SUNSET: 
Comet Garradd Stays the Course
Comet Garradd (C/2009 P1) was closest to Earth in early March. So the moonless period in mid-March is your best remaining chance to view this remarkable comet, which is now conveniently placed in the evening sky.
The Spin's the Thing
Astrophysicists’ new work suggests that a black hole spits out a more powerful jet if it’s spinning the same direction as the hot material falling into it. The conclusion adds to an ongoing debate about how (or whether) the direction of a black hole's spin affects the outflow it spews into space.
Show Your Support for Pluto's Probe
NASA's New Horizons spacecraft is now just 3½ years from its historic flyby of Pluto. Mission scientists have launched a petition to have the spacecraft commemorated on a U.S. postage stamp — and they want you to sign it!
Tour February's Sky! | February 1st, 2012
The sky's brightest planets, Venus and Jupiter, serve as anchors in a wintertime sky full of bright stars and familiar constellations.
SkyWeek TV
S&T associate editor Tony Flanders muses on the rewards and challenges of scripting a television program.
Galaxy in a Bucket
A tiny lab experiment could provide additional evidence for how galaxies come by their magnetic fields. The physics isn't new, but that's part of the allure.
The Eros Parallax Project
The asteroid 433 Eros is paying us a rare, close visit right now, and with a simple photographic setup you can join observers worldwide in calculating its distance from Earth — repeating a historic astronomical milestone.
Time Committee Procrastinates
An international committee formed to settle the protocol for civilian time once and for all recently announced an important decision — they're going to put off the decision for another three years.
Opportunity Takes a Bow, Gets Some Rest
It's been eight years since NASA dropped twin rovers onto the Martian surface. Spirit succumbed to the planet's harsh conditions in 2010, but Opportunity continues to amaze mission scientists with its longevity and scientific productivity.
Ancient Astronomers Were No Fools
A study of historical star catalogs has turned up a surprising result: long-gone stargazers knew that the stellar magnitudes they observed needed correcting — but the correction is for an atmospheric effect scientists didn’t quantify until the 1700s.
Eclipses in 2012
This year features two "central" eclipses of the Sun: an annular in May (visible from western U.S. states) and a total in November that you'll have to travel to Australia or the South Pacific to see.
Tim Puckett's Award-Winning Ambition
Tim Puckett has been studying comets and finding supernovae with his home-built telescopes since the 1990s. Now the American Astronomical Society has recognized his dedication with the 2012 Chambliss Amateur Achievement Award.
Norman Edmund, Optics Entrepreneur
His company got its start with the military surplus optics that flooded the marketplace right after World War II. Ever since, Edmund Scientific (now Edmund Optics) has inspired generations of budding astronomers.
A Bold Plan to Study Dark Energy
Beginning later this year, the Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment will begin to analyze the spectra of one million primordial galaxies — and, its designers hope, get some answers about the mysterious force that's accelerating the expansion of the universe.
An Evaporating Exoplanet?
Brief, variable dips in the light from a low-mass star have left astronomers wondering what strange object could be periodically blocking the starlight. Their hypothesis? A closely-orbiting planet is disintegrating before their eyes.
Vast New Trove of Variable Stars
Newly online: light curves for 198 million stars. The latest great mass of variable-star data comes from the Catalina Sky Survey — which is actually looking for asteroids.
Make the Effort for "Globe at Night"
This week you can join a worldwide campaign to measure the darkness of night skies everywhere. It's a fun, easy, and worthwhile activity for you and your family.
Sky & Telescope April 2012
Sky & Telescope's April 2012 issue is now available to digital subscribers.
Sky & Telescope July 2012
Sky & Telescope's July 2012 issue is now available to digital subscribers.
Sky & Telescope June 2012
Sky & Telescope's June 2012 issue is now available to digital subscribers.
