE HYPOTHETICAL PLANET
NINE COULD BE A BLACK HOLE FIVE
its orbit around the
Sun. ASTRONOMY: ROEN KELLY
TO 10 TIMES THE MASS OF EARTH.
AS I UNDERSTOOD IT, HOWEVER, THE
QI A ROCKET BOOSTER THAT
LAUNCHED A 1966 NASA LUNAR
PROBE WAS CAPTURED BY EARTH’S
MINIMUM WEIGHT OF A BLACK HOLE IS
3 SOLAR MASSES, SO HOW COULD THE
PLANET BE A BLACK HOLE?
GRAVITY IN NOVEMBER 2019. IT THEN
ESCAPED OUR GRAVITY IN MARCH 2021. William Jennings
Eugene, Oregon
WHAT GAVE IT ENOUGH ENERGY TO
ESCAPE?
R.C. Timm
Florissant, Colorado
AI The motion of the booster, named 2020 SO, is

primarily driven by the gravity of the Sun and
Earth. Prior to 2019, the booster was orbiting the Sun
with an orbit similar to Earth’s, but moving at a slower
velocity relative to our planet. So, when Earth “caught
up” to 2020 SO, our planet’s gravity pulled the object
inside Earth’s Hill sphere — the region around a celes-
SEND US YOUR tial object where its gravitational attraction dominates
QUESTIONS all other sources of gravity. Thus, Earth temporarily
Send your astronomy captured the booster from the Sun.
questions via email to The overall orbital energy in the Sun-Earth-object
askastro@astronomy. system remains constant over time, meaning that there
com, or write to Ask was no extra energy imparted to the booster at any time
Astro, P.O. Box 1612, before capture, during the temporary Earth-orbiting
Waukesha, WI 53187. phase, or after escape back into solar orbit. But the
Be sure to tell us your
full name and where
energy level of the Sun-Earth-object system does deter-
you live. Unfortunately, mine the regions where a satellite moves. At a given
we cannot answer all position and at a low velocity, an object is bound to The universe’s earliest black holes may speckle the cosmos. It’s
questions submitted. either a geocentric or heliocentric orbit. It does not have even possible one is hiding within our solar system. ESO

VIEW OF ANDROMEDA FROM MILKY WAY
AI Typically, black holes fall into one of three cat-

egories: stellar-mass, intermediate-mass, or
supermassive. The lower limit for a stellar-mass black 0°
hole is still unclear. When a large star goes supernova, TOP VIEW (0°)
it leaves behind a remnant — either an extremely dense 77°
object, known as a neutron star, or a black hole. While Viewpoint
astronomers still aren’t sure exactly where the bound-
ary between neutron stars and black holes lies, they
suspect it is somewhere between 1.7 and 2.7 times the Front 90°
mass of the Sun. And the lightest black hole scientists
have found is XTE J1650-500, which weighs in at just
3.8 solar masses. VIEW OF MILKY WAY FROM ANDROMEDA
But there’s another type of black hole that may exist,
though we haven’t seen it yet: primordial black holes.
In the grand scheme of things, space is homogenous,
meaning it is the same at every point. But early in the
universe, just one second after the Big Bang, that likely
wasn’t the case. At that time, some parts of the universe Front
were denser and hotter than others, making it possible
that some of those regions collapsed into primordial
black holes. Even though one second may not seem like
a lot of time, depending on when exactly during that 0°
second a primordial black hole formed, its mass could TOP VIEW (0°)
be as low as 10-7 ounce (10-5 gram) or as high as 100,000 Viewpoint 68°
solar masses. (The merging of primordial black holes
is considered a possible explanation for how supermas-
sive black holes grew so large.)
Whether or not Planet Nine exists at all is still up for Front 90°
debate, but if it does, it will in all likelihood be a planet
instead of a black hole. Still, although the odds are As it turns out, any
small, there is a chance that a primordial black hole is To determine the inclination angle of the Milky Way inhabitants within the
Andromeda Galaxy
hiding in our own backyard. And if it is, just imagine from the perspective of Andromeda, we need to know likely get a view of
the new doors it would open for physics! where Andromeda is located relative to the Milky Way. the Milky Way similar
Caitlyn Buongiorno On a clear, dark night, the disk of the Milky Way in to the one we have
of their galaxy.
Associate Editor which we live is visible as a band of stars cutting across ASTRONOMY: ROEN KELLY
the sky. Turning away from the galactic center to its
QI FROM OUR PERSPECTIVE IN

THE MILKY WAY, WE SEE THE
ANDROMEDA GALAXY ALMOST — BUT
opposite, the anticenter — located in the constellation
Auriga — you would find the Andromeda Galaxy just
a bit to the west and about 2.5 million light-years away.
This means that for any hypothetical inhabitants of
NOT QUITE — EDGE ON. AT WHAT ANGLE Andromeda, their line of sight to us is close to the plane
DO THE INHABITANTS OF ANDROMEDA of the Milky Way’s disk.
SEE OUR GALAXY? If those inhabitants also live in Andromeda’s stellar
Ralph Johnson
West Long Branch, New Jersey disk and near the center of the galaxy, the Andromedans
would see the Milky Way at an inclination angle of
AI The inclination angle of a galaxy is defined as

the orientation of its stellar disk relative to the
line of sight of an observer. A galaxy with an inclination
about 68°, similar to our view of their galaxy. This
means that they would see the Milky Way close to edge-
on — although not as edge-on as we in the Milky Way
angle of 90° is viewed edge-on, whereas a galaxy with an see Andromeda.
inclination angle of 0° is viewed face-on. Andromeda Ivanna Escala
has an inclination angle of about 77° — meaning, as you Carnegie-Princeton Fellow, Carnegie Observatories,
said, we see it nearly edge-on. Pasadena, California
READER GALLERY
Cosmic portraits

1. GOLDEN STATE
The California Nebula
(NGC 1499) is dominated by
red light emitted by excited
hydrogen atoms. This image,
combining over 31 hours of
exposure, uses the Hubble
palette: The strong emission
in Hα, mapped to the green
channel, produces a yellowish
glow. • Douglas J. Struble
2. TWICE AS NICE
NGC 2992 (right) and
NGC 2993 (left) are a pair
of interacting spiral galaxies
in the constellation Hydra.
NGC 2992 is a Seyfert galaxy
— an active galaxy with a
tremendously bright core
powered by a supermassive
black hole. • Warren Keller/
Mike Selby
3. AMBLIN’ ACROSS
The International Space
Station transits the Moon in
this composite sequence
taken Jan. 29, 2021. The
photographer used a video
camera and processed the
image with nine frames.
• Knox Worde
4. HUNTER AND HUNTED

Orion looms over this shot
taken in Tafresh, Iran, on
Jan. 4, 2021. In the foreground
lies a stone with a several-
thousand-year-old petroglyph
of the ibex, or wild mountain
goat — a motif found
throughout Iranian rock art.
• Reihane Mohebali
2
SEND YOUR IMAGES TO:

Astronomy Reader Gallery,
P.O. Box 1612, Waukesha,
WI 53187. Please include
the date and location of the
image and complete photo
data: telescope, camera,
filters, and exposures.
Submit images by email to
3 4 readergallery@
astronomy.com.
READER GALLERY
5 6
5. POETIC BEAUTY
In the southern constellation
Carina, the emission nebula
IC 2599 glows next to the
open star cluster NGC 3324.
The region is nicknamed the
Gabriela Mistral Nebula after
the Nobel Prize-winning
Chilean poet. • Russ Jacob/
Shawn Nielsen
6. A RING ON IT
NGC 1291 is an unusual ring
galaxy with a barred inner
structure. It lies 33 million
light-years away in the
constellation Eridanus. This
LRGB image was made with
exposures of 120, 40, 40, and
40 minutes, respectively, on
a 3.5-inch scope at f/6.7.
• Dan Crowson
7. DRAGON DANCE
Vast tendrils of gas and dust
4,000 light-years away
comprise NGC 6188 — also
known as the “Fighting
Dragons of Ara.” In the lower
right lies NGC 6164/6165,
a double-lobed planetary
nebula. This image, taken
from Singapore, represents
38 hours of exposure with a
2.4-inch refractor at f/5.9.
• Ethan Wong

8. COSMIC BEACON
Marshall Point Lighthouse in Port Clyde, Maine, glows
under the band of the Milky Way. This 12-second shot
was taken at f/4 and ISO 10,000. • Paul Shulins
9. SHELL SHOCKED
The Wolf-Rayet star WR 134 is so hot and massive that
it is blowing its outer layers into space, forming an
emission nebula as it plows into surrounding material.
The shock wave is brightest along the upper right
quadrant, which is often the only part of the bubble that
appears in images. But a total of 34 hours of exposure —
including 26.5 hours in OIII and seven and a half hours
in Hα — enabled the photographer to capture the much
fainter full shell. • Alberto Ibañez
10. A SPLASH OF COLOR

The Rho Ophiuchi Complex is a nearby star-forming
region shaded by filaments. Rho (ρ) Ophiuchi itself is
a binary star system shrouded by the bluish reflection
nebula at center. To its right, Antares lies in the yellow
reflection nebula; just above it is the distant globular
cluster M4. This wide-field view was taken with a Canon
6D, a 50mm lens and just over two and a half hours of
exposure. • Fernando Menezes
10
BREAKTHROUGH
TWO SIDES OF A MULTICOLORED COIN

The two nebulae seen here — reddish NGC 2014 and its smaller bluish neighbor, NGC 2020 — may appear distinct, but
they belong to the same star-forming region. Still, their colors tell two different stories. Ultraviolet radiation pouring from
a cluster of hot young stars near the center of NGC 2014 stimulates nearby hydrogen, producing a ruddy hue. NGC 2020,
however, owes its shape and color to a single Wolf-Rayet star at its core. This 15-solar-mass behemoth spews powerful
winds that sculpt the nebula, and intense radiation that excites oxygen atoms to glow blue. The vast complex lies some
160,000 light-years from Earth in the Large Magellanic Cloud, the Milky Way’s biggest satellite galaxy. NASA/ESA/STSCI

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ESA/HUBBLE & NASA, B. NISINI

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APOLLO 11 LUNA 16 LUNA 18

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«0.001 0.001 <0.001 0.005 1.731 0.4

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NASA and the European Space Agency

The agencies are targeting the early

1975 197 6 197 7

THOMAS MARTIN, DANNY MILISAVLJEVIC AND LAURENT DRISSEN

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1.3 “Super Soaker” rocket seeds cloud at edge of space

NASA’S WALLOPS FLIGHT FACILITY/POKER FLAT RESEARCH RANGE/

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IN 2017, NASA CELEBRATED

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A 8% Other 96% 95%

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NASA currently operates nearly SMAP

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ASTRONOMY: ROEN KELLY, AFTER ICECUBE/NASA

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