2019-04-01_Astronomy

CONTENTS

News

The latest

updates from

the science

and the hobby.

Sky This

Week

A daily digest

of celestial

events.

Picture

of the Day

Gorgeous

photos from

our readers.

My Science

Shop

Perfect gifts for

your favorite

science geeks.

4 ASTRONOMY • APRIL 2019

22 COVER STORY

Rusty Schweickart
remembers Apollo 9
The lunar module pilot relives the
challenges and triumphs when
humans tested their spacecraft in
Earth orbit. DAVID J. EICHER

32

Jim McDivitt:
10 days in orbit
Apollo 9 served as an engineering
test, a hardware demonstration,
and a vital steppingstone on the
road to the Moon.

ALISON KLESMAN

36
Sky This Month

Mars sweeps past the Pleiades.
MARTIN RATCLIFFE AND
ALISTER LING

38

StarDome and
Path of the Planets
RICHARD TALCOTT;
ILLUSTRATIONS BY ROEN KELLY

44

The women in the Moon

The mountain named after

Marilyn Lovell made her one of a

handful of women immortalized

on the Moon. WILLIAM SHEEHAN

AND KEVIN SCHINDLER

48

Georges Seurat’s sky

Did optical effects from

volcanic aerosols affect the way

this Neo-Impressionist artist

approached his canvas?

STEPHEN JAMES O’MEARA

54

Hunt the deep sky

in the Hunting Dogs

The Whirlpool Galaxy is just the

start of a fantastic tour through

Canes Venatici.

MICHAEL E. BAKICH

56

How to photograph

aurorae

No matter your photography

skills, a few simple tricks can

help you capture the best images

possible. STEVE CULLEN

60

We test Sky-Watcher

USA’s EvoStar 150

A proprietary type of glass,

special coatings, and superb

mechanics make this telescope

one to look through.

PHIL HARRINGTON

66

Ask Astro

Bode’s law.

COLUMNS

Strange Universe 12

BOB BERMAN

For Your Consideration 18

JEFF HESTER

Secret Sky 20

STEPHEN JAMES O’MEARA

Observing Basics 62

GLENN CHAPLE

Binocular Universe 64

PHIL HARRINGTON

QUANTUM GRAVITY

Snapshot 9

Astro News 10

IN EVERY ISSUE

From the Editor 6

Astro Letters 8

New Products 65

Advertiser Index 68

Reader Gallery 70

Breakthrough 74

FEATURES

APRIL 2019

VOL. 47, NO. 4

22

Astronomy (ISSN 0091-6358, USPS 531-350)

is published monthly by Kalmbach Media

Co., 21027 Crossroads Circle, P. O. Box 1612,

Waukesha, WI 53187–1612. Periodicals postage

paid at Waukesha, WI, and additional offices.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to

Astronomy, PO Box 8520, Big Sandy, TX 75755.

Canada Publication Mail Agreement #40010760.

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NA

SA

ON THE COVER

In March 1969, four months shy of

the lunar landing, Apollo 9 tested

all systems in Earth orbit.

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