July-August 2012

Contents

Features
9. CloudWatch, Terry Holmes
14. ISS in transit, Dave Eagle
23. Drifting on the river of light, Martin Griffiths
47. SPA Diamond Jubilee 2013, Derek Ward-Thompson

Regulars
4. Past Pages, Peter Grego
Cosmic conundrums
5. AstroNews The coolest star around / Snagging planetary rogues Arsenic and old space Amateur astronomers boost ESA’s asteroid hunt
12. Amateur Scene, Peter Wade
Stories of the stars / March fireball lights up sky Rømer’s speed of light evaluation revisited / Success for Liverpool’s Young Astronomers
16. Telescope Topics, Ian Morison
Image contrast 2: Micro contrast
19. Space Exploration, Peter Grego
Juno images the Plough / Mysterious mini-jets in Saturn’s F ring / Gale awaits Curiosity Curiosity’s mission incredible / Mars Science Laboratory hits the dunes
27. Young Stargazers, George Ford & Ezzy Pearson
Famous Astronomers: Richard Carrington, David Scanlan
Did you know? / Jargon buster Thinking big, Elizabeth Pearson
Observing challenge—Scorpius Robin Scagell
31. Reviews The Practical Skywatcher’s Handbook / An Introduction to Stellar Astrophysics Weird Astronomy / Classic Review: Under an English Heaven
33. Letters Music of the spheres / Reel astronomy / Hardyart / S@N@55 / Expert opinion Lament of the Moon / Something to crow about / Passion for planets Sky Scout / Come to the SPA meeting on 21 July—Robotic Astronomy in the 21st Century
36. Section Reports An amazing fireball / Blistering basalt Get set for Jupiter occultation AR1429 dominates first half of March Distant galaxies and supernovae Planetary roundup from new director
42. The Society Pages Meeting report, 28 April: Going out with a Whoop! Julie Gould
Helping the SPA / SPA meetings to come
44. Deep Sky Notes, Dale Holt
Having fun with Flipper
45. Sky Diary, Peter Grego
Lunar occultations, Mell Jeffrey
Meteor notes, Tony Markham
46. SPA Contacts