SUNSET: 
Little Scope Makes Big Finds
Scientists using the diminutive KELT North telescope have discovered two extrasolar planets, one of which is unlike anything yet seen. The finding provides researchers with raw material to study exoplanets, but it also demonstrates that sometimes, the little guys can still win big.
Titan's Tropical "Oases"
With a surface temperature hundreds of degrees below zero, Saturn's biggest moon is hardly a vacation paradise. But new Cassini results suggest that future visitors might be able to splash around in some liquid-methane lakes near Titan's equator.
Green Light for Largest-ever Telescope
It's hard to imagine a telescope with a primary mirror as tall as a 13-story building. But that's just what European astronomers are hoping to build now that the E-ELT project has been approved.
The Universe’s Lost Lithium
Astronomers are still struggling with a 30-year-old mystery that puts modern cosmology in a head-to-head clash with stellar observations. A new study may make the problem even worse.
Possible Occultation by Pluto Tonight (June 13-14)
Both Pluto and the star are 14th magnitude, but observers with big telescopes and sufficient video capability should try to record this important event.
X-ray Telescope Launches Successfully
NuSTAR, the first telescope to focus high-energy X-rays, launched today after 20 years of planning.
All-Sky Survey Sees Millions of Stars
A collaboration between professional and amateur astronomers is producing a careful map of stellar brightnesses and colors across the entire night sky. The survey should fill a hole that sometimes hampers quick, accurate measurements of events such as supernovae.
Small Planets’ Evolutionary Edge
The discovery that planets can form around a variety of stars — and not just specific types, as previously thought — might open the floodgates on the search for habitable worlds in the galaxy.
Starstruck: The Fine Art of Astrophotography
A large astrophotography exhibit opens at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Failed Stars Oddly Rare
Astronomers hunting for brown dwarfs in our solar neighborhood have been thrown a surprise: these star wannabes are far less common than previously thought.
NASA’s New Spy Scopes
Out of the blue, NASA finds itself the new owner of two new Hubble-class space telescopes sitting in a warehouse, courtesy of a spy agency that didn't want them. But like many gifts, they aren't exactly free.
M31 to Hit Milky Way Head-On
If anyone's still around 4 billion years from now, they'll have a ringside seat for a true clash of titans, as the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies smash into each other and merge.
2012 Venus Transit: S&T Reports
Clouds, veering cabbies, and old optics didn’t deter committed spectators of this last-chance astronomical event.
ALMA Coming Together
As one of the world's greatest new telescopes takes shape, preliminary results impress.
Transits of Venus in History: 1769-today
Read the third and final chapter of transits of Venus in history, as the transits went from being a crucial scientific measurement to an observing curiosity.
Transits of Venus in History: 1631-1716
Read the full account — in three parts — of the history behind the upcoming transit of Venus.
Transits of Venus in History: 1761
Read the next chapter in the history of the transit of Venus, the fantastic voyages in 1761.
Closure Nears for Two Observatories
Although not a total surprise, a decision announced on May 31st by the United Kingdom's Science and Technology Facilities Council means that two long-time residents of Mauna Kea's observatory complex might soon be shut down.
The "Exoplanet" Venus
Observing the Transit of Venus won’t be just a memorable experience. Astronomers hope the event will help them understand alien worlds around other stars, too.
Tour July's Sky! | May 30th, 2012
This month, you can see a pair of planets before sunrise and another pair after sunset. In each case, one of them is situated near a bright star.
