All About Space – Issue 22 2014

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WIN!
Aboard the gateway to deep space
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DEEP SPACE
|
SOLAR SYSTEM
|
EXPLORATION
What is
EARTH’S TOP 20
STARGAZING SITES
Where in the world to go to get
the best views of the cosmos
The groundbreaking experiment that
dares to question Einstein’s universe
OUR GALACTIC
BLACK HOLE
Discover the enormous powerhouse
at the core of the Milky Way
CARBON
WOR LDS
DRAGONFLY
SPACECRAFT
THE SUNJAMMER
GIANT SPACE
VOLCANO
20
SOLAR
SPACE
TOP SPACE
RAINBOW
Revealed: the Sun’s
invisible spectrum
RACER
Flying the world’s
biggest solar sail
QUESTIONS
ANSWERED
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Launch yourself into
the wonders of space
We’ve explored some
esoteric topics over the last
21 issues of
All About Space
magazine, including large
quasar groups, theoretical
stars and the cousin of our
cover feature this month,
dark matter. But dark energy
is a real stretch for scientists:
a study not of some
anomaly we have observed and don’t understand,
but of something we are yet to observe made
conspicuous by the gap it leaves in space and
by the things that we know it isn’t. Discovery
in astronomy is often a case of eliminating the
impossible to arrive at the truth, and the study of
dark energy epitomises this process.
We’re not going to leave you floating around in
some distant corner of the universe for too long,
though, as weird space science can tie the brain
in knots when you dwell on it for too long, so we
have a few more tangible topics to sink your teeth
into. The perfect antidote to the conundrum of
dark energy, our space answers feature gets a
panel of experts to explain the solutions to the
most pressing former space mysteries of recent
years. We’re also investigating the supermassive
black hole at the core of our galaxy (surely one
of everyone’s favourite subjects?), a beast of
a singularity that’s hit the news recently for
gobbling up a giant gas cloud.
And within the influence of our own planet,
Boeing director Michael Raftery fills us in on
the future of Solar System exploration with a
revolutionary concept that could see manned
orbital platforms around Mars and other planets
within our lifetime. Enjoy!
Crew roster
Jonathan O’Callaghan
Q
Jonny doesn’t
have all the
answers, but he
knew some clever
people who did, on
page 30
Gemma Lavender
Q
Two cover
features scored
and Gemma
is now on the
lookout for the
hat-trick
Shanna Freeman
Q
We got sucked
in by Shanna’s
fascinating
supermassive
black hole
feature on 62
“You can imagine an
outpost on Mars as
the next logical step”
Ben Biggs
Deputy Editor
Laura Mears
Michael Raftery, director of ISS Utilization
and Exploration at Boeing
Q
Laura wrote
about Olympus
Mons (we’ll spare
you another silly
pun)
Contact
www.spaceanswers.com
Visit us for up-to-date news and more
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LAUNCH
16
What is
PA D
YOUR FIRST CONTACT
WITH THE UNIVERSE
dark energy?
06
Some truly
jaw-dropping
photography and
incredible tales from the
spheres of space and
space exploration
FEATURES
16
What is
dark energy?
We speak to scientists about how the
Dark Energy Survey could change how
we think about the universe
58
Interview
Building the
Sunjammer
L·Garde president Nathan Barnes tells
us about his ambitions for a revolution
in solar sail spacecraft
26
Focus On
Solar rainbow
What the invisible and deadly
spectrum of the Sun tells us
60
FutureTech
Colossus
telescope
Inside the world’s biggest telescope
and its extraterrestrial search
28
FutureTech
Project
Dragonfly
The laser sail technology that could
propel us into outer space
62
All About
O u r g a l a c t i c
black hole
Discover the supermassive singularity
that lurks at the core of the Milky Way
30
20 top space
questions
answered
Your 20 most pressing questions about
space answered by an expert panel
46
70
Focus On
ALMA from
above
The folk at ALMA get up to some cool
things in their play-time…
Deep space
exploration
42
5 Cool Facts
Carbon worlds
The strange exoplanets with diamond-
spouting volcanoes on the surface
44
Giant space
volcano
Tour the fascinating landscape of the
tallest peak in the Solar System
WIN!
96
46
Deep space
exploration
How we could expand and conquer
the Solar System using an exploration
platform around the Moon
BINOCULARS
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£300
56
The Sunjammer
Find out about the world’s biggest
solar sail, due to launch this year
4
www.spaceanswers.com
“We can deploy and steer a solar sail
that’s larger than any ever flown”
58
74
Your questions
answered
An expert panel in this
astronomy special
Nathan Barnes,
L·Garde president
60
Colossus
STARGAZER
telescope
Kick-start your star-watching
hobby with these basics
80
20 greatest
stargazing sites
Take a tour of the most inspirational
certified dark sky sites on Earth
84
What’s in the sky?
See what to look out for this month
86
How to keep a
stargazing logbook
We show you how to record and learn
from your night sky observations
88
Me and my
telescope
Check out the array of incredible shots
from All About Space readers
93
Astronomy kit
reviews
This month: an astrophotography
telescope and our regular kit roundup
62
All About… our
galactic black hole
98
Heroes
of Space
James E Webb, the legend
who inspired the telescope
30
Visit the
All About Space
online shop at
20 top
space
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