Australian Sky & Telescope - 02.2019 - 03.2019

4 AUSTRALIAN SKY & TELESCOPE February | March 2019

REGULARS

5Spectrum

6Newsnotes

11 D i sc ove r i e s

25 AS&T bookshop

FEATURES

12 Pulsar timing arrays

Astronomers are monitoring dozens

of ‘cosmic timepieces’ for telltale

signsofspacetimeripplespassing

through.

By Robert Naeye

18 Meet the neighbours

Astronomers are compiling a census

oftheneareststarstodiscoverwhat

wedoanddon’tknowaboutour

stellar neighbours.

By Keith Cooper

26 Spacemissionsin

We present a full rundown of all the

major space missions active or about

to be launched in 2019.

28 What came before the Big

Bang?

Cosmologists are tackling a once out-

of-the-question idea using out-of-

the-box thinking.

By Faye Flam

36 The world’s first female

professional astronomer

Whowasthefirstwomanpaidto

study the stars? Was it the famous

Caroline Herschel or the obscure

Christine Kirch?

By Gabriella Bernardi

40 Space agency finds a home

Australia’s new space agency will be

based in Adelaide.

By Jonathan Nally

Contents

February | March 2019 ISSUE 115, VOL. 15 NO. 2

OBSERVING & EXPLORING

42 Binocular highlight

The space between star clusters

By Mathew Wedel

44 Under the stars

Meet Canopus, second brightest star

By Fred Schaaf

46 Sun, Moon and planets

Venus, Saturn meet in the morning

By Jonathan Nally

47 Meteors

CatchtheAlphaCentauridsshow

By Con Stoitsis

48 Comets

The mysteries of the sungrazers

By David Seargent

49 Variable stars

The ‘dog star’ and the dwarf

By Alan Plummer

50 Celestial calendar

RS Puppis — echoes from a strange star

By S.N. Johnson-Roehr

51 Targets

Hop into Lepus, the bunny constellation

By Sue French

54 Exploring the Solar System

Looking back at Mars and its dust storm

By Sean Walker

56 Going deep

We show you how to see the Horsehead

By Howard Banich

P.12 Spotting spacetime ripples passing through

P.56 Tips for seeing the Horsehead Nebula