Sky & Telescope - USA (2020-01)

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SKY & TELESCOPE (ISSN 0037-6604) is published monthly by AAS Sky Publishing, LLC, owned by the American Astronomical Society, 1667 K Street NW, Suite 800, Washington, DC

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ONLINE

Artist’s concept of

Martian microbes,

inspired by Earth’s

ON THE COVER

NICOLLE R. FULLER /

SAYO-ART LLC

FEATURES

16 Space Missions in 2020

By David Dickinson & Terri Dubé

18 Spitzer’s Legacy

NASA’s infrared space telescope is

shutting down after operating more

than 16 years.

By Michael Werner & Thomas Soifer

26 Shadow of a Doubt

In a historic Omaha court case,

astronomical evidence played a key

role in foiling a plan to frame a

man for attempted murder.

By Jeffrey Dobereiner

30 Mesh Focusing Masks

This easy-to-assemble imaging aid

can take the guesswork out of

focusing.

By H. R. Suiter & W. P. Zmek

Cover Story:

34 The Martian Underground

Discoveries of life deep beneath

Earth’s surface are provoking

scientists to wonder what might

hide in the Martian subsurface.

By Javier Barbuzano

62 A Tourist’s Guide to the

Winter Highlights

Our nighttime favorites series

continues with a selection of

winter’s splendors. By Jerry Oltion

S&T TEST REPORT

70 Meade’s LX85 ACF

By Rod Mollise

COLUMNS / DEPARTMENTS

4 Spectrum

By Peter Tyson

6 From Our Readers

7 75, 50 & 25 Years Ago

By Roger W. Sinnott

10 News Notes

14 Cosmic Relief

By David Grinspoon

57 Book Review

By Richard Tresch Fienberg

74 Astronomer’s Workbench

By Jerry Oltion

76 Gallery

83 Event Calendar

84 Focal Point

By Larry Oakley

OBSERVING

41 January’s Sky at a Glance

By Diana Hannikainen

42 Lunar Almanac & Sky Chart

43 Binocular Highlight

By Mathew Wedel

44 Planetary Almanac

45 Under the Stars

By Fred Schaaf

46 Sun, Moon & Planets

By Fred Schaaf

48 Celestial Calendar

By Bob King

52 Exploring the Solar System

By Thomas A. Dobbins

54 Deep-Sky Wonders

By Sue French

58 Going Deep

By Ted Forte

THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO ASTRONOMY

CONTENTS

2 JANUARY 2020 • SKY & TELESCOPE

January 2020 VOL. 139, NO. 1

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