One
of the most inspiring sights available to amateur astronomers is the
planet Saturn, especially when the rings are opened to their widest
angle. Along with most views of this strange world comes the smaller
pinprick of light known as Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, and second
largest moon in the solar system. It is half as big again as Earth’s
moon. Titan is often referred to as a planetary moon, and has proven
itself to have one of the most interesting surfaces in the solar
system, mainly thanks to the Cassini mission, which began mapping
Titan in 2004.
Five
years before this, in 1999, Hal Clement’s novel Half-Life
was published. Hal Clement (real name Harry Clement Stubbs,
1922-2003) was a hard science fiction writer who really focused on
the science angle, and the methods used to gain answers to puzzling
questions. The novel details an expedition from Earth to study the
atmosphere and surface of Titan, searching for biochemical clues as
to why humans are rapidly going extinct. The expedition consists of
23 scientists, men and women, and all of them quite ill, and we
follow their means and methods used to search for answers. While an
amateur telescope won’t reveal too much about the surface of Titan,
Clement’s novel will, and the book will likely increase your
interest greatly in this alien world. Of course in 1999 we knew far
less about Titan than we do now, but this only makes the novel even
more fascinating, as Clement uses every little known scrap of
contemporary information about the moon in his book. Reading Clement
is almost like reading transcripts from an actual space expedition to
Titan, and I’m certain many astronomy enthusiasts, especially those with
sturdy science backgrounds, would find his work fascinating. Clement
earned a degree in astronomy from Harvard, and went on to earn an M.
Ed from Boston, and later an M. S. in chemistry from Simmons.
Not
only is he a well educated man, but he is also a master writer,
earning the Grand Master title from the Science Fiction Writers of
America in 1999, the same year Half-Life was published (the
author would have been 77). And if this was the only great book he
had written, he would still deserve the title. However, though
Half-Life contains no aliens, many of his books do. The way
humans and aliens interact in his stories, searching for answers to
scientific puzzles, is equally fascinating. Some of his best early
writing concerns the planet Mesklin, with its eccentric orbit and
even more eccentric inhabitants. Even Clement’s fictional planets
have strong basis in science fact, and the way he explores them and
attempts to solve their mysteries seems to invite readers along for
the ride. Here are a few more titles by Clement that I highly
recommend, though it is by no means his entire list. Many of these
titles are available on Kindle, and will likely be read by the
purchaser more than once.
Mission
of Gravity (serialized beginning in 1950)
Iceworld
(1951)
Cycle
of Fire (1957)
Close
to Critical (1958)
Still
River (1987)
Half-Life
(1999)
Messier
of the Moment: M 5, in Serpens Caput
NGC
5904 is one of the finest globular clusters in the sky, and it is
quite suitable for smaller apertures. My first view was July 19th,
1985, when I saw it from Lake Penage, west of Sudbury. I was using
my 8” Edmund scope, for which I had made stops of 4” and 6”.
Even at 4” of aperture I was able to resolve some stars, though not
in the central region. At 72x about 10 stars were winking in and
out. Moving up to 6” of aperture, the center now becomes intensely
bright. 56X gave good resolution, but again only in the outer haze.
At 112x the center was hinting at breaking up, and star patterns
began emerging around it. At full aperture, resolution was good even
at 36x. At 112x stars begin to finally flicker in the central area.
The core is literally blazing now, and streams and spirals of stars
surround it. The core showed irregularity at 169x, and at 254x
fainter stars to the core can be glimpsed. A very small “inner”
inner core can now be seen.
Jump
to May 20th, 2020, from a dark site in Kent County, using
a 12” scope. While Messier 5 is a rewarding object for a 6” and
8” mirror, in a 12” scope it can be a bit overwhelming. At 60x
the cluster is very large, and there is already good resolution from
the core outwards to the limiting edges. At 100x the brilliant core
is breaking up, with even more stars seen closer to it. Brighter
stars seem to circle the core. At 136x and 187x (the best viewing
range, in my opinion) uncountable resolving stars seem to resemble a
face-on spiral galaxy that is resolving along its winding arms.
Other viewers have also commented on this effect.
At
272x the core appears to thrust upward towards the viewer, giving the
impression of viewing a snow-covered volcanic cone from directly
above. This is a truly wondrous object for amateur telescopes!
Optimum viewing time is 10 pm July 3rd, though it is still
high enough several weeks before and after to make a journey there
worthwhile.
Messier
5: Size 23’; Visual mag. 5.7; Brightest star mag. 12.2
Mapman Mike
Mapman Mike
