2 MARCH 2018 • SKY & TELESCOPE
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ONLINE
The Milky Way hangs
over New Technology
Telescope in Chile.
ON THE COVER
PHOTO: BABAK TAFRESHI
FEATURES
14 Micrometeorite Hunter
One man’s search for tiny cosmic
visitors just underfoot turns up
photogenic specimens.
By Ted Kinsman
20 Track ing Hubble’s
Variable Nebula
The author documents two decades
of NGC 2261’s variability through
sketches. By Howard Banich
Cover Story:
26 Shooting “Deepscapes”
Here’s how to capture striking
nightscapes with deep-sky objects in
a single exposure. By Babak Tafreshi
34 Binary Worlds
The solar system’s surprising variety
of binary objects is helping us
understand the birth of planetary
systems. By Jeff Hecht
58 Dwarf Carbon Stars
Stars that shouldn’t even exist may
soon offer new clues to the galaxy’s
birth. By Ken Croswell
62 Kepler’s Dream,
Today’s Reality
The great astronomer Johannes
Kepler played a central role in the
evolution of spacefl ight.
By Jake Rosenthal
S&T TEST REPORT
68 Sky-Watcher Esprit 150mm
APO Refractor
By Johnny Horne
COLUMNS / DEPARTMENTS
4 Spectrum
By Peter Tyson
6 From Our Readers
8 75, 50 & 25 Years Ago
By Roger W. Sinnott
10 News Notes
32 Astronomer’s Workbench
By Jerry Oltion
73 New Product Showcase
74 Gallery
84 Focal Point
By Ken Pilon
OBSERVING
41 February’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 Moon
By Charles A. Wood
54 Deep-Sky Wonders
By Sue French
THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO ASTRONOMY
CONTENTS
2 FEBRUARY 2020 • SKY & TELESCOPE
February 2020 VOL. 139, NO. 2
68