9th September 1892 Amalthea, a moon of Jupiter, is discovered by Edward Emerson Barnard using the 36 inch (91 cm) refractor telescope at Lick Observatory. It was the last natural satellite in the solar system to be discovered by direct visual observation, all later moons were discovered by photographic or digital imaging. It was also the first new satellite of Jupiter to be discovered since Galileo’s discovery of the Galilean moons in 1610. Amalthea is irregularly shaped with

Andrew Wood is an amateur astronomer and member of Sydney City Skywatchers. He has spent much of covid outside at night on Dharawal Country observing the stars and planets through his telescopes. He has also been re-examining observations made over the past few years with some interesting results and advice well worth sharing. Introduction Beyond our solar system, in which we can make observations of the Sun, Moon, planets, asteroids and comets; lies the rest of the universe:

This month . . . Artificial Satellites. From the launch of Sputnik which lead to the start of the Space Race between the Soviet Union and USA artificial satellites play an important part of our life. Unlike natural satellites such as the Moon which orbit the Earth, artificial satellites are human-made and are deliberately sent into orbit in space. The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest artificial satellite currently orbiting Earth. The oldest artificial