2
JOIN THE AAS
Become an Amateur Affi liate
member of the American Astronomi-
cal Society and help build pro-am
cooperation.
https://is.gd/aas_amateur
MONTHLY SKY PODCAST
Listen as we guide you through this
month’s celestial sights. Great for
those learning how to navigate the
night sky!
skyandtelescope.com/podcasts
ASTRO TOURISM
From Italy to Patagonia, come with
us to explore wonders both on Earth
and in the sky.
skyandtelescope.com/
astronomy-travel/
FR
AN
K^ C
OL
OS
IMO
Find us on
Facebook & Twitter
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
20006, USA. Phone: 800-253-0245 (customer service/subscriptions), 617-864-7360 (all other calls). Fax: 617-864-6117. Website: skyandtelescope.com. Store website: shopatsky.
com. ©2019 AAS Sky Publishing, LLC. All rights reserved. Periodicals postage paid at Washington, DC, and at additional mailing offi ces. Canada Post Publications Mail sales agreement
#40029823. 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.
ONLINE
Artist’s concept of our
Milky Way map under
construction
ON THE COVER
CASEY REED
FEATURES
Cover Story:
16 Mapping the Milky Way
Recent years have seen tremendous
strides in unraveling the galaxy’s
spiral arms. By Ken Croswell
24 Seeing Stars
Astronomers are linking arrays of
telescopes together to reveal the
long-hidden visages of faraway suns.
By Christopher Crockett
30 Orator of the Stars
The captivating Ormsby MacKnight
Mitchel helped popularize astron-
omy in mid-19th century America.
By Trudy E. Bell
36 Demystifying Image
Calibration
This important step will dramati-
cally improve your imaging results.
By Ron Brecher
60 A Full Deck of Kings
Open clusters can be pleasing to
behold but tend to be elusive. Join
the authors on their foray into the
world of King open clusters.
By Al Lamperti & Frank Colosimo
S&T TEST REPORT
68 Celestron’s RASA 8
Schmidt Astrograph
By Richard S. Wright, Jr.
COLUMNS / DEPARTMENTS
4 Spectrum
By Peter Tyson
6 From Our Readers
7 75, 50 & 25 Years Ago
By Roger W. Sinnott
8 News Notes
14 Cosmic Relief
By David Grinspoon
72 Astronomer’s Workbench
By Jerry Oltion
74 Gallery
83 Event Calendar
84 Focal Point
By William Simmons
OBSERVING
41 November’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 S. N. Johnson-Roehr
52 Exploring the Solar System
By William Sheehan
54 Deep-Sky Wonders
By Sue French
57 Going Deep
By Dave Tosteson
THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO ASTRONOMY
CONTENTS
2 NOVEMBER 2019 • SKY & TELESCOPE
November 2019 VOL. 138, NO. 5
60