From the October 2007 issue

Glenn Chaple’s observing basics: Happy birthday to the first satellite

October 2007: Fifty years ago, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik and initiated a new breed of items for skywatchers to observe.
By | Published: October 1, 2007
On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik I, the world’s first artificial satellite. For the first time in history, earthlings could gaze upward and see a man-made object drifting serenely among the stars.