SUNSET: 
Cassini Calls on Phoebe
Cassini's first rendezvous with a Saturnian moon was a date to remember.
Venus Has Its Day in the Sun
A fog bank created a natural solar filter for this image of the just-risen Sun over Cambridge, Massachusetts. Venus is clearly visible under the clouds, as seen in this image taken through a 70-millimeter refractor.Courtesy Jessica Dawn Tytell. People all over the world watched Venus pass in front of the…
Astro News Briefs: May 31–June 6
Tiny-tiny galaxies and activity minima in Sun-like stars.
Opportunity Enters Endurance Crater
NASA engineers have decided that driving a Mars rover into a geology-rich crater is worth the risks.
The Transit of Venus: Tales from the 18th and 19th Centuries
Observers and administrators gather at the US Naval Observatory in Washington, DC, in preparation for the American expeditions to the 1874 transit of Venus.Courtesy US Naval Observatory Library. A magnificent rendezvous between the planet of love and the bright orb of the Sun. One of the most celebrated phenomena in…
Nearby Remnant of a Gamma-Ray Burst?
What looks like a supernova remnant on the far side of the Milky Way could be the shattered remains of something bigger.
Seeing the Very First Galaxies
The first stars to light up the universe after the Big Bang did not appear in a simple, expected way.
Amateur Images Venus's Surface
In a first for amateur astronomy, a backyard observer has captured images of the eternally cloud-shrouded surface of Venus.
Astro News Briefs: April 19–25
Second annual National Dark Sky Week celebrated.
Spitzer Exposes Mystery Holes
Taking its deepest-yet look into the infrared sky, the Spitzer Space Telescope pulls some mysterious objects out of hiding.
NASA's O'Keefe Details Hubble Plans
NASA administrator Sean O'Keefe tells the American Astronomical Society that he wants to send a robot, rather than Space Shuttle astronauts, to service the Hubble Space Telescope.
Mysteries of the North Star
Polaris is not only a variable star, its variations are varying. And no one quite knows why.
Asteroids "Sunburn" with Age
A new study shows that the longer some asteroids are exposed to space, the redder their surfaces become.
Bradfield's 18th Comet
Indefatigable comet hunter William Bradfield has found another (his 18th); it's currently visible low in the northeast before sunrise.
The Double Comet Show of 2004
Comets NEAT and LINEAR may reach modest naked-eye brightness in April and May.
Chandra Probes Dark Energy
New X-ray observations have independently confirmed that the universe is dominated by dark energy.
Did an Impact Trigger the "Great Dying"?
Geoscientists think they've found the site of a giant impact off the Australian coast that nearly wiped out life on Earth 251 million years ago.
Young Astronomers Honored
John Davis is seen here with one of his custom-machined German equatorial telescope mounts. Davis won the top prize for the Astronomical League's 2004 National Young Astronomer Award.Courtesy Astronomical League. Each year since 1993 the Astronomical League has recognized outstanding astronomy achievements by US high-school students through its National Young…
Possible New Milky Way Spiral Arm
Radio astronomers may have identified a fifth spiral arm in the outer reaches of our galaxy.
SuperWASP Scrutinizes Swarms of Stars
In a hunt for extrasolar planets, hundreds of thousands of the brightest stars are getting measured precisely many times per night.
