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Exoplanet Atmospheres, Meteor Showers, and Planetary Photometry
In the December 2024 issue of Sky & Telescope, you’ll learn how astronomers are going back to the drawing board and rethinking how we model exoplanet atmospheres using new data from the James Webb Space Telescope. While JWST gathers spectra of distant worlds, you can help scientists by measuring the light coming from the planets in our solar system. What’s more, you can do it using astrophotography equipment you may already own. Even if you don’t own a camera, you’ll find loads of observing guides in this month’s issue, including a galaxy hunt around the North Star. No telescope either? You won’t need one to enjoy the glimmering Geminid meteor shower. Find out what the tiny but flashy bits of dust from this and other meteor showers can share about the comets and asteroids they came from.
FEATURE ARTICLES:
Shooting stars are more than a spectacle – they give us unique insights into the comets and asteroids they come from.
By Quanzhi Ye
The 150th Anniversary of a Transit of Venus
A cast of colorful characters attempted to nail down one of astronomy’s most important yardsticks.
By William Sheehan
Galaxy-Hopping the Polar North
Grab your biggest scope and aim north.
By Ted Forte
To make sense of exoplanet spectra from the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers’ toolkits need a major upgrade.
By Shannon Hall
Planetary Photometry: Color as Information
How to get more science out of your solar system images
By Christophe Pellier
Beyond the Printed Page:
Watch the oldest “motion picture” ever recorded.
Try your hand at the Astronomical League’s Flat Galaxies Observing Program.
Read the American Association of Variable Star Observers’ guide to CCD/CMOS photometry.
Use our app to locate the Galilean Moons for any date or time.
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
The Circlet of Pisces changes form depending on how you look at it.
By Stephen James O’Meara
It’s opposition time once again for the solar system’s most dynamic planet.
By Bob King
Does this lunar region contain a forgotten basin?
By Charles A. Wood
Holiday Gadgets for Astrophotographers
Get your credit card warmed up – it’s goodie-buying season!
By Richard S. Wright, Jr.
Table of Contents
See what else December’s issue has to offer.
Comments
October 20, 2024 at 11:20 am
Get your credit card warmed up – it’s goodie-buying season!
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Larry McHenry
November 22, 2024 at 3:52 pm
Re: "150 Anniversary of a Transit of Venus" by William Sheehan.
Hi, just wanted to let you know that I really enjoyed reading the Venus Transit article in the December Issue.
I always look forward to articles that have a historical slant.
This story in particular brought back memories of my successful personal observations of both the 2004 & 2012 Venus Transits. Like the astronomers of the 18th & 19th century, I also experienced the "black-drop" effect with my analog video-astronomy equipment.
While it was Halley's urging that initiated the world-wide scramble to observe the transits, the very first recorded transit was actually observed by a young 20 year-old British amateur astronomer and minister named Jeremiah Horrocks and a fellow astronomer friend William Crabtree on December 4th, 1639.
After the transit, the two men exchanged letters containing info on their observations. It was a good thing that they did, as before Horrocks could write up an
official report of the transit, he fell ill and died suddenly. None of his records survived. A few years later, Crabtree died fighting in the English Civil War.
Crabtree’s letters & records from Horrocks didn’t nearly survive the war either. But fortunately, enough were saved that we even know of Horrocks and Crabtree’s historic 1st observation of a Venus Transit!
Larry McHenry
Pittsburgh, Pa.
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