Man's Dream of Worlds Seen

Man’s Dream of Worlds Seen

Carl Sagan and John Clark are a team

A very unusual team indeed – scientist Sagan and artist Clark working together to open the complex vistas of the universe. Kip Thorne’s black holes are mathematical concepts at best. But teamed with Adolf Schaller, artistic translation gives full color substance and form to formulae. The result? Cosmic portraits: man’s dream of worlds unseen.

Three years ago Astronomy magazine established a hallmark of beauty and readership intimacy seldom found today. And each month since then it has followed through with full color paintings and photographs, clear and pictorial writings, inviting layout and design, uncompromised printing quality… care and commitment to you the subscriber. Astronomy makes the universe appealing. It transforms alienating theory to inviting, entertaining discovery.

Join 52,000 Astronomy magazine subscribers to discover the excitement of space and astronomy with Fred Whipple (comets), Joseph Veverka (Mars), Gerrit Verschuur (radio astronomy), David Morrison and Michael Ovenden (asteroids), George Abell (galaxies), William Hartmann (Saturn), Thomas Easton (life on Mars), Jay Pasachoff (Sun), Frank Drake (neutron stars)… scientists of worlds unseen.

A Stellar Girl. Illustration by Megan Jorgensen

Astronomy’s monthly departments guide you to astrophotography with cameras you probably already own – to the use of telescopic equipment – to location and observation of planets, constellations, asteroids, comets, galaxies, , double stars, star clusters… to all the cosmic beauty awaiting your personal discovery.

Book reviews guide your astronomy reading and Astro-News keeps pace with the latest discoveries , research and findings… brought to you while they are still news.

History of American Astronomy

And now, Astronomy proudly presents a very special bicentennial celebration issue entirely devoted to the evolution of astronomy in the United States.

This exciting full color epic takes you from the prehistoric astronomy practiced by indigenous Americans, to the birth of astrophysics and development of astrophotography, through 20th century American astronomy – the discovery of quasars, pulsars, black holes – and the start of our nation’s third century, “Toward Man’s Dream of Worlds Unseen”.

Noted authors – Van Del Chamberlain (Smithsonian Institution), Trudy E. Bell (Scientific American editor), Richard Berendzen (American University, Washington, D.C.), Michael Mendillo (Boston University), and David DeVorkin (Central Connecticut State College) – unfold the history of American astronomy with drama and refreshing writing style.

Full color reproductions of American astronomical art from the 1800s, antique brass telescopes and instruments, portraits of famous American astronomers and color sky photographs from leading observatories across the country, are interspersed with equally historic wood cuts and the first astrophotographs of the sun, moon and Milky Way.

We invite you to join us as a subscriber and receive the July 1976 “History of American Astronomy” issue as a portion of your subscription.

Collect Astronomy treasure this and every issue of “The World’s Most Beautiful Astronomy Magazine”. No other magazine of space and astronomy has ever been able to make so great a claim – and keep its word.

American Bicentennial Subscription offer

Subscribe to Astronomy Magazine for $12.00 and save $5.50 off the regular newsstand price of $16.50 for 11 copies. We’ll bill you later. After you pay your bill you will receive as the 12th copy of your subscription the July “History of American Astronomy” issue at the paid subscriber price of only $1.00 – you save $2.50 off this copy alone. Your total savings on this 12 issue American Bicentennial Subscription offer is $8.00 (40%) off the single copy newsstand price.

Astronomy Magazine. The World’s Most Beautiful Astronomy Magazine. Established August 1973. Published monthly by Astro-Media Corp., 411 E. Mason St., 6th Floor, Milwaukee, WI 53202. Per year subscription: Canada/Mexico, $15. Other Foreign, #18. Offer expires December 31, 1976.

H-II Regions: The Red Nebulae

H-II Regions: The Red Nebulae

Most gaseous nebulae are glowing clouds of hydrogen gas excited by hot stars. These hot stars are young, bright and blue, and emit copious quantities of ultraviolet light. The ultraviolet light ionizes atoms in the surrounding gas; that is, it violently strips electrons from their parent hydrogen atoms, giving rise to a gas in which electrons and protons move freely about. Volumes where this has happened are known as H-II regions, or “gasbags”.

The liberated electrons can recombine with the protons to re-form hydrogen atoms; as they do so, they free themselves of excess energy by emitting light. But unlike the ultraviolet light that gave the electrons the energy to break from their parent atoms, this light from the recombination is at a series of special wavelengths. Astronomers call these wavelengths H-alpha, H-beta, H-gamma, etc. The process of re-emission of light at a different wavelength is called fluorescence, and in many ways a gaseous nebula is similar to a fluorescent light. The H-alpha line is the brightest emission line of gaseous nebulae and accounts for their characteristic red color. However, the nebular also glow in H-beta at 486nm, with a blue line; if you can find a suitable filter, it should be possible to take H-beta photographs. But because this line if far weaker, much longer exposures would be needed.

Lagoon Nebula. Photo: Bob’s Color Astrophotos

Astronomers are interested in H-II regions not only because they make pretty pictures, but because in many cases they are regions in which stars have recently formed. The complexes of nebulosity and young stars associated with the belt and sword of Orion are being studied intensively to learn about the process of star formation.

Other H-II regions are an entirely different kind of object – the expanding remnants of a supernova explosion. Here the energy to ionize the hydrogen debris from the supernova comes from its collision with interstellar gas and dust. Examples of this type of object are the Cygnus loop nebula and IC-443.

The nebulae are distributed in the plane of the Milky Way for the simple reason that the young stars and explosions which illuminate the nebulae are mostly in the plane of the Milky Way. A few nebulae, such as Zeta Ophiuchi, appear to be rather far from the plane, but this is because they are nearby. Young stars are formed mostly in the spiral arms of our galaxy, so it is not surprising that most of the H-II regions are also found in spiral arms; in fact, astronomers have used H-II regions to map the spiral arms near the sun. It appears there are at least three distinct arms in the sun’s neighbourhood. When you look toward the North America nebula, you are looking along the Cygnus arm which extends past the sun and connects with the stars of Orion. Looking toward the center of the Galaxy, you see an arm inside the Cygnus arm – the Sagittarius arm. There also appears to be an arm farther out than the Cygnus arm, called the Perseus arm.

(By John Davis, William Tobin and Joel Eaton, Astronomy Magazine, August 1976)

Royal Astronomical Society of Canada

Royal Astronomical Society of Canada

Toronto Center

The earliest Canadian Astronomical Society of which we have and record was the Toronto Astronomical Club. It came into being at a meeting held on December 1, 1868, in what was then the Mechanic’s Institute on the north-east corner of Adelaide and Church Streets. Eight members were present, among them Andrew Elvins, a tailor from England, whose great energy and enthusiasm did much to keep the Club alive. Subsequent meetings were held at intervals in the homes of members, where much time was spent in making or discussing observations of objects in the sky.

In 1890 the Club had its name changed to the Astronomical and Physical Society of Toronto and, ten years later, to the Toronto Astronomical Society. As a result of its activity, especially in the field of making observations, smaller astronomical societies came into existence at Meaford, Simcoe, and other places in Ontario. In 1902, when 37 of its 102 members lived outside Toronto, it was decided the name of the Society suggested too local an outlook. The Council therefore had the name changed to the Astronomical Society of Canada, and took immediate steps to obtain permission to use the prefix “Royal”.

252 College Street, Toronto. Photo: Elena

The Society received its Royal Charter in 1903. Since then its activities have widened and grown in importance, and it now has over 2,000 members, many of whom live outside Canada. Membership is open to anyone interested in astronomy. Members receive a bi-monthly Journal and the annual Observer’s Handbook. Further information may be obtained from the Society’s National Office at 252 College Street, Toronto 2b, where the Society’s library also is located.

The Toronto Centre is one of the 16 astronomical centers distributed across Canada. It holds regular meetings and arranges observing and telescope-making sessions. The meetings and telescope-making sessions are held in the McLaughlin Planetarium.

(Text published in 1976).

Astronomy in Toronto

Astronomy in Toronto

The graduate Department of Astronomy was established at the University of Toronto in 1904. It owed its inception and early success to the efforts of C.A. Chant, then a lecturer in the Department of Physics, and a keen supporter of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. Chant emphasized the importance of astronomy as a cultural subject in education and as a training for the advanced student of physics or mathematics. He also stressed the need for a well-equipped astronomical observatory. But for many years he had to be content with telescopes of moderate size which could be trundled on the lawn of University College or used on the roof of the Psychics building.

One of Chant’s ambitions was to secure for the University a large telescope and observatory. His dream became a reality in 1935 when Mrs. Jessie Dunlap presented the David Dunlap Observatory to the University as a memorial to her husband.

The Dunlap Observatory is 15 miles north of Toronto. The main instrument, a 74-inch reflecting telescope housed beneath a 61-foot dome, is used for astronomical research, the training of advanced students at the University, and the fostering of public interest in astronomy. It is supplemented by a 24-inch reflector, a 19-inch reflector, and a six-inch refractor in the Administration building nearby, and by several radio telescopes to the east of the building.

Dunlap Observatory Today. Photo : Zvi Kaplan

The Observatory is open to the public on Wednesdays throughout the year from 2.00 p.m. to 3.00 p.m., and also (by special arrangement) at certain times on Saturday evenings from April 1st to October 31st. When the weather permits astronomical objects may be viewed through the 74-inch telescope on Saturday evenings. Intending visitors must make reservations in advance by mail or telephone.

The Department of Astronomy is located at the top of the physics Tower of the McLennan Laboratories at the University of Toronto. It offers a program of study and research leading to M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees is astronomy to students who have a solid background in physics and mathematics. Beginning graduate students have access to a 16-inch reflector and an eight-inch refractor, both of modern design. Those undertaking research in radio astronomy have access to the 150-foot radio telescope at the Algonquin Radio Observatory, located at Lake Traverse in Algonquin Provincial Park.

Information about requirements for admission, assistantships, and programs of study and research can be obtained by writing to the Graduate Department of Astronomy, Physics Tower, University of Toronto, Toronto 5.

(David Dunlap Observatory and Department of Astronomy, University of Toronto.Text published in 1976)

Henry C. King

Henry C. King

Dr. Henry C. King, Curator of the McLaughlin Planetarium, Royal Ontario Museum, was born in London, England, in 1915 and educated at Sir William Borlase Grammar School, Marlow, Buckinghamshire. His interest in astronomy began at the age of 13 when his father presented him with a copy of Sir Robert Ball’s book, “The Story of the Heavens”. Not content with looking at the night sky with the unaided eye, he studied optics, obtained some lenses from an optician friend, and made the first of several telescopes. These instruments, although small and imperfect, revealed so many wonders that astronomy become a compelling interest.

In 1932 the family moved to Slough, once the scene of the work of Sir William Herschel, discoverer of the planet Uranus and a pioneer in the study of the structure of the heavens. A tentative approach to Lady Constance Lubbock, grand-daughter of the great astronomer, was received with warmth and sympathy, and the Herschel library, with its wealth of books, papers, and letters, was put at his disposal.

Dr. King’s Book of Astronomy

Dr. King realised that he could make no real progress in astronomy without acquiring some formal training in science. He therefore took his degree in astronomy and mathematics at the University of London, and proceeded to the degrees of M.Sc. and Ph.D. in the history and philosophy of science.

Finding that astronomy had little to offer him by way of a profession, he held positions in industry and teaching. He specialised in optometry and for seven years was senior lecturer in applied optics at the Northampton College of Advanced Technology (now the City University), London.

Just before World War II he settled down in Slough, near Observatory House, the home of the Herschel family. There he built his own observatory and concentrated on telescope-making and the regular observation of variable stars. In spite of these activities and his business commitments, he maintained a steady flow of articles, papers, and books on optics, astronomy, and the history of science. As an author he is best known for The History of the Telescope (1955), Exploration of the Universe (1964), and Pictorial Guide to the Stars (1966). In 1958 Dr. King was appointed scientific director of the London Planetarium, the first project of its kind in the United Kingdom. Through his efforts and those of a loyal staff of lecturers, the London Planetarium did much to promote a general interest in astronomy in southern England. During this period, he served first as President and then as Papers Secretary of the British Astronomical Association. He was appointed Curator of the McLaughlin Planetarium in September, 1966.

In 1958 Dr. King was appointed scientific director of the London Planetarium, the first project of its kind in the united Kingdom. Through his efforts and those of a loyal staff of lecturers, the London Planetarium did much to promote a general interest in astronomy in southern England. During this period, he served first as President and then as Papers Secretary of the British Astronomical Association. He was appointed Curator of the McLaughlin Planetarium in September, 1966.

(This text was first published in 1976. It has only an historic value).