Astronomy (USA) 2023-09.pdf

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SPECIAL
REPORT
PACIFIC TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE BLOWOUT!
p. 40
SEPTEMBER 2023
NEW RESEARCH
COULD
PRIMITIVE LIFE
p. 14
HOST
LATEST FROM THE WEBB SPACE TELESCOPE
p. 26
MYSTERIES HIDDEN IN MERCURY’S SHADOWS
p. 20
STELLAFANE TURNS 100
p. 36
SKY-WATCHER’S SOLARQUEST MOUNT REVIEWED
p. 46
Online Content Code: ASY2309
Enter this code at
www.astronomy.com/code
to gain access to web-exclusive content.
SEPTEMBER 2023
VOL. 51, NO. 9
ON THE COVER
This global view of Venus comes
from data gathered by NASA’s
Magellan spacecraft and Pioneer
Venus Orbiter.
NASA/JET PROPULSION
LABORATORY-CALTECH
FEATURES
14
COVER STORY
COLUMNS
28
Sky This Month
Saturn continues to stun.
MARTIN RATCLIFFE
AND ALISTER LING
40
Eclipse-chasing
in East Timor
Astronomy’s
expedition to
East Timor and Indonesia
was more than just an
eclipse trip.
MARK ZASTROW
Strange Universe
12
BOB BERMAN
Could the clouds of
Venus support life?
Nothing can survive the
planet’s hellish surface. But
new missions aim to determine
if airborne droplets provide a
place for microbes to thrive.
DAVID L. CHANDLER
Secret Sky
48
STEPHEN JAMES O’MEARA
Observing Basics
50
MOLLY WAKELING
30
Star Dome and
Paths of the Planets
RICHARD TALCOTT;
ILLUSTRATIONS BY ROEN KELLY
Binocular Universe
52
PHIL HARRINGTON
20
The mystery of
Mercury’s hollows
The enigmatic vapors that waft
from Mercury’s lowlands hint
at unexpected geologic activity.
MICHAEL CARROLL
46
Make Sun-watching
a snap
One-button operation
makes this solar-viewing
accessory a joy to use.
MICHAEL E. BAKICH
7
QUANTUM GRAVITY
Everything you need to
know about the universe
this month: find out what
happens when a star eats
a planet, why a runaway
black hole left a trail of
stars behind it, and more.
36
Stellafane celebrates
100 years
After a century of telescope-
making and observing, the
Vermont-based hobbyists
and their clubhouse
are still going strong.
PHIL HARRINGTON
26
Too big, too soon
The James Webb Space
Telescope’s hunt for the
earliest galaxies has turned
up some massive surprises.
RICHARD TALCOTT
54
Ask Astro
In the ring.
IN EVERY ISSUE
From the Editor
5
Astro Letters
6
Advertiser Index
51
New Products
53
Reader Gallery
56
Breakthrough
58
My Science
Shop
Perfect gifts for
your favorite
science geeks.
Go to
www.Astronomy.com
for info on the biggest news and
observing events, stunning photos,
informative videos, and more.
ONLINE
FAVORITES
Trips and
Tours
Travel the world
with the staff of
Astronomy.
Sky This
Week
A daily digest
of celestial
events.
Ask Astro
Archives
Answers to all
your cosmic
questions.
Astronomy
(ISSN 0091-6358, USPS 531-350)
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4
ASTRONOMY
•
SEPTEMBER 2023
FROM THE EDITOR
On being under
the stars
A century ago, a
novel idea came to
the U.S.: Telescope
makers and sky enthusiasts in
Springfield, Vermont, com-
menced a new annual activity
that came to be called the
Stellafane convention.
Springfield is an old manu-
facturing town, a slice of New
England that seems cast from
a postcard long ago, even
before 1923. In 1888, the
Jones & Lamson Machine
Co., under the guidance of
James Hartness, moved to
Springfield. By the early ’20s,
mechanically inclined folks from the company had founded a little
observatory and clubhouse on Breezy Hill outside Springfield. The
pink clubhouse adjacent to the observatory came to be called
Stellafane, meaning “shrine to the stars.” Long ago, the Stellafane
name became synonymous with the annual event, the first so-called
star party in the country.
This year Stellafane celebrates its centennial. If you can come, I
encourage you to attend. You’ll see several hundred people sharing
their homebuilt instruments, often packed with innovations. Past
scopes have even been made from beer cans and watermelons. There
will, of course, be lots of observing the night sky. And, perhaps more
than anything, there will be fellowship of like minds communicat-
ing under the stars.
For decades, the meeting has been organized by the local astron-
omy club, the Springfield Telescope Makers. This year Stellafane
takes place Aug. 17–20. For more info, see the group’s website at
stellafane.org.
After some years of missing Stellafane, I will be back this time
for the centennial. Maybe I’ll see you there.
Yours truly,
Editor
David J. Eicher
Assistant Design Director
Kelly Katlaps
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Symbol of the
Stellafane convention,
Breezy Hill’s pink
clubhouse will this
summer witness the
100th gathering of
the annual astronomy
meeting.
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Editor
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