Cosmic Fireball Falling Over ALMA
Cosmic fireball falling over Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, ALMA (ESO)

November/December 2014 Issue

In this issue: Good year for the Geminids, lunar name game, Mount Carleton Park, Arctic telescope and great gear.

Buy a digital copy of the November/December 2014 issue.

Product Review: Sigma 50mm f/1.4 Art Series Lens

Is this the best 50mm lens ever made? Sigma’s new lens is targeted for enthusiasts and professional photographers, but astrophotographers, in particular, will appreciate some of its exceptional capabilities. Terence Dickinson

Good Year For the Geminids

We were cheated out of the special Comet LINEAR meteors in May, and the bright Moon hid the annual Perseids in August, but in December, the Geminid meteors shoot across the sky on a mostly moonless Saturday night. Alan Dyer

The Lunar Name Game

Who was Clavius, and why is one of the biggest craters on the Moon named after him? Not surprisingly, the answer to that question has a tangled history. Gary Seronik

Starfest Shines Again

A superb keynote speaker and mostly clear skies marked another success for Canada’s largest annual star party. Terence Dickinson

Product Review: A Versatile New Tracking Mount

With the introduction of Sky-Watcher’s Star Adventurer system, the growing selection of portable tracking mounts just got bigger and more interesting. Alan Dyer

Teacher’s Pest

Many years ago, I was an average high school student whose most memorable scholastic achievement was getting kicked out of English class. I blame it on a man named Jastrow. Ken Hewitt-White

Wilderness Astronomer: Mount Carleton Provincial Park

New Brunswick’s hidden gem may be the darkest accessible observing site in the Maritimes. Peter McMahon

Sightseeing in Northern Perseus

An indirect route from the bright star Mirfak to the famous Double Cluster offers several small targets that backyard astronomers might otherwise miss. Ken Hewitt-White

Arctic Telescope

A world-class astronomical observatory in Canada’s Far North may be a logical step for later this century. Ivan Semeniuk

Constellation Corner: Taurus

When the snow flies, a gang of celestial strongmen populates our sky in the figures of Hercules, Perseus, Auriga, Gemini and Orion. To that list, add Taurus the bull. Ken Hewitt-White

And more!