SUNSET: 
Darkness Still Reigns Over Kitt Peak
Since astronomers started calling Tucson home in 1958, the city's population has quadrupled to more than 500,000. Yet the night sky above the observatories on nearby Kitt Peak is as dark now as it was 20 years ago.
Two New Celestial Photo-Ops
This week two major observatories — one in space, one on the ground — engaged in a little one-upsmanship by releasing gorgeous views of a backyard staple and a graceful galaxy
Phobos: A Chip Off of Mars?
New results from the European spacecraft Mars Express suggest that the Martian moon Phobos has a lot in common with the planet it orbits.
The Moon Through LRO's Eyes
For the past year, the seven instruments on NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter have mapped the Moon up, down, and sideways — and planetary scientists are reaping the results.
The Pillars of Carina
Larger and brighter than the more famous one in Orion, the Carina Nebula is a southern-sky showpiece that boasts several huge tongues of cold gas and dust.
Go Ahead: Observe the Moon
You can gawk, study, sketch, image, or just howl. No matter how you do it, head outside on September 18th to celebrate International Observe the Moon Night.
A Ghostly Cosmic Pinwheel
Somewhere in Pegasus, a swollen, aging star has begun its death spiral figuratively and literally — throwing off matter that's taken the shape of a delicate yet perfect spiral.
Happy Birthday, John Dobson!
Amateur astronomy's iconic guru of telescope-making turns 95 on September 14th.
S&T's New Single-Issue Magazine
Sky & Telescope has just produced a slim but extremely useful publication.
The Dinosaurs Got a Warning Shot
New research shows that eastern Europe took a hit just 2,000 to 5,000 years before the Big One nearly wiped out life on Earth 65 million years ago.
Tour September's Sky! | August 27th, 2010
Venus clings to the horizon in the west just after sunset, while mighty Jupiter rises in the east. Find out how to spot them — and much more! Host: S&T's Kelly Beatty. (6MB MP3 download: running time: 6m 17s)
Mount Wilson: One Year After the Fire
In August-September 2009, a raging wildfire nearly destroyed Mount Wilson Observatory. But heroic firefighting efforts saved the historic site, and life on the summit is slowly returning to normal.
Two Exoplanets in an Interactive Dance
Two transiting planets of the star Kepler 9 are tugging on each other and swapping orbital energy back and forth. And a third planet may be watching on.
Big Bear's Big New Eye
The "first-light" image from the world's largest solar telescope reveals details in an Earth-size sunspot only 50 miles across.
One Star, Seven Planets
European astronomers had found a bustling solar system in the southern constellation Hydrus: a Sunlike star with at least five and probably seven worlds swarming around it.
Another Flash on Jupiter!
Japanese observer Masayuki Tachikawa appears to have captured another impact on Jupiter, the second one in the past three months.
Jack Horkheimer Passes Away at 72
The airwaves will no longer carry that signature phrase "Keep looking up!", as an iconic figure of amateur astronomy died today at age 72.
The Incredible Shrinking Moon
Planetary scientists have long considered the Moon dead, geologically speaking. But new high-resolution views of the lunar surface argue otherwise.
A New Twist on Dark Energy
Careful observations of the galaxy cluster Abell 1869, so massive that it bends the light from dozens of more distant galaxies, have given cosmologists a powerful new tool in their quest to understand dark energy.
Astro2010: U.S. Astronomy's Crystal Ball
If you had $12 billion to spend on ground- and space-based observatories over the next 10 years, how would decide what to build? A 255-page National Research Council study, just released, provides some answers.
