Australian Sky & Telescope — January 01, 2018

4 AUSTRALIAN SKY & TELESCOPE January 2018

REGULARS

5Spectrum

8Newsnotes

12 Discoveries

57 AS&T bookshop

FEATURES

14 Back in orbit

Australia’s federal government has

finallyseenthelight,committingto

establishing the nation’s first full-on

spaceagency.Andit’sfairtosaythe

space science community is thrilled.

By Jonathan Nally

16 TheracetoMars

Timing is everything in space

exploration,andin2020thetime

willberighttolaunchanarmadaof

explorerstotheRedPlanetinsearch

ofsignsoflife.By Benjamin Skuse

26 Worlds of wonder

Withits13-yearstintatSaturn

complete, NASA’s Cassini orbiter

leaves a legacy of unparalleled beauty

and scientific discovery.

By Luke Dones

36 The killer kilonova

Spacetime ripples from a neutron

star smash-up have ushered in a new

age of astronomy. By Govert Schilling

Contents

January 2018 ISSUE 106, VOL. 14 NO. 1

OBSERVING & EXPLORING

42 Binocular highlight

See a ‘stingray’ in the sky.

By Matt Wedel

44 Under the stars

In awe of celestial curiosities.

By Fred Schaaf

46 Sun, Moon and planets

Planets shine in the morning sky.

By Jonathan Nally

47 Meteors

Thebestmeteorshowersfor2018.

By Con Stoitsis

48 Double star notes

Visiting Volans, the ‘flying fish’.

By Ross Gould

49 Variable stars

Watch a wild and unpredictable star.

By Alan Plummer

50 Comets

A close encounter with the Sun.

By David Seargent

52 Celestial calendar

Checkoutour2018observingguide.

54 Celestial calendar

Don’t miss January’s lunar eclipse!

By S. N. Johnson-Roehr

P.26 The sights of Saturn

P.

Road testing

Celestron’s new

CGX equatorial

mount.

P.14 Australia’s new space agency