Published by the Astronomical League Vol. 71, No. 4 September 2019 THE BLUE PLANET REPORT FROM STELLAFANE 7.20.69 5 PERSPECTIVE ON APOLLO YEARS APOLLO 11 HOW TO GAIN AND RETAIN NEW MEMBERS What’s Your Pleasure? From Famous Observatories to Solar Eclipse Take Your Pick From These Tours Travel Down Under to visit top Australian Observatories observatories, including Siding October 1–9, 2019 Spring and “The Dish” at Parkes. Go wine-tasting, hike in nature reserves, and explore eclectic Syd- ney and Australia’s capital, Can- berra. Plus: Stargaze under south- ern skies. Options to Great Barrier Reef and Uluru or Ayers Rock. skyandtelescope.com/australia2019 Uluru & Sydney Opera House: Tourism Australia; observatory: Winton Gibson Astronomy Across Italy May 3–11, 2020 As you travel in comfort from Rome to Florence, Pisa, and Padua, visit the Vatican Observatory, the Galileo Museum, Arcetri Observatory, and more. Enjoy fine food, hotels, and other classic Italian treats. Extensions in Rome and Venice available. skyandtelescope.com/italy2020 S&T’s 2020 solar eclipse cruise offers 2 2020 Eclipse Cruise: Chile, Argentina, minutes, 7 seconds of totality off the and Antarctica coast of Argentina and much more: Nov. 27–Dec. 19, 2020 Chilean fjords and glaciers, the legendary Drake Passage, and four days amid Antarctica’s waters and icebergs. skyandtelescope.com/chile2020 Patagonian Total Solar Eclipse December 9–18, 2020 Come along with Sky & Telescope to view this celestial spectacle in the lakes region of southern Argentina. Experience breathtaking vistas of the lush landscape by day — and the southern sky’s incompa- rable stars by night. Optional visit to the world-famous Iguazú Falls. skyandtelescope.com/argentina2020 See all S&T tours at skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-travel mic Hunter h Cos h 4 er’s 5 t h Win 6 7h 20 +30° AURIG A 20 +30° acts C Fast F al AURUS e T Orion nd 1 +20° a χ χ2 r C +20° ontents GE MIN I ated winter nights are domin ο1 Mid ξ ν 2 ORIO N ο tion Orion. This +10° by the constella π1 Meissa λ 2 μ π +10° 2 φ1 attended by his φ 3 unter, α γ π cosmic h Bellatrix 4 Betelgeuse π d ω Canis Major an ψ ρ π5 hunting dogs, π6 0° intaka aurus the M78 δ M , follows T 0° ε and Minor Alnitak Alnilam h ζ σ η vens eac EROS ross the hea MONOC M43 M42 Bull ac θ τ ι υ ess pursuit. β –10° night in endl Saiph Rigel –10° κ The showpiece of the ANI S C LEPU S ERIDANU S ion MAJOR constellation is the Or ORION (Constellation) –20° wn here), –20° Nebula (M42,sho ion 5 hr; Location: Right Ascens a region of nebulosity ° north 4h Declination 5 5h 6h 7h a: 594 square degrees and starbirth just 1,300 Are 3 4 5 6 0 1 2 -2Symb-1ol: The Hunter way that is Orion Nebula); light-years a Notable Objects: M42 ( NG C 2024 ed eye as a M78 (planetary nebula); visible to the nak (Flame Nebula) ion’s sword. ebula); cloudy patch in Or Barnard 33 (Horsehead N sy stem) ide the winter Trapezium (multiple star Positioned astr is (Betelgeuse, o Brightest Stars: α Orion , Orion is home t ” a; β Milky Way . Arabic for “armpit of Orion wling 4 th, spra f is (Rigel, Arabic for “leg o prodigious starbir Orion ty, and President’s Corner Orion”) regions of nebulosi o ok at extreme stars. Here is a l thin the borde rs MORE THAN A HUNTER the treasures wi ter sky. s shape has long of this icon of the win Orion’s hourglas y man form, most durabl conjured images of a hu hield at the read y, f a hunter, club poised, s that o ee evenly spaced ngling from a belt of thr OLOR and sword da terns. HORSEHEAD OF A DIFFERENT C s have seen other pat stars. But other culture dark nebula also le see Biboonkeoni ni, us Horsehead Nebula, a America’s Ojibwe peop The famo ing dust and North tified Orion ’s rd 33, is a notch of obscur . ker; ancient Aztecs iden known as Barna clou d 4 Winterma a IC 434, a the s ight nebul resenting the wood stick cated in front of the br elt as Mamalhuaztli, rep TLAS gas lo e seen just sou th B ynesian ocean MOLECULAR CLOUD A nized hydrogen. It can b Library Telescope Giveaway t a ceremonial fire; Pol of glowing io ength s used to ligh t ion Molecular Alnitak. In visual wavel ionakeiki because i Orion is home to the Or of the leftmost belt star, voyagers called it Heihe ng regions pears as a silhouette. at’s cradle game. complex of star formi , top) the Horsehead ap embled the string of a c Cloud, a oss. (below g from the Hubble res ndreds of light-years acr Infrared imagin spanning hu ver, peers isible in this image. Space Telesocpe, howe Many portions are v , elow the belt he background matter Orion Nebula appears b through t The e ring it invisible, bove Orion’s two feet; th eectively rende stars and a f the lame Nebulae surround and shows the clouds o Horsehead and F ed bda ead as though illuminat the leftmost belt star; the Lam Horseh ’s “head”; and directly (bottom). Orionis region is at Orion circles the Barnard’s Loop nearly en . on in a nebulous arc. 5 Library Telescope Update constellati March 2020 S M T W T F S 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 January 2020 14 8 9 10 11 12 13 19 20 21 M T W T F S 15 16 17 18 S 26 27 28 1 2 3 4 22 23 24 25 1 0 0 31 10 1 2 29 3 8 9 0 6 7 2 5 uary 18 r 16 17 b 14 15 e 12 13 F 25 19 20 21 22 23 24 . 26 27 28 29 30 31 5 day S Friday Satur PROLIFIC PROPLYD y Thursday s of Wednesda PM ET Full STEAM Ahead a is home to dozen Tuesday First Qtr Moon 8:42 The Orion Nebul Monday de lyds for short), Sunday February Sky Gui 1 tary disks (prop ily glimpsed low in protoplane ea s th y , elusive as ever, can be most th 3 . wborn stars • Mercur betwee n the 10 and 1 nal incubators for ne In 1880, the Orion Nebul -southwes t after sunset the fi a the west stern sky s. These disks all month in the s outhwe lanetary system enus is a stunn ing sight oung and their p became the rst nebul • V bout 30° high. Lo ok for a y atin g a falls, appear ing a th t stars are evapor as night he 27 . urrounding nascen t Moon passing near on t s ther ever photographed; sinc crescen in the adiation from o e form a diagonal lin e 30° long ssile Agency ng distorted by r rs , Jupiter, and Sa turn (west), 1956: Army Ballistic Mi or bei • Ma est an d farthest right ablished ow beca use then, M42 has become th as t. Mars is high rthest (ABMA) est me proplyds gl e predawn southe dle, and Saturn is fa 1959: First Titan I launch nearby stars. So st and in the mid ia destroyed during ea r Jupiter is brighte Th e Moon passes near 2003: Shuttle Columb rs app most photographed dee l osest to the horizon. th y; seven astronauts die tars within, and othe p left (east) and c th on the 20 . reentr of the new s th 9 , and Saturn atter beh ind sky object Mars on the 18 , Jupiter on the 1 dark because of bright m . form the basis for 8 them. The proplyds often 7 stars. 6 tary systems orbiting the 5 . plane th of Moon 4 6 Vesta 0.5° sou Observe the Moon Night Sav 2 3 ER WISEMAN JENNIF Jules Verne born acewalk 1828: ion ends, last d , e 1984: First untethered sp 1974: 84-day Skylab 4 miss s on Moon SPS engine unched As an undergra 1966: Luna 9 land 1965: First test of Apollo 9: Stardust comet probe la w to occupy Skylab eman B Challenger launched r III launched ts 199 unched cre launched Wis 1984: STS-41 1967: Lunar Orbite 1971: Alan Shepard hi 2001: STS-98 Atlantis la 2010: STS-130 Endeavour Jennifer 2S-60 Discovery launched 4 lands on Moon launched s 1994: ST 1971: Apollo 1 n Moon STS-122 Atlantis y sic scovery launched; Eileen gravity of Venus to o launch 2008: studied ph 1995: STS-63 Di 5% 1974: Mariner 10 uses 2018: First Falcon Heavy T ilot 17 PM E e shuttle p its trajectory to Mercury Last Qtr Moon 5: at MIT, wher the ISS launch n adjust 2006: Astronauts aboard 1906: Clyde Tombaugh bor 15 iscovered t satellite Juno stationary she d SuitSa outh of Moon 14 t Groundhog Day Juno 0.6° s 13 the come n - rcury at greatest elongatio 12 114P/Wiseman T Me 11 n Full Moon 2:33 AM E (18° E) 10 Ski. She the Moon at perigee . 9 earned a Ph.D y in astronom d at Harvar 1564: Galileo Galilei born $ . launched 0 craft University. Dr 1972: Luna 20 1973: Pioneer 1 s r Max launched ugh the asteroid belt e tellite launched 1980: Sola rtrait to pass thro binsk, Wiseman studi 1970: First Japanese sa : Voyager 1 solar system po eteor explodes over Chelya .