4421–4440 of 6,731 results

Celestial News & Events

Perseids: Looking Up, Looking Down

Earthbound observers struggled to see August's famous "shooting stars" through a sky awash with moonlight. But a shutterbug astronaut aboard the International Space Station had the best view of all!

The Messenger at the Battle of Marathon

Astronomy & Observing News

Battle of Marathon's 2,500th Anniversary

There is a special significance to the late-summer full Moons of 2011 — this season marks the 2500th anniversary of the Battle of Marathon.

Solar System

Opportunity Reaches Its New Home

The surviving one of NASA's two Mars Exploration Rovers is reaching the brink of a whole new adventure on Mars.

Cosmos title frame

People, Places, and Events

The Return of Cosmos

The most successful PBS television show ever — now 30 years out of date — is being reborn as a new series to be aired in 2013.

Celestial News & Events

Off Year for the Perseid Meteor Shower

The year's best-known display of shooting stars is usually dramatic and dependable. But even though light from a full Moon will wash out the fainter arrivals when the shower peaks early in the morning of August 13th, you'll still see the shower's brightest meteors streak across the sky.

Solar System

Juno Lifts Off for Jupiter

NASA's solar-powered spacecraft Juno successfully lifted off Cape Canaveral on Friday, August 5th.

Solar System

Best Evidence Yet for Martian Water

NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has found perplexing dark streaks that form seasonally and strongly suggest that liquid water flows on the Martian surface.

Solar System

Big Splat Could Have Reshaped the Moon

Recent research suggests that the thick, heavily cratered crust on the Moon's far side could be the pasted-on remains of a second satellite that once orbited the early Earth.

Celestial News & Events

Great Sun This Week

This week the Sun is putting on its best show in nearly a decade.

Pro-Am Collaboration

Amateur Search for White-Dwarf Planets

Arizona amateur Bruce Gary is assembling a pro-am team to look for planets orbiting dead stars.

Solar System

Where No Spacecraft Has Gone Before

Dawn sends stunning images from Vesta of an uncharted alien world.

Celestial News & Events

Tour August's Sky! | July 29th, 2011

This is your last chance to spot Saturn before it sinks into the evening twilight. But there are many other celestial attractions to look for on August evenings.

Solar System

Earth's Traveling Companion

Astronomers have identified a small body sharing Earth's orbit in a gravitationally stable resonance that keeps it from hitting us or escaping. Finally, Earth has a Trojan asteroid to call its own.

Exoplanets

Kepler's Dilemma: Not Enough Time

NASA's planet-hunter has already identified more than 1,200 exoplanet candidates. But project managers now quietly acknowledge that the spacecraft will have serious difficulty spotting habitable, Earth-size worlds by the mission's end next year.

Galaxies

Amateur Discovers A Planetary Nebula

Austrian amateur Matthias Kronberger has found a planetary nebula near the northern constellation of Cygnus, the Swan. His discovery might help scientists understand the role of stellar companions in the formation of these glowing gas clouds.

Cosmology

From Stars to Stardust

Astronomers have determined that a recent supernova in the Large Magellanic Cloud created a half-Sun's worth of dust — hinting that such stellar explosions might be an unexpectedly rich source of dust throughout the universe.

Astronomy & Observing News

A Promising White-Dwarf Binary

A team of scientists has found two white dwarfs locked in a close mutual orbit, providing an excellent chance to test Einstein's general theory of relativity.

Space Missions

Next Mars Rover Targets Gale Crater

When NASA launches the multibillion-dollar Curiosity rover toward Mars in November, it'll make a beeline for the floor of a large crater that geologists say once brimmed with liquid water.

People, Places, and Events

Massive Meteorite Found in China

A team of Chinese researchers trekked to a remote mountaintop in the Xinjiang region and identified one of the largest meteorites known.

Astronomy & Observing News

Inside Sky & Telescope's September 2011 Issue

Sky & Telescope's September 2011 issue is now available to digital subscribers.