
Open Cluster Exoplanets, Globular Cluster Formation, and Shooting Star Clusters
The July 2021 issue of Sky & Telescope is absolutely sparkling with star clusters. We’re taking a deep dive into these glittering showpieces with guides on observing and photographing the best clusters summer has to offer. Plus, we peek into their histories and the planets hiding deep inside open clusters. This issue also has several observing challenges for fans of Saturn and Pluto. And if all these sparklers aren’t enough, we’re also looking 40 years ahead to Comet Halley’s next appearance.
FEATURE ARTICLES:
A combination of observations and simulations is upending our ideas about how globular clusters formed.
By J. M. Diederik Kruijssen
Worlds found in open clusters are giving astronomers a unique perspective on how planetary systems come to look the way they do.
By Greg Bryant
Target these glittering star clusters year-round — they look great even through moonlight.
By Ron Brecher
Spend some time sifting through this collection of favorites during July’s warmer evenings.
By Alan Whitman
Halley’s Comet: A Look Back and Ahead
Last summer’s surprise Comet NEOWISE echoed the return of the most famous “dirty snowball” of all.
By Joe Rao
Beyond the Printed Page:
Listen to audio recordings from NASA’s Perseverance rover.
Read about how astronomers determined that 99942 Apophis will not collide with Earth in 2068.
Learn all about the histories of thousands of NGC and IC objects.
Find out more about the 1,004 main-sequence stars that could spot Earth transiting the Sun.
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
The Path from Arcturus to Vega
Let two of the season’s brightest stars guide you to evening delights.
By Fred Schaaf
Trek into eastern Sagittarius to locate this remote dwarf planet.
By Bob King
Try to spot these elusive features in Saturn’s rings.
By Thomas A. Dobbins
One part of Scutum succumbs to light pollution; another holds up just fine.
By Ken Hewitt-White
Table of Contents
See what else July's issue has to offer.
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