The Newest Closest Galaxy
Astronomers have just discovered a new dwarf galaxy that's merging into the Milky Way.
November's Lunar Eclipse
A brief total elipse on November 8–9 will be visible in the Americas, Europe, Africa, and western and southern Asia.
Solar Flare Again Spawns an Aurora
For the second time in the last few days, a powerful flare on the Sun triggered an unusual display of the aurora borealis over some of the world's midlatitudes.
Trucking the World's Largest Telescope Mirror
The world's largest monolithic telescope mirror has arrived safe atop a mountain in Arizona.
Meeting the Solar System's Final Frontier
This artist's concept shows structures in the tenuous gas where the expanding solar wind meets the interstellar medium far beyond Pluto. Voyager 1 has apparently crossed the first boundary layer, as described in the text. Voyager 2 still has a way to go.Courtesy NASA / Walt Feimer. NASA's farthest-ranging spacecraft…
Hermes Is Found
After eluding astronomers for 66 years, the long-lost asteroid Hermes has finally been retrieved. This most famous of the "lost asteroids" was originally discovered by Karl Reinmuth at Heidelberg, Germany, on October 28, 1937, and tracked for only five days. Despite numerous attempts, the object that came to be known…
Star Parties Shine in Hong Kong and Nanjing
Sidewalk astronomy made a hit in one of the most brightly lit places on Earth.
Hermes Is Double!
Radar ranging shows that the newly recovered minor planet Hermes, lost since 1937, is a close binary.
Cosmology Meeting Explores the Outer Limits
Seventy of the world's leading cosmologists met last weekend to tackle the biggest questions in the universe.
A Tiny Asteroid Whizzes By
On Saturday, September 27th, a very small asteroid plunged past Earth well inside the Moon's orbit. Unseen, it passed just 78,000 kilometers (a fifth the Moon's distance) above Earth's surface before barreling back into interplanetary space. Judging by its faintness — 18th magnitude when first picked up the next day…
Astro News Briefs: October 612
Five more moons for Uranus makes 27 total.
The Orionids: Steady but Unspectacular
With a fat crescent Moon high in the sky during the predawn hours of the 21st, this is a so-so year for observing the annual Orionid meteor shower.
Austrian Star Party
About 300 amateur astronomers from across Europe gathered in Austria for a star party in later September.
Eclipse 2002: Africa or Australia?
In December the Dark Continent offers a longer duration of totality than the Australian Outback, but the latter site presents much better weather prospects. The choice is yours.
Whirlwind Weekend of Irish Astronomy
In late September skygazers from across Ireland and the United Kingdom flocked to the 18th-annual Whirlpool Star Party.
Astro News Briefs: September 2228
The Galileo orbiter ends its mission by impacting Jupiter.
Cassini Proves Einstein Right So Far
Radio links with the Cassini spacecraft show Einstein's general theory of relativity to be correct to one part in 40,000. But new physics could show up just a little beyond.
Europe's Mission to the Moon
The European Space Agency's SMART 1 spacecraft will bein mapping the Moon in January 2005
For the Record
A production error affected a diagram in S. Alan Stern's article "The 3rd Zone: Exploring the Kuiper Belt" in Sky & Telescope's November 2003 issue, pages 30–36. The illustration on the last page was supposed to show the observed colors of Kuiper Belt objects as of 1998, 2000, and 2003.…
Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy Spans the Sky
It seems that the shredded remains of the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy encircle the Milky Way.