SUNSET: 
Titan's Surface: Mostly Ice, Not Goo
Saturn's large, haze-shrouded moon is covered mostly with dirty ice rather than exotic hydrocarbons, according to the best spectral evidence yet.
Galaxy Evolution Explorer Launches
NASA lanuched a new ultraviolet-light telescope to map the origin of galaxies.
Astro Image in the News:
Rough Seas in Sagittarius
The Archer is home to a gaseous ocean with waves generated by the radiation from nearby young massive stars.
Astro News Briefs: April 21–27
Meade Instruments Chairman and Founder to Retire April 24, 2003 | On Monday Meade Instruments announced that John C. Diebel, the company's chairman, chief executive officer, and founder, will retire on May 31st. Assuming the role of CEO will be Steven Murdock, Meade's current president and chief operating officer. Harry…
Chicago's Rain of Meteorites
It's not often that hundreds of meteorites cascade out of the sky — and it's even rarer when that happens over a major urban area.
Mount Stromlo: A Status Report
The Near-Infrared Integral-Field Spectrograph (NIFS) was only months from completion when a bush fire roared across the Mount Stromlo Observatory and destroyed the instrument as well as five major telescopes and thier buildings. The cost to reconstruct the spectrograph will be covered by insurance, and the Australian National University plans…
Secret Documents Rewrite the Discovery of Neptune
Long-suppressed documents from the 1840s are changing one of the best-known stories in the history of astronomy.
NASA Sets Its Sites on Mars
With a mass of roughly 180 kilograms, NASA's Mars Exploration Rovers will be able to trek up to 100 meters per day during their three-month explorations. Each lander carries a suite of five instruments, collectively called Athena, and an abrasion tool for exposing fresh surfaces on rock faces.Courtesy NASA/JPL. After…
Astro News Briefs: April 14–20
Two More Moons for Jupiter Make 60 April 14, 2003 | With Jupiter high in the sky, astronomers are taking advantage. In past few weeks nearly a dozen new planetary moons have been discovered — two of which were certified by the International Astronomical Union on April 12th and 14th.…
Hubble's New Camera Snags First Supernovae
Hubble's newest camera has joined the hunt for exploding stars billions of light-years away.
An Annular Eclipse in May
At the end of May, observers in several fairly remote locations will see the Moon nearly hide the Sun.
May's Total Lunar Eclipse
For almost an hour in mid-May, the Moon will turn dim and fiery orange.
Astro News Briefs: April 7–13
Jupiter Gains Six in "Moon Race"... April 9, 2003 | The surge of satellite discoveries around giant Jupiter continues, with six new ones chalked up in February and announced late last week. Each mountain-size moonlet, roughly 2 kilometers across, is traveling in a distant, "irregular" orbit having a large eccentricity…
Astro Image in the News:
Interstellar Ripples
This Hubble Space Telescope view of the Egg Nebula looks as if someone tossed a pebble into a celestial pond.
Monster Gamma-Ray Burst
A few days ago we got hit by the nearest major gamma-ray burst ever. It was bright enough that many amateur astronomers imaged it.
National Dark-Sky Week Begins
A high-school student has begun a grassroots movement to save the night sky.
Hubble Captures a Protoplanetary Disk
Spiral rings appear in a young star's dusk disk that's ten times larger than our solar system.
Stronger Case for Midsize Black Holes
They're much more massive than stars, but much less massive than the black holes in galaxy cores. How do they happen?
Astro Image in the News:
A Spectacular Light Echo
An erupting star in Monoceros spreads its light across surrounding gas and dust.
