Australian Sky & Telescope — July 2017

4 AUSTRALIAN SKY & TELESCOPE July 2017

REGULARS

5Spectrum

8NewsNotes

12 Discoveries

FEATURES

14 TheSquareKilometreArray

Spread across Australian and

southern Africa, the SKA radio

telescopewillbethelargest

astronomical facility ever built.

By Govert Schilling

22 Anatomyofacomet

EscortedaroundtheSunbyEurope’s

Rosettaspacecraft,Comet67P/

Churyumov-Gerasimenko proved to

be more than just a “dirty snowball”.

By Joel Parker

30 Bakingauniverseina

computer

Scientists are shining a light on the

universe’s deepest mysteries through

massivecomputersimulations.

By Benjamin Skuse

38 The magnificent seven

Several of the TRAPPIST-1 star’s

worlds either have the potential for

liquid surface water... or have had

their atmospheres ripped off.

By Camille M. Carlisle

Contents

July 2017 ISSUE 102, VOL. 13 NO. 5

P.52 Delving into dark nebulae

OBSERVING & EXPLORING

42 Binocular highlight

Tweaking the serpent’s fang.

By Mathew Wedel

44 Under the stars

View through Frodo’s ‘high window’.

By Fred Schaaf

46 Sun, Moon and planets

Beacons of the morning and evening.

By Jonathan Nally

47 Meteors

The three amigos of meteors.

By Con Stoitsis

48 Double star notes

Winter’s scorpion revisited.

By Ross Gould

49 Variable stars

One star’s 150-year legacy.

By Alan Plummer

50 Comets

Kiwi comet makes a return

By David Seargent

52 Deep sky

Exploring the ‘dark wolves’ of winter.

By Richard P. Wilds

58 Lunar showcase

Try these 25 amazing Moon features.

By J. Kelly Beatty

P.38 The alien skies of TRAPPIST-

P.

Choose the

right star

tracker

for you

COVER: BARRY TURNER/CSIRO