SUNSET: 
Comet in the June Dawn
Comet C/2009 R1 (McNaught) is now visible low in the northeast before dawn. You should be able to see its long, thin tail through binoculars from a reasonably dark site.
RTMC 2010, Part I
For the first time in its history, the Riverside Telescope Maker's Conference was held at new Moon instead of on Memorial Day weekend. That allowed some wonderful views of galaxies under surprisingly dark skies.
Disappearing Act on Jupiter
One of the giant planet's signature bands, the South Equatorial Belt, began fading late last year. Now, for the first time since 1992, it's completely missing. Amateur and professional observers worldwide are eagerly hoping to witness its return.
NASA's Administrator Visits Boston
Charles Bolden, who took the reins of NASA last July, made an appearance in Boston last week and offered some views about the space agency's future.
Last “Missing” Normal Matter Is Found
Thin, elusive gas between the galaxies makes up about half of all the normal matter in the universe — neatly completing the inventory.
Sun's Size is "Rock Steady"
After measuring the Sun's diameter every 12 minutes for 12 years, astronomers have confidence that our star's diameter is constant to within one part in a million.
Herschel's Cold, Wonderful Universe
European astronomers are ecstatic about the results they're getting from an infrared space observatory launched a year ago.
Name an Asteroid!
Astronomers have a list of about 225,000 minor planets eligible to be named — and a few lucky students will get a chance to pick one.
A New Take on M81's Halo
Astronomers have now clearly resolved a halo of old stars surrounding a well-known galaxy in Ursa Major. But they're not sure how it got there.
Amateurs Alert NASA to Saturn Storm
Thanks to the vigilance of planet-watchers around the world, Cassini scientists have captured key observations of a storm that erupted into view during mid-March.
Peak Picked for World's Largest Scope
If you were building a mega-telescope with an aperture half the length of a football field, where in the world would you put it?
NEAF 2010 Videos Are Here!
Check out our videos from the 19th annual Northeast Astronomy Forum, one of the world's largest telescope shows.
Happy Birthday, Hubble!
It's been 20 years since the most productive telescope ever built rocketed into orbit. So let's celebrate!
A Solar Sentinel's Stunning Debut
NASA researchers are betting that the Solar Dynamics Observatory will help them understand the Sun as never before — and enthrall the public with kaleidoscopic images and videos.
Readying for Hayabusa's Return
When the Hayabusa spacecraft returns to Earth on June 13th, an international welcoming party will be waiting in Australia to spot and recover its sample-return capsule.
An Astro-Blast at NEAF 2010
Amateurs gathered in Suffern, New York, to check out the latest gear at the 19th annual Northeast Astronomy Forum.
A New Do-It-Yourself SETI Project
The Allen Telescope Array is swallowing terabytes of celestial radio data in the ongoing hunt for alien signals from space. The SETI Institute is about to hand out the data to anyone with ideas for new ways to sift it.
The Return of Neptune
It's taken 164 years, but Neptune is once again located exactly where it was when discovered by Johann Galle and Heinrich d'Arrest.
Sparks on Saturn
NASA's Cassini orbiter has finally captured images of lightning storms on the ringed planet.
Wrong-way Planets Confound Theorists
Planet-formation theory has been turned on its head by the discovery of planets that travel around their stars in retrograde orbits.
