Remembering 40Years Later
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STARS, MOONS, AND PLANETS: Night sky guide OCTOBER 2017 VOYAGER Anniversary Issue The world’s best-selling astronomy magazine REMEMBERING VOYAGE R YEARS 40 LATER The “Grand Tour” of the solar system opened our eyes like never before Saturn’s stunning rings revealed p. 28 www.Astronomy.com Unveiling Jupiter’s $5.99 storm-wracked globe p. 20 10 Vol. 45 • Issue 10 Unsolved mysteries of the ice giants p. 46 0 71486 01096 8 Voyager’s great cruise illustrated p. 50 “When I went back to viewing, I wanted the best... 24” f/3.85 Slipstream telescope and Tele Vue eyepieces.” —Tony Hallas M24 region imaged by Tony Hallas using a Tele Vue-NP101is refractor. Tony Hallas, Renowned Astrophotographer, Returns to the Eyepiece (from an unsolicited e-mail to David Nagler) Hi David and Al, Although I am still active in imaging, I have decided to go back to viewing and have taken possession of a new 24” f/3.85 Slipstream telescope from Tom Osypowski. You will be happy to know that I have acquired a treasure trove of TeleVue eyepieces to complement this telescope, specifically: 26 and 20mm Nagler Type 5, 17.3, 14, 10, 6, 4.5mm Delos, Paracorr Type 2, and 24mm Panoptics for binocular viewing. After using a Delos, “that was all she wrote;” you have created the perfect eyepiece. The Delos eyepieces are a joy to use and sharp, sharp, sharp! I wanted to thank you for continuing your quest to make the best eyepieces for the amateur community. I am very glad that you don’t compromise ... in this world there are many who appreciate this and appreciate what you and Al have done for our avocation. Hard Tony with his Tele Vue eyepiece collection awaits to imagine what viewing would be like without your creations. a night of great observing at his dark-sky site. Best, Tony Hallas ® Tele Vue 32 Elkay Dr., Chester, New York 10918 (845) 469-4551. televue.com Visionary The new Sky-Watcher EQ6-R takes everything that design it from scratch. made our classic EQ6 so popular and turns it up a notch. All-metal construction and beefier ice. 20-17011 adjustments make this mount the one to beat. EQ6-R Features: • 44-pound payload capacity • Belt drives for accurate, whisper-quiet operation • 42,900+ object database contains complete Messier, NGC and IC catalogs • Permanent Periodic Error Correction Only $1,595 • Internal DSLR trigger for convenient astrophotography ©2017 Sky-Watcher USA. Specifications subject to change without not Sometimes, when you’ve got a decent product to begin with, you don’t need to re • Illuminated built-in polar scope • Heavy-duty latitude adjustments For a complete list of specifications and features, please visit skywatcherusa.com Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram! WWW.ASTRONOMY.COM 3 OCTOBER 2017 VOL. 45, NO. 10 NASA/JPL/USGS ON THE COVER 20 Forty years ago, Voyagers 1 and 2 made their “Grand Tour” of the solar system, changing our view CONTENTS of the universe forever. FEATURES 20 COVER STORY 38 56 COLUMNS Unveiling a giant StarDome and How an interplanetary A storm-wracked world and Path of the Planets mission changed the Strange Universe 10 BOB BERMAN moons with erupting volcanoes RICHARD TALCOTT; world and underground oceans were ILLUSTRATIONS BY ROEN KELLY Voyager 1 and 2 revealed much For Your Consideration 16 just some of the surprises the about the cosmos — and let a JEFF HESTER Voyager spacecrat revealed. 44 giant mark on pop culture. 18 FRANCIS REDDY Observing Basics Ask Astro SHANNON STIRONE GLENN CHAPLE he hidden Earth. 28 58 Secret Sky 66 Close encounters with 46 Talk astronomy with your STEPHEN JAMES O’MEARA the ringed planet The unsolved mysteries un-cosmic friends Binocular Universe 68 he probes not only returned of the ice giants Here’s a concise guide to PHIL HARRINGTON stunning images of Saturn and Geysers on Triton, furious storms avoid going over the heads of its rings — they also set the stage on Neptune, and a seemingly se- your science-avoiding peeps. for the highly successful Cassini QUANTUM GRAVITY rene Uranus that turned out to be MICHAEL E. BAKICH mission. LIZ KRUESI a cosmic oddity. KOREY HAYNES Snapshot 8 62 Astro News 12 34 50 Memories from a Voyager revealed! The Grand Tour backyard observer Incredibly, a few instruments IN EVERY ISSUE he twin spacecrat took long Decades-old observing jour- aboard both spacecrat continue journeys to explore the outer nals recall a time when Voyager From the Editor 6 to function. JOHN WENZ solar system. RICHARD TALCOTT utterly transformed what we Astro Letters 11 36 know about the outer planets. New Products 69 52 RAYMOND SHUBINSKI Sky This Month Image the giant planets Reader Gallery 70 Uranus glows brightly. With the right camera and Advertiser Index 73 MARTIN RATCLIFFE AND telescope, you can take the same Breakthrough 74 ALISTER LING “Grand Tour” the Voyagers did. DAMIAN PEACH Astronomy (ISSN 0091-6358, USPS 531-350) is ONLINE published monthly by Kalmbach Publishing Co., 21027 Crossroads Circle, P. O. Box 1612, Waukesha, WI 53187–1612. Periodicals post- FAVORITES age paid at Waukesha, WI, and additional offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Astronomy, P.O. Box 62320, Tampa, Fla. 33662-2320. Go to www.Astronomy.com News My Science Trips and Picture of Canada Publication Mail Agreement #40010760. for info on the biggest news and The latest Shop Tours the Day observing events, stunning photos, updates from The perfect gift Travel the world Gorgeous the science and for your favorite with the staff photos from informative videos, and more. the hobby. science geeks. of Astronomy. our readers. 4 ASTRONOMY • OCTOBER 2017 Get set for autumn observing! GRAND PRIZE: NexStar Evolution 6 Wi-Fi Telescope Celestron’s signature telescopes reach a new level with NexStar Evolution 6, the first Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope with a built-in Wi-Fi connection and integrated long-life lithium-ion battery. Leave your hand control behind and slew to all the best celestial objects with a tap of your smartphone or tablet. 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The Astro Fi 90mm Refractor is a sturdy steel tripod with the Moon, and even dim Retail value: $42.95 each integrated fold-up accessory nebulae in crisp clarity p. 24 a fully featured telescope that Making sense of exoplanets HowJUNE 2017we will ind countless super-Earths can be controlled with your tray, an integrated smartphone with high contrast. The world’s best-selling astronomy p. 44 magazine adapter, built-in red LED smartphone or tablet using Retail value: $89.95 The world’s best-selling astronomy magazine JULY 2017 flashlight, and more. Our NEW RESEARCH the free Celestron SkyPortal trillion- WATER ON app. The app replaces the Retail value: $179.95 galaxy MARS How a liquid planet became universe Astronomers jump their a frigid desert traditional telescope hand galaxy count in the cosmos Mapping p. 22 by a factor of 10p. 18 the galaxy 19 one star at a time control for a 100% wireless big p. 31 experience. 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Chaple, Jr., Martin George, Tony Hallas, Phil Harrington, Korey Haynes, Jeff Hester, Liz Kruesi, Ray Jayawardhana, Alister Ling, Steve Nadis, Stephen James O’Meara, Tom Polakis, Martin Ratcliffe, Mike D. Reynolds, Sheldon Reynolds, Erika Rix, Raymond Shubinski EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Buzz Aldrin, Marcia Bartusiak, Timothy Ferris, Alex Filippenko, Adam Frank, John S. Gallagher lll, Daniel W. E. Green, William K. Hartmann, Paul Hodge, Anne L. Kinney, Edward Kolb, he end of the 1970s 1979, the science world lit Stephen P. Maran, Brian May, S. Alan Stern, James Trefil was a magical time up. Some 217,000 miles for astronomy (349,000 kilometers) from Kalmbach Publishing Co. enthusiasts. We were Jupiter’s core, the spacecraft Senior Vice President, Sales & Marketing Daniel R. Lance T Vice President, Content Stephen C. 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