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GREAT COMET IN MARCH?T H E E S S E N T I A L G U I D E TO A S T R O N O M Y
COSMICEXTREMESThe fastest planet & other odditiesp.
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The Brightest GalaxyYouve Never Seen p. Cosmic Jets in YourBackyard Scopep.
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Club Meetingsof the Futurep.
Northern Exposure:Take AmazingAurora Photosp. 7
ARCH 2013
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Hearta
ndSoulimagetakenwithTeleVue-NP101isandSBIGS
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Delighting Owners for
Thirty Years Fabian Ne
My first steps into astrophoto
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March sky & telescope
Find us onFacebook &Twit
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FIND PRODUCTS & SERVICEOur a--u dirr wih u find wha u nd.SandT.m/dirr
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TIPS FOR BEGINNERSNw arnm?Hr vrhing und jum in h fun.SandT.m/g
S&T: LEAH TISCIONE
On h vr:
Exan HD
80606b (whimi-
a did)
whi arund i
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mi r hur a arah.
M VOL. 125, NO. 3
Vol 125, No 3. SKY & TELESCOPE (ISSN 0037-6604) is published monthly by Sky & Telescope Media, LLC, 90 Sherman St., Cambridge, MA 0214 0-3264, USA. Phone: 8 00-253-0245 (customer service/subscriptions), 888-253-0 230 (product orders), 617-864-7360 (all other c alls). Fax: 617-864-6117.Website: S kyandTelescope.com. 2013 Sky & Telescope Media, LLC. All rights reserved. Periodicals postage paid at Boston, Massachusetts, andat additional mailing offices. Canada Post Publications Mail sales agreement #4 0029823. Canadian return address: 2744 Edna St., Windsor, ON,Canada N8Y 1V2. Canadian GST Reg. #R128921855. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Sky & Telescope, PO Box 420235, Palm Coast, FL 32142-0235. Printed in the USA.
OBSERVING MARCH
In Thi Sin Marh S a a Gan
Binuar Highigh
By Gary Seronik Panar Amana
Nrhrn Hmihr S By Fred Schaaf8 Sun, Mn Pan
By Fred Schaaf
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Exring h Sar Sm By Thomas Dobbins
D-S WndrBy Sue French
Ging DBy Steve Gottlieb
S&T TEST REPORT
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ALSO IN THIS ISSUE
SrumBy Robert Naeye
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FEATURES
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pl p.
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uv vl u
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OVERTORY
SKY
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AKIRA FUJII
G E M I N I
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0QUJDT1MBOFU 0155FMFTDPQFT #)1IPUP 5FMFTDPQFTDPN 8PPEMBOE)JMMT 4DPQF$JUZ $BOBEBt,IBO4DPQFT800.504.5897 800.483.6287 800.482.8143 800.303.5873 888.427.8766 800.235.3344 800.580.7160
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Robert NaeyeSpectrum
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March sky & telescope
Founded in 94by Charles A. Federer, Jr.and Helen Spence Federer
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The following are registered trademark s of Sky & Telescope Media, LLCSky & Telescopeand logo, Sky and Telescope, The Essential Magazine oSky Publications, SkyandTelescope.com, http://www.skypub.com/, SkySkies, Night Sky, SkyWeek, and ESSCO.
l D, l f u
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I pu , v u u Space: 50 Years and Count-ingpl u ll pul 2007. W up x lu ul f u Kpl, D, Cu-
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L u l l, ff I l f
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Editor in Chief
I write these words
Eclipses Past & Future
S&T:ROBERTNAEYE
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8 March sky & telescope
Letters
Write to Letters to the Editor, Sky & Telesco90 Sherman St., Cambridge, MA 02140-326
or send e-mail to [email protected] limit your comments to 250 words
Arnmia FaT pu f P Cll l-
lu D u Expl-
T O-N S Clu
(p 39) f l u l S fi
p (Astacus astacus, uful
f x l).
T fi p ll l
-Auu, l f ll
p f v . O
l f fi, ,
l quv l. Ju f
f, pu l
v.
I p u
u I ju
u qu S .Nils Olof CarlinSkvde, Sweden
SkyWeekCbriI ju p u l lf
f - l
u f u ,
pll l SkyWeek
fu T Fl.
T - u
p f l
pp p
. I v l
ll lv u
p p l . T
pll l
f l O. I l
v M l
p .Dwight Wells
Shanahan Middle SchoolLewis Center, Ohio
Editors Note:Were tickled pink to think ofTony as a rock star. Around here hes more
often seen as the man who r ides his scooterdown the hall.
Mui UnivrI ll j Cll Cll ul-
v l (D u, p 20).
I l v I l xp l f uj, I v
ul u
fll lp u Cll l, p
f plx f uj, v
ul. I ju
f u
l uv. L
u lx, B B u-
v, ulv.
Darryl DavisAlbany, Oregon
I u f
f Pl f
f f
pl fi .
N, v, v 10500
l uv ll
. N fl!
Andrew Smith
Delamere, United Kingdom
I u ulv f
( fl ll ), u u lfi f
p v p.I v l
1980, Scientific American
p p f ulpl
uv l v qu-
u pu. I , ulv
ul quu
pl
u , -ul xp. I
ulv p
qu
pu xpl? If , uv f
x u, pp v
v u?
A 61, I p I lv l u
f lu
uv u, u I up
u f uv l
pv ll luv
Tom SalesSomerset, New Jersey
Authors Note:No, the quantum multi
and the cosmological one are not the saSeveral different developments in theore
physics have raised the multiverse issue
each theory envisions the multiverse in ways. (Apparently, there are multiple winvoke multiple universes.) For exampl
some versions of the many worlds intetion of quantum mechanics, every time
experiment is run and we see one resultus, another reality splits off from ours ina different result occurred. Its unclear w
that reality would exist concepts sunext door or far away dont really a
On the other hand, the pocket universethe cosmological multiverse I discussed
distinct patches of spacetime that camebeing independent of one another. From
perspective inside our bubble universe, t
other bubbles are infinitely far away. Oway to think of the difference between th
frameworks might be to compare a bubbath and a branching tree. I recommenBrian Greenes book T H Rlmore information: he looks at several mverse theories and talks about their diffe
I lv Cll Cll l C
Cll. S xpl j
pu u l lp
. A p, u,
T uv . . . []
1,000 uv
ull v. H u
v S&T: LEAH TISCIONE
7/30/2019 Sky & Telescope - March 2013
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75, 50 & 25 Years Ago Roger W. Sinnott
March 1938
Od-Fahind Winr
Th Landr MCrmiObrvar [in Char-vi, Virginia] . . . i a U.S.Wahr Burau Sain.Th dirr himf mah wahr brvainah da. . . .
Th ag f [narb] Mni, ThmaJffrn, wa himf an indfaigab wahrbrvr . . . [and wr in an 1804 ubiain]: Ahang in ur ima i aing a vr ur.
Bh ha and d ar bming mr mdrawihin h mmr f vn h midd-agd, andnw ar frqun and d. . . .
Fr Charvi, bh h ummr andh winr rrd hw unmiaab ignha h mraur ar n h avrag nwwarmr han h ud b in 1900. . . . Afar a n an ff-hand, hr i n ranwhavr fr hi ninuu inra.
Samuel Alfred Mitchell, an expert on stellar
parallaxes, directed McCormick Observatory from
1913 to 1945.
March 1963
Siriu B [T]h fainmanin f Siriu hardd far nugh frm idazzing brigh rimar bm viib in mdra-iz . F. Hdn,f Lw Obrvar,rr . . . h ud
Siriu B fain bu adi wih a 6-inh ar ur n h 24-inh Car rfrar, a 330.
During h nx fw ar, h air wininu widn. Evn wih arg ,xn ing and fir-a i arrquird hw h uiv Siriu B.
This note in the Observers Page is also apt
now: Sirius Bs period is 50.09 years, and it has
returned to the same point in its elongated orbit
as it was when this note appeared in 1963.
March 1988
Phanm in M31 A hCnra Burau fr Ar-nmia Tgram w arrnib fr annuning h wrd divri franin arnmia h-nmna. . . . L m harwih u h vn f a
Nvmbr 24h, a da I a . . . Ba Tuda.[M] agu Dan Grn hw m a x
aiming h divr hr da arir f an11h-magniud urnva in M31, h Andrm-da gaax, b Criman arnmr NaaiaMva. . . . Th rumr rad i widfir,and n arnmr vrwhr aar bgaring u brv h urnva. . . .
I ur m ha mr arnmr
mu hav wad mr im n Ba Tudahan n an hr ing da a bau nrrnu rr wa ad h inifimmuni bfr i wa nfirmd. I wrr hada inan mmuniain and wid-rad u f mur infrmain nwrud ai ad man imiar fia.
Brian G. Marsdens worry came true many
times in his long career at the t elegram bureau.
He died in 2010.
f l v (l)
B B?
Joel MarksNew Haven, Connecticut
Authors Note:Basically, we dont observe
the real edge of the universe, we only observeu . There are two points. First, the
cosmic microwave background isnt a real
edge: its a glow suffusing the whole universe,coming at us from all directions. Second,
light has only had about 13.7 billion years totravel, so we can only see parts of the universe
from which photons have been able to reachus in that time. A loose analogy would bestanding on Earths surface, where you only
see whats within your horizon. It might look
like the world has an edge, but thats becauseyou can only see the light that reaches you.
The same thing goes for the surface of theCMB: its an edge in the sense of being a hori-
zon. The physical radius of this horizon isnot 13.7 billion light-years, but about 45 bil-
lion light-years. However, inflation requiresthat the observable universe is a tiny patch ofa larger region of spacetime. How large that
region is, we dont know.
Fr h Rrd The Byurakan Observatory mentioned on
page 38 in the December issue is in Armenia,not Georgia as stated.
Asteroid 6 Hebe occulted a star, not theother way around (December issue, page 29).
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March sky & telescope
News Notes
IRON PLANETI Mercurys Polar Ice ConfirmedNASAs Messenger fillfi p-
l pl
f l Mu, p
l Nv 29 Science.
I 1991, pp Mu
fi -
l up pl pll (S&T: Ju 1992, p 35).W ll pu
u . Ov ,
upp f f ll ll
(S&T: Apl 2012, p 26).M fill v
l pv u l f v-
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pl uf. H
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p-ff u v
pl plful pul
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flv. T, -
l l fl
ll f pl
v 370F (50 K).
T Dv L (J
Hp Uv Appl P
NASAs twin Gv Rv AI L (GRAIL) pf
v vl uxp l u
M , u
D 5 A Gpl
U . T lu u
pulv vll jul f
ul l f l .
Lu Sp 2011, GRAIL
pp l M v fil
u v-
l M x
pf . T f
u p fiv p
x p,
l vl ll 0.05
LUNARIGravity Probes See Moons Interior p -
vl l v
ppl v M Zu (M
T fi: T upp lu u full f p
p, l pl. O v
pulv u l (xlu
) p f 12%. T p
v (up 20%) u f
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l Mv .
T M u l -
p-Apll u
p : u 27 l (43
, f l
T pl p
p pl lu N v f lfi
u ll v l. T xpl
v, lu u v
u l x, l
f u lfi. T
u- ul
u f M ul lf up
lll .
NASA GRAIL M
D f ful uppl
J. KELLY BEATTY
T g arnm nw a i br
vii ub.m/nwbg.
Graviaina fid dviain aud b bh h Mn bum urfa and i um inrir (f)
qui diffrn frm a ma wih grahi ff rmvd rva dni variain undr-
nah h urfa (righ). Th viw hw h unar farid, nrd n 120 w.
Fr-air gravi ma Bugur gravi ma
Hrzrung
Orina
Suh P-Ain
NASA/GSFC/SCIENCEVISUALIZATIONSTUDIO
Surd n imag f Mrur nr
radar daa (w) rva ara f high r
A arg di i n h flr f ra
L) l f
20 (50 ) p. All l, M
pl l 100 ll
ll f
L T L E
J. KELLY BEATTY
KandinKandin
PrfivPrfiv
NASA / JHU APL / CARNEGIE INST. OF WASHINGTON
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UNIVERSALLYSUPE
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NASAs recently launched Van An
Prb, frmr nwn a h Radiain
B Sa Prb (Dmbr iu, ag
12), hav dd dramai hang in
h Van An b arund Earh di a
raiv qui Sun, ini annund
a h Amrian Ghia Unin. A
ar f hir w-ar miin, h rb
ar maing h aiud abv Earh
amhr whr nrgi ari
fl and hw h ari ar ar-
ad. Surriing variain hav hwn
u in h high f h ur Van An
rn b. Th hang ud aff
GPS ai, whih nd nidrab
amun f im in ha nvirnmn. Th
miin aim dihr h nnin
bwn h ar wind and b aivi.
MONICA YOUNG
NASA has announced an fr an
xndd Mar rgram, inuding a -
nd in rvr mdd afr Curii.
Th rgram a inud uring h
urrn aiv Curii and Oruni
rvr, a 2013 aunh fr h amhr-
uding MAVEN rbir, h inrir-
xring Inigh miin ad fr 2016
(Dmbr iu, ag 16), and ariia-
in in h Euran Sa Agn 2016
and 2018 ExMar miin. Th nwrvr wud aunh in 2020, i miin
a- undrmind. Th an aum
n budg hiu.
CAMILLE M. CARLISLE
Even little faid ar an frm an,
a ud in h Dmbr 20hAstrophysi-
cal Journal Letters ugg. Uing ar
f h grwing Aaama Larg Miimr/
ubmiimr Arra, Lua Rii (Cah)
and hi agu brvd h brwn
dwarf Rh Ohiuhi 102, whih h
a hin du di f ga. Rh Oh 102
ma ma, 60 Juir, had uggd
ha i di wud b un frm
an. Bu h ALMA ud rva ar-
i hav arad grwn miimr
iz, maning grain migh n da i
ghr nugh ma r an.
JOHN BOCHANSKI
IN BRIEF
News Notes
GALAXIESI Hubble Finds Faraway Galaxies
Astronomers v u Hul SpTlp u f uv
fi lx. T ul, p
Astrophysical Journal Letters, fi lx f ull
l uv pu.
T u fu -f fil
Hul W Fl C 3
f -f lx u 400 600
ll f B B. T p
f 100 u qu f
Fx u - f
M, Hul Ul Dp
Fl (HUDF). T
v 2009 HUDF
pu ul.
C xp f
lx l l vl,
l f lx vl l
f vl. Ju
lx vl ff Hul
fil, lul
lxphotometric redshifts
f u p xp lx .
P f l u
pp , u
pl l. Bu -u
pp qu l xpu .
U , fu
v lx fi .
T f f 8.6 (590 l-
l f B B) 9.5
ll ). O ul p
f 11.9. T u, UDF j-39
fi p f 10.3
u HUDF p. Bu
u, ul pu
380 ll f B B
. T l
lx fil,
x fu u
u l R Ell (Cl
H ul ll
u f pu,
u f K l
T u pv ul l
p reionization era. Du p, ulvl f
fi p-B-B l u
l f ul
fill p. T u
f v l. T
u ll p
l v p
, A L (HS C f Ap
W p l
u, ul
f lx l u
. If ,
pl ul, x
v vl u ll .
CAMILLE M. CARLISLE
Hiding in hi Hubb Ura D Fid imag ar vn gaaxi n a h aard n
fw hundrd miin ar afr h Big Bang. Th numbr rfr h imad rdhif.
March 2013 sky & telescope
11.98.8
8.8
8.6
8.6
9.5
9.5
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Finger Lakes InstrumentaFLI
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March 2013 sky & telescope
Scientists mightb r han h hugh dir ding graviaina wav in
aim, a rdiin f Einin h-
r f gravi. Wa graviaina-wav ri
hud b rad b an araing ma.
Arnmr hav n indir vidn f
hir xin far, bau i a a arg,
dn ma araing raid ma
rng graviaina wav. Bu nw wr ug-
g hr n h hrizn. San MWiiam
(Prinn) and hi agu and Abr
Sana (Max Pan Iniu fr Graviaina
Phi, Grman) ugg ha arfu im-ing f uar bi frm a arund h
naur m ri ud rva
rran ba aud b aim ri in
h nx fw ar. MWiiam am n-
ud ha uh igna migh vn b d-
ab in urrn daa. If maurd w nugh,
graviaina wav ud n a wh nw
n vn in h univr, h wa brv-
ing nw wavngh bnd viib igh did
during h 20h nur. CAMILLE M. CARLISLE
NASAs Curiosity roverha dd war
var and im rgani mu in am-
f Marian and, ini annund
a h Dmbr 3rd Amrian Ghia
Unin ming. Th rgani mu ar
am rain brdu f h ing
r, rad whn h rvr in vn
rad diffrn mund frm had
grain. Bu h war var i naura Mar
and hw fiv im a muh durium hdrgn a Earh awar. Tha a
xd: ini hin ha, vr h n,
uravi unigh ha adi brn dwn
war mu a h f Mar am-
hr, and h ighr hdrgn am rf-
rnia ad a whi h havir
durium am mr fn ad u. In
rini, hi fiv-fd durium nri
an b ud figur u ju muh wa
Rd Pan ha . J. KELLY BEATTY
Simulations byan Amrian and Finn
am ugg ha wid arad bin
ar frmd n a win bu a ri
binari ar igh nugh ha h u
frmd in h am inrar ud
bu m ar far wid fr ha. R
Dmbr 13h in Nature, h nw im
in fwd h vuin f nwbr
m. Mr han 90% f m w
dirud; h ha urvivd a rindd u wih w ar rbiin
hr and h hird flung a far dian
h rd dwarf Prxima Cnauri ha dr
far frm h Aha Cnauri AB air. Fr
awa, m f h m wud
wid binari, h auhr ugg.
CAMILLE M. CARLISLE
IN BRIEF
After 35 years p, NASA l-- pl p V 1 fi
lf up f lv Su
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pl 1970 80, V 1 2 u. M
p ul
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J. KELLY BEATTY
News Notes
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SandT.m March
Volunteer for Dark SkiesThe U.S. National Park Service is seeking volunteers with
amateur astronomy and outreach experienceto help share and protect dark night skies
Commitments of 4 weeks are preferred in one ofseveral parks around the country
www.nature.nps.gov/night/volunteer.cfm
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In Memoriam
Timothy A. Lyster
Alas, No MoorePatrick Moore was the face of astronomy for
many in Britain and around the world.
D 9
u El; 89. B
lful f BBC The Sky at Night, l-
u p lv
p, ju f 721 l
p (v pl -fl
f f p Jul 2004). M l
l f f u f ll f
B, qull El -u lv, u -
, u u, l l
fil v .
P Alf Clll-M M 4, 1923,
Mlx, El. H pqu l,
u l qu 3- Bu Cl f-
v M pul fi fi
pp, Sll Cl M Cu, 13,
Journal of the Brit ish Astronomical Association. Tu lfl f E ll.
Af v v B C
u Wl W II, M u vl lf
u v f . F
v, pp lu fu u
12- fl, ul p
u NASA Sv U u l
f p .
Fll pp lv u
UFO, pl p fTheSky at Night 1957. Ov x 55 , M
uqu pl ul l u
plx uj l l f
ul u f fuu , u
ul . A p,
f l v f , f fi p Cu M, v f
l l f p xpl.
J M, p p f B Al
A, M f 44 f p-
p. H l p,
f u, . P
l. Mll u l p
up p . I lv
Sir Patrick Moore
March sky & telescope
ppul f v l
A l f, T Ml, f
P f I Al A,
M f A
Plu N Il f 196568.
p ll j
, pll .
Dp l uvll lv fi
M ul ll u v,
f p,
BBC u . A f
I u f u, u I ul
u u ul E f v l
Of u fil, ClCl fl (S&T: D1995, p 38), ll f 109 p- j
M l ju M l. I
fi u p
f pul
FormerS&T managing editorTimothy A. Lysterwor
Patrick Moore on the British periodicalA
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Backyard Astronomers: Get Ready for
COMETPANSTARRS
BACKYARD DESERT OBSERVATORY
Comet Photo Credit: Sebastian Voltm
SHARE YOUR EXPERIEN
Scan with your smartphone or v
w w w . c o m e t - w a t c h . c
YOUR ADVENTURE STARTS H
www.CELESTRON.c
YOUR GUIDE : HOW AND WHERE TO VIEW COMET PANSTARRS
In late March, just after sunset, Comet PANSTARRS promises a spectacular show for North American
observers! Best of all, youll be able to see PANSTARRS from anywhere, even your own backyard.
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8 March sky & telescope
Universal Records
Cosmic
ExtremesTh univr i far,dr, and wair
han anhing w anib mrhnd.
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Bryan Gaensler
Reprinted fromEx C by Bryan Gaensler, Ph.D., by
arrangement with Perigee, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
Copyright (c) 2011 by Bryan Gaensler.
The universe extends far beyond our everyday experien
every imaginable way. But at the same time, its truly r
able that we can actually measure some of the universe
properties. Whats more, we think we understand whatof these objects are, how they formed, and why they hav
incredible characteristics.
Below I run through some of the concepts we experi
a daily basis: speed, temperature, gravity, density, and
For each example there are extremes in our own experi
we all feel blazing heat and bitter cold, we see a jet plan
overhead, and we watch a snail creep through a garden
what are the absolute extremes that the cosmos can offe
Fa Sinning SarNu ll p 30 50
. Bu pful fil ull p . Mll f f
u p l v 5 10
ll ulul p p p
u lll l f u .
Bl, u v
p-. Dp u f ll
ll f l, p pl
pvu p lv. T u l
u Su PSR J17482446,
p 716 p ! A ,
f p l p u
ll f, l l ll. A ll
f , PSR J1748 ll pl ll p
500 p f l
Su u ll
l . If uffi l ll,
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uf uf. A
l u p u
f, ull ul u,
u p f f. Gv u
f u f p .
WHIRLING DERVISH Thi iurain di a uar ha
ihning maria frm a manin ar. Th ga frm a diarund h uar and vnua ira in, gradua inning
rain ra. A uar namd PSR J17482446ad i h fa
ning ar nwn; i ra an inrdib 716 im r nd
h hria maximum ra i an in wihu braing aa
NASA
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March sky & telescope
Universal Records
Fa Knwn Sar:Nu l l f f-
v . If upv xpl p-
fl pl , ul u vl ll , l pu
u ul .
Bu f ll ul
u, f -
l l u -
f . Ev f
, xpl l
f l l p
, u
pp x p
T f u ,
f f , PSR B2224+65,
6,000 l- Cpu.
PSR B2224+65 pvl
f 1.5 p . Bu l
p up f p. If
u, pul u
p l 3.6 ll l p u.
T 4,700 p f u E
p, 50 f E l
p u Su, u f
l v ppul f pvl
v j f Ml W
l u l upv
l l. PSR B2224+65 vl fN Y L Al v 2.5 ,
E-M v 4 u.
Fa Knwn Obj Ohr Than Ligh:Trillions of cosmic rays crash into Earth every second. Cosmic raare not actually rays per se; they are subatomic particles and at
nuclei that typically travel at around 99% of the speed of light. Tfaster than almost anything else in the universe, but its still alm
million miles (11 million kilometers) per hour slower than light But a tiny fraction of cosmic rays makes 99% of light-speed seem
downright sluggish. This rare population of ultrahigh-energy corays approaches the fastest speeds possible under the laws of ph
The definitive record for the fastest speed ever measured in thuniverse, except for light itself, was set at 1:34:16 a.m. local time Tuesday, October 15, 1991, at the High Resolution Flys Eye Cosm
Ray Detector near Dugway, Utah. A cosmic ray slammed into Eaatmosphere, detonating into a spectacular shower of secondary pticles. Using the pattern and extent of this debris, scientists reco
structed the speed at which this proton or atomic nucleus must h
SHAMICHATTERJEE/JAMESCORDES(CORNELLUNIVERSITY)/PALOMAROBSERVATORY
GUITAR NEBULA Top of page: Th uar PSR B2224+65
ra hrugh a a an imad 3.6 miin mi r
hur, maing i h fa nwn ar. A i w hrugh
inrar ga, i rdu a bw-h nbua rmbing
a guiar. Thi imag wa an hrugh a hdrgn-aha
fir b h 200-inh Ha T n Pamar Munain.
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SandT.m March
hit our planet, and the result was astonishing: it was moving at99.9999999999999999999996% of the speed of light! Put another
way, suppose this particle raced a light ray over a length of a mil-lion light-years. The light ray would beat the proton to the finish
line by only about 1.5 inches (4 cm). Talk about a photo finish!The cosmic ray seen in October 1991 earned its own moniker:
the Oh-My-God Particle. This particles energy was staggering:more than 12 calories of energy when it arrived at Earth. To put
this in perspective, consider the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) the most powerful particle accelerator ever constructed. The LHCcan boost subatomic particles up to a maximum energy of only
around 0.0000002 calorie. Some unknown natural process in thecosmos can accelerate a tiny particle to an energy 50 million timesgreater than we humans can achieve. Such particles carry the
same energy as a baseball thrown at 60 miles per hour.
Fa Orbiing Pan:Th rrd fr h fa nwn rbia mi
f an an g HD 80606b. A fw im
mr maiv han Juir, HD 80606b ra
u a high ngad, mar- rbi,
ming i ah arund i arn ar v
16 w. Fr ar f i rbi, HD 80606b mraiv w, and i abu a far frm i
ar a Vnu d frm h Sun. Bu fr a bri
inrva in vr rbi , i wing inward, vnu
ing 13 im r i ar han Mrur
dian frm h Sun. A aag, HD
80606b hi a d f 529,000 mi r
hur, r am 150 mi vr nd.
San Gr
Larg Obj:Th arg nwn ru-ur in h univr ia a fiamn fhuand f gaaxinwn a h San Gra
Wa, divrd in 2003.Th San Gra Wa iarxima 1.4 biinigh-ar ar, and runbhind h nainf Hdra, Sxan, L, andVirg, rhing aram a quarr f h. I n a ing inarhrad; inad, i wrihand wi, vn i-ing u in w arandri fr a fw hundrd
miin igh-ar, whihhn rjin farhr ang.
THE 2DF GALAXY REDSHIFT SURVEY TEAM
ASPERA / NOVAPIX / L. BRET
BLAZING SPEED An ari di a mi ra hwr. A high-d
ari r ami nuu mah in Earh ur amhr a
nar-igh d and diingra, bu n bfr i ini nrg rig-
gr a aad f ndar ari ha rah h urfa. B uing
ari dr maur h dbri, ini an rnru h
nrg (and hu h d) f h rigina ari. A mi ra ha hi
h amhr vr Uah n Obr 15, 1991, wa raving fa ha iarrid h nrg f a baba hrwn a 60 mi r hur.
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March sky & telescope
Srng Eria Currn:Ab 426 j rdu h ga vibrain ai-
ad wih a d n. Bu h j frm man hrurmaiv ba h rav unimdd fr a
miin igh-ar. Fu f hargd ari flinguward a high d, h j arr h highbrvd urrn in h univr, ia a h
v f 1 miin riin am. Thir wr uu i arg ha in a ing miind, n f h j
ud rvid nugh rii vr humaninrg nd fr h nx 20 riin ar.
thus which note is playing. Fabian and his colleagues reachconclusion that Abell 426 is humming in B flat.
But this B flat is unlike any note youve heard. The sound
waves have an oscillation rate of once every 9 million years, is 57 octaves below the B flat thats above middle C, or abou
6,000 trillion times deeper than the lowest note that the hum
ear can hear. You would need to add another 635 keys to theend of a piano keyboard to play a note this low!
D Knwn N:The deepest note in space yet identified belongs to the galaxycluster Abell 426, often nicknamed the Perseus Clusterbecause of its location in that constellation. Abell 426 is about
250 million light-years away.Although we can never directly hear Abell 426s tune, we
can see the pressure waves it generates. The gas that perme-
ates the cluster, is incredibly hot, with a temperature exceeding50,000,000F. At this extreme heat, this gas becomes incandes-cent, and radiates extremely energetic and copious X rays.
In 2002 Andrew Fabian (University of Cambridge, U.K.)
used NASAs Chandra X-ray Observatory to make a detailedimage of the X-rays produced by Abell 426s hot gas. These
observations surprisingly revealed a series of concentricripples like those we see around a stone thrown into a pond.Fabian and his colleagues showed that these ripples corre-
spond to places in the cluster where the gas density is slightlyhigher than the average. In the gaps between the ripples,
they found that the gas density is slightly lower than average.Since a higher density means a higher pressure (and a lower
density means a lower pressure), these ripples are oscil lationsin pressure, a giant sound wave that thrums throughout thisvast cluster.
The origin of this racket is a supermassive black hole atthe clusters center. This black hole blasts out two oppositely
directed high-speed jets of material that travel outward overmillions of light-years at nearly the speed of light. These twin
jets must force their way through the clusters hot gas. Like agarden hose running underwater, the jets collision with theclusters gas generates a series of bubbles that inflate under
the jets power, and then break off and drift outward. As thesebubbles expand, they shove the surrounding gas outward, set-
ting up the pressure oscillations that ring through the cluster.Determining the pitch of the corresponding note is rela-tively easy. The speed of sound in this 50,000,000F gas is
about 2.6 million miles per hour, and the spacing betweeneach ripple is about 36,000 light-years. We simply need to
divide the speed of the wave by the spacing of the ripples todetermine the rate at which the pressure wave oscillates, and
Universal Records
AN ULTRADEEP B FLAT Th main imag, frm NASA Chandra
Obrvar, hw hw a gian ba h in gaax NGC 1275 i aing h nir gaax ur Ab 426. Th ba h h u w
wrfu j (n n in hi iur), whih bw hrugh h h
miing inrgaai ga, raing bubb ha uh aid urrun
ga. Thi nrgi inrain gnra und wav ha ia
hrugh h ur and ra ri (inset). In muia rm, h
ing f h ri i a B fla 57 av bw h B fla abv midd
NASA / CXC / IOA / J. SANDERS
Hru A
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Lw DniF u, l fu lv
pu l l , v
fi v. T u f ,
vlv xp vl , ul
f ju 500 1,000 p u -
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l p ul u l f
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lu , 459.67F (273.15C). L xp v pu ll f f lu
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xpv qup. T ul uv u
qup pl, l ?
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fl f B B. T CMB -
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u. Bu B Nul v l.
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f -p p xp pu
l ul pl f uv, p-
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COSMIC FREEZER Svra Hubb Sa T viib-igh
imag an hrugh arizain fir wr mbind rdu
hi fa-r imag f h Bmrang Nbua. Th nra ar iaing ff i ur ar, whih xand and ju 2F (1C)
abv abu zr. Eah b i abu a igh-ar ng.
AVOID THE VOIDS Ma f mi arg-a ru-
ur, uh a h i frm h San Digia S Surv,
rva ha mar i umd in h and fiamn ha
urrund va rgin (dar ara) f virua m a.
Suh vid hav n an aina am r ubi mr.SLOANDIGITALSKYSURVEYCOLLABORATION
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March sky & telescope
Universal Records
Wa Gravi:Bl l x pful vl f,
u l f pu?
H v ? O p
qu full, l pull
j uv x,
ll l f ?
M ll lx v pl
v. Bu f l- lx l
f p u v u
ff l lx, u
fl v up fl
u .
Of p f ll lx
f, p u
l u u
SDSS J113342.7+482004.9 SDSS
J113403.9+482837.4, I l ll ,
Npl Jp. T lx
139 ll l- f E U
Mj. Npl Jp 40,000
f , v
u lp, u-
pv upl. E lx u u
l v Ml W,
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l- p vl
900 ll l pplxp fll f . If u v-
p f Npl pp
ppl Jp, u ul v
ppl f 50,000 f l up
p f u p , ll
f l. W 4 ll
, ul v up u l-
p.
N upl, l
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ll f lx f,
v pl p u l -fif f fi . A ull ll
v pl . T vl -
Npl Jp
l f f
lx lp p u
u v
pu , -
l p .
Exrm CmT u u x fi ffi ul
p. Bu l p, uv x
l pl, u u u vl ul
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u l u plf uv, u u f
A ffl f fi ulv f
, pp u ul pl vl
xpl pp u v .
Bryan Gaensleris an Australian Laureate Fellow at the University of Sydney ais the Director of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for All-
Astrophysics. Follow him on Twitter at@SciBry.
HEADING FOR DIVORCE Th w ird ga-
axi ha h auhr ha ninamd Jhin
() and Nan aar a fain mudg in
hi San Digia S Surv imag. Th gaaxi
ar ju bar bund ah hr graviain-
a. Ohr in f igh in hi fid ar ihr
frgrund ar r bagrund gaaxi.
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March sky & telescope
Titans Soggy Enigma
W GDonald F. Robertson
I . A f u u l ll. I fi-
u l l .
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Ju 2005, p 20), v v
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SandT.m March
Saturns moon Titan has amysterious weather cycle.Illustration by Casey Reed
100 v 1,000 f l
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HAZY MOON Largr han h an Mrur, Tian hid a
fainaing anda bnah i rang haz, viib hr in a
naura-r mi frm NASA Caini araf.
NASA/JPL-CALTECH/
SPACESCIENCEINST.
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8 March sky & telescope
D bw Tian i urfa ud i a iquid war-
ammnia an. Ana f Caini brvain
ugg ha an an ar mwhr bwn and
m bw h ru and i ib m hi.
SUBSURFACE OCEAN?
Titans Soggy Enigma
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ALIEN LAKE Caini augh hi flah f unigh ff a
a urfa in 2009. Thi gin, ad a uar rfl-
in, nfirmd h rn f iquid in h mn
nrhrn hmihr.NASA/JPL/UNIVERSITYOFARIZONA/DLR
FOG RISING Fg-
i faur aar
in h f Tian
urfa (near right)
and a in h
wr rhr
(center), bu ar
n a rnund
highr u.
MICHAEL E. BROWN ET AL. /
ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL
Surfa fir Trhr firLwr rhr fir
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Dnd wih Hugn hrugh Tian haz and mr awm Tian igh a ub.m/TianUnvid.
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u u; vll, up f
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v, F. Ml Fl (NASA GSp Fl C). O Ju 14, 2005,
ju Hu p fi
vl lfll u l (S&T:Apl 2005, p 34).
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p 12--p l
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Saturns moon Titan features many Earth-like landscapes: elevatedcut by what look like rain-fed streams and river canyons, the larges
fields discovered in the solar system, and lakes that rival those on EEven the atmosphere is often described as similar to Earths.
Its not. Titans atmosphere is predominately molecular nitrogensupports cumulus clouds in the troposphere, like Earth, but that is any resemblance ends. The second most abundant gas is not the chhyper-reactive oxygen, or even water vapor, but methane with th
tion of a lot of smog-like complex organic chemicals.Relative to the planets size, Earths atmosphere is about as thin
eggshell. Three-quarters of the gas lies within 11 kilometers of the s
and space is defined as beginning at 100 kilometers.Titans atmosphere is deep: the atmosphere extends more than 6
meters, over one-fourth of the moons radius. Most of Titans rain creside above 10 kilometers, many times higher than on Earth. The mall that gas on this small world, even in Titans low gravity, results iface pressure 50% higher than Earths.
War ud
100
10
1
10 1
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103
Temperture (Kelvin)
Pressure(millibars)
190170 230 270 310
Stratosphere
Mesosphere
Thermosphere
Troposphere
Ozn ar
80
100
1
102
104
106
100 120 140Temperature (Kelvin)
Pressure(millibars)
160 180
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Thermosphere
Main hazar
Mesosphere
Dahd haz
Hugn arahudd
Mhan drd
b uravi igh
Mhan udTroposphere
A Frign Amhr
TWINS? NOT SO MUCH Tian amhr (top) ha im
i Earh (bottom), bu ni h aiud: Tian ra
hr rah rugh ix im highr han Earh d.
S&T:GREGGDINDERMAN
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March sky & telescope
Cl, G), u l l l
u T l p
T ul u
u pl v . S
f lu v
pp O Lu, u
u l f . H
pul fu f f O Lu
v T
Ice Volcanoes
SIMULATED FLYOVER In a 3-D computer model ofTitans surface, created from Cassini data, scientists dis-covered a 1-km-high peak and a 1.5-km-deep pit (shown)in a region called Sotra Facula. Green marks possible volcanic areas, including potential flows that spread outwardfrom the pit. A blend of water, ammonia, and methaneerupting from the pit could explain the features, though
scientists still debate whether Titan has cryovolcanism.
NASA/JPL-CALTECH/USGS
Titans Soggy Enigma
NORTHERN
LAKES Radar
swaths of Titans
north pole reveal
lakes and seas (blue-
black). The heart-
shaped Ligeia Mare
is the second largest
sea on Titan and isslightly larger than
Lake Superior.
PEELING THE PEACH Titans fuzzy orange glow is the onl
thing visible in a natural-color composite (left), but the surfac
appears in images taken in near-infrared light (middle) and in
composite of visual and infrared wavelengths (right).
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SandT.m March
p ul ll l.
A ul fuu. B
llu v u 3-D ul T
l. T u uu-
l pl u u,
vl l uf llu vp. T l p
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x , p u-
. W lu ul pp,
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ul ll vl C.
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l v f uf
. NASA l pp T M
Expl f l f Dv-l ppl, u
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l pj l T . Cll TL I-u Spl Ppll Expl (TALISE),
ul p fl L M,
f l . Pp fuu
v, p C pl , ll
lp lv f T u vp.
Donald F. Robertson is a freelance writer based in San Fran-
cisco. See www.donaldfrobertson.com for more of his work.
Backyard Titan ObserveAmateur astronomers an h mnir Tian wahr, , a
Rah Lrnz. A h mmn Tian aar fainr han magni-
ud 9, and ahugh i abv h hrizn m f h nigh i
n 0.8 arnd wid, maing i a hanging arg rv
Shr-xur and vid imaging an irumvn ing rb
ia if u a imag. Undr gd i a id baa
brvr wih a uiab ju migh rv Tian di
a Lrnz.
Amaur brvain ud bridg h ga bwn Caini a
whavr m nx. I inraing i ha ga wi b a
n flaghi-a maing miin ar n NASA budgar h
zn. In h manim, a 20-nimr wih a mm
CCD an bain ufu ra f ana hang in Tian ha
Svra ar ag Annin Buhz (Cah), hn a grad udding CCD hmr wih a 35-m in Paadna, u
fu d Tian igh urv frm nigh--nigh variain
a h mn rad, ahugh h wan ab nuiv d
min ha h ranin brigh h aw wr ud. Am-
hri ruur an a b maurd during ar uai
Yu an find u mr abu brving Tian wih amaur qui
mn n Lrnz wbi: www.lpl.arizona.edu/~rlorenz.
RAIN-FED RIVERS Cassinis radar revealed this canyon system on Titan in 2009. The channels flow from high plateaus to lowland areas, and
many tributaries suggest that rainfall erodes the surface.
NASA/JPL
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March sky & telescope
Long-Distance Astronomy
Webinars can add variety and depth
to your club gatherings without
breaking the budget.
RevitalizeYour
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SandT.m March
Tom FieldW u f
f Olp p? Su
v p -
f u lu . I u j fppl . W u lv ul
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WWW: World Wide WebinarsL , lu Sl
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full. I l l T u.
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l u p ll-
xp, I . I f, pp
Club Meetings
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March sky & telescope
Long-Distance Astronomy
u pl u v f p
fuu.
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lu f f p-
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N L Ov, U.K., Sp-X
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Making Webinars Work for Your CluW p lu , u
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p. O p Skype, v- f
p. If p ll Skype Premium, PowerPointl, l lv v
lv. Pll, I pf u l p
pfill f , u Cisco Weu up qul p
ff flxl. O p
Citrix GoToMeeting, Adobe Connect, TeamViewer.
f p u v l
f ll qu. A ull fi
f f f l u.
NOT SO REMOTE Tom Field has used Cisco WebExto talk
with clubs across four continents from the comfort of his
Seattle offi ce. The software shares his slides, shows his video
image, and allows him to highlight important features just as
one would do with a laser pointer. He can even see and hear
the audience as he speaks.
TOM
FIELD
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Of u, Mup L v -
l. S v f , I l
lu up p f PowerPointfil. If pp u l l, lu
p u p lu pu
l I v ll p l up p
f pul- . Iv v
u up, u f
v fl-f f f ll pl.
Putting it all togetherN u lu f
l, u v u p pl
f. T fi p ul ll pp
l, u v . U u v.
S l l, p uv
NEAF, W S P,
p. Yu ul l u f l
uv l S&T. Yu v u lfu f u l , u
pp u ll f. (Of u,
v xp ll p. Yu
f 5-u f f
up v p p.)
O u lp u fi p
f lu fl v ff A
Ou N. Fu S R f Expl
Sfi, Lu p l v
f p (www.astronomyoutreach.net). Clu l
f p f p
l u vll. (B
, f u p, ul l , I u-
u l ulf .)S lu p f f; f
u. O u-fl pl
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p . W p up l
l f pl p f u lu. T
l j , u lu
ll u f v - f u .
Tom Fieldof Field Tested Software is the developer of thereal-time spectroscopy programRSp. He enjoys giving talks
over the web and has spoken to dozens of astronomy clubs andscience classrooms around the world. You can see a recordedvideo demonstration of one of his webinars atwww.rspecastro
.com/outreach.
Have you given a talk to your local club that you think othclubs might enjoy? Giving a presentation via the web isnthat different from giving one in person. A few tips will hyou make the transition.
Practice, practice, practice. Once youve selected thwebinar software youll use, learn the basics of how to st
meeting, share your slides, and transmit your video imagwebcam. Then practice giving your presentation over theto your spouse, your children, or your friends anyone wwill listen.
Prepare a demo. Clubs will want to know beforehandyoure a good speaker. When making contact with a club,to do a short demonstration talk for the decision-makers vide a demo reel showing a short clip of your presentat
Test it out. Its always a good idea to conduct a test sewith the host well before the actual webinar. Make sure t
meeting room has adequate bandwidth to support your ptation, and confirm that the host clubs computer can hoto the public-address system.
Decide how to do Q&A. Although not absolutely necits helpful if a microphone and webcam are built into theing rooms computer so that you can see and hear the auence. But even if a clubs computer doesnt have a microthe host can conduct Q&A with a cell phone. Ive done thseveral occasions with good results.
Make eye contact. Look directly into your webcam duyour presentation.
Keep your audience engaged. Most webinar prograoffer drawing capabilities, so you can circle, highlight, or arrows for your audience to see on the screen. Highlightipoints focuses your audiences attention in the same waylaser pointer does.
Ask for feedback. The day after your talk, ask your coat the club what you could improve in your next presenta
Preparing for Your 45 Minutes of FaPreparing for Your 45 Minutes of Fa
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March sky & telescope
,
u u v l. W u
p f l l, p f
lx, f u v
pj l u . I
.
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ufl , l ff
f ll f . Ivul qu
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v. If vl, p
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up. Bu f l f v,
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v f lvl .
A ll f
u f f. Dp
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pl . T l l v
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Astrophysical jets
Backyard Astrophysics
COSMICJETS ul l
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-
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(ppl p) j.
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T f l f ll ul f GH Gull H, u 80
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A l p f j V-p Gyulbudhians Nebula Cpu, f vp PV Cp. T ul ll p
ll f l lu, p p
Dave Toste
A crucial phenomenon throughout the universe
is visible in amateur scopes, but just barely.
My Hunt for
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Above: Big, bright NGC 5128, also named Centaurus A, emits a
powerful pair of jets blazing in radio (purple above) and X-rays
(shown as blue-white, green, yellow, and orange). This compos-
ite image also includes a visible -light view. Below: In this deepvisible-light image, only a few thin outer traces of the northeast-
ward jet show at all. But the little arrowed streak can be detected
in very large amateur telescopes. Youll also need a very dark sky,
high magnification, and this image to find the exact spot.
l lu ll H-H ufl. T
ufl lf vl, u ul l
p . Au 1 , fv f l-p
v u p l f
. I 25- f/5 fl.
Yu p l l u ff--
- j . A l u f
ll-p- v D S Suv
(DSS), Pl Ov S Suv.E u j stdatu.stsci.edu/
cgi-bin/dss_form, .f .fi f,
u v f l 1 qu u p. Gulu Nul
20 45 58, l +67 58 30(2000.0).Active galaxy: Centaurus AActive galaxy: Centaurus AT u lx NGC 5128, l u Cuu A, l v lx u
12 ll l-. I ulu l
f . I j, v, l
f pul X- . U
32- u f 2011 Tx S P,I vl-l f j
f p vl u l. W I l
ll l.
EUROPEAN SOUTHERN OBSERVATORY
NASA/CXC/CFA/R.KRAFT;NSF/VLA/UNIV.HERTFO
RDSHIRE/M.HARDCASTLE;ESO/WFI/M.REJKUBA
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8 March sky & telescope
Backyard Astrophysics
Active galaxy: M87 in VirgoActive galaxy: M87 in VirgoAv l ul u upv l
l f lx, pll f lx
up vl ,
Cuu A. T lx
uuluu p, l pl.
M87, fi ll p 10 u, f llpl lx
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) f fu vl-
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Microquasar: SS 433Microquasar: SS 433O , vl SS 433 Aqul fi qu v. I -
p f u
llp j u l l
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u p. Bu
u vl l. A u 20-plu, v
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Quasar: 3C 273Quasar: 3C 273T qu (u
) 3C 273 V. I v u 13, f 2.0 ll l-,
l
p. Qu v l ul
u uu lx
fu j f 3C 273 . I 25-
Tx S P 8-l uu x
f qu, l
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6755
Aair
19
22
A Q U I L A
+10
+5
19h 20m19h 40mStarmagnitudes 2
3
4
5
6
7
8
At 14th magnitude, the microquasar SS 433 in Aquila is a
unique pickup for your observing list. No sign of its relativistic
corkscrew radio jets were visible. On the chart above, the little
black box between 19 and 22 Aquilae shows the field of the
Digitized Sky Survey view at right, which is wide. The radio
image of the jets (inset) is from the Very Large Array. Watch a
movie of radio blobs being expelled along the inner parts of the
precessing jets at www.nrao.edu/pr/2004/ss433.NRAO
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SandT.m March
u, l . T
pv f qu u 3C 273
u l pp l-l qup
lx v, p f
l v .
Ex-quasar: IC 2497 & Hannys VoorwerpEx-quasar: IC 2497 & Hannys VoorwerpA qu u ff v l, ll
p, u l IC 2497, 15-ulx u 650 ll l- L M.
T pl lx x uu H
Vp (H Oj), ul
l Du l fu 2007 Sl
Dl S Suv l vlu GlxZ pj (S&T: Nv 2011, p 28). T j
fi qu ul fiu IC
2497, qu
l ul 200,000 v
f E. W ll qu l
Vp f , l f f
l l . T Vp l pp v
p pl j f qu-
. A 2012 Tx S P, vl ppl p
Vp u 36- p. I l 20u f
lx, l 9 41 04.8, +34 43 55.
Gamma-Ray BurstsGamma-Ray BurstsT vl j uv, f
pful v f , -
u (GRB). T j u
pl f -llp upv. N
f v ju u p f l
pu f u f ; ll p-
l . W
- u f pp
E. L l f ,
p f p ll f
l- , f vl uv.
Svl u, lu f T P,
v vull v GRB fl u AAVSO Il H E N (www.
aavso.org/aavso-international-high-energy-network),
up u pl. S v
v f fl u f vl f
. S f Iv u u p
j xluv lu.
Bu ju lu. O M 19, 2008,
- GRB ff f 0.937, l-
f 7.5 ll lf
B B. A u uv u
p l vul u 5.8 f vl
. H ju p
B, ul v jv f f 3,000
l l j v !
Dave Tosteson, a family-practice physician in Chisago City,
Minnesota, has used his giant scopes to see brown dwarfs,gravitationally lensed arcs, globular clusters in the VirgoGalaxy Cluster, high-redshift quasars, and galaxies in the
Hubble Deep Field.
Almost lost in the vast Rosette Nebula in Monoceros, the protostellar jet Rosette HH1 (arrowed)
can be spotted with medium-large amateur scopes. The protostar thats squirting it may end up as
a red dwarf or brown dwarf. Outlined here is the Rosettes central boxy asterism of 6th- to 8th-
magnitude stars, long, as well as the field of the inset blowup. North is up in all images.
At a distance of 2.0 billion
light-years, 3C 273 in
Virgo is the farthest thing
you can see with a 6-inch
telescope. A much larger
scope is needed to detect
its jet as a very thin streak
running from 12to 20to
the quasars southwest.
NASA / ESA / WIL
NASA/JOHNBAHCALL
12Mon
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March sky & telescope
New Product Showcase
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OBSERVINGMarch 2013
SkyandTelescope.com March 20
In This Section
44 S a a Gan
44 Nrhrn Hmihr S Char
45 Binuar Highigh: Mir Marahn San
46 Panar Amana
47 Nrhrn Hmihr S:Fanaian Si
48 Sun, Mn Pan:Gian in h Dar
50 Cia Candar 50 Cm PanSTARRS a Du
51 Th Zdiaa Ligh52 Ain a Juir53 Lunar Ouain53 Phnmna f Juir Mn
54 Exring h Sar Sm: A Lunar Curii
55 Lunar Pha and Librain
56 D-S Wndr: Saiing Suh
58 Wb Lin: Thi W S a a Gan
Additional Observing Stories:
36 M Hun fr Cmi J
60 Ging D: Cia Firwr
The remarkable planetary nebula NGC 2818 is discussed
in the Deep-Sky Wonders column on page 58.
PHOTOGRAPH: NASA / ESA / HUBBLEHERITAGE TEAM / STSCI / AURA
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MIDNIGHT SUNRISE
Mercury
Venus
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
SUNSET
Planet Visibility SHOWN FOR LATITUDE 40NORTH AT MID-MONTH
Visible with binoculars in late March
Hidden in the Sun's glow all month
Hidden in the Sun's glow all month
SWSE
NWSW
E
24
31
3
10
17
24
31
4
11
18
5
12
19
26
6
13
20
7
14
21
1
8
15
22
27 28 29
2
9
16
23
30
S U N M O N T U E W E D TH U F R I S AT
Moon Phases
25
OBSERVINGSky at a Glance
EXACT FOR LATITUDE40 NORTH.
Galaxy
Double star
Variable star
Open cluster
Diffuse nebula
Globular cluster
Planetary nebula
Using the Map
Go out within an hour of a timelisted to the right. Turn the maparound so the yellow label for thedirection youre facing is at thebottom. Thats the horizon. Aboveit are the constellations in front ofyou.The center of the map isoverhead. Ignore the partsof the map above horizons
youre not facing.
17h
14h
11h
UR
SA
MA
JO
R
A
CO
CAN
ES
VEN
A
TICI
HYDRA
LEO
LEO
M
INOR
C
O
M
A
B
EREN
IC
ES
BOT
ES
HE
RC
UL
ES
AN
TL IA
VE
CRATER
CORVUS
SEXTANS
VIRG
O
Mizar
&Alcor
Thuban
Big
Dipper
M51
Regulus
Sickle
M3
Arcturus
Alph
`
a
s
+i
_
b
d
_
c
a
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a
_
a
`
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`b
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a
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Facing
SE
Facin
g
East
Fa
cing
NE
Moon
March23
Moon
March 26
New March 11 3:51 p.m. EDT
Full March 27 5:27 a.m. EDT
Last Qtr March 4 4:53 p.m. EST
First Qtr March 19 1:27 p.m. EDT
MARCH 2013b. 27 EARLY EVENING: The zodiacal light is on excellentar. 12 display from dark locations at mid-northern lati-
tudes. Look west starting about 80 minutes aftersunset for a huge, tall, left-sloping pyramid of lightreaching up toward Jupiter; see page 51.
12 NIGHT TO DAWN: Saturn rises around 11 p.m.on the night of the 1st roughly 5 left or lower leftof the waning gibbous Moon. The pair remainsclose for the rest of the night.
710 DUSK: Comet PanSTARRS (C/2011 L4) shouldbecome visible through binoculars, and possibly tothe unaided eye, somewhere in this time frame.Look very low in the west shortly after sunset; seepage 50 for details.
10 DAYLIGHT-SAVING TIME STARTS at 2 a.m. formost of the U.S. and Canada.
1218 DUSK: Comet PanSTARRS is expected to be mostprominent this week. Its immediately left of a
very thin crescent Moon on the 12th and well belowa more substantial crescent on the 13th.
17 EVENING AND NIGHT: Jupiter is spectacularlyclose to the waxing crescent Moon amid Aldebaran,the Hyades, and the Pleiades.
20 SPRING BEGINS in the Northern Hemisphere atthe equinox, 7:02 a.m. EDT.
28, 29 NIGHT: The Moon, just past full, rises upper rightof Saturn on the 28th and below Saturn on the 29th.
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Starmagnitudes
23h
2h
5h
E QU
A TO R
E CL I
PT
I C
ERIDA
NU
S
C A N I SM A
J O R
O N O CE R O S
P U P P IS
C OL U
MB A
LEPU
S
ORI O
N
TAU
RU
S
TR
IANGULUM
P
IS
C
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PER
S
EU
S
AN
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MEDA
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IE
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IA
CEPH
EUS
CAME
LOPA
RDAL
IS
AU
RIG
A
GEMIN
I
C ANIS
MI NOR
C
E
T
U
S
Sirius
M41
M47
M93
M50
NGC
2244
Rigel
Bellatrix
Betel
geus
e
M42
Ald
eb
aran
Ple
iad
es
Hy
ades
Algol
M33
M31
M34
Dou
ble
Clust
er
M52
Po
Cape
lla
M35
M37
M38
M36
or
yon
_
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West
Facing
SW
uth
Jupiter
Moon
March
16
Moon
March19
Gary SeronikBinocular Highlight
SandT.m March
To watch a video tutorial on how to use themap on the left, hosted by S&T senior ed