SUNSET: 
Russian Space Observatory Launches
Russia's Mikhailo Lomonosov observatory takes to the skies on the hunt for gamma-ray bursts, cosmic rays, and near-Earth asteroids.
Tour May's Sky: Jupiter Leads the Way
Sky & Telescope's astronomy podcast takes you on a guided tour of the night sky. Watch for Mars and Saturn near Scorpius before dawn and Jupiter near Leo after sunset.
A Moon for Kuiper Belt's Makemake
Astronomers have been searching for companions to the distant dwarf planet Makemake for years. Finally, they've spotted one.
Milky Way's New Neighbor: A Giant Dwarf
Astronomers have discovered a “feeble giant”: one of the largest dwarf galaxies ever seen around the Milky Way.
Recovery Attempts End for Hitomi X-ray Satellite
The Japanese space agency JAXA has released a timeline covering the Hitomi space observatory's failure last month. Salvage efforts continue but recovery appears unlikely.
Speedy Stars Weigh Milky Way’s Dark Matter Halo
It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s a . . . pair of hypervelocity stars? The surprising stellar duo may place constraints on the mass of our galaxy’s unseen dark matter halo.
NASA's Kepler Spacecraft Recovered from Emergency Mode
The Kepler team unexpectedly found the planet-hunting spacecraft in emergency mode on April 7th, but with the spacecraft recovered, hopes are high that its newest search, this time for rogue planets, is still on. Read on to see how amateur observations can help!
Did Fermi Detect LIGO’s Merging Black Holes?
NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope might have detected a burst from the same merging black holes that emitted the gravitational waves LIGO detected.
Dark Dwarf Galaxy Discovered
Astronomers using the ALMA array of radio dishes have detected a dwarf galaxy 4 billion light-years away by the pull of its dark matter.
Introducing Sky & Telescope’s Celestial Globe
Our state-of-the-art representation of the entire celestial sphere lets you explore the stars above as never before.
Saturn Moons Could Be Young
Planetary scientists have increasing reasons to think that some of the ringed giant’s moons are only 100 million years old.
How to Spot Mercury in the Evening Sky
If you've never seen the fleet-footed planet Mercury, now is a great time to look for it in the evening sky after sunset.
Get Ready for May 9th's Transit of Mercury
It doesn't happen often, but soon you'll be able to "spot the spot" — Mercury's silhouette — as the innermost planet crosses the Sun's disk.
At the 25th Northeast Astronomy Forum
The editors of Sky & Telescope made our annual pilgrimage to last weekend’s Northeast Astronomy Forum. Here are our tales of the voyage to Pluto, the newest gadgets, and encouraging encounters with readers.
$100 Million for Fast Probes to Alpha Centauri. Yes, Really.
Yuri Milner commits $100 million to Breakthrough Starshot, a research and development project toward sending interstellar nanoprobes to Alpha Centauri.
Celebrate Global Astronomy Month
Join the world’s largest celebration of astronomy — in person or via online webcasts of events — throughout April.
Long-Ago Supernovae Littered Earth
Roughly 2 million years ago, as the human ancestor homo erectus was descending from the trees, two supernovae exploded nearby and showered Earth with debris.
Up, Up, and Away with Comet 252P
With the Moon finally put to bed and Comet 252P still bright, there's no better time than now to see it. Nearby Mars and Saturn only sweeten the deal.
Crescent Moon To Cover Aldebaran
On Sunday afternoon, April 10th, you'll see the waxing crescent Moon hanging high in a sunny blue sky if the weather is as good as we hope it'll be. Look with a telescope from nearly anywhere in North America, and you can find something else too. Somewhere in the Moon's…
Navy Resumes Celestial Navigation Course
Modern security threats have brought back an old method — celestial navigation — to help U.S. Navy sailors navigate the high seas.
