Magnificent Jupiter is at its best this month and has some real surprises in store for telescope users: it’s lost one of its two main equatorial belts, while its famed Great Red Spot is making a comeback after being barely visible for the past few years! All you need to see this for yourself is a clear night and a good-quality telescope, however small it may be.

Two of Jupiter’s best-known features: one has disappeared and the other reappeared! Even the smallest of telescopes at a magnification of 25x or so normally shows the planet straddled with two obvious brownish belts, known as the “North Equatorial Belt” and the “South Equatorial Belt.” When Jupiter emerged from conjunction with the Sun earlier this year, observers were shocked to see that the latter belt was all but gone! Seeing the giant planet with only one major belt is strange indeed. (There’s actually dozens of belts and bands and zones visible on the face of the planet — the larger the telescope and the better trained the eye, the more are seen!) This disappearing act has happened in the past and the belt is sure to return to prominence, but no one can say just when. So be sure to keep an eye on Jupiter!

Ever since the early days of the telescope, a huge cyclonic oval some 25,000 miles in length (the circumference of the Earth!) has been seen attached to the South Equatorial Belt and rotating rapidly with the planet itself. Often appearing reddish in hue in its “early days,” it was given the name the “Great Red Spot.” But over the centuries, it has from time-to-time faded and become difficult to see even in fair-sized telescopes. Its color also changes, affecting its visibility. It typically appears salmon pink or pale orange, but on rare occasions — as in the 1960s — a bright brick-red. I vividly remember seeing it easily back then in my little 60mm refractor.

During the past few years, the Red Spot has been decidedly difficult to spot! But it has made a comeback, and is becoming more obvious and colorful as time goes on. When on the side of Jupiter facing us (and given a steady night) it can even be seen in the Scientifics 60mm refractor with its 87x eyepiece (and normally both the major belts easily as well with its 35x eyepiece). The trick is knowing when to look, because it spends much of its time around the sides or back of the planet. Fortunately, Sky & Telescope provides a timetable of good visibility in both the magazine itself and on its site.

Needless to say, the larger telescopes in the Scientifics’ line will give much more detailed views of this strange object and the planet itself in general. They are also capable of showing the four bright Galilean satellites (those discovered by Galileo) as actual disks and not just jewel-like points of light circling Jupiter — orbiting worlds in their own right!

–James Mullaney
Former assistant editor at Sky & Telescope magazine and author of eight books on stargazing.

We have never featured a comet in this column. One reason is the well-known fact that the visibility of comets — both returning (previously found) and newly discovered ones — is typically highly uncertain. Another is that this column has a long lead-time (normally two months) and a new comet may suddenly appear after an installment has already been submitted. But this month we do feature a “reliable” returning comet that should put on a nice show for stargazers using binoculars, small telescopes — and possibly even the unaided eye!

Short-period Comet Hartley was discovered in 1986 by Malcolm Hartley. It orbits the Sun every 6 ½ years and will come closest to Earth on its next trip sunward on October 20th, remaining visible all night (and most of the month as well!). To follow its path, use the Scientifics’ Star and Planet Locator. The best instruments for viewing it will be your Edmund binoculars and, especially, the Astroscan wide-field telescope at its low magnification of just 16 power. It may be possible when nearing its brightest on the 20th (predicted to be 5th magnitude) to glimpse it with the unaided eye. But as mentioned below, the Moon will also be a factor to contend with.

As October begins, you’ll find this fuzz-ball in the constellation Cassiopeia, just south of its familiar W-shaped figure. On the evening of the 8th into the morning of the 9th, it will lie very close to the famed Double Cluster in Perseus. This celestial encounter should be a truly wondrous sight through the Astroscan! If you watch the comet closely over a period of several hours, you’ll actually be able to see its motion relative to the cluster itself. Then by mid-October, Comet Hartley will be located just south of the bright star Capella in Auriga. Unfortunately, the Moon will be nearing full and definitely interfere with the comet’s visibility. And here, telescopes definitely have the advantage over binoculars, with their greater light-gathering and magnifying powers. Using the Astroscan’s 30x eyepiece will help reduce the bright sky background, improving contrast between the two objects, while its generous aperture will soak up lots of extra photons from the comet itself.

Comet Hartley then moves from Auriga into neighboring Gemini, but a Full-Moon on the 22nd will make tracking it somewhat of a challenge for the following several nights. By the end of October, you’ll find this interloper located about midway between Gemini’s two bright stars, Castor and Pollux, and radiant Betelgeuse in Orion as it slowly moves away and fades from view.

In closing, it should be mentioned here that there’s a long tradition of amateur astronomers discovering comets by sweeping the sky with small, wide-field telescopes like the Astroscan. While the professionals have the market pretty much cornered today with automated sky surveys, there may be a comet out there with your name on it! All you need is a good star atlas (to help avoid misidentifying existing deep-sky objects, The Cambridge Double Star Atlas offered by Edmund being excellent for the purpose), lots of patience, a clear night — and quite a bit of luck!

–James Mullaney
Former assistant editor at Sky & Telescope magazine and author of eight books on stargazing.

There are a couple of questions about the Edmund Scientifics’ immensely popular Astroscan wide-field telescope that both potential buyers and existing user’s often ask me, since I was a project consultant on the original model and more recently on the upgraded Astroscan-Plus one as well. Readers will hopefully find the questions themselves — and my response to them — informative!

Q: Why is the Astroscan red?

A: This is the most-oftened asked question. There are actually two reasons for its distinctive color. One was for appearance; red was chosen to set this unique instrument apart as different from all other telescopes — which it certainly has done! The other reason is the more important one of the two. A glossy white telescope tube may look attractive, but for reflecting telescopes where the observer is looking into the tube surface at the eyepiece it’s a bad choice. A white surface reflects any stray light hitting the tube in the area around the focuser onto the observer’s face, thus reducing the dark adaptation of the eyes. As is well known, red illumination retains the eye’s dark adaptation (thus the standard practice of using a red light to read star maps and make notes at the telescope). A white tube is not a problem for refractors and compound telescopes since the eyepiece is located at the bottom of the tube and the observer isn’t looking directly into its surface.

Q: Why is the Astroscan shaped like a big bowling ball?

A: The spherical body of the telescope (which houses the parabolic primary mirror) acts as a huge “ball bearing” when placed on its tabletop mounting base. This allows the scope to easily turn in any direction with rock-steady stability. It’s like having a standard mounting with a shaft some 10” in diameter! The result is that you can actually bump or hit the Astroscan and any vibration damps out instantly. No telescope jitters or shaky mounting here!

Q: I want to use the Astroscan for nature study as well as for stargazing. But the image is upside down. My other two telescopes (one a refractor and the other a Schmidt-Cassegrain) give upright images. Why the difference?

A: All basic forms of telescope invert the image they produce — including your other two instruments. But refractors and compound scopes are normally equipped with a star diagonal for viewing the sky without straining the back and neck. Although they do provide an upright view, the image itself is mirror-reversed — as trying to read a distant sign or license plate will show! (Fully erecting diagonals are available as an accessory from most telescope companies.) In the case of the Astroscan, two solutions are available to users. One is to purchase an image erector designed for this scope and available from Edmund as an accessory. But the other alternative is easier and involves no cost. Simply look into the eyepiece with your back turned to what you’re viewing (standing slightly to the side so as not to block the light path) and the image will appear upright. (This technique is nicely illustrated in the Astroscan User’s Guide itself.

–James Mullaney
Former assistant editor at Sky & Telescope magazine and author of eight books on stargazing.

On a number of occasions over the past several years we’ve featured the annual Perseid Meteor Shower in our August column. But often conditions haven’t been favorable due to bright Moonlight spoiling the view — or its maximum occuring during the middle of the day instead of at night, or in the wee hours of the morning when most of us are sleeping. But this month, we have an opportunity to see a nearly ideal display.

The famed Perseid Meteor Shower will reach peak activity this year on the early evening of (or perhaps slightly before) August 12th just as the sky is getting dark for observers along the East coast. This display is expected to produce at least 60 “shooting stars” an hour at its maximum (that’s one-per-minute on average) and possibly as many as 100 an hour as seen from a dark-sky location. And not only is the timing good, but the Moon will offer no interference at all this year. It will be a three-day-old thin crescent visible in the west at dusk, and set not long after the Sun itself.

The radiant — that point from which the meteors appear to shoot toward us — is located in the constellation Perseus (after which the shower is named). It will just be clearing the northeastern horizon around 9:00 p.m. local time, and continue to climb ever-higher in the sky as our spinning Spaceship Earth turns in its direction. Use your Scientifics Star and Planet Locator to first identify it, and then see its altitude increase by setting the star-dusk to later and later hours. You’ll find it lying nearly overhead by the time dawn approaches on the following morning.

Note that the number of meteors should noticeably decrease as the peak passes and the evening progresses. But there’s always some uncertainty as to the actual time of maximum, so it’s best to begin watching as soon as darkness falls. Many avid meteor watchers like to do counts of the number seen in precise hourly intervals (technically known as determining “hourly rates”). This allows you to see if shower activity is increasing or decreasing. It can also provide valuable data if properly recorded for the various professional meteor societies around the world. In this country, you can contact the American Meteor Society at for much useful information about observing meteors in general and also submitting observations.

For optimum coverage of the Perseid shower, face East toward the radiant while at the same time concentrating your attention on the sky overhead — preferably reclining comfortably on a lawnchair or heavy blanket and pillow. And while this is basically a naked-eye activity since it’s important to canvass as large an area of sky as possible, using your Celestron SkyMaster binoculars from Edmund is also encouraged for following the trails or “trains” often left behind by many of the brighter meteors. For an added thrill, point them from time to time at the radiant itself — you may be lucky enough to see a few meteors coming directly at you, suddenly appearing from out of nowhere as brightening stars!

–James Mullaney
Former assistant editor at Sky & Telescope magazine and author of seven books on stargazing.

With all the telescopes of superb optical quality in widespread use by stargazers today, few have ever had the opportunity of going back in time to when this magical instrument first appeared and experience firsthand the enormous quantum leap that’s been made in its performance. But thanks to a unique product offered through Edmund Scientifics print and online catalogs, you can relive some of those early days of celestial exploration using primitive optics.

As is well known, the first telescopes that were invented (some would say discovered) were simple refractors using very primitive single-element spectacle lenses. Such lenses produced obvious colored fringes around objects viewed (especially the Moon, planets and bright stars) — a defect known as “color aberration.” They also suffered from being unable to bring all rays to the same focus due to zones in the lenses. Known as “spherical aberration,” this caused images to appear “soft” and fuzzy. While no one today would purposely use single-element lenses for either a telescope objective or its eyepiece, it’s both fun and instructive to look through such an instrument. And the Telescope Kit makes this possible at the very affordable price of just $12.95.

After assembling this 8x refractor from the do-it-yourself kit, your first target should definitely be the Moon. And while your initial look may leave you shaking your head at the poor quality of the image produced, closer inspection will reveal all the major lunar features including craters and mountain ranges. While surface detail stands out in relief best when the Moon is at First-Quarter (half-full), all the phases offer something worth viewing — from the “Earthshine” visible on the dark part of the Moon when a crescent to the vast system of rays seen splashing out of the brighter craters when Full.

Next come the planets, especially Jupiter with its retinue of four bright satellites (those discovered by Galileo). A magnification of 8x is enough to show Jupiter’s disk as non-stellar and the moons as little stars nearly engulfed in the glare of the planet itself. The outer satellites are most obvious, and their configuration changes from night to night as they orbit the planet. This telescope is not powerful enough to show the rings of Saturn, but when they are wide open (as they will be again in few years) the planet looks egg-shaped. And when Venus is closest to us, its thin crescent can be made out. Finally, look at some of the brightest stars. Despite its inherent color aberration, this scope will reveal that some of them have obvious colors of their own. In July’s sky, look at blue-white Vega in Lyra, golden-orange Arcturus in Bootes and fiery-red Antares in Scorpius, for starters. (Use your Scientifics Star and Planet Locator to identify them. Also note that for optimum results, all of these observations require that the telescope be mounted in some way rather than hand-held.)

–James Mullaney
Former assistant editor at Sky & Telescope magazine and author of seven books on stargazing.

Even casual skywatchers are aware that planets slowly wander about the sky, being visible at differing times during the night and throughout the year. But occasionally they pass very close to bright stars, and at such times their orbital motion becomes strikingly obvious over a period of just days and even hours! Or they may simply change the patterns they form with two or more surrounding stars. This month offers a superb opportunity to see examples of both for yourself.

As June opens, the ruddy-orange planet Mars is located near the bright blue-white star Regulus in Leo the Lion, positioned high above the western horizon after darkness falls. (Set your Scientifics Star and Planet Locator for around 10:00 p.m. local time to identify the constellation.) Both objects lie within the same wide binocular field of view, with Mars pulling closer and closer to Regulus each evening. On the nights of June 5th and June 6th, the star and planet will finally lie less than one degree apart — close enough to look like a lovely contrasting double star in 7x and 10x glasses. And better yet, both objects will easily fit within the same low-power eyepiece view of telescopes like the Scientifics 60mm refractor, the 76mm Celestron FirstScope, and the 105mm Edmund Astroscan Plus. Switching to their higher power eyepieces and lingering for an hour or so (or coming back to them after a break), you’ll see that the gap between star and planet has changed due to Mars’ orbital motion. Following this close approach to each other (technically called a planetary “conjunction”), Mars then moves rapidly eastward away from Regulus the remainder of June.

Another example of planetary motion this month is provided by radiant Venus and its changing configuration with the stars Castor and Pollux in Gemini the Twins, positioned above the west-northwestern horizon after dusk. (Again, use the Star and Planet Locator to identify the constellation.) On June 11th, the three objects will form a perfectly straight line, with Venus lying east of the stars themselves. But only two or three nights later, that pattern will have obviously changed, with the planet lying north and east of Castor and Pollux. Imagine how mystified the ancient skywatchers were at these antics, knowing nothing of the true physical nature of neither planets nor stars. To them, the planets were simply gods — and restless ones at that!

On the evenings of June 13th and June 14th, a slender crescent Moon will add to the overall beauty of the scene. It, too, will continue to move eastward and higher in the sky each night as the month progresses. Truly the heavens are alive with movement and change for those who will take time to look up at the celestial pageantry being played out over their heads every clear night of the year. Don’t miss it!

–James Mullaney
Former assistant editor at Sky & Telescope magazine and author of seven books on stargazing.

Every month skywatchers are given the opportunity of exploring an alien world so obvious that it’s the second brightest object in the sky after the Sun. We’re referring, of course, to the Moon! And while much can be seen and enjoyed with the unaided eye alone (ranging from its ever- changing phases to lunar eclipses), it’s a virtual wonderland for those viewing it with binoculars and telescopes.

Many entire books have been devoted to the wonders to be seen on our lovely satellite by binocular and telescopic observers. Among these are: the lunar “seas” and “oceans” and bays”; mountain ranges, craters and valleys; domes and rilles and rays; eerie “earthshine” on the crescent Moon (light from the Pacific reflected onto the lunar surface in the evening and from the Atlantic in the morning); occultation’s of planets and bright stars and glittering star clusters like the Pleiades; strange events known as Transient Lunar Phenomena (obscurations, flashing lights and colorations); and eclipses of both the Moon itself and of the Sun caused by the Moon.

The most pleasurable way to become familiar with the Moon’s features is to undertake a “sightseeing” tour using a basic lunar map like that accompanying this article. While this can be done with binoculars (which should be tripod-mounted for stability), the fun really begins when using a telescope. Low-power, wide-field views of our satellite like that given by the Edmund Astroscan with its six Full-Moon diameters of sky at 16x show it dramatically suspended and seemingly floating in space (which it actually is!) Going to ever higher powers, while reducing how much of the Moon is actually seen, shows it in amazing detail — so much so, that at magnifications of several hundred power, observers have likened it to being in orbit around it! (Many of the telescopes offered in the Scientifics catalog can achieve such magnifications on nights of steady atmospheric conditions, or good “seeing.”) To find out how close your telescope is bringing the Moon to you, simply divide its average distance (roughly 240,000 miles) by the magnification you’re using. Thus, 24x brings you to within 10,000 miles of its surface, while 240x places you just 1000 miles above it!

There are a couple of important facts to keep in mind about Moon-gazing. The best place to see lunar detail is along the “terminator” — the dividing line between night and day on the Moon and the point at which the Sun casts the longest shadows, thereby exaggerating surface relief. This is at its most dramatic around the time of First-Quarter (Moon half-full), during which surface features stand out in utterly amazing and bewildering detail. (The extent of the effect of shadowing on the Moon is revealed by this surprising fact: you would think that the Full Moon would be twice as bright as the Half Moon — but in fact it’s 12 times as bright due to the near-absence of shadows on the surface at Full!) Another important point. You might assume that if you’ve examined a certain lunar feature in detail, it will look exactly the same at the next lunation (or phase). But in fact, due to the Moon’s complex orbital dynamics and libration (wobbling on its axis), it takes seven years before the very same lighting conditions repeat themselves!

–James Mullaney
Former assistant editor at Sky & Telescope magazine and author of seven books on stargazing.

Last year, the sky’s most spectacular planet and one of astronomy’s greatest icons — magnificent Saturn — “lost” its rings as seen in most telescopes. (See the March installment of Sky Talk.) And what bad timing, for 2009 was the International Year of Astronomy when millions of people around the world got their first look through a telescope only to see a ringless Saturn! But now the rings are returning to again thrill stargazers.

Twice during Saturn’s 30-year orbit of the Sun, its ultra-thin ring system (only 100 feet thick in most places!) passes through the plane of our view from the Earth, causing the planet to appear without rings. For much of last year the rings were tilted less than 3 degrees to our line of sight, making their visibility in small scopes difficult. At the time they actually went edge-on (when only the Hubble Space Telescope and the very largest of optical telescopes could have detected them) Saturn was in conjunction with the Sun and no longer visible. But now it’s well placed for viewing again in the southeastern sky on April evenings and rising higher each night.

Normally, the 35x eyepiece on the Scientifics 60mm refractor or the 30x one on the Astroscan 105mm wide-field reflector will show the rings when fully open. But right now, it will take a magnification of least 60x and a very steady night to reveal them. (In the case of the little 75mm commemorative FirstScope Dobsonian reflector (#31512-75) added to the Scientifics line last year, its 75x eyepiece will be needed.) What will be seen is not so much an actual ring around the planet but rather a luminous line extending from either side of its equator.

Saturn will remain visible in the evening sky into September, and as the year progresses its ring system will slowly open to our view. By the time the planet disappears into the evening twilight at Summer’s end, the rings will be inclined about 5 degrees to us (eventually reaching a maximum tilt of 32 degrees some seven years from now), and by then appear as a true ring rather than a line. It’s great fun watching this transition occur and seeing Saturn finally becoming the ringed world again that makes it so famous. Those readers fortunate enough to own one of the many fine larger instruments in the Scientifics line of telescopes will truly have a “ring-side” seat at this celestial unveiling!

When Galileo first viewed Saturn in 1610 with his optically primitive telescope he described it as looking like a triple planet or a cup with “handles.” But several years later when he saw it again, the handles has vanished! When he first viewed it, the rings were nearly wide open — but in the interim they had turned edgewise and completely disappeared, leaving him (understandably) quite perplexed. Had he continued his observations of the ringed planet longer, he would have had the honor (and thrill!) of discovering what was actually happening. As it was, that fell to the noted Dutch astronomer Huygens in 1665 using a much superior telescope to those of the Italian astronomer.

–James Mullaney
Former assistant editor at Sky & Telescope magazine and author of seven books on stargazing.

Stargazers are often referred to as “time-travelers.” This is because the more distant a celestial object the longer it takes for its light to reach us — ranging from minutes and hours in the case of viewing members of our Solar System to millions and even billions of years when it comes to looking at galaxies!

The March sky offers a great opportunity to “trip” through time (and space) using nothing more than the unaided eye and the Edmund Scientifics Star and Planet Locator as our guide. We’ll begin with some of the brighter stars, and then work our way outward to a couple of star clusters, a nebula and finally a galaxy. All are identified on the Locator itself, which should be set for around 8:00 p.m. local time. (A pair of binoculars or small telescope opens up a vast additional realm of targets, but for our purposes this month we’ll be concentrating on targets visible without optical aid.)

The brightest star in the entire sky — and one of the very closest — is blue-white Sirius in Canis Major. Its distance is 8.6 light-years, which means the light we see it by tonight left the star 8.6 years ago. Only a little further back in time at 11 light-years is crème-tinted Procyon in Canis Minor. Gazing at golden-yellow Capella in Auriga takes us back 42 years and rosy-topaz Aldebaran in Taurus 62 years. But for really big stellar time-jumps take a look at Orion’s two brightest stars — ruddy-orange Betelgeuse and blue-white Rigel. The light we see them by left these suns 520 and 770 years ago, respectively.

Viewing star clusters typically take us back thousands of years into the past, but there are three shown on the Locator that lie much closer in space and time. The Hyades are 130 light-years away and the famed Pleiades 375, both starry jewelboxes being located in Taurus, while the much dimmer Beehive Cluster in Cancer lies 590 light-years from us. To go further back in time, we must travel to the great Orion Nebula in Orion. It appears as a fuzzy-looking star in the sword hanging from the celestial hunter’s three belt stars. We are seeing light emitted by this stellar nursery 1,600 years ago and now just reaching us.

The biggest time-jump occurs when we turn to the galaxies, a handful of which are visible to the naked-eye. Brightest and most famous of these for Northern Hemisphere observers is the Andromeda Galaxy in the constellation of the same name. (But here just for the record, the grandest galaxy of them all is the one we live in — the magnificent Milky Way, shown on the Locator coursing diagonally across the March sky.) Best seen in the Fall and early Winter as an elongated pale glow, it’s located low above the northwestern horizon on early March evenings. When we view this remote star-city, we’re seeing the combined light of its some 500 billion suns which left there more than 2,400,000 years ago. Yes, stargazers truly are time-travelers as they look out at the wonders of the universe!

–James Mullaney
Former assistant editor at Sky & Telescope magazine and author of seven books on stargazing.

The vision of family and friends sitting around a campfire on a cold winter’s night with the stars brightly shining overhead conjures up fond memories for many who enjoy the outdoors at this time of year. Whether or not you’ve personally experienced this, the sky itself currently offers a celestial version of this charming scene for all starlovers to enjoy.

The evening sky after darkness falls this month contains the greatest concentration of bright colorful stars to be found anywhere. Known to most as the “Winter Circle Asterism” (or sometimes as the “Heavenly-G”), those of us more fancifully inclined prefer to see here instead a celestial campfire. To trace it out, begin by setting your Edmund Scientifics Star and Planet Locator (#30092-27) for 8 p.m. local time for mid-February (which also shows the way the sky looks at 9 p.m. the beginning of the month and at 7 p.m. at the end). Facing due south, you’ll be immediately dazzled by the radiant constellation Orion the Hunter standing astride the meridian.

Directly above Orion and positioned high overhead is the lovely golden sun Capella in the pentagon-shaped constellation Auriga the Charioteer. Proceeding counterclockwise, we come to the bluish-white star Castor and it slightly orange neighbor Pollux, both in the figure of Gemini the Twins. Continuing southward is yellowish-white Procyon in Canis Minor, the Small Dog, and below it the brightest star in the entire heavens — the dazzling blue-white diamond Sirius in Canis Major the Big Dog. Heading westward now we encounter another bright blue-white gem, Rigel in Orion. We complete the circle of those sitting around the campfire by heading northwest to the upper right of Orion, where we find orange Aldebaran set against the sparkling V-shaped glow of the big Hyades star cluster in Taurus.

Now only one thing is missing to complete this celestial imagery — the campfire itself! Sitting nearly smack-dab in the center of the circle is magnificent ruddy-orange Betelgeuse in Orion, appearing like some great glowing ember in the sky. So firelike does it appear that many stargazers swear they can feel its hot wind in their face on cold winter nights! In any case, looking at it definitely does bring a feeling of warmth, real or not.

In pointing out the hues of the various stars above, it should be mentioned that differences in their colors is primarily an indication of differences in temperature (not composition, as many believe). Hot stars are bluish-white and cool ones are ruddy, while those in between in temperature (like our own Sun) are yellow or orange. Thus, it’s actually possible to tell something of the physical nature of other stars simply by looking at them! And as J.D. Steele pointed out more than a century ago, “Every tint that blooms in the flowers of Summer flames out in the stars at night.”

A final word — you’ll find additional information about seven of the eight stars discussed above, including their distances, on the reverse side of the Star and Planet Locator. The exception is Castor, which technically is just below the cutoff for being a “first-magnitude” star. Its distance is 52 light-years from us.

–James Mullaney
Former assistant editor at Sky & Telescope magazine and author of seven books on stargazing.