EXCLUSIVE Buzz Aldrin on America’s space future WIN May 2005 AN ORION Astronomy.com TELESCOPE! 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Astronomy.com TELE The Milky Way Galaxy we VOL. 33, NO. 5 see on a clear, dark night is Explore and Discover the outcome of processes Stellar that have been at work dur- archaeology Star clusters reveal secrets ing most of the universe’s of galactic history – p. 34 history. To dig into that past, Explore and Discover Explore the Moon’s astronomers are turning to hidden seas open and globular star clus- Caught: fugitive ters, using their stars as a way moons p. 46 to peel back history’s layers. PROFILE Sir Patrick Moore, Britain’s Mr. Astronomy In the end, they hope to find $5.95 l $7.95 CANADA 05 33 Vol. • Small scopes + webcams = great photos Issue 5 a portrait of an ancient time: A rich cluster’s blazing stars off er a key 0172246 46770 to the Milky Way’s past DON DIXON; INSET: NASA/JPL/SS DON DIXON; INSET: the Milky Way’s beginnings. may 2005 06 This month in Astronomy 40 Catching up with Buzz Aldrin 14 Beautiful universe Going deep in Leo 16 Letters A familiar friend 18 Bob Berman’s strange universe Good planets gone bad 20 Glenn Chaple’s observing basics Do the hop 22 Interview 46 Andrew Gould, Ohio State University ON-LINE EXTRA: Read more from OSU astronomer Andrew Gould. 24 News • Cosmic structure began with mini-halos • Tiny star has a planet-making disk • The astronomy of launching a shuttle • Fix Hubble — or replace it? • Smallest exoplanet found — and it orbits a pulsar 34 Stellar archaeology Star clusters within the Milky Way come in two forms — open and globular. Now, some astronomers suspect they are related. FRANCIS REDDY ON-LINE EXTRA: Can a globular make an open cluster? 62 40 Space Buzz Apollo 11 Moon-walker Buzz Aldrin talks about the future of space flight. ON-LINE EXTRA: Read more from Astronomy’s chat with the Apollo astronaut. 46 Vagabond moons Around each gas-giant planet orbit dozens of small moons born elsewhere. These far-ranging bodies are beginning to give scien- tists clues to the dark corners of the solar system. DAN DURDA AND DOUG HAMILTON MIKE PIERCE, JOHN JURCEVIC JOHN (INDIANA)/WIYN/NOAO/NSF PIERCE, MIKE ON-LINE EXTRA: DURDA DAN Discover faint, fugitive moons the way astronomers NASA do. 04 astronomy /// may 05 HOW TO REACH US: Astronomy magazine, Kalmbach Publishing Co., 21027 Crossroads Circle, P.O. Box 1612, Waukesha, Wisconsin 53187 Find much more on-line at Astronomy.com, where you’ll get premium content t} 262.796.8776 f } 262.798.6468 e} [email protected] available only to Astronomy magazine readers: To start, simply log in. It’s easy, and you don’t pay anything more! Here’s how: HAVE YOU MOVED? Send change-of-address notices to the above 1. Go to www.astronomy.com mailing address or to [email protected]. 2. In the welcome box, click Gain access now. contact Howard Hoerl, 3. Subscribers: Type in the customer number on your subscription label. You’ll FOR ADVERTISING INFORMATION, enjoy unlimited access to the web site for the life of your subscription. Advertising Sales Manager, 888.558.1544, x571. 4. Newsstand buyers: Type in the access code UD5R5A. You’ll enjoy unlimited access to the web site through the last day of the HAVE AN ASTRONOMY QUESTION? month listed on the cover. Send it to [email protected]. 52 The sky this month A month of shadows MARTIN RATCLIFFE and ALISTER LING 68 62 A spiral masterpiece Near the end of the Big Dipper’s handle lurks M101, a delightful celestial pinwheel. ALAN GOLDSTEIN 66 Ask Astro Earth’s future orbit, Sun and season, asteroid gulf 68 Sail a hidden sea Not all of the Moon’s “seas” are easily visible. Some lie beneath the lunar plains, covered by debris from later impacts. ROBERT BURNHAM 70 Small eyes on the sky You’ll be surprised by the great images you can create with a small telescope and a webcam. DAMIAN A. PEACH 74 The sky’s knight British amateur astronomer Sir Patrick Moore has inspired ANDLUNAR LABORATORY PLANETARY generations of people to look up. WILLIAM SHEEHAN ON-LINE EXTRA: Astronomy’s editors select their favorite books by Sir Patrick Moore. 78 The big easy 98 This large scope by StarStructure offers high-quality optics in a lightweight package. ANTHONY E. NELSON 84 New products