The world’s best-selling astronomy magazine

CONTENTS

Trips and

To u r s

Travel the world

with the staff of

Astronomy.

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.

4 ASTRONOMY • FEBRUARY 2018

20 COVER STORY
Cosmic firecrackers:
The mystery of fast
radio bursts
These bright but fleeting
explosions unleash more energy
than the Sun produces in a day —
and yet we don’t even know what
causes them. YVETTE CENDES

26
New Horizons explores
the Kuiper Belt
On January 1, 2019, NASA’s
Pluto explorer will fly past a
distant, enigmatic world left over
from the solar system’s birth.
S. ALAN STERN

32
Explore the LMC
The Large Magellanic Cloud,
the Milky Way’s largest satellite
galaxy, contains a vast number
of deep-sky gems.
DON GOLDMAN AND
JOSEP DRUDIS

34

Ask Astro

Our solar system.

36

Sky This Month

Morning planet trio.

MARTIN RATCLIFFE AND

ALISTER LING

38

StarDome and

Path of the Planets

RICHARD TALCOTT;

ILLUSTRATIONS BY ROEN KELLY

44

Enceladus on Earth

Michael Carroll and Rosaly Lopes

visit Antarctica to learn what the

frigid continent can tell scientists

about icy moons.

MICHAEL CARROLL AND

ROSALY LOPES

50

Hunt Orion’s

deep-sky gems

You know the Orion Nebula.

Now discover many more

telescopic sights within winter’s

showpiece constellation.

PHIL HARRINGTON

56

Around the sky

with a small scope

Think you need a huge telescope

to get anything out of astronomy?

Think again. GLENN CHAPLE

60

Meandering through

Monoceros

Spend some time observing

the Unicorn’s wonders.

MICHAEL E. BAKICH

62

Fornax LighTrack II

mount tested

Light weight, ease of use, and

high accuracy make this mount a

terrific choice. JONATHAN TALBOT

COLUMNS

Strange Universe 8

BOB BERMAN

For Your Consideration 14

JEFF HESTER

Secret Sky 18

STEPHEN JAMES O’MEARA

Binocular Universe 66

PHIL HARRINGTON

Observing Basics 68

GLENN CHAPLE

QUANTUM GRAVITY

Snapshot 7

Astro News 10

IN EVERY ISSUE

From the Editor 6

Astro Letters 9

New Products 64

Advertiser Index 67

Reader Gallery 70

Breakthrough 74

FEATURES

FEBRUARY 2018

VOL. 46, NO. 2

26

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

published monthly by Kalmbach Publishing

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

Waukesha, WI 53187–1612. Periodicals post-

age paid at Waukesha, WI, and additional

offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to

Astronomy, P.O. Box 62320, Tampa, Fla. 33662-2320.

Canada Publication Mail Agreement #40010760.

ONLINE

FAVORITES

Go to http://www.Astronomy.com

for info on the biggest news and

observing events, stunning photos,

informative videos, and more.

DON DIXON FOR

ASTRONOMY

ON THE COVER

Fast radio bursts present a cosmic

mystery that astronomers are just

beginning to unravel.

Online Content Code: ASY

Enter this code at: http://www.astronomy.com/code

to gain access to web-exclusive content