It's Sputnik 1's 50th anniversary

As you gaze at the October night sky, soon after dark, you can see glints of light from a few of the thousands of man-made satellites currently in orbit. The Department of Defense tracks nearly 12,000 separate objects circling Earth.

With the launch of Sputnik 1, 50 years ago today, the Space Age began and we have never viewed the night skies as the same. Before, we could view a few hazy planets and many points of light, only to look at the night sky and wonder.

Since Sputnik, spacecraft have visited all eight planets, and we have launched numerous observatories, of which the Hubble Space Telescope is the best known. All of these pieces of equipment have revealed a universe that is more beautiful and fascinating than we ever could have imagined.

We now have a rough idea of what the planets and numerous moons really look like. We have seen truly wondrous sights in deep space and learned of the existence of more than 200 planets orbiting other stars. The exploration of our own solar system continues today. The Messenger spacecraft is on its way to Mercury, while the Dawn spacecraft is now headed for the asteroid Vesta and then the dwarf planet Ceres. Spacecraft New Horizon's destination is the dwarf planet Pluto. There are a number of continuing missions, as well as several others yet to be launched, that will further enable us to learn about this amazing universe in which we live.

— Rodney Ash, special to The Seattle Times

Rodney Ash is a member of Seattle Astronomical Society, www.seattleastro.org. Star Watch appears in Northwest Weekend the first Thursday of each month.